Chapter 8

CHAPTER EIGHT The unicorns headed through the trees. As they trotted down the track, Ariana heard the sound of trickling water. "Do you think that's the Verdant Falls?" Matilda said. Freya frowned. "No. The Verdant Falls is a really powerful waterfall. I've seen pictures in books. The water comes flowing out of a hole in a cliff face and lands in a pool. It would make a much louder noise than that." "I can definitely smell water this way," said Crystal, sniffing the air again.

They rounded a bend and stopped. Ahead of them was a rocky cliff face. A tiny stream of water was trickling out of a cave near the top. It was falling into a sludgy brown pool at the bottom. The fox walked to the edge of the pool. Then it looked at the girls. "Is that the magic waterfall?" asked Rosa in surprise. "It's not very impressive." "It can't be the Verdant Falls," said Freya. "There isn't enough water." She looked around. "Everything else looks the same as the pictures though– the cliff, the pool at the bottom…" She trailed off. "I'm sure this is the falls, but what's happened to it?" Ariana caught her breath. "Maybe someone has done something to stop the water flowing properly." The fox pricked its large red ears. "You're very friendly, aren't you?" said Rosa, smiling. The young fox yapped happily and bounded closer, its bushy tail wagging.

"How sweet!" The fox cub rolled over on to its back to have its fluffy tummy tickled, and Rosa got off Crystal to stroke it. After a bit, the cub got to its feet and ran to the pool. The girls and their unicorns watched as it lapped up a few mouthfuls of water with its pink tongue. As the cub swallowed, it stiffened. It looked round at them and the hackles on the back of its neck

rose. Lowering its head, the cub bared its teeth and snarled. Its eyes glowed and then it pounced. Whisper instantly stamped his hoof. Sparks flew up and landed on the cub's head. With a surprised bark, it skidded to a halt. The glow faded from its eyes. The cub shook its head. Whining in confusion, it trotted over to the girls. Rosa crouched down and patted it. "You clever thing," she said. "You're trying to tell us that there's something wrong with the water." Ariana stroked Whisper. "Well done. Are you OK?" He nodded. "The cub was smart enough not to drink too much water, so I only had to use a little bit of magic. We've got to do something though, Ariana. We can't let the animals all turn bad!" "I know," she said. Violet and Matilda had dismounted and were making a fuss of the little fox cub with Rosa.

Meanwhile, Freya had got off Honey and was examining the water. "Someone might have put a dark magic spell on this pool and there's no fresh water to wash it clean," she said, wading through the shallow water at the edge. She turned over the nearby rocks and boulders. "There may be some clues somewhere. Come and help me look." The others joined her, but Ariana hesitated. It looked very muddy and wet. "Why don't we go to the top of the cliff, Ariana, and see if we can find anything up there?" said Whisper. "We might find out why the water isn't flowing properly out of the cave." "OK." Ariana liked that idea far better than the thought of rootling around in the mud. She told the others what they were doing. "We'll go up there," she said, pointing to a path that led up to the top of the cliff. "All right, shout if you find anything," said Rosa.

Whisper followed the path up the cliff. When they were nearly at the top, Ariana dismounted and they cautiously approached the cliff edge so they could look down at the hole the water should be flowing from. Whisper's hooves slipped on the wet rocks as he got closer to the edge. "Wait!" Ariana said, getting off his back. "It's not safe. Have you seen how steep the drop is to the pool below? You stay here and I'll go on. I can crawl." "Are you sure?" said Whisper. "You'll get wet and dirty." "I don't care." Ariana thought about the brave little fox cub. It knew there was something wrong with the water and had got them to follow it. "The others are right– we have to find out what's going on." She shrugged off her rucksack and, dropping to her hands and knees, crawled to the cliff edge. She flattened her tummy to the ground,