Chapter 3

CHAPTER 3 "Ava, this is brilliant." Olivia stared at the neat rows of seedlings that Ava and Star had planted that morning. Ava's plot in the kitchen gardens was laid out in sections, with a flower bed tucked away in a corner and sheltered on two sides by a red- brick wall. "It's not up to much right now," Ava apologized, gesturing around her plot. "Most of the plants look dead, but they're not. They're sleeping. They'll start flowering when the air and ground warm up some more." "I think it's awesome," said Sophia loyally. "Which one is knitbone?" "That's here." Ava jumped from Star and carefully walked between two rows of herbs. She stopped at a pale-green plant with spiky leaves in the shape of a fish bone and carefully removed a sprig. "Knitbone has tiny red flowers in the spring. Look here, you can just see the buds. You have to

be careful not to confuse it with boneheal—it's very similar but with feathery leaves." "You're so clever to know so much," said Olivia, studying the knitbone cutting. Ava let a wing of dark hair fall across her face to hide her embarrassment as she stored the knitbone in the backpack. Olivia couldn't be more wrong. She definitely wasn't clever. "I like plants, so I guess it's easy for me to remember stuff about them. What else do we need to find?" Sophia read the list again. "There's a snowy owl nest in the orchard," Ava said. "Let's go there next." "I'm hungry," said Sophia. She rummaged in the bag and found some delicious breakfast pastries. "Let's eat these as we go!" They set off, munching on the cinnamon and apple pastries. Soon, thanks to Ava's knowledge of the plants and animals at the academy, they had collected a snowy owl feather, a twig of conkhorn, and two blue stones. Then she suggested they look for fox fur near the boat swing on the playground. "I go there to think sometimes, and I've seen the foxes there, especially at dusk when the cubs come out to play."

They raced to the playground. "You're right. Here's some fur!" exclaimed Olivia as she pulled a snagged piece of fox fur from the boat swing. "I'm very glad we have you, Ava." "Yes, you're so smart. You definitely know more about plants and wildlife than anyone else at the school," said Sophia. Ava chuckled to hide her blushes. Her friends were lovely even if they were wrong. "Stop it, you two. My head's getting so big it's not going to fit through the door when I get back to school." She frowned. "Hang on. What's that noise? It sounds like someone screaming!" They all listened. There were definitely screams coming from a little way off in a grove of trees. "Quick! Someone must be in trouble!" Sophia said, urging Rainbow into a fast canter. The unicorns thundered along the path and into the trees. They skidded to a halt as they saw Valentina, her back to a tree, screeching and waving a stick around while her friends, Delia and Jacinta, clung to each other on the path. "It's going to eat me!" Valentina was crying. Golden Briar, Valentina's unicorn, saw Ava and the others. "Help!" he whinnied. "Please help!"

Ava felt a shiver of fear. What was going on? Jacinta's and Delia's unicorns collided on the path as they snorted and pranced around. "What is it?" asked Sophia, scanning the area frantically. "What's going to eat you?" "That…that…sp…sp…!" The words stuck in Valentina's throat. "SPIDER!" she choked out, pointing in front of her. "Spider?" echoed Ava. She hurried forward, her eyes widening as she spotted a plump spider, the size of an apple, just in front of Valentina. It had long legs and googly eyes and was the hairiest spider Ava had ever seen. It scuttled a few steps closer to Valentina, its huge eyes full of hope.

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"Help!" Valentina turned whiter than a snowy- owl feather. "I want Mooooommy!" she screamed. The spider scuttled closer, and Valentina took aim, hurling a stick at it. "Stop!" shouted Ava. "It's not dangerous!" Luckily, Valentina missed. The terrified spider leaped past her and scuttled up a tree. "NEVER do that again!" Ava stormed over to Valentina. "Do not EVER hurt a spider or any creature. Not unless it attacks you. That's a cave spider. They're quite harmless." "Harmless?" Valentina repeated, the color returning to her cheeks as she backed hastily away from the tree. Ava nodded. "Cave spiders live underground and usually only come out at night. This one must be lost." She picked up Valentina's stick, snapped it in half, and threw the pieces under a bush. "I can't believe you did that," she continued hotly. "You scared the poor thing so much it's run up into a tree. What are we going to do? If we leave it there, it might get eaten by a bird." "Like I care!" exclaimed Valentina. "Stupid