Chapter 9

CHAPTER NINE A few minutes later, Ariana was back outside the cave, balancing on the rocky footholds and clinging on with one hand. In the other, she held the collapsible fishing net she'd packed. She'd extended the pole to its limit and it was now several metres long. "What are you doing?" Rosa shouted. "Ariana, have you gone nuts?" yelled Matilda. "You can't fish up there!" Ariana ignored them. "Whisper! Are you holding tightly?" she shouted up the cliff. "Yes!" Whisper whinnied. "When are you

coming back?" "In a moment– I hope. But first I have to do this. Hold tight for me!" Taking a deep breath and trusting Whisper with her whole heart, she let go of the handhold and swung the net inside the cave. She swiped it along the blue rain seeds, scooping them up. As she pulled the net back, the river came crashing through the opening, its spray drenching her from head to toe as it fell in a glittering, sparkling sheet into the pool below. "Oh no!" gasped Ariana as she heard her friends' screams of suprise as the water cascaded down. Their screams turned into shrieks of delight as they started splashing around in the rapidly filling pool with their unicorns. "The river's flowing again!" cried Rosa. "The waterfall is back!" shouted Freya. Feeling a rush of relief, Ariana folded up the net, put the rain seeds in her pocket and started

to climb back up the cliff. By the time she reached Whisper, she was shaking with relief and could barely untie the rope from around her waist. She leaned against him and he nuzzled her, his breath drying her damp skin. "What happened? Are you OK?" he demanded. "Yes, I'm fine," she said, hugging him. She quickly told him what had happened. "You're so brave!" he told her, his eyes round with awe. "You saved the waterfall and made it flow again!" Ariana smiled. "Come on, let's go and tell the others," she said. When Whisper and Ariana reached the pool, it had filled completely. A stream was flowing away from it again, carrying the clean magic water off through the trees for all the animals in the woods to drink.

"OK, you have some serious explaining to do!" said Rosa as the girls and their unicorns waded out to greet Ariana and Whisper. "What

do you think you were doing climbing down a cliff, swinging from a rope, disappearing into a cave…?" "It was nothing," said Ariana modestly. "It was so! She was amazing," said Whisper proudly. He told the others what Ariana had done. "Rain seeds," breathed Freya. "I've heard about them." Ariana pulled the bright blue seeds out of her pocket. "They were what was causing all the problems. Someone must have wanted to send the river somewhere else." "But why?" said Violet. "To use its magic in some way, I guess?" suggested Freya. "I wonder who it was." "We'll have to tell the teachers about this, but, wow," Rosa shook her head, "you saved the day, Ariana." "With a fishing net!" said Matilda, her eyes wide.

"I told you all the things I had might come in useful!" said Ariana. "I'm really sorry I teased you for having such a big rucksack now!" Matilda said. "Me too," said Rosa. "It was really clever of you." Ariana grinned. "Just call me Little Miss Organised." "You're brilliant! No one is ever allowed to tease you for being organised again!" Rosa declared. The unicorns whinnied in agreement. Ariana felt as if she was glowing inside. "That's OK. I don't mind being teased." She meant it. As she looked around at her friends' happy faces, she suddenly realised that, for the first time, she really felt part of the dorm– part of a team. Violet hugged her. "Oh, sorry," she said as she looked at the mud she'd just left on Ariana. She giggled happily. "Oh dear, I guess we all look like mud monsters today!"