Chapter 8

CHAPTER EIGHT "She's seen us!" Violet squeaked as Ms Willow swung round. For a moment, she hoped she was mistaken, that Ms Willow was really just the lovely teacher she had always thought her to be, but as Ms Willow's face creased into a furious frown and her eyes hardened, Violet's heart sank into her boots. "I knew something was going on!" Ms Willow's voice snapped out through the night air like an icicle cracking. "Trying to outsmart me!" She gave a shrill whistle and Daffodil emerged reluctantly from the trees. The little unicorn moved slowly, almost as if she was fighting against leaving the woods but had no choice.

"Daffodil? You really should know better!" said Ms Willow. Daffodil sent Twinkle and Violet a desperate look but began to trot towards Ms Willow. Violet didn't know what was going on, but she did know that she and Twinkle had to get help– and fast! "Come on, Twinkle!" she gasped. "Let's get back to the school!" Twinkle spun round and set off at a flat-out gallop just as Daffodil reached Ms Willow. Violet clung to his mane, her thoughts swirling. How could the cloaked figure be lovely Ms Willow? It just didn't seem possible. Something brushed past them at a great speed and suddenly Ms Willow and Daffodil appeared from nowhere, blocking their way. Twinkle had to swerve abruptly to avoid crashing into them.

"There's no escape for you two now!" Ms Willow hissed. Her voice sounded harsh and bitter, nothing like her usual soft tone. Before Twinkle or Violet could do anything, she flicked her hand. There was a great flash of green and the world tilted as Violet and Twinkle spun through the air.

Everything blurred. Violet's hands numbed as she desperately hung on to Twinkle's neck. Then they were falling. Violet tensed, expecting the worst, but Twinkle's hooves sunk into the ground and he landed with a bounce as the world came back into focus. Above them, the inky night sky glittered with thousands of stars. Their light was reflected by the thick ice of a huge frozen lake, and Violet realised that they were standing just at its edge. At the far side, a strip of land separated it from a vast black sea. Beneath the layer of ice, the water looked dark. "Where are we?" said Twinkle. "I think it's the Frozen Lagoon!" breathed Violet. "We learnt about it from Ms Rivers a month ago. It's bottomless, it's always frozen, and supposedly no one's ever been able to find it because magic keeps its location secret." A thin mist swirled like ghosts above the dark ice. Beneath it, they could see the water bubbling like a volcano on the verge of eruption. Violet shivered– there was something unnatural about the way the mist was moving and the sickly sweet smell was rising from it that scared her. "Why do you think Ms Willow brought us here?" said Twinkle.

"I don't know," said Violet. "I can't believe she's the cloaked figure, Twinkle. She's always seemed so nice." "I can't believe that Daffodil has been helping her," said Twinkle, shaking his head in astonishment. "I don't understand. Whenever we saw the cloaked figure with a unicorn, it didn't look anything like Daffodil," said Violet. "It was taller, with a long golden mane, just like Prancer, the stolen unicorn. It didn't look anything like Daffodil." "Maybe Ms Willow has two unicorns," suggested Twinkle. It seemed the only explanation. Violet looked around. "What are we going to do now?" "Try and escape?" suggested Twinkle. There was a flash of green and Ms Willow and Daffodil landed nearby. Twinkle reared bravely, slashing the air with his forelegs. Then, wheeling around, he galloped away. Ms Willow's laughter echoed after him. "You can run but there's no escape from me!" Violet ducked as something whizzed over her head. A bolt of magic hit the rocks in front of them, which exploded into shards. Twinkle swerved, and

the sour smell of bad magic filled Violet's nostrils. "Don't try and get away– you'll only get hurt," Daffodil called anxiously. Twinkle swung round. "Daffodil, why are you helping her? I thought you were my friend!" Ms Willow smirked. "Oh, dear sweet Daffodil has no choice! Those ribbons– the ones you admired so much, Violet– contain a powerful binding spell and, while they are in her mane, Daffodil must obey my every command. For some reason, she thought that she could warn you tonight about what was going on, but she should have known better. I have forbidden her to speak of my plans so, even if she had met with you, she couldn't have told you anything." Daffodil gave Twinkle a desperate look. "I thought I would find a way and…" she gasped and fell silent as Ms Willow glared at her. "Let us go!" Violet cried. "What?" sneered Ms Willow. "And have you return to school and tell everyone about me? I think not. You will stay here while I see out my scheme to force every unicorn on Unicorn Island to do my bidding. I have spent years preparing for this. I am not going to let one foolish girl and her unicorn, who hasn't even found his magic, stop me." She