Unicorn School (3 page)

Ash, one of the other unicorns, looked round in surprise. ‘Where's the stable for sleeping?'

‘In the clouds,' Juniper said with a smile. He touched his glittering

 

horn to the door in the wall, and it swung open. On the other side was a white fluffy cloud. It had a short tunnel running through the centre of it. At the far end was a large room split into eight stalls separated by low walls. Windows had been carved out of the cloud walls, and each stall had a bucket of fresh water and a large net of hay.

‘That's your stable,' Juniper told
them. ‘The second years are on the cloud above you; the third years above them. It's the same all the way up, with the sixth years being on the highest cloud at the top.'

‘Wow!' Willow stepped into the cloud tunnel. The floor felt soft and bouncy under her hooves. She touched the walls of the tunnel with her nose as she walked through it. A wisp of cloud floated away like a piece of cotton wool. There were silver name plaques hanging over the entrance to each stall. Troy was in the stall at the end on the right. Next to him was Storm, then Willow, and then Sapphire next to her. On the other side of Sapphire
was Topaz, then Starlight, Flint and Ash.

The Year Ones went into their stalls. The cloud on the floor was even softer and fluffier. Willow giggled. ‘I can't wait to go to bed tonight!'

‘This is cool!' Storm snorted.

‘Do you want to look round the rest of the school now?' Juniper asked.

‘Yes, please!' they all replied eagerly.

They followed Juniper back down the tower to the ground. ‘You've already seen the Assembly Fields,' Juniper said, pointing with his horn towards the fields where the Tricorn had spoken to them. ‘And through here,' he pointed at a nearby archway, ‘are the Moonlight Meadows.'

He led the way through the archway. A large meadow was spread out in front of them. It had a glittering stream and shady trees around the edges. There were lots of unicorns in it talking and grazing and flying. ‘This is where we eat
and also where we come between lessons,' Juniper said.

The school was huge. Juniper took them through the Charm Fields – where they would learn about charms – to the Sea of Silence, a still, silvery sea that edged on to a white sandy beach. Juniper pointed with his horn to the pinky-grey cliffs that rose up where the beach ended. ‘Those are the Rose Quartz Cliffs where you'll learn how to use your magic to see what's happening anywhere else in Arcadia.' He cantered along the sand and up a steep path. There was a vast area of short grass and tangled bramble bushes at the cliff top.

 

‘This is the Flying Heath,' Juniper explained.

‘What's that forest over there called?' Willow asked, pointing with her horn at a thick forest of tall trees that edged the Flying Heath.

‘That's Bramble Forest,' Juniper answered. ‘We go through it to get to High Winds Pass where we sometimes play sports and have
races. Come on. I'll show you.'

The forest was thick and deep. The trees towered overhead.

‘High Winds Pass is up here,' Juniper said, turning off the main track and leading the way up a narrow twisting path. ‘Year Ones are only allowed to go there with a Year Six or a teacher. It's very easy to get lost on the way.'

They took several more turnings, all the time going higher and higher. Willow could see what Juniper meant about it being easy to get lost! She was sure she'd
never
be able to remember the way up there on her own.

At last the path ended and they
stepped out of the trees. The top of the mountain was a large flat area of ground with a steep drop all around it. The unicorns' manes swirled around them as they stood on the short grass.

‘It's very windy!' Starlight said, sheltering beside Juniper.

‘It looks a great place for having races, though!' said Troy, looking at the perfectly flat area of grass.

‘It is fine in the summer when the winds drop,' Juniper replied.

Willow cantered to the edge of the grassy area and looked down the mountain. Storm trotted after her. The sides were rocky and steep.

‘Be careful!' Juniper whinnied.
‘Sometimes there can be really strong gusts of winds up here. Don't stand too close to the edge, Willow.'

Willow started to back up when a strong wind seemed to blow up from nowhere. It swept into her, knocking her off her feet.

‘Willow!' she heard Sapphire gasp from behind her.

The wind swept Willow straight towards the edge of the cliff.

‘Help!' she whinnied in alarm.

Willow thought she was about to be swept over the cliff but the next second there was a flash of white and Storm plunged in front of her, placing his body between her and the cliff edge. Willow knocked into him. She fell to her knees.

 

‘Are you OK?' he whinnied.

‘Yes!' Willow scrambled to her feet as Juniper came cantering over.

‘Willow!' Juniper exclaimed anxiously. ‘I thought you were going to fall over the cliff!'

‘So did I.' Willow's legs were
trembling with shock. If she'd been swept over the cliff edge she would have been killed! She swung round to Storm. ‘Thank you,' she said shakily.

‘You could have got knocked over yourself, Storm,' Troy whinnied. ‘You were very brave to do that!'

Storm looked pleased but a bit embarrassed.

‘Come on,' Juniper said worriedly. ‘If the winds have started coming in gusts like that then it's too dangerous to stay here. We'd better go back. And just remember, no coming up here on your own,' he warned them all.

‘We won't,' Willow said fervently. There was no way she ever wanted
to go up to High Winds Pass again!

Juniper led them back down through the forest. As they reached the Moonlight Meadows, they heard the sound of a horn blowing. ‘It's almost lunchtime,' Juniper told them.

An army of elves appeared, carrying silver buckets of food each with a unicorn's name on. They put them on to five long tables that had round holes in for the buckets. ‘This is our table,' Juniper said, showing the Year Ones to the Rainbow House table. ‘The teachers eat there,' he added, pointing to a table where some adult unicorns were already eating. He nodded to a tall, muscular unicorn with kind eyes.
‘That's the Head of Rainbow House. He's called Atlas and he teaches flying. You'll meet him later.'

Willow found her bucket of food and plunged her nose in. Delicious! Bran, boiled barley and oats. Her favourite! Storm was next to her and Sapphire and Troy were opposite. Juniper joined the table next to Troy.

As they all began to eat, Willow saw Oriel, the teasing unicorn from Year Three, further up the table. When his eyes fell on Storm and Willow he grinned.

‘Hey, it's