Leona the Unicorn Fairy

  There are seven special animals,

  Who live in Fairyland.

  They use their magic powers

  To help others where they can.

  A dragon, black cat, phoenix,

  A seahorse, and snow swan, too,

  A unicorn and ice bear —

  I know just what to do.

  I’ll lock them in my castle

  And never let them out.

  The world will turn more miserable,

  Of that, I have no doubt!

  Cover

  Title Page

  Dedication

  Map

  Poem

  Spooked!

  The Unicorn Appears

  Leona’s Lollipop

  Twisty on the Loose

  A Ransom Note

  Ponies to the Rescue

  Teaser

  Also Available

  Copyright

  “Isn’t this great, Kirsty?” Rachel Walker turned around in her saddle to smile at her best friend, Kirsty Tate. “I’ve only been horseback riding a few times before, but now I just love it!” Then Rachel leaned forward and patted her pony, Sparkle.

  “Me, too,” agreed Kirsty, who was on a beautiful black pony behind Rachel.

  The girls had been taking riding lessons ever since they arrived at camp, but this was the first time they’d been on a trail ride through the forest. “I think it’s because Sparkle and Tansy are so sweet. They don’t mind if we do something wrong!”

  “Keep following the trail, everyone,” Susan, their riding instructor, called from the back of the line. There were several other campers on ponies in front of and behind Kirsty and Rachel. “This path will eventually take us back to the camp.”

  “I can’t believe we only have a day and a half left at camp,” Rachel said with a sigh as the ponies ambled through the forest. It was cool and shady under the trees, but beams of sunlight dappled the grass here and there. “We’ve had such a good time, haven’t we, Kirsty? We’ve tried hiking, orienteering, and bird-watching, and we’ve made some great friends.”

  But Kirsty wasn’t really listening. She was looking around, peeking through the trees on either side of the trail.

  “Sorry, Rachel,” she said quickly. “I was just seeing if I could spot anything unusual.”

  Rachel smiled. She knew exactly what Kirsty was looking for! On the day the girls arrived at camp, the king and queen of Fairyland had asked for their help. Kirsty and Rachel had discovered that Jack Frost and his goblins had kidnapped seven young magical animals from the Magical Animal Fairies. These animals had the power to spread the kind of magic qualities that every human and fairy could possess — the magic of imagination, luck, humor, friendship, compassion, healing, and courage. It was the fairies’ job to train the magical animals for a whole year in order to make sure that they knew how to use their magic properly. Then the animals could use their powers in both the human and the fairy worlds!

  But Jack Frost was determined to disrupt the magical animals’ training. He didn’t want anyone, humans or fairies, to be happy. So, with the help of his goblins, Jack Frost had stolen the animals from Fairyland and imprisoned them in his Ice Castle! But the young animals had managed to escape and had hidden themselves in the human world. Jack Frost then sent his goblins to find them! The Magical Animal Fairies asked Rachel and Kirsty to help track down the animals and return them safely to Fairyland.

  “Remember what Queen Titania says, Kirsty,” Rachel whispered. “It doesn’t always help to look for magic. You need to let the magic find you!”

  “I know,” Kirsty replied. “But it’s so hard! I just want to find Leona’s unicorn and Caitlin’s ice bear. I’m worried about them, because they haven’t learned how to use their magic powers properly yet.”

  “We’re doing OK, though,” Rachel pointed out. “We’ve already found Ashley’s dragon, Lara’s little black cat, Erin’s phoenix, Rihanna’s seahorse, and Sophia’s snow swan.”

  “That’s true,” Kirsty said with a smile. “Let’s just enjoy the trail ride and wait for the magic to come to us!”

  Rachel nodded. “Look, Kirsty, there’s another fox,” she said, catching a glimpse of something brown between the trees. “That makes two that we’ve seen now.”

  “Yes, plus three rabbits and six squirrels!” Kirsty replied. “There’s a lot of wildlife around here, isn’t there?”

