Chapter 2

CHAPTER TWO After chatting with Dancer, and painting his hooves with the glittery hoof polish, Layla hurried back to the academy for lunch. Rainbows sparkled on the walls of the building, reflecting up from the lake that shone brightly in the latesummer sunshine. Layla ran to the bathroom to wash her hands and found the rest of Sapphire dorm there. "I think it's Ms Nettles," Scarlett was saying. "What's Ms Nettles?" asked Layla. "We were talking about the time someone used magic rain seeds to flood the lake," said

Isabel. "And I think it was Ms Nettles. She's so mean," said Scarlett. Isabel, Scarlett's best friend, nodded. "I bet she thought if she could get the academy closed down, she'd get an extra-long holiday. She really doesn't like the students being here." "Which is odd for a teacher," said Sophia thoughtfully. "She is odd though," said Olivia. "I mean, who collects beetles for a hobby?" "Well, beetles are quite—" Layla broke off as her friends stared at her. She'd been going to say interesting but changed her mind. "Weird," she finished. "Do you really think Ms Nettles is the person causing all the trouble?" "I do," said Ava. "Remember how she was on the mountainside when there weren't any sky berries for the unicorns to eat and we were chased by the scary cloaked figure on a unicorn? It could easily have been her, couldn't

it, Sophia?" Ava rearranged the blue sprig of forget-me-nots she always wore in her dark hair. Sophia nodded. "And when we were looking for berries, the plants were bewitched and grew into a thorny cage, trapping us in. Thyme, Ms Nettles' unicorn, has plant magic so he could have made that happen." Ava nodded, her brown eyes serious. "I remember her acting suspiciously by the lake just before it froze over," said Scarlett "OK, don't all freak out," said Olivia. "But guess who I saw this morning, down by the lake, drinking some sort of potion from a tiny black bottle? Ms Nettles! And after that she climbed a tree!" They all stared. "She was drinking a potion and climbing a tree?" echoed Sophia. Olivia nodded. "That is definitely weird," breathed Ava. "Why would she do those things?"

"Because she's up to no good, of course. We should tell Ms Primrose," said Isabel. "We can't," Layla put in. "Ms Primrose has just left. I saw her on Sage. She had a backpack with her and it looked as if she was going to be away for a while." "Who's in charge then?" said Scarlett. Layla gulped. "Ms Nettles." Her tummy did a somersault. If the others were right and she was to blame for the bad magic, what would happen now Ms Primrose had gone away? Judging by her friends' faces she could see they were thinking the same. "This calls for action," said Isabel decisively. "I vote we keep a close eye on Ms Nettles while Ms Primrose is away. If she's up to no good, we'll get proof and tell the other teachers." The others all nodded. "We need to catch her red-handed so people will believe us," said Scarlett. She held up her hand. "Sapphire dorm

will save the day!" she exclaimed as the others high-fived her. At lunchtime, in the large dining room overlooking Sparkle Lake, the girls from

Sapphire dorm sat together. Ms Nettles, sitting alone at the teachers' table, gave the girls and boys in the dining room disapproving looks as they laughed and chatted. Layla studied her as her friends talked. Could Ms Nettles really be the culprit? She was very strict and Layla knew the others didn't like her– particularly Isabel and Scarlett, who were always getting into trouble in her lessons– but actually Ms Nettles had never been horrible to her. OK, she could be a bit snappy at times, especially when people messed around, but she was a good teacher and her lessons taught them a lot about the land. Layla often visited the library and she had seen Ms Nettles in there, chatting to the librarian and taking out books. She rubbed her forehead. Ms Nettles was stern and hardly ever smiled but was she bad? And why would she want to shut the school down? If that happened, she would lose her job– and her home.