Chapter 5

Chapter five, Phoebe groaned as she leafed through a big pile of books in the library the next morning. "I wish we were out riding instead of being cooped up here." "Me too," sighed Aisha. She wished she could be playing her flute instead of writing reports on extreme weather for Mr Longnose. He would be back in a few hours and would expect the work done by then. "There's nothing about magic hailstorms in these books," said Lily. "I thought this detention might be a good chance to try and find out more but all the hailstorms I've read about are normal ones." "This is interesting," said Zara, holding up a thick leather book. "It's about avalanches." "So's this," said Aisha. "It's all about the Frozen Wastelands, where there are lots of dangerous things like avalanches and sabre-toothed bears. There's also a glacier that has special pink diamonds trapped under the ice. If you find one, you can use it to undo any freezing spell, no matter how strong. It sounds like an amazing place." "This one mentions the Frozen Wastelands too," said Lily, holding up a very old, thin book. "It was tucked behind another book at the back of the bookshelf. It's a biography about Count Thornberry. It says he has a secret laboratory in the ice caves of the Diamond Glacier." "He's the person Mr Longnose is always going on about, isn't he?" said Aisha.

"I thought he lived in the south of the island," said Zara. "His family castle is there but his lab is in the Frozen Wastelands according to this," said Lily. "It says he's worked in secret since he left the university." She read straight from the book: "The count was furious when leading scientists questioned his methods, worried that he could unbalance the natural world by using magic to amplify science. Angered by this criticism, the count became a recluse and refused to share his work with the rest of the scientific community." Lily turned the page. "There's a picture of him here. He looks pretty weird– look at that moustache!" She turned the book round to show everyone. Phoebe squealed. "Oh my gosh!" "What?" demanded Zara. "Look at him!" said Phoebe, jabbing her finger at the picture. "He's tall and thin and wearing a cloak. Could he be the man Moonbeam sees in her visions?" She ticked things off on her fingers. "He fits the physical description. He's clever. He's angry with people on the island, which could mean he wants revenge. He knows about weather…"

Zara pointed at the picture. "And look at this design embroidered on the pocket of his cloak." She gasped. "It's just like the one on the button we found in that ruined cottage, near to where the tidal wave hit!" "Lysander Thornberry," said Lily quickly. "LT. Those were the initials in the notebook about weather disasters that we found in Mr Longnose's tent!" "You know what this means?" exclaimed Phoebe. "Drum roll, please!" She drummed her hands on the desk. "I absolutely bet that we have just found out who Mr Longnose is in league with!" Aisha stiffened. A drum roll would be perfect for the climax of her piece of music. She tried to fit one into the music in her head. Yes! It was the final flourish she needed! She was so excited, she barely heard the rest of her friends' conversation. "It's a good theory, Phoebs," said Zara, "but we need actual evidence before we go to Ms Nettles. She's cross enough with us as it is. I vote when we write our reports, we don't put in any of this stuff about Count Thornberry. We don't want to alert Mr Longnose and make him think we're on to him. Let's keep this between ourselves for now, agreed?" "Agreed," chorused Lily and Phoebe. "Aisha?" said Zara. "Do you agree?" "Yes, of course," said Aisha, busy thinking about drum rolls. Zara smiled. "Great. Let's get our reports written up and then we can be free from detention!" They all started to write apart from Aisha, who started humming again and tapping her fingers on the desk. "Aisha! Write!" Zara ordered, handing her a pen. "Unless you want to stay in here all day!" Aisha definitely didn't want to do that! Grabbing the nearest book, she started to write her report. When Mr Longnose returned, he took their work with a disgruntled sniff. Whooping for joy, the girls raced outside to the stables. On the way to Silver's stall, Aisha grabbed a handful of sky berries for him, stuffing them in her pocket as a treat for later. "Silver! I think I've finally finished the music! Will you listen to it? We can go in the barn– it'll be quieter there." They went into the barn next door to the stable block. Aisha shut the door behind them and they settled behind the piled-up bales of hay.

"I can finally play you the whole piece now," said Aisha, feeding him some of the berries. "All right," said Silver, gobbling them up. "But then I want to talk to you. Moonbeam had another vision while you were doing your detention. She said she saw me vanish again." "Mmm," said Aisha, only half listening as she got her flute out of its case. "Please, Aisha. I really do want to talk about this. I'm worried," said Silver. "There was a plot to kidnap unicorns a year ago and–" He broke off as they heard adult voices outside the barn door. "It's Mr Longnose and Ms Tulip!" "Shh," said Aisha. "They're probably just getting a bale of hay." She stroked Silver's mane as the door creaked open. Mr Longnose and Ms Tulip came in and shut the door behind them. Ms Tulip giggled. "Why are we here, Ivor?" "I needed to talk to you in private, somewhere there are no prying eyes or listening ears," said Mr Longnose. "This is very important." Aisha stiffened. What was Mr Longnose about to say? She leaned forward to listen, her heart pounding. But as she did so, she dropped her flute and it clattered to the ground.

Aisha quickly grabbed it. She and Silver exchanged horrified glances. "What was that?" Mr Longnose snapped. "I don't know," said Ms Tulip. "What should we do?" Aisha mouthed to Silver. Silver looked round desperately but there was nowhere they could hide. A smell of burnt sugar wafted through the air. "The noise came from over there!" Mr Longnose strode across the barn. Aisha froze. She and Silver were about to be discovered! She hugged Silver's neck and buried her face in his thick mane as Mr Longnose peered around the hay bales…