Unicorn School Read online

  Chapter Three

  Sapphire’s Idea

  When Willow and Troy arrived at the Charm Fields for their afternoon lesson, Sapphire and Storm were already waiting for them. ‘How did your revising go?’ asked Storm as they met up.

  ‘Not great,’ Troy sighed. ‘There’s just so much to learn. I wish I knew what the exam questions were going to be but I guess there’s no chance of that. I could never get to see them – not when the elves have all the exam papers in big chests in the mail room.’

  ‘And even if you could see them, that would be cheating,’ Willow reminded him.

  ‘Not really. I wouldn’t be looking at the answers, just the questions,’ said Troy.

  ‘It would still be cheating,’ said Willow. ‘Anyway, it’s silly even thinking about it. There’s no way of seeing the exam papers before the exam.’

  ‘I suppose you could always…’ Sapphire broke off.

  Troy looked at her curiously. ‘You could what?’

  ‘It doesn’t matter,’ said Sapphire, shaking her head.

  Willow glanced at her, wondering what she’d been about to say. But just then Damaris, the charms teacher, flew down. ‘OK, gather round, everyone!’ she whinnied. ‘We’ve got a lot of work to get through today!’

  Willow moved forward with the other Year Ones. It seemed like there was a lot to do every day at the moment!

  For the whole of the charms lesson they practised making Good Luck and Good Health charms and then they had a transformation class. Transformation meant turning one thing into another. That day they were revising how to turn acorns into different types of food and flowers. Tor, the teacher, made them do it over and over again until they got it right.

  By the end of the class Willow’s head was spinning. She’d been planning on revising before supper but decided to go for a walk instead. She looked round for the others to see if they wanted to go with her but Storm had already gone off with Flint to practise some weather magic, and Sapphire and Troy were nowhere to be seen, so Willow set off on her own.

  Carefully, she picked her way down to the beach. She loved walking along the sparkling white sands and watching the crystal-clear waves lapping against the shore. When she reached the beach, she breathed in deeply. The Rose Quartz Cliffs that towered above the white sands glimmered pink in the afternoon sunlight. It was very peaceful. School’s such hard work at the moment, Willow thought as she began to walk along the beach. I wish the exams were over.

  After the exams there was just one week left of term, with all sorts of fun activities planned – a picnic in the woods, a moonlight swim in the sea, a magic tournament in the Assembly Fields. The unicorns would then all get their exam results and break up for the summer holidays the next day. Willow snorted. It was weird to imagine spending six weeks without Sapphire, Storm and Troy. She’d got so used to seeing them every day. I’ll really miss them, Willow realized. I wish we could see each other in the holidays…

  She broke off from her thoughts as she noticed two unicorns standing near the cliffs a bit further along the beach. They were deep in conversation, their backs to the sea, so it took a while before Willow realized it was Troy and Sapphire! What were they doing? She was about to whinny but stopped herself. It would be much more fun to creep up on them instead and make them jump! She trotted over as quietly as she could.

  Maybe they’re about to do some rose-quartz gazing, Willow thought. Unicorns could see anyone anywhere in Arcadia if they touched their horns to a rock of rose quartz and said the name of that person. Sapphire, who took rose-quartz gazing as one of her subjects, was very good at it.

  As Willow got closer, she slowed to a walk and picked her way quietly over the rocks towards them.

  ‘I think I could do it,’ Sapphire was saying to Troy. ‘I’ve been wondering about it all afternoon. It will be difficult because it’s not like seeing a person, but I bet it’s possible.’

  ‘Are you sure you don’t mind?’ said Troy slowly.

  ‘I’m sure,’ said Sapphire. ‘I know how worried you are and that it would really help you.’

  Willow frowned. What were they talking about?

  ‘OK, here goes,’ said Sapphire, stepping up to the cliff. She touched her horn to the rose quartz and whispered something under her breath that Willow couldn’t quite hear. For a long moment Sapphire concentrated hard and then the rock shimmered and she gave a little gasp. ‘Look. It’s working, Troy! A picture’s coming.’

  Troy caught his breath. ‘I can see the papers in the chest! I can read them, Sapphire! Oh, wow!’

