by Julie Sykes
“Shape-shifting magic!” the figure said in horror. “Go!” she screamed to her unicorn. It bolted through the trees, kicking up leaves and twigs as it raced away with Pearl, the tiger, chasing behind.
Matilda watched in delight as Pearl, disguised as a tiger, roared and sprinted after the panicked unicorn. She had no idea how Pearl was finding the strength to use her magic when she was already so tired. The cloaked figure and her unicorn crashed through the trees and disappeared from sight.
“Pearl,” yelled Matilda. “You can stop now. She’s gone!”
As Pearl slowed and turned back, her stripes faded and her body changed from a stocky tiger with huge paws back to a slender unicorn. Matilda realised the hornets had disappeared along with the cloaked person. A thought flashed across her mind: Perhaps they have glamor magic too.
Pearl walked back to Matilda, her sides heaving.
“That was incredible!” gasped Rosa.
“Wasn’t it?” Matilda was glowing. “You were so brave, Pearl. I don’t know how you did that when you were so tired.”
“I did it because you believed in me. You gave me the confidence to find more energy when I thought I was exhausted.” Pearl pushed her head into Matilda’s arms. Matilda hugged her tightly. “It was lucky the person thought I was a shape-shifter,” Pearl went on. “If she’d realised it was just a glamour she’d have known I couldn’t really hurt her. My tiger teeth might have looked sharp but they couldn’t do any real damage.”
“Which makes you even braver for chasing her away,” said Matilda.
“I’m really tired now,” panted Pearl.
“We need sky berries,” said Freya. “They’ll help Pearl get her energy back.”
“But we left them all by the tents,” said Violet in dismay. “We left all the heavy stuff there with the rucksacks and tents – remember?”
“It’s OK, I’ve got some,” said Ariana. She opened up the small knapsack she’d been carrying. “I brought an emergency supply with me just in case.” She handed a pile of sky berries to Matilda who fed Pearl handfuls of them until her breathing slowed down and she started to look better.
“Thank you,” Matilda said gratefully, giving the empty bag back to Ariana. “I’m really glad you’re always prepared for anything.”
“That’s OK, thank you for saving me,” Ariana replied. They smiled at each other. “I’m sorry I said your drawings were scribbles earlier,” Ariana went on quickly. “I didn’t mean it at all, your drawings are brilliant. I was just cross about you forgetting your sleeping bag.”
“I’m not surprised, it was stupid of me,” Matilda admitted. “I should have read the list you gave me and made sure I had everything before we left.” She looked round at her friends. “I promise I’ll try and be more organised and less distracted by drawing from now on.” She bit her bottom lip. “We’re probably going to lose the competition because of me. If I hadn’t stopped to sketch the Heart Tree we’d have been back by now.”
“But then we wouldn’t have found out about the person harming the Heart Tree,” said Rosa. “That’s far more important than any competition. We need to get back and tell Ms Rivers straight away.”
“Even though we still haven’t got everything for the scavenger hunt?” said Matilda. “You said we still needed an orange leaf, didn’t you?”
“The safety of Unicorn Island is far more important than winning a scavenger hunt!” said Rosa. “I know I like to win but the island comes first.”
“Definitely. It’s more important than anything. I think we should find Ms Rivers as quickly as we can,” said Freya, nodding.
“OK.” Matilda put her hand on Pearl’s mane to vault on to her back.
“Matilda, what’s that orange thing in your hair?” Pearl said suddenly.
“You mean the streak of hair that shows we’ve bonded?’ said Matilda. “It’s not orange, is it? Your mane is yellow and pink.”
“I know that, silly! No – I mean, what’s this? Look!” Pearl pulled a small orange leaf from Matilda’s hair with her teeth.
“It must be from the bush when we were hiding behind it!” exclaimed Matilda.
Rosa shrieked in delight. “Matilda! You must have hidden behind a flame bush! That’s the last thing we need for the scavenger hunt!”
“We can still win!” said Ariana.
“If we get back before anyone else,” said Freya.
“What are we waiting for?” Matilda cried, excitement buzzing through her. “Let’s go!”
They galloped flat out, all the way back to the teacher’s campsite. Matilda didn’t let herself get distracted by anything on the way back. There was no way she was going to be responsible for Diamond dorm not winning now!
As Pearl swept past the white tree at the entrance to the woods, Matilda saw the boys from Topaz dorm standing around Ms Rivers, talking earnestly. They must have got back first. Her heart sank.
Rosa and Crystal halted beside Ms Rivers. “Did you beat us?” Rosa demanded breathlessly, looking at Miki and Himmat.
“No,” said Miki. “We didn’t read the list properly and we forgot we needed a hag stone. We went back to the Heart Tree to get an orange leaf because Himmat remembered there was a flame bush there but when we got there, we found that in the grass by the tree!”
