Chapter 7

CHAPTER SEVEN It was getting late when they arrived back at the village. Everywhere was looking much tidier and Ms Rosemary sent the girls back to their camp. All Zara, Aisha and Lily talked about on the way was the mysterious man and the button. Phoebe got quieter and quieter. When they reached the tents, the unicorns trotted back down to the beach to have a roll on the sand and a paddle in the sea. Phoebe went to the store tent to get Shimmer some sky berries for when he got back. Lily followed her. "Are you all right, Phoebe? You don't seem yourself." Phoebe wondered whether to tell Lily the truth

even though Shimmer thought she should just keep lying. She loved him to bits but she wasn't sure he was right this time. Teasing Zara and telling a few small stories was one thing, but letting her arrange a midnight stake-out and getting her hopes up that they were actually going to catch the man doing dark magic was quite another. She decided to confess. "I've… I've done something really stupid, Lily." "What?" Lily asked in concern. Taking a deep breath, Phoebe told her everything. "Oh, Phoebe," said Lily, shaking her head. "What should I do?" Phoebe muttered. "You have to own up," said Lily decisively. "Zara will be cross but she'll get over it. You can't keep leading her on." Phoebe nodded, knowing she was right. "I'd better go and tell her now." Lily put an arm round her. "You'll feel much better once you've confessed. I'll finish up here and feed all the unicorns. You go and see Zara. Good luck!" "Thanks." Once Phoebe made her mind up

about something she liked to get on with it immediately. She went to her and Zara's tent and lifted the tent flap. Zara was inside, writing neat notes in her detective notebook, frowning in concentration. "Um, Zara," said Phoebe, her heart beating uncomfortably fast. "Can I talk to you?" Zara looked up. "Can it wait? I want to draw a picture of the button so we've got a record of it in case we lose it. I'm going to look to see if the man left any more clues while we're on the stakeout." Phoebe's tummy twisted into a knot as she ducked inside "Erm, about this stake out. I need

to tell you something…" As Phoebe confessed, Zara's smile faded. "It was all made up?" Her voice rose. "You didn't see a man there? You lied to me!" She threw her notebook down. Unhappiness curled through Phoebe as she saw the hurt and disappointment in Zara's eyes. "I'm sorry." "So, this button isn't a clue? It probably doesn't have anything to do with him!" said Zara. "It might," Phoebe pointed out. "The villagers did say they had seen him walking near there. It's just I didn't actually see him in the cottage– or at all." "I can't believe you lied to me, Phoebe!" Zara said angrily. "Did you think it was funny, to trick me? The island is in danger. It's not a joke! I thought you really wanted to help solve the mystery." "I do and I am sorry. I just said that stuff about the man without thinking." "Well, maybe you should think in future!" Zara exclaimed. "Oh, go away!" Phoebe backed away and the tent flap closed.

She almost never cried but now she could feel tears stinging her eyes. She hated knowing she had hurt and upset one of her best friends. She crept off to find Shimmer. He was tucking into the bucket of sky berries Lily had left for him. "Hi, Phoebe," he said, through a mouthful of berries. "We just had the best water fight in the sea. I'm so good at splashing, and guess what, we saw Mr Longnose down by the water. I almost got him with a big splash!" He saw her face and broke off. "What's the matter?" "Zara is really cross with me," Phoebe confessed. "I told her that I made up the story about seeing the man." Shimmer looked astonished. "What did you do that for?" "I felt bad that she was planning the stake-out and everything based on what I said I saw. Now she's really angry and not talking to me." Shimmer huffed. "Oh, she's just being silly and making a big deal out of nothing. Ignore her." Phoebe stroked his mane but didn't say anything. It was lovely of him to be on her side

but she was the one in the wrong, not Zara. Shimmer nudged her. "Hey, should we go to the beach? Then you can see how brilliant I am at splashing. If I stamp my hoof like this–" Shimmer struck the ground with a hoof– "POW! The water explodes everywhere!" Phoebe caught something bright pink flicker around Shimmer's hoof. Her eyes widened. "Shimmer, what was that?" "What?" he said. "I saw a spark fly up. Do it again, Shimmer. Stamp your hoof!" "Are you tricking me?" he said suspiciously. "No!" Shimmer half-heartedly banged his hoof on the ground, looking as if he didn't trust Phoebe. "Harder!" she urged him. Shimmer smacked his hoof to the floor with a bang. "Like that? Woah!" A tiny bolt of magic shot from his hoof, criss-crossing over the grass and striking a stone. CRACK! The stone shattered, leaving a strong, sugary smell hanging in the air. Phoebe gawped at Shimmer. "You've found