  Willow crept closer. Her eyes widened as she saw the picture in the rose quartz – it was an exam paper lying inside a big wooden chest. An exam paper with the heading: Year One: History Exam.

  ‘What are you two doing?’ she whinnied.

  Sapphire and Troy both jumped about a metre in the air. They swung round, their faces full of guilt.

  ‘Willow!’ Troy exclaimed. ‘What are you doing here?’

  Willow ignored the question. ‘You’re cheating!’ she cried. ‘You’re using rose quartz to look at the exam papers!’

  ‘Only the history one,’ said Troy defensively. ‘And I was just having a quick look. I wanted to see the questions so I know what to revise. I wasn’t looking at the answer papers.’

  ‘It’s still cheating! You know it is!’ Willow stared at him furiously and then swung round to Sapphire.

  ‘Sapphire! How could you use your magic for something like that?’

  Sapphire looked very flustered. ‘I… I just thought it would help Troy. I knew how worried he was and I thought if I used my rose-quartz gazing skills to help him, it would be a nice thing to do. I… I didn’t think it was that bad.’

  ‘Well, it is!’ said Willow.

  ‘Don’t be angry with Sapphire,’ Troy said quickly.

  ‘I’m not!’ Willow exclaimed. And she wasn’t really. She knew that, although it was wrong of Sapphire, she’d only done it because she was kind and didn’t like seeing Troy unhappy. ‘I’m angry with you! I can’t believe you’d let Sapphire use her magic so you could cheat.’

  ‘It was only a little look.’ Troy tossed his head. ‘You’re making a huge fuss about nothing. You’re such a goody-goody!’

  ‘I am not!’ Willow spluttered indignantly.

  ‘I suppose you’re going to tell the teachers now,’ Troy said, his expression half-daring, half-scared.

  ‘No,’ said Willow, thinking that she wanted to, but knowing that she couldn’t get her friends into trouble like that.

  Troy looked very relieved. ‘Thanks. Well, I’m going to go to the library to write down the questions before I forget them.’

  ‘But…’ Willow began.

  It was too late. Troy had already flown into the air and was galloping away.

  Chapter Four

  Keeping Secrets

  Willow stared speechlessly after Troy. Beside her, Sapphire gave a distressed whinny. ‘I shouldn’t have used the rose quartz to look. I feel awful now. I was only trying to help.’

  ‘I know,’ Willow said. She took a deep breath and felt her anger fade. ‘It’s not your fault, Sapphire. Not really. Troy shouldn’t have let you use your magic to cheat.’

  ‘Don’t tell anyone,’ begged Sapphire. ‘I know you said you wouldn’t tell the teachers, but please don’t say anything to anyone – not even Storm.’

  ‘We can’t not tell Storm!’ Willow protested. ‘He’s our best friend.’

  ‘But I really don’t want him to know,’ said Sapphire. ‘I feel so bad and it makes Troy look bad too.’ Willow hesitated.

  ‘Please, Willow,’ Sapphire begged.

  ‘OK,’ Willow sighed, although she didn’t like it. ‘I won’t tell Storm.’

  *

  When Willow and Sapphire got back from the beach, they went to have their supper. All meals at Unicorn School were served on four long tables in the Moonlight Meadows. There were holes for buckets in the tabletops and the unicorns
were allowed to eat as much as they wanted. That evening the buckets were filled with a warm bran mash, carrots and apples. Willow and Sapphire found two places just as Troy arrived. He came to stand beside them.

  ‘Hi,’ he said.

  ‘Hi,’ muttered Sapphire awkwardly, but Willow turned her back on him.

  ‘Aren’t you talking to me?’ Troy said.

  ‘No,’ replied Willow.

  Storm came trotting over. ‘Hi, guys!’ he whinnied as he joined them at the table. ‘What have you been doing?’

  Sapphire, Willow and Troy all spoke at the same time.

  ‘N-nothing,’ Sapphire gabbled.

  ‘We’ve been at the beach,’ muttered Willow.

  ‘I’ve been revising,’ said Troy.