He pointed to an object in Ms Rivers’ hands. Matilda’s eyes widened as she saw that it was a silver knife – the very same knife she had seen the cloaked figure using on the Heart Tree.
“I don’t know what it was doing by the Heart Tree,” Ms Rivers said. “But I’ve sent a message to Ms Nettles and she’s on her way here. The boys say the tree seems to be dying and—”
“I know what’s happening!” Matilda burst out.
For once, Ms Rivers didn’t tell her off for interrupting. “What do you mean, Matilda?” she demanded.
The story tumbled out of Matilda’s mouth. Everything she had seen: the cloaked figure with the knife in the clearing, the way she had chased Matilda and Pearl. The others chipped in too when it came to describing how she had found them and attacked them and how Pearl had scared her off.
Ms Nettles and Ms Bramble arrived when they were halfway through and they had to say it all over again.
All three teachers were looking very grave by the time the girls had finished.
“This person must be draining magic away from the Heart Tree,” said Ms Nettles. “The red liquid Matilda saw is its magical life force. The person who did this is clearly extremely dangerous. Did you see her face, girls? Could you describe her?”
“No, she was covered by a cloak and a hood and her voice was quite muffled,” said Rosa.
“Can I see the knife please?” said Ms Bramble. Ms Rivers passed it to her.
Ms Bramble gasped. “But this is my knife!” She turned the silver knife over in her hands as she examined it. “I locked it in the store cupboard this morning after I’d been out with Ms Willow fixing the quiverleaf tree. I have no idea how it got here.”
“We will have to investigate,” said Ms Nettles grimly.
“Do you think it’s the same person who stopped the waterfall?” said Rosa curiously.
“We will not waste time guessing without any evidence,” said Ms Nettles. “The two incidents may be linked or they may be totally unrelated. For now, our priority has to be saving the Heart Tree. Ms Bramble, can you do anything for it?”
“I think so. I could also arrange for the gardeners to watch over it to prevent a further attack, if you’d like me to? They will be able to protect the chinchillas too.”
“That sounds like a very good idea,” said Ms Nettles. She sneezed loudly. “Excuse me everyone, my hay fever is playing up. I will return to school but I will ask all available teachers to patrol Dingleberry Dell to ensure everyone’s safety during the night. We can talk more in the morning when the camping trip is over.”
In the distance there was the sound of galloping hooves. Matilda tensed. Had the hooded figure returned? But as
the hooves grew louder, she saw that it was a group of students riding towards them. The lead unicorn had a long golden mane and flowing tail and its rider, Valentina, punched the air with a fist as she passed the white tree.
“We’re back! I won! I mean – Ruby dorm won!” she hastily corrected herself.
She jumped from Golden Briar’s back and then noticed everyone standing there. “What!” she spluttered. “How come Topaz and Diamond dorm finished before us? Did you cheat? I bet you did,” she said accusingly to Matilda.
Matilda held Valentina’s eye. “Why ever would you think that?” she asked sweetly. “Diamond dorm are definitely not cheats.”
“No, we are not!” chorused her friends.
“Unlike other people around here,” muttered Rosa, nudging Matilda.
Valentina glared at her.
“Let me check you have everything on the list, Diamond dorm,” said Ms Rivers. Rosa handed her the bag with everything in it. The teacher checked the contents while Valentina folded her arms and muttered to her dorm-mates.
“Well, I’m happy to declare that Diamond dorm is indeed the winner!” Ms Rivers said.
“Gah!” Valentina exclaimed, her face now as sour as a lemon. She stomped away, leaving her dorm-mates to shyly congratulate Matilda and her friends.
“Well done, girls,” Ms Rivers said to Diamond dorm.
Miki sighed. “We’d have won if we’d not forgotten the hag stone.”
“You should always read lists very carefully, Miki,” said Matilda in a mock-strict voice.
Ariana squealed in delight. “Now that’s something I never thought I’d hear you say, Matilda!”
Matilda grinned. “Well, I guess I’ve learnt stuff today.” She looked round at all her friends. “And not just that I need to be a bit more organised in future. I’ve learnt how amazing my unicorn is, how brilliant all my friends are and how much I love having fun with them all!”
Ms Rivers’ strict face softened for once. “Then I’d advise you to go and carry on having fun,” she said. “You all definitely deserve it. Let me get your prize for winning.” She fetched two bags of enormous pink and white marshmallows and gave them to Matilda.
“Yum!” said Freya.
Matilda handed one bag to Miki. “Here,” she said. “I think Topaz dorm should have this.”
He fist-bumped her. “Cool, thanks!”
“Right off you go back to your campsites,” said Ms Rivers. “Oh, and if anyone has forgotten anything, now is the time to say so. I have spares of most things. Matilda, is there something you’re missing, maybe?”
