Chapter 6

Chapter six, The tunnel sloped downwards. Mosses and lichen clung to the craggy walls and the unicorns' hooves clattered on the stony floor. After they had been riding for some time, the ground levelled out. Several other tunnels joined theirs but at every junction they came to there was a little stone carving of Daybreak showing them which way to go. Lyra could hardly contain her excitement. Were they really about to find another piece of the treasure map? "Is that water?" asked Sienna as they heard a tinkly sound in the distance. "It can't be; we're underground," said Ivy. "Rivers and streams often run underground," said Evie as they rode on.

"Oh, wow!" Lyra breathed as they rounded another corner and the tunnel opened into a vast cavern. Its high ceiling arched above them and a glittering rainbow-coloured river flowed through it. The rocky walls glowed softly with a strange shimmering light. Gold-striped fish leapt in

and out of the water while huge dragonflies with green iridescent wings darted above them. "Which way do we go?" said Ivy, looking up and down the river. "Here's another picture," Sienna said excitedly, as she stretched down from Sparkle's back to point at a boulder to the right. Sure enough, the boulder was marked with a tiny Daybreak. They rode beside the river, following the carvings until a sheer wall of rock rose up in front of them and the river disappeared into a narrow hole to continue its underground path. There was no way they could follow it. To their right were two tunnels. "Which one should we take?" Lyra shone her torch into each of them, looking for another tiny picture of a unicorn, but she couldn't find one anywhere. "That tunnel looks bigger. I bet it's this way," cried Sienna, riding past Lyra and Misty. Evie and Sunshine and Ivy and Flame followed her. Lyra felt a flicker of annoyance. This was her expedition, not Sienna's! "Hurry up, we're getting left behind," she said to Misty, who was stepping very cautiously over the uneven floor. The tunnel twisted and turned until they saw a circle of light ahead. "That must be the way out," said Evie. "But we still haven't found the map," protested Lyra. The others seemed more interested in seeing where they were going to come out. "I bet we're in the mountains," said Sienna. "Or we've walked a circle and we're back in the woods," said Evie. Lyra switched off her torch as they emerged, blinking, into the daylight. There was an old brick shed in front of them with a compost heap and a willow tree beside it. "Where are we?" asked Sienna, looking around. "We're in the vegetable garden," said Lyra as she rode Misty round the shed and saw the school gardens spread out in front of her. "Look," whispered Evie, who had followed her. "Sam and Flash are over there. It looks like they're cooling off after the crossnet tournament." "I wonder which dorm won," said Sienna. "I hope it wasn't Topaz or we'll never hear the end of it." "Don't let Sam see us," said Lyra. "He'll only want to know what

we've been doing." They ducked back behind the dilapidated shed and waited for Sam and Flash to leave before they headed back to the stables. On their way they saw a group of students from Sapphire dorm clustered round a dainty unicorn with a bright orange and gold mane. "What's going on?" said Ivy curiously. Lexi and Katy, two of the girls in Sapphire dorm, saw them and waved. "Come and watch!" Lexi called. "Elise and Peony have just discovered Peony's magic. They're first in the year." "What can Peony do?" Lyra asked eagerly. Elise, a tall girl with curly red hair, beamed. "She's got summoning magic." She put her hand on her unicorn's neck. "Peony, please will you get my hoodie from the stables?" Peony stamped a hoof, blue sparkles flew up and a sweet smell of burnt sugar filled the air. A few seconds later, a blue hoodie came flying towards them. It hit Peony's head and she snorted in surprise as it caught on her ears and dangled from them.

Elise giggled. "We've still got some practising to do, but isn't it amazing?" She hugged Peony who nuzzled her. "It's awesome!" said Lyra, very pleased for Elise and Peony, but also feeling a flash of jealousy. Elise was so lucky! When would Misty discover her magic? "How did you find it out?" said Sienna, who also looked a bit envious. "It was when we were playing crossnet," said Elise. "The ball just kept flying out of other people's nets into mine!" "We were about to win the match twenty goals to one," said Lexi, "but then Ms Nettles realised what was going on and she gave the match to Topaz dorm." "Who won the tournament overall?" asked Ivy. "Topaz," said Katy.

Sienna groaned. Elise gave them a curious look. "Where were you lot?" "We had something else to do," Lyra said vaguely. Katy grinned. "The Topaz boys said you were scared they'd beat you!" "As if!" said Sienna. "I can't believe it," she went on grumpily as they rode away. "Now the boys think we were too chicken to play against them. If we'd been playing crossnet, we might have won the tournament and maybe one of our unicorns would have discovered their magic. Instead we just got to ride down lots of tunnels and found nothing at all." "We must have taken a wrong turning somewhere," said Lyra. "We should go back and try again. There's just enough time before dinner…" The others shook their heads. "No, not now. The unicorns are tired," said Evie. "And I'm hungry," said Ivy. "But—" Lyra began. "Chill!" Ivy interrupted. "Wherever the map is hidden, it's safe, Lyra." Sienna nodded. "Ivy's right. We can have another go at finding it tomorrow or at the weekend." Lyra sighed. She knew the others were right but she wanted to find the map now!