  Storm looked surprised. ‘Oh, right. So you’ve all been doing different things then?’

  ‘Yes,’ said Sapphire.

  ‘No,’ said Troy.

  ‘Sort of,’ said Willow.

  Storm looked confused.

  ‘What have you been doing, Storm?’ Willow asked, to change the subject.

  ‘I’ve been practising flying,’ Storm laughed. ‘I’m so useless at it I’m sure I’m going to fail the exam, so I went to talk to Atlas about it after lessons. He was really nice and gave me some exercises to practise. He also said he’ll give me some extra teaching between now and the exams. I’m going to get up early and have a lesson every morning before school starts.’

  ‘That’s really good,’ Sapphire said encouragingly.

  Willow nodded. ‘Yes, it’ll be hard work but I bet you’ll end up passing the exam.’ She shot a meaningful look at Troy. ‘It’s much better than cheating.’ Troy looked uncomfortable.

  ‘Of course it is!’ said Storm.

  ‘Cheating’s dreadful! I’d never do that.’

  ‘No, me neither,’ said Willow, still looking at Troy.

  Troy cleared his throat. ‘I’m not feeling very hungry,’ he said. ‘I… I think I might give supper a miss tonight.’ And, with that, he left the table and hurried away.

  Storm looked surprised. ‘It’s not like Troy to miss supper. Do you think he’s all right? Maybe I should go after him.’

  ‘No, don’t,’ Willow said, knowing that it was the talk of cheating that had made Troy leave the table. ‘He’ll be fine.’

  ‘But he said he didn’t feel hungry,’ Storm said.

  ‘He’ll be fine,’ repeated Willow.

  Storm frowned at her. ‘What’s going on? You’re behaving really strangely.’

  ‘It’s nothing,’ Willow muttered.

  ‘Nothing at all,’ Sapphire added quickly. ‘Mmm.’ She dug her nose into her feed bucket. ‘This bran mash is delicious!’

  ‘Yes, these apples are really yummy,’ said Willow.

  Storm looked from one to the other. ‘There’s something you’re not telling me, isn’t there?’ When neither of them said anything, he looked upset. Burying his nose in his bucket, he didn’t say another word for the rest of the meal.

  Over the next week Willow only really talked to Sapphire. She was still very cross with Troy and wouldn’t speak to him, and Storm was clearly upset with all three of them. Willow felt awful about not telling him what had happened but she couldn’t go back on her promise to Sapphire. She ended up spending most of her time in the library. It was good to get lots of revision done but she did miss hanging out with Troy and Storm. It was always more fun when the four of them were doing things together.

  At long last the exams started. They were being held in the Great Hall, where desks were lined up in rows. On each of them was a question paper, turned over so the unicorns couldn’t see the questions until the exam started. There was also a sheet of sparkling white parchment to write the answers on and a silver inkwell full of purple ink. The unicorns would write by dipping their horns into the ink. For most of their subjects, apart from history, the Year Ones had two exams – one where they had to go to the hall and write the answers down, and one where they had to go outside and actually do magic to show what they had learnt.

  Although Willow was very nervous when the exams first started, she soon found that they weren’t really that scary. She didn’t know every answer on every exam paper but she had a feeling she was doing well and, by the end of the week, she was almost beginning to enjoy herself. Even better, her friends seemed to be doing OK too. Sapphire came out of the rose-quartz gazing exam looking very happy and Storm had been practising his flying so much that he managed to do almost everything Atlas asked.

  The very last exam was history. Willow and Troy stood next to each other without speaking as they waited outside the Great Hall to be let in.

  Roswell opened the big wooden doors. ‘You may all come through now,’ she said.

  Troy glanced at Willow. ‘Good luck.’

  Willow hesitated. She couldn’t bring herself to wish him luck too. It’s not as if he needs it anyway, she told herself. After all, he knows what the questions are going to be. Avoiding his eyes, she hurried past him into the hall and found her desk. The exam was about to begin!

  Chapter Five

  Who’s Been Cheating?

