Chapter 1

Ariana and Whisper JULIE SYKES. illustrated by LUCY TRUMAN

CHAPTER ONE Ariana woke to the sound of her unicorn alarm clock whinnying good morning. She stretched out a hand and switched it off, then carefully folded back her blue and silver duvet and swung her legs out of bed. Her toes sank into something soft and she frowned. What was that? Leaning over, Ariana saw Matilda's hoodie crumpled on the floor. "Matilda!" Ariana sighed, looking across at the girl in the next bed. Even in sleep, Matilda somehow managed to make Diamond dorm look untidy. Her red hair was spread over her

pillow in a sea of tangles and her duvet hung from the edge of the bed. As Ariana picked up the hoodie, a large spider with red stripes on its back scuttled across the sleeve. Ariana squealed and flung the hoodie back down, waking Rosa, Freya and Violet. "Ariana, are you all right?" said Violet, sitting up quickly. "What's going on?" demanded Freya. "Why did you scream?" said Rosa. Only Matilda slept on, snoring softly. "There's a sp… sp… spider," Ariana stuttered, pointing at the floor where the spider was picking its way over Matilda's hoodie.

"I don't like spiders." "Is that all?" Rosa groaned, flopping back against her pillow. "Poor spider. It's probably trying to find its way outside," said Violet, pushing her dark plait over her shoulder and going to investigate. "Let's help it," said Freya, joining her. Gently, she scooped the spider up in her hands. "Aren't the red stripes on its back unusual? I've never seen one like it before. Open the window for me, Ariana." Ariana stared at Freya in horror. What was she doing picking it up? Red meant danger, didn't it? What if the spider bit her? "The window, Ariana!" Freya said impatiently. Ariana hurried to the window and flung it wide open. She shrank back as Freya passed her, just in case the spider tried to escape. "Be careful!" Freya rolled her eyes scornfully. "I can't

believe you're scared of spiders. It's not going to hurt us. Surely you know there are no dangerous spiders on Unicorn Island?" Ariana bit her lip, not wanting to admit she didn't know much about creepy-crawlies. She just knew she didn't like them! Freya held the spider as it sent out a thread of silk and sailed down the wall, but before she could close the window, Ariana saw a small emerald-green lizard climbing up the side of her wardrobe.

"Watch out!" she shrieked. "Ariana, don't freak out. It's just a harmless lizard," said Violet. She caught it and put it on the window sill. "It's very pretty. I wonder where it came from– and the spider." "Probably from Matilda. She's so untidy!" said Ariana, feeling better now that the spider and lizard were safely outside the dorm. "I bet