Zara and Moonbeam Read online

  Moonbeam closed her eyes and started to sway. “The earth is shaking,” she said dreamily. “Rocks are falling from the sky. Zara!” Moonbeam’s eyes snapped open. Her nostrils flared and she was trembling. “I saw you in danger,” she breathed.

  HAVE YOU READ?

  Sophia and Rainbow

  Scarlett and Blaze

  Ava and Star

  Isabel and Cloud

  Layla and Dancer

  Olivia and Snowflake

  Rosa and Crystal

  Ariana and Whisper

  Matilda and Pearl

  Freya and Honey

  Violet and Twinkle

  Isla and Buttercup

  Lily and Feather

  Phoebe and Shimmer

  LOOK OUT FOR:

  Aisha and Silver

  For Khadijah and her magical mum,

  Rumena Aktar

  “We won!” Zara punched the air as her unicorn, Moonbeam, galloped across the dry grass and plunged into Sparkle Lake.

  “Yay!” Moonbeam kicked up her hooves, showering them both with the glittering water.

  Zara pushed her straight brown hair away from her face. “Hurry up, slowcoaches!” she called to her friends. “It’s lovely and cool!”

  With whoops of delight, Phoebe, Lily and Aisha galloped into the lake on their unicorns Shimmer, Feather and Silver.

  “It was so hot and stuffy this morning in class, I honestly thought I was going to die. I think we should ask Ms Rosemary if we can have afternoon lessons in the lake,” said Phoebe, pushing her long blonde plaits over her shoulders. “It would be awesome!”

  Zara laughed. “Yep, cos she’ll definitely agree to that!”

  It was the middle of the summer and Unicorn Island was suffering from a heatwave. At first, Zara and her friends in Amethyst dormitory had loved the long hot days and nights. But after several weeks of soaring temperatures the heat was becoming unbearable. The grass had dried to a yellow crisp and the flowers and plants had all wilted. The fountain was reduced to half its height and the lake had shrunk, leaving a rim of cracked dried mud around the edge.

  The unicorns splashed around, kicking water at each other with their hooves.

  Lily leaned forward and whispered in Feather’s ear. Suddenly the lake began to ripple. Zara smelled the sweet sugary scent of magic and saw sparkles bubbling up through the water from Feather’s hooves. The ripples grew stronger until the water rose in a tall, glittering wave. It arched high over Zara, Phoebe and Aisha. Zara held her breath, expecting a soaking.

  CRACK! More magical sparkles fizzed in the air and the wave exploded, raining shimmering droplets down on everyone.

  Zara laughed, enjoying the cool mist falling on her face and hair.

  Lily, Phoebe and Aisha clapped and cheered. “Go, Feather and Shimmer!”

  Zara clapped too but she couldn’t help feeling a little bit envious. She knew Lily’s unicorn, Feather, had created the wave with her special moving magic and Phoebe’s unicorn, Shimmer, had broken it with his energy magic. When would Moonbeam discover her magic? The unicorns usually found their special magical powers during their first year at the academy. Those who didn’t had to stay on for a second year with their partners.

  “He’s coming back,” Moonbeam whispered.

  Zara leaned over her neck. “Who’s coming back?” she asked, wondering what Moonbeam was talking about.

  “He is,” said Moonbeam dreamily.

  “But who?” said Zara. “Who are you talking about?” She felt a prickle of frustration. Moonbeam often went off into daydreams. “What do you mean, Moonbeam?”

  Moonbeam started in surprise as if she was waking up. “Oh, sorry! I’m not sure what I was saying.”

  “Hurry up, you two!” Lily called from the bank. “Lunchtime’s nearly over and we need to dry off before afternoon classes start.”

  “OK,” Zara called. “We’re coming!”

  But Moonbeam didn’t move. “Zara, wait, I feel strange, like there’s magic all around me. My skin’s tingling.”

  Zara shrugged. “Shimmer and Feather were just doing magic. That must be what you can sense.”

  “This is different,” Moonbeam insisted. “For a moment back there I … I felt like I’d found my own magic.”

  Zara frowned. “But you didn’t do anything magical, Moonbeam.”

  “No, but I had a feeling,” said Moonbeam.

  Zara sighed. Moonbeam was always going on about feelings and how important they were. “Moonbeam, you know I want you to find your magic just as much as you do but imagining it’s happening isn’t going to help. Come on, let’s go and dry off. We’ve got Care of Unicorns after lunch and Ms Rosemary hates it when people are late.”

  For a moment, she thought Moonbeam was going to argue but then, to her relief, she splashed out of the lake. As they reached the bank, Zara slid from Moonbeam’s back and ran over to join her friends, who were sunbathing.

  “That was a fun water fight!” she said, flopping down on the grass next to Phoebe.

  Aisha giggled and tightened her high ponytail. “I thought Feather was going to cover us with that wave!”

  Phoebe grinned. “It wasn’t half as scary as the enormous tidal wave that almost hit us when we camped on the cliff though.”

  Lily nodded. “I will never ever forget that. It was terrifying! We were so lucky that Shimmer was able to save us using his energy magic.”

  Back in the spring, a huge tidal wave had nearly destroyed a stretch of coastline that the girls had been camping on. They’d only escaped thanks to Shimmer’s magic powers. He had used his ability to throw balls of magic energy to break up the wave before it could do any real damage.

  That wasn’t the only environmental disaster the girls had experienced this year. Just after they had started at Unicorn Academy, purple tornadoes had devastated the island. One had almost destroyed the academy, but Feather had used her moving magic to force it safely out to sea.

  Zara suddenly had a worrying thought. “What if this heatwave is being caused by the same person who caused the tornadoes and the tidal wave?”

  Phoebe sat up. “You mean it could be part of someone’s evil plan?”

  “It’s a possibility,” said Zara.

  “If it is part of someone’s plan, we need to be on our guard,” said Lily.

  Phoebe waved her hands dramatically. “We could be attacked at any moment!”

  “Don’t exaggerate, Phoebs,” Zara said with a grin. She really liked Phoebe but she did turn every small thing into a huge drama.

  “But what if this evil person is planning to use this heatwave to hurt us – and our unicorns?” Phoebe exclaimed.

  “We need to find out who’s causing these things before it gets worse,” said Zara. “We know it’s a man because we heard a man’s voice in the tornado and tidal wave saying he wouldn’t be stopped. And before the tsunami struck, we heard that a cloaked man had been hanging around the outskirts of the village where the wave was heading.”

  “None of those things tells us who the person is though,” Lily pointed out. “Or why he’s trying to harm the island.”

  “True.” A look of determination crossed Zara’s eyes. “I vote we try to find him and stop him for good.” She glanced round at her three friends. “Who’s with me? Who wants to solve this mystery?”

  “Me!” cried Phoebe, Lily and Aisha, as their unicorns whinnied and stamped their hooves.

  The girls excitedly discussed ideas for how to track down the evil man as they rode back to the stables at the end of lunchtime.

  “Zara,” Moonbeam said, as she and Zara reached her stable. “Can I talk to you? It’s about these feelings I keep having.”

  Zara wanted to talk about the mystery but she forced herself to smile. “Of course.”

  “I might be wrong,” said Moonbeam. “But I keep seeing pictures in my head and when I do, I start to say strange stuff out loud. Do you think it could be my magic?”

  “Your magic? But, Moonbeam, the stuff you say, well, it’s just…” Zara caught herself. She’d been about to say rubbish. “It just doesn’t seem to mean anything much,” she finished.

  Moonbeam frowned. “But what if it does mean something? What if it’s important?”

  Zara stroked her. She really wanted Moonbeam to find her magic but seeing pictures in her head and saying strange things didn’t sound much like magic to her. “I really don’t think it has anything to do with your magic powers,” she said. “But I’m sure you’ll find them soon,” she added quickly.

  Ms Rosemary was waiting for them in the stables, wearing a big floppy hat and sunglasses.

  “Good afternoon,” she said when the students had all arrived. “Today we are learning how to keep our unicorns cool. Can anyone think of a way?”

  Spike from Topaz dorm put his hand up. “Make them wear sunglasses and a big hat, just like yours, Ms R!”

  Everyone burst out laughing and Ms Rosemary smiled. “That’s an interesting idea, Spike. I’ll think about it,” she said. “Any other suggestions?”

  A familiar sharp voice cut across her.

  “Heatstroke is a serious matter, Ms Rosemary. Rather than making jokes, don’t you think you should be educating the students about what to do in the current weather conditions?”

  Zara’s heart sank as Mr Longnose, the tall, thin school inspector, strutted through the stable door. Ms Tulip, the riding teacher, was hurrying along behind him. Why was he back? He’d inspected the academy only a few months ago.

  “Not him a
gain,” groaned Phoebe.

  Moonbeam gasped. “Zara!” she hissed. “I was right! I said someone was coming back, didn’t I?”

  Zara patted her. “It’s just a coincidence, Moonbeam. You can’t really think you saw into the future that Mr Longnose would come back today. You’re letting your imagination run away with you.”

  Moonbeam hung her head. “Maybe,” she muttered.

  “I wonder why he’s here,” whispered Lily. Ms Rosemary was clearly wondering the same thing.

  “Good afternoon, Mr Longnose,” she said. “What brings you back to the academy so soon? I thought your inspection was complete.”

  Mr Longnose mopped his forehead with a perfectly ironed hanky. “I inspected the school but I didn’t have opportunity to inspect the stables or the quality of riding lessons.”

  Ms Tulip stepped forward. “As part of the inspector’s visit – and so he can experience the teaching first-hand – I have offered to teach him to ride.” She tucked a dark curl of hair behind her ear and blushed. “Would you like to come and meet Rocket, my unicorn, Mr Longnose?” she asked.

  “Indeed I would,” Mr Longnose said.

  “Then, please – follow me.”

  “Urgh!” whispered Phoebe as Ms Tulip led Mr Longnose into the stable block.

  “Poor Ms Tulip!” agreed Zara. “I can’t think of anything worse than teaching bossy Mr Longnose.”

  “Did you see the way she was buttering him up? She must be hoping he gives her a good report.” Phoebe fluttered her hands and fluffed up her hair. Imitating Ms Tulip perfectly she simpered, “Oh, let me teach you to ride, Mr Longnose!”

  Lily rushed to Ms Tulip’s defence. “Don’t be mean. Mr Longnose had better give Ms Tulip’s teaching a good report or I’ll … I’ll complain about him!”

  Aisha nodded in agreement. “I don’t see why he’s come back. He spent lots of time watching our riding lessons with Ms Tulip when he was here before. Why does he need to see more?”

  “I hope he falls off Rocket,” grumbled Phoebe. She clapped a hand over her mouth. “Actually, I didn’t mean that. I hope he learns to ride superfast, gives lovely Ms Tulip a brilliant report and then goes away again really quickly!”

  “Me too,” said Lily. “It’s bad enough having to deal with a heatwave without having to put up with Mr Longnose too!”

  Her words sent a thought exploding into Zara’s mind. She gasped.

  “What? What is it?” demanded Lily.

  But before Zara could speak, Ms Rosemary clapped her hands together for silence. “Right. Pay attention, please. This afternoon we are going to make a sun cream to protect your unicorn’s nose. The ingredients and equipment are laid out in the storeroom. Go and collect everything and read through the instructions.”

  While the rest of the class headed for the storeroom, Zara pulled her friends into a huddle.

  “What’s going on?” said Phoebe eagerly. “You look like a snot-nosed flapdoodle just sneezed on you!”

  “It’s Mr Longnose!” hissed Zara. “Maybe he’s the person causing all the problems! We know he’s very clever and studied geology at university. What if he’s responsible for all the extreme weather we’ve had this year? He was with us when the tidal wave struck and he’s here now just when the heatwave is getting really bad.” She gazed round at her friends. “Maybe the extreme weather we’ve had this year has been caused by him!”

  “Girls! What are you doing?” Ms Rosemary’s voice cut across the stable yard. “I told you to get your ingredients and instructions. Stop chattering and hurry up!”

  “Sorry, miss!” said Zara quickly. “We’ll talk about this later,” she hissed to the others, as they jogged to the storeroom.

  All through the lesson, Zara’s mind raced. Could Mr Longnose really be the culprit? The more she thought about it, the more everything seemed to fit together. But suspicions are not enough, she reminded herself firmly. There has to be proof!

  She was so busy thinking about it that she added too much honey powder to her sun cream. She only realised when Moonbeam couldn’t stop sneezing after she tried to lick the cream off her nose because it tasted so good!

  As soon as the lesson was over, the girls raced up to their dorm where they could talk in private. Amethyst dorm had four beds set around the room, each with a lavender-coloured bedspread. There was a large fluffy purple rug on the floor, which they all sat on in a circle.

  “It’s him! You’re right, Zara. I’m sure of it!” exclaimed Phoebe. “Mr Longnose is so horrible. He’s really bossy and a complete show-off!”

  “We’ve got to tell the teachers,” said Lily.

  “No,” said Zara quickly. “At the moment all we have are suspicions and no proof, although the evidence does seem to point to him. Listen.” She pulled a mini notebook from her pocket where she had scribbled some notes. “Number one: Mr Longnose is very clever. He’s written all sorts of scientific articles. He might know a way to make bad weather happen.”

  “Or he could be in league with someone who does,” said Phoebe excitedly. “He doesn’t have a unicorn himself but he may be working with someone who has a unicorn that can do weather magic.”

  “Good point,” said Zara.

  “What else have you got on your list?” asked Lily.

  “Number two: The first time Mr Longnose arrived at the academy was just as the dormant volcano near the school began to wake up. It was activity from that volcano that caused the tidal wave, so maybe he did something to the volcano on his way here.

  “Number three: It was his idea to go camping on the west coast where we were almost drowned by the tidal wave.” Zara paused to look round at her friends. “He wanted us to go there!”

  Phoebe pretended to be the inspector. “Volcanoes are a particular interest of mine.” Her eyes glimmered with excitement exactly like Mr Longnose’s did when he was showing off about how clever he was.

  “But why would Mr Longnose want to cause such horrible things to happen to the island?” said Aisha.

  “Well,” said Zara. “I looked Mr Longnose up when he was here last time and discovered that he was all set for a career in research but he couldn’t find anyone to sponsor his work. That’s how he ended up as a school inspector. Maybe he wants to get back at the island because no one would fund his research.”

  Phoebe’s eyes widened. “Or … or…” she spluttered in her excitement, “maybe he thinks that if enough bad weather happens then people will pay for him to do research and he’ll be able to stop being an inspector!”

  “Great idea, Phoebs!” said Zara excitedly, writing it down.

  “What about the other clues we had – the cloaked stranger with the top hat who was seen by the deserted cottage, and the button we found there,” said Lily. “The stranger couldn’t have been Mr Longnose. He was at the academy with us when the villagers say they spotted him.”

  “That’s true,” said Zara slowly. “I suppose the stranger at the cottage could be completely unrelated to the tidal wave. It could be a red herring – that’s what false clues are called.”

  “What about the button?” asked Aisha.

  Zara jumped to her feet and fetched the button from her bedside drawer. “This could be a red herring too,’ she said, turning the pale-grey button over in her fingers. It looked expensive and had an ornate engraving on it that looked like a two-headed serpent twisted around a strange symbol.

  “Or it could have been dropped by Mr Longnose at some point when we were there,” said Phoebe, as Zara put the button down so they could all see it. “He could have gone to the cottage when we were getting our campsites ready and done something there that caused the tidal wave to hit.”

  “If you look at the engraving, it almost looks like a letter in really curly writing,” said Aisha, tracing the pattern with one finger.

  “It’s an L!” said Lily with a gasp. “Look everyone! L for Longnose!”

  “I knew it!” exclaimed Phoebe triumphantly. “He is the evil villain!”

  “We don’t know for definite that it’s his or that he’s responsible for these weather disasters,” said Zara quickly. “We need to find hard evidence.”

  “How do we do that?” demanded Phoebe.