  Suddenly, without any warning at all, the pony in front of Rachel and Kirsty gave a frightened neigh and reared up. Lauren, the camper riding the pony, gasped with fright.

  “Quick, Rachel!” Kirsty cried urgently, spotting a side path to her left. “Over here!”

  Swiftly, Kirsty and Rachel pulled Tansy and Sparkle off the trail and down the side path to avoid a collision. Meanwhile, Lauren got her pony, Sky, under control again.

  “Are you all right, girls?” called Susan, trotting toward them. “Looks like Sky was spooked by something.”

  “I’m fine,” said Lauren, patting Sky’s neck. Rachel and Kirsty nodded in agreement.

  “Good thinking, you two,” Susan went on, smiling at them. “You got your ponies out of the way just in time.”

  As the riders moved on again, Kirsty and Rachel turned their ponies around so they could rejoin the others on the main path. Just then, Kirsty saw a sudden flash of bright green in the undergrowth around her. She immediately turned to her friend.

  “Rachel!” Kirsty gasped. “I just saw something green — and it wasn’t leafy!”

  “Do you think it was a goblin?” Rachel whispered, alarmed. “Maybe there’s more wildlife in this forest than we thought!”

  “It could have been a goblin that scared Lauren’s pony,” Kirsty suggested.

  “We’ll check it out,” Rachel said. “Let’s hang back so we’re at the end of the line.”

  The girls waited until the other campers had ridden past, then they trotted back onto the trail some distance behind them. They kept a sharp lookout for goblins, but didn’t see anything.

  Then Rachel heard a rustling in the bushes. Before she could say anything to Kirsty, two goblins jumped out onto the path — right in front of them!

  “Oh!” Kirsty gasped, quickly bringing Tansy to a halt. Rachel did the same with Sparkle.

  The biggest goblin nudged the smaller one and pointed at the two ponies.

  “Is one of those a unicorn?” he whispered in a loud voice.

  Rachel glanced at Kirsty. They knew the goblins must be looking for Leona’s unicorn, one of the missing magical animals!

  The smallest goblin looked disgusted. “Are you crazy?” he demanded. “These are ponies, not unicorns! Unicorns have a horn on top of their heads —”

  “Don’t call me crazy!” the other goblin screeched.

  “Well, you are!” the smallest goblin yelled. “Whoever heard of a unicorn without a horn?”

  Arguing loudly, the two goblins began pushing each other.

  Kirsty was worried. The path was too narrow to get past the fighting goblins, and the goblins were getting closer to the girls and their ponies.

  “Look out!” Kirsty called.

  The biggest goblin pushed the smaller one in front of Rachel’s pony. Sparkle gave a loud, startled neigh and reared up. The goblins yelped in alarm and ran off through the undergrowth.

  “It’s OK, Sparkle!” Rachel said uncertainly, trying to get the frightened pony under control. But Sparkle bolted off at top speed through the trees, with Rachel clinging desperately to the reins.

  “Oh, no!” Kirsty cried, horrified. “Hold on, Rachel!” Kirst
y urged Tansy to follow them.

  Rachel’s heart was pounding as Sparkle galloped through the forest. She had to keep ducking to avoid low branches, and she was very worried that she’d fall off the pony or get hit by a branch.

  “Whoa, Sparkle!” she called. Remembering what they’d been taught in their riding lessons, Rachel squeezed Sparkle’s sides with her legs and pulled back on the reins. Unfortunately, Sparkle slowed down and stopped too quickly. Rachel wasn’t expecting that, and she flew right over the pony’s head.

  “Rachel!” Kirsty shouted, riding up behind Sparkle just in time to see her friend go sailing through the air.

  To Kirsty’s relief, she saw that Rachel had landed on a soft, springy patch of moss on the forest floor. Jumping quickly down from Tansy’s back, Kirsty rushed over to her friend.

  “Are you OK, Rachel?” Kirsty asked, kneeling down beside her. She could see that Rachel was holding her arm, looking shaken.

  “I’m fine, except I think I sprained my wrist,” Rachel replied, wincing. “It hurts a lot.”