“Um, my sleeping bag,” said Matilda sheepishly.
“What? You mean this one?” said Ms Rivers, going to her tent and pulling out a purple sleeping bag.
Matilda gaped. “How did you know?”
“I did a quick check of the stables before we left,” said Ms Rivers, some of her usual strictness creeping back into her expression. “I didn’t tell you earlier because I thought that if it slowed your team down then it might teach you a valuable lesson.”
“It did,” said Matilda. “And I won’t forget it.” She grinned at Ms Rivers as she took the sleeping bag. “Thank you, Miss.”
“Now go on! Shoo!” said Ms Rivers, flapping her hands at them.
It wasn’t long before the Diamond dorm girls and their unicorns were happily settled in their camp. The unicorns munched on sky berries while the girls busied themselves getting the camp organised and setting up a roaring campfire. Matilda wanted to make some sketches so that she could paint the scene later but she resisted and put her sketchbook inside her sleeping bag, where she wouldn’t be tempted by it. She mucked in with everyone else, doing her fair share of the chores. It wasn’t long before everything was neat and tidy. Ariana let out a contented sigh. “Shall we toast the marshmallows now?”
“Yes, let’s!” said Matilda, going to get the long toasting forks that Ariana had packed.
They sat round the campfire, listening to the hiss of the flames as the marshmallows turned soft and gooey.
“I love camping,” said Violet happily.
“Me too,” said Rosa.
“This is quite fun,” said Freya. “It’s actually nice having a night off from my invention. What?! Where’s the fire gone?” she exclaimed as she found herself toasting her marshmallow over an icy water fountain.
“Pearl!” Matilda giggled as she looked round to see that her unicorn had crept up behind them.
“Busted!” Pearl said. She stamped her hoof and the water fountain turned back into flickering red and gold flames.
“Your magic’s so cool!” said Violet.
“How about this?” said Pearl. Looking at Ariana’s tent, she stamped her hoof. It turned into a miniature castle with turrets, flags and a drawbridge.
“Oh, that’s so pretty. I wish I could sleep in that tonight!” said Ariana.
“I don’t think I can hold the glamour for a whole night!” As Pearl spoke the castle became a tent with a turret perched at one end. There were shouts of laughter as it slowly faded to reveal the normal tent.
Matilda blew on a toasted marshmallow then popped it into her mouth. As the chewy sweet dissolved on her tongue she felt incredibly happy. She loved studying at Unicorn Academy. She’d made a great bunch of friends and Pearl was the very best unicorn.
“I meant what I said earlier,” she told her friends as she threaded another marshmallow on to her toasting fork. “From now on, I’m going to try and be more organised. And I’m going to stop joking around so much. It was horrid when you didn’t believe me about the hooded figure.”
“Well, don’t change too much,” said Rosa, giving Matilda a hug. “We like you the way you are.”
“Yes, don’t get too sensible,” said Ariana.
Matilda grinned. “I don’t think there’s much chance of that!”
“Group hug,” said Violet. “Come on, Freya. That means you too!”
Freya rolled her eyes. “Really?” she grumbled, but she got up to join in the group hug. “The others are right. You’re not that bad,” she added quietly to Matilda.
“Aw, thanks,” said Matilda, knocking her cheek against Freya’s.
“Who wants a hot chocolate?” asked Violet, breaking away. “We can float some of the marshmallows on top.”
As everyone busied themselves making hot chocolate and toasting more marshmallows, Pearl nudged Matilda. “The others are right, don’t change too much, Matilda. I love you the way you are. You’re my perfect partner.”
“And you’re mine,” Matilda wrapped her arms around Pearl’s neck and hugged her tightly. “I’m so lucky to have you!”
She looked up and saw a huge sparkly red heart hanging in the sky. She rubbed her eyes and when she looked again she saw it was just the moon.
“Pearl!” she giggled.
Pearl blinked at her, her dark eyes sparkling like the stars overhead. “Friends forever?” she said.
“Forever!” Matilda declared.
“Matilda, where are you?” called Violet. “The hot chocolate’s ready.”
“Coming!” Matilda kissed Pearl and, with her heart brimming with happiness, she ran to join her friends.
COPYRIGHT
First published in the UK in 2019 by Nosy Crow Ltd
The Crow’s Nest, 14 Baden Place, Crosby Row
London, SE1 1YW, UK
Nosy Crow and associated logos are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of Nosy Crow Ltd
Text copyright © Julie Sykes and Linda Chapman, 2019
Illustrations copyright © Lucy Truman, 2019
The right of Julie Sykes, Linda Chapman and Lucy Truman to be identified as the authors and illustrator respectively of this work has been asserted by them in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved
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