  When all the unicorns were at their desks, Roswell tossed her head in the air and a stream of silver stars flew out of her horn. When Willow had first seen a teacher do this at the start of an exam, she had been amazed, but now she was used to it. Each silver star landed on an exam paper. They twinkled for a moment and then vanished with a faint pop. The papers magically flipped over so the unicorns could read the questions and the exam began!

  ‘Question 1: In what year did the Battle of the High Peaks start and what role did the dragons have to play in it?’

  Easy, thought Willow, dipping her horn into the inkwell. She heard a faint gasp from beside her and looked at Troy. He was staring at the exam paper, his eyes wide.

  Willow wondered what the matter was. But there was no time to think about it now. She knew they only had an hour to answer all the questions and she had to start writing.

  For the rest of the hour Willow hardly looked up from her exam paper, but she was aware that, beside her, Troy was sighing and shifting restlessly from side to side. He seemed to finish writing very early.

  When the exam ended and Roswell collected in all the papers, Troy cantered out of the hall, pushing past the other unicorns in his hurry to get out. Willow frowned. He didn’t look very happy.

  She made her way over to the Moonlight Meadows. Sapphire was waiting at the lunch table. Her exams had finished the day before. ‘How did it go?’ she asked Willow eagerly. ‘I’ve been thinking about you and Troy all morning.’

  ‘It wasn’t too bad. I could answer most of the questions,’ Willow said.

  ‘I guess Troy could answer them all,’ said Sapphire.

  ‘Well, it was a bit odd.’ Willow told Sapphire about Troy’s shocked look when he saw the question paper and the way he had cantered off afterwards.

  ‘That’s weird.’ Sapphire frowned. ‘I wonder why he did that?’

  ‘I don’t know. You’d think that he’d have been looking really happy. After all, he knew all the –’ Just then Storm arrived and Willow quickly shut up.

  Storm glanced at them curiously. ‘What are you two talking about?’

  ‘Nothing,’ Willow muttered.

  ‘Nothing you want me to hear anyway,’ Storm huffed, looking hurt. ‘I was going to ask you how your exam went but I guess there’s no point. You probably won’t tell me that either!’

  Willow felt awful. ‘Of course I’ll tell you about the exam,’ she began, but she broke off as an elf walked into the meadow and blew on a horn.

  ‘What’s going on?’ Sapphire said in surprise.

  Willow didn’t know. This didn’t usually happen. Her eyes widened as the Tricorn, a snow-white unicorn and the school’s head teacher, came into the Moonlight Meadows. The Tricorn’s horn was striped gold, silver and bronze and today there was an unusually serious expression on his noble face. />
  He stopped and looked around gravely. ‘Good afternoon, everyone. I am sorry to delay the start of your lunch but I have some very disturbing news. It appears that last week someone used rose quartz to look into the chest containing the Year One history exam papers.’

  There was a gasp from the unicorns. Willow’s stomach felt as if it had just been flooded with icy water. She glanced quickly at Sapphire.

  ‘There is a spell placed on all the exam chests,’ the Tricorn continued. ‘It tells the elves when magic has been used by someone trying to cheat. When the elves opened the history chest this morning, they discovered that someone had been dishonest enough to try and use magic to look inside.’

  A chorus of whispers ran round the listening unicorns.

  ‘Who was it?’

  ‘Who could it be?’

  ‘Who would have done something like that?’

  Willow kept her eyes to the ground. She didn’t dare look up. She was sure that if anyone saw her face they would realize that she knew the answer.

  ‘This is obviously extremely serious,’ the Tricorn said gravely. ‘The other teachers and I can use magic to discover exactly who used rose quartz to try and cheat, but first I want to give that unicorn the chance to come forward. If no one has confessed by tomorrow evening then we will begin work on the reveal spell and discover who it was.’

  Willow glanced up just as the Tricorn looked around at them all, his eyes concentrating particularly on the Year Ones. ‘I will not have cheating in this school,’ he said firmly. ‘We will find out who did this. If it is you, I urge you to come forward before it is too late.’

  Turning round, the Tricorn walked quickly out of the meadows.

  Chapter Six

  What Should Sapphire Do?

  As soon as the Tricorn had gone, the unicorns at all four tables started talking in whispers about who could have cheated.