Chapter 7

Chapter seven Back in the stables, Lyra brushed Misty down and fetched her some sky berries. "I wish we'd found another piece of the map," she said. "Mmm," said Misty. She gave a shiver. "I didn't like those caves much." "They were fine," said Lyra. "There wasn't anything to be scared of." Misty sighed. "When I was little I found everything scary. My older sister, Dewdrop, used to tease me and say I was scared of my own shadow. She's always been much braver than me." She snorted sadly. "I do miss her. I bet you'd like her, Lyra. She's—" "Hey," Lyra interrupted. She didn't want Misty to start feeling sad about missing her family. "I've just had an idea. Maybe I can persuade the others to go back to the caves tomorrow morning? Ms Rivers has organised a treasure hunt. It's supposed to help us learn more about the school and the grounds but I bet we could sneak off and no one would notice. What do you think?" "You could try," Misty muttered. "I will!" said Lyra. "A treasure hunt is fun but finding another piece of a real treasure map will be even better! See you later, Misty." She left the stable block and caught up with her friends as they reached the school building. "How about this for a plan?" Lyra said as they went up the staircase to Ruby dorm. "Instead of doing the treasure hunt tomorrow, we—" She broke off with a gasp as Sienna opened the door to their dorm.

Their room had been completely ransacked! Clothes spilled from open drawers and the floor was strewn with books, pencils and papers. "What's happened?" asked Evie, her eyes huge. Lyra and the others picked their way through the mess to their beds. "None of my things are missing," said Lyra in relief. "Nor mine," said Ivy and Evie.

"All my stuff is here." Sienna put her hands on her hips. "So who did this?" "And why?" added Evie. Lyra touched the map fragment in her pocket anxiously. Could someone have been looking for it? The only other people who knew about it were Dr Briar and Sam, and Dr Briar wasn't at the school any more. Sam is, though, she thought. "I bet it was the Topaz boys," said Sienna, picking a hoodie up from the floor. "They must have realised we'd been in their dorm yesterday and decided to get their own back." "But why make such a mess?" said Ivy, looking around. "We didn't wreck their room." "Maybe they thought it was funny," said Sienna. "No, they're not that mean," said Evie. "It could have been Sam, not all the boys," said Lyra. "If Dr Briar didn't tell us the truth, and the map is valuable, then she might have asked Sam to try to find it." "But she said it wasn't worth anything. Why would she lie?" asked Evie. "Maybe because it's really valuable. So valuable she didn't want us to realise what we had," said Lyra. Her friends didn't look convinced. Sienna shook her head. "I still think it was the boys just trying to annoy us." "We don't know that," Lyra insisted. "We must find the rest of the map quickly in case Dr Briar is looking for it too. Let's go tomorrow morning when everyone else is doing the treasure hunt." "But we already missed the crossnet match and I want to do treasure hunt!" protested Sienna. "Me too," said Evie. "Ms Rivers said it would help us to learn more about the school." "Tomorrow's our last chance to sneak off without the teachers realising. If we don't go then, we'll have to wait until the weekend," Lyra said impatiently. "The map can wait," said Sienna, shrugging. Evie nodded. "I agree with Sienna." "And me," said Ivy.

"Three votes to one," Sienna told Lyra. Lyra stared at them. She couldn't believe they would rather take part in the fake treasure hunt than look for the map and some genuine treasure. But the others had voted against her. Feeling very frustrated, she tidied away her things, shoving her clothes into her drawers and yanking the covers straight on her bed. She was still feeling fed up when it was time to go and settle the unicorns for the night. She made an excuse so the others would go on to the stables without her and then she stomped after them alone. Misty whinnied when she saw her. "I thought you weren't coming." "Sorry," muttered Lyra grumpily, emptying a bucket of sky berries into her manger. Misty nuzzled her. "Are you OK?" "Mmm," said Lyra. "Is this about you wanting to miss the treasure hunt to go and look for the map?" Misty asked. "I heard Sienna telling Sparkle about it."

"The map fragment must be important for Sam to go through our things," said Lyra. "There's no time to lose. We should continue our search tomorrow." On impulse she added, "I think I'll go on my own. Will you come with me?" Misty looked alarmed. "But what if the teachers find out and we get into trouble?" Lyra shrugged. "Hopefully they won't." "Lyra, I don't think you should do this." Lyra felt a sharp stab of frustration. "Oh, Misty!" she snapped. "Why do you always have to be so boring?" Misty's eyes widened with hurt and Lyra instantly felt awful. She'd spoken sharply because she was cross and it was no excuse. "Sorry, I didn't mean it," she said quickly as Misty hung her head.

"I really didn't," said Lyra, but Misty just continued to stare at the floor. Just then, Evie looked over the door. "There you are, Lyra. Are you coming? We need to get back before the bedtime bell." Lyra hesitated. She didn't want to leave Misty when she'd hurt her feelings but the teachers were very strict about everyone being back in their dorm on time. She gave Misty a quick hug. "Goodnight," she said, but Misty didn't reply. Lyra walked back to the dorm feeling very guilty. She shouldn't have snapped at Misty. She was fed up but it wasn't fair to take it out on her sweet-natured unicorn. "Are you OK?" Evie asked as they got into their pyjamas. "You've been really quiet this evening." "I've got a headache," Lyra lied. As she pulled the soft, feather-filled duvet over her head, remorse was coursing through her. I'll make it up to Misty first thing in the morning, she promised herself.