Chapter 10

CHAPTER TEN The magic set them down safely back in the hall of the academy. For a moment, they all stood there, catching their breath. "That was the scariest thing EVER!" said Phoebe shakily. For once, Zara didn't tease her for being overly dramatic. "It really was. Oh, Moonbeam!" She leaned forward and flung her arms round Moonbeam's neck as she buried her face in her long silver mane. "Thank you so much for saving me– twice. Seer magic is awesome." Moonbeam turned her head to nuzzle her. "I didn't see everything. My magic only gave me glimpses. I saw visions of you and the rocks falling. I heard a man's evil laughter and I worked out what was going to happen." Moonbeam smiled shyly at Zara. "I used the evidence. I could see that the bear's nose didn't look very stable. When the

tremors started, I guessed that you would fall and the rocks would come crashing down on you so I worked out how to keep you safe. I'm not going to rely just on predictions in the future, I'll use evidence too." Zara grinned. "And I'm definitely not going to rely just on evidence, I'm going to listen to your feelings. If it hadn't been for your magic, Moonbeam, we wouldn't have found the sun pearls. I wish I'd listened to you sooner." Phoebe gasped and pointed. "Your hair! Zara! You've got a silver streak– the same colour as Moonbeam's mane. You've bonded!" Zara swept her fingers through her hair, searching for the coloured streak. She gasped. Phoebe was right! The other unicorns whinnied and the girls cheered. "You've bonded! You've bonded!" sung Aisha. Zara beamed. She and Moonbeam were partners for life now and would be able to graduate together at the end of the year.

"Let's go and break the sun pearls' spell!" Moonbeam whinnied. "We can use Sparkle Lake." They cantered out of the school hall and raced to the lake. The water was shrinking fast. The lake was much smaller than it usually was. "Ready to break the drought?" Zara called. "Ready!" her friends yelled back. They walked on to the solid mud surrounding the lake and stood in a circle. Zara pulled out the sun pearls and placed them on the mud in a little pile. They glittered brightly in the sunshine. "Unicorns, it's your turn," said Zara. "We need one

of you to cry." "I'll do it," Moonbeam said softly. She smiled at Zara and a happy tear rolled down her cheek. "I'm just so glad that you believe in me now and we've bonded." She let her tear fall on the pyramid of sun pearls. The sun pearls hissed as her tear fell on them and they began to glow a blueish-green. A fresh wind blew up and grey rain clouds scudded across the sky. The sun disappeared behind the clouds and for once none of the girls minded.

We did it!" Zara jumped up and down in joy as the rain fell, soaking everyone and sinking into the parched ground. The girls ran to the banks and spun round, letting the rain splash on to their faces as all around them the dry grass began to turn back to green and the wilting flowers came to life again, the flower heads bursting into bloom. Soaked but happy, the girls rode through the rain to the stable block. Just as they reached it, Ms Nettles came cantering towards them on her unicorn, Thyme. "Amethyst dorm! Whatever are you doing back?" she said in concern. "Where are Ms Tulip and Mr Longnose?" "We were looking for you, Ms Nettles, but you weren't here," said Zara, ignoring her questions. "I was at an urgent meeting with the school governors to discuss the extreme weather, but the measures we put in place are no longer needed," said Ms Nettles. "Can you believe it, girls?" Her face broke into a smile, very different from her usual strict expression. "I never thought I'd be so happy to see rain!" "We made it happen!" Phoebe said. Ms Nettles blinked. "You did? How?" They all explained.

"It's got to be Mr Longnose who's to blame for everything!" Zara finished. "You have to do something about him, Ms Nettles." "Have you got the notebook?" Ms Nettles said quickly. Zara handed it over. Ms Nettles opened it. "But this isn't Mr Longnose's handwriting," she said. She looked inside the front page. "And look, here are some initials," she pointed to some faded letters. "L.T. Not E.L, which are Mr Longnose's initials. He may have had the book in his tent, but it doesn't look like it belongs to him." "He could still have used it even if he didn't write it!" argued Zara. "We're sure it's him, Ms Nettles!" said Lily. "Girls, what you are accusing Mr Longnose of is a very serious crime," said Ms Nettles. "We cannot make accusations without sufficient evidence." "You know something?" said Aisha suddenly. "I'm not sure it is Mr Longnose."