  “I’ll run and find Susan to get help,” Kirsty said, glancing around. “They couldn’t have made it much farther up the trail.”

  But at that moment, Kirsty saw a gleam of pure, dazzling white shining through the trees. It appeared to be coming straight toward them!

  “Rachel, look!” Kirsty exclaimed with wonder as the white shape came closer. “It’s a unicorn.”

  “It’s Leona’s missing magical animal!” Rachel whispered, her eyes wide.

  The beautiful young unicorn came trotting through the trees toward them. He was about the size of a Shetland pony, and his coat was gleaming white. He had gold hooves, and a twisted golden horn on his head.

  The unicorn stopped several feet from Rachel and Kirsty. He lowered his snow-white head, shaking his long mane. Suddenly, a shower of gold glitter burst from his horn. It flew through the air and circled Rachel’s injured wrist like a bracelet.

  The girls could hardly believe their eyes. A few seconds later, the glitter began to disappear in a sparkling mist.

  “Rachel! Kirsty! Where are you?”

  “That’s Susan,” Kirsty said as they heard the sound of a horse’s hooves. “She’s looking for us.”

  The unicorn’s ears pricked up. Quickly, he turned and galloped off through the trees.

  “Oh, please come back!” Rachel called after him. She turned to Kirsty, looking worried. “How will we ever find him again, Kirsty?”

  “I don’t know.” Kirsty frowned. “Let’s just hope the goblins don’t find him first!”

  Kirsty reached out her hand to help Rachel to her feet. As she stood up, Rachel gasped suddenly.

  “Does your wrist hurt?” Kirsty asked sympathetically.

  Rachel shook her head. “No, that’s just it,” she replied, bending her wrist back and forth. “It’s all better!”

  “I just remembered,” Kirsty said excitedly. “The unicorn’s magic power is healing. He must have healed your wrist with the glitter from his horn!”

  At that moment, Susan rode toward them through the trees.

  “Are you OK, girls?” she asked, dismounting quickly and coming over. “We just realized that you weren’t with us on the trail.”

  “Sparkle got spooked and bolted,” Rachel explained. She hoped the goblins weren’t anywhere around. It would be a disaster if Susan spotted them, because no one was supposed to know that Fairyland existed! “But I’m fine.”

  “It’s lucky you were wearing your riding helmet, or you could have been really hurt,” Susan said, as she checked Rachel over.

  Rachel winked at Kirsty. “Luck and the healing touch of a unicorn!” she whispered, as Susan checked Sparkle for injuries, too.

  “OK, time to get back to camp,” Susan said briskly. “I think you’ve had enough excitement for one day, and your free-time block is coming up. You don’t want to miss that!”

  Reluctantly, Rachel and Kirsty climbed back onto their ponies.

  “I don’t want to leave the unicorn in the forest all alone,” Kirsty said to Rachel as they followed Susan back to the trail. “Not with the goblins around!”

  “Let’s come back and search for the unicorn after we’ve put Sparkle and Tansy in the stables,” Rachel suggested.

  Back at the camp, Rachel and Kirsty led the ponies into their shared stall and carefully began to brush them. The stable door was open and, as Rachel and Kirsty brushed their ponies’ manes, they heard voices outside.

  “Do you know if any ponies have escaped from the stables, Katie?” someone asked. Kirsty and Rachel recognized the voice. It was Emma, one of their bunkmates. “I think I saw a small white pony heading toward the amphitheater just now.”

  “Really? You must be seeing things!” Katie said teasingly. “We don’t have any white ponies at the camp.”

  Kirsty and Rachel glanced at each other in alarm. So the unicorn had come to the camp! The amphitheater was a round, open-air theater where the campers could put on shows and perform plays, and it wasn’t far from the stables.

  “That’s what I thought.” Emma sounded puzzled. “What’s really weird is that it looked like the pony had a twisted horn on its head!”

  “Maybe it’s a unicorn?” Katie suggested, laughing.

  Emma laughed, too. “It’s probably just a practical joke,” she said. “The campers and counselors have been playing funny tricks on one another all week, right? I found a plastic frog inside one of my rain boots this morning!”

  Rachel turned to Kirsty as the other two girls walked away, still laughing.

  “I think the unicorn must have followed us back to camp!” Rachel exclaimed. “We have to find him before someone realizes he’s a real unicorn.”

  “Or before he’s captured by the goblins,” Kirsty added.

  Quickly, Rachel and Kirsty gave Tansy and Sparkle their buckets of grain, plus a few carrots for a treat. Then they rushed out of the stall.

  “Rachel?” Susan popped out of one of the other stalls as they went by. “I want you to stop by the first-aid cabin and see Elizabeth, the camp nurse.”

  “But I’m fine,” Rachel insisted.

  “It can’t hurt to be sure, can it?” Susan said kindly. “Off you go.”

  Rachel frowned as Susan went back into the stall.

  “I hope this doesn’t take too long,” she said anxiously as she and Kirsty hurried to the first-aid cabin.

  “Ah, there you are, Rachel.” Elizabeth was at her desk rolling up bandages when the girls knocked and went in. She was young and friendly, with a snow-white uniform and long red hair neatly pinned back. “Let’s take a look at you. Any bumps or bruises?”

  Rachel shook her head.

  “Well, you seem fine,” Elizabeth remarked a few minutes later with a smile. “I think you can safely go and enjoy the rest of the afternoon.”

  “Thanks, Elizabeth,” Rachel said, jumping eagerly to her feet. “Sorry to have wasted your time.”

  “Oh, it was nice to have something to do,” Elizabeth replied. “I usually see a dozen or more campers every day with various bumps and bruises, but you’re the only ones I’ve seen so far today.” She picked up another roll of bandages. “So I decided to organize my medicine cabinet instead.”

  “That’s because of Leona’s unicorn,” Kirsty whispered to Rachel as they went to the door of the cabin. “His healing powers mean that the campers don’t need the nurse!”

  “Help yourself to a lollipop from my jar on your way out, girls,” Elizabeth called.

  There was a big glass jar of brightly colored lollipops on a shelf near the door. As Rachel reached for it, she noticed that the jar had a strange glow.

  “What’s going on?” Rachel whispered to Kirsty. Her eyes were wide with amazement as she unscrewed the l
id.

  Kirsty looked excited. She put her hand into the jar and pulled out a red strawberry-flavored lollipop. Clinging to the top of it was a tiny fairy!

  Kirsty nearly cried out in surprise. She and Rachel smiled down at the fairy, who wore wide-legged blue pants, a matching sweater, and a starry gold belt. Her long blond hair was tied up in a ponytail.

  “Hello, girls!” the fairy called quietly, her eyes twinkling. “I’m so glad I found you! Remember me? I’m Leona the Unicorn Fairy.”

  “Hi, Leona,” Rachel and Kirsty whispered back.

  Quickly the girls left the first-aid cabin with Kirsty carrying the lollipop.

  “As you know, I’m looking for my unicorn, Twisty,” Leona explained. “I thought he might be attracted to the first-aid cabin because he has special healing powers.” She looked anxiously at Rachel and Kirsty. “Have you seen him?”

  “Yes, but not here,” Rachel told Leona. She quickly explained how Twisty had appeared in the forest and healed her injured wrist.

  “But now we think Twisty is right here in the camp!” Kirsty added. “Emma, our bunkmate, saw him near the amphitheater. But don’t worry, Leona, she thought it was some sort of joke.”

  Leona looked relieved. “We’d better get to the amphitheater right away!” she said. She dived into Kirsty’s pocket out of sight, and the girls hurried off.

  The amphitheater was at the edge of camp. As they approached it, Rachel blinked several times in surprise. She could see human-sized fairies dancing around the stage, wearing flowy white dresses and gauzy wings on their shoulders.

  “They’re not real fairies, Rachel,” Kirsty said with a grin. “They’re just campers in costume! Look, one of them is Catherine, from our cabin.”