Chapter 2

CHAPTER TWO Zara vaulted on to her unicorn, Moonbeam. The others followed her lead and soon they were all cantering out of the stable yard and past Sparkle Lake. The fountain in the middle of the lake brought magical water up from the centre of the earth that then flowed all around Unicorn Island. The water made the crops and animals on the island flourish, and when the unicorns drank it, it strengthened their powers. When students of the academy graduated, they became guardians of the island and helped protect its magical waters. Aisha planned to be a composer or a musician, but she loved knowing that she and Silver would also work together, protecting their beautiful island. Near the meadows, the girls passed their riding teacher, Ms Tulip. She was heading for the stables with Mr Longnose, a school inspector. He was a tall, gangly man with a pointed nose and sharp eyes and he always seemed to think he knew best. She felt sorry for Ms Tulip, having to listen to him ramble on as they walked. Poor Ms Tulip! "Let's not go near Mr Nosey Parker," muttered Phoebe. "He'll only ask where we're going!" "I don't trust him one bit," said Zara darkly. Giving Mr Longnose and Ms Tulip a wide berth, they cantered into the meadow. They dismounted next to a sparkling stream and the girls sat down on some nearby tree stumps while the unicorns splashed into the icy water, whinnying and kicking it at each other. Silver loved to play, and he

stamped his hooves harder than anyone, laughing when he soaked the others. Aisha grinned. She loved Silver so much. He was so confident and cheerful. "Right, Amethyst dorm, down to business!" said Zara, pulling a pen and notebook out of her pocket. "I think someone is making these

hailstorms happen and I suspect it's the same mystery person who's caused all the other problems this year–the tornadoes, the tidal wave and the drought. If we want Unicorn Academy to stay open, we need to work out who is responsible and stop them." She opened her notebook. "Let's examine what we know." "The person doing these things is a man," Lily put in. "We've heard him speak every time there's been a weather disaster." "You cannot stop me," said Phoebe, making her voice sound deep and spooky, just like the voice they had heard in the aftermath of the weather disasters. Aisha grinned. "That's a perfect impression, Phoebs!" Phoebe looked pleased. She loved to act. "Moonbeam has also seen visions of a man," said Zara. Moonbeam, her unicorn, had magic that gave her glimpses of the future and helped her foresee danger. "He's tall and skinny and wears a cloak. Because of the types of disasters, we can also conclude that our suspect is someone who knows a lot about the weather." "Mr Longnose!" said Lily. "He's tall and thin and he studied weather and geology before he became an inspector. He's also been sneaking round the school using secret tunnels!" "And he was with us when the tidal wave hit the coast," said Phoebe. "Remember how he insisted we went camping at that exact spot! He dragged us into danger!" "Also, we found a book in his tent with notes about how to cause purple tornadoes, volcanic eruptions and droughts," said Zara triumphantly. "That's real evidence!" Aisha frowned. "But when we showed the notebook to Ms Nettles, she told us that it wasn't Mr Longnose's handwriting and that the initials inside it were 'LT'. Mr Longnose's name is Ivor. His initials are IL. He can't have written the notes in that book, but it is odd he had it in his tent." "The man's voice didn't sound anything like Mr Longnose's either," said Phoebe. "It was much deeper." Zara tapped her pen against her mouth. "OK, how about this theory? What if Mr Longnose is working with the LT who wrote the notes in that book?"

"LT!" shrieked Phoebe, leaping to her feet. "Ms Tulip's name is Larissa so her initials are LT! She and Mr Longnose are always hanging round together at the moment. Maybe they're in league!" "Phoebe, no! Ms Tulip is lovely. She wouldn't want to hurt the island or the unicorns," protested Lily. "The voice in the storm definitely wasn't Ms Tulip's voice," Aisha added. Phoebe huffed. "Oh, this is all so confusing. It's making my head ache." Zara frowned. "The main thing is that we suspect Mr Longnose is involved somehow. He may very well be working in league with someone. I propose we do some serious spying on him. Agreed?" "Agreed!" everyone cried. Zara shut her notebook with a snap. "Good. I declare this meeting closed. Now, crossnet time!"

They jumped up. The crossnet pitch was next to the meadow. While the other girls gathered the unicorns, Phoebe ran to the little hut beside the pitch and took out crossnet sticks–wooden poles with nets at the top–and the crossnet ball. Soon the four friends and their unicorns were racing up and down the pitch. Zara and Phoebe were on one team and Lily and Aisha on the other. There were two hoops on the edges of the pitch, suspended from trees. The ball had to be thrown from person to person using the sticks and when a team threw it into their hoop, they scored a point. Magic wasn't allowed, but everyone knew it was more fun if that rule was broken. "Yay!" Phoebe caught the ball but, just as she aimed for the goal, the ball rose out of her net and floated away. "Oi!" she yelled indignantly. Lily, giggling, held out her net as Feather brought the ball to them using her moving magic. Seconds before it reached Lily, Zara and Moonbeam galloped in front of them. Zara swung her stick and snatched the ball from the air. "Faster!" Zara urged, as Moonbeam raced towards the goal. She hurled the ball forward and it dropped through the hoop. "Yay! Goal to me and

Phoebs!" "How did you do that?" spluttered Lily. Zara grinned. "Moonbeam used her magic to see what you were going to do so we stopped you!" Lily scooped the ball up with her net and rode to the centre to start the next point. She threw it to Aisha, who caught it. Silver charged towards their goal, but as Aisha threw it at the hoop, the ball seemed to hit something invisible. Rebounding, it flew straight down the pitch and into Phoebe's waiting net. Phoebe chucked it straight into her and Zara's hoop. "Two-zero!" she whooped. Getting a strong whiff of burnt sugar, Aisha knew Shimmer had used his magic–he could make balls of energy. "It's not fair!" sighed Silver. "I wish I had magic too." "We'll find out what your magic is soon," she said. Silver's ears pricked. "You're right," he said. "I bet I'll discover my powers any day now!" They started to play another point but as Lily scored, Aisha noticed something. "It's getting really dark." They all looked up. The sun had disappeared behind heavy black clouds. Zara looked alarmed. "Those look like hail clouds. We'd better get inside!" They put the equipment away and set off across the meadow at a gallop. They were only just in time. As they dived into the stables, huge hailstones started to fall. They watched from the doorway as the hailstones dropped like stones and splintered into icy shards on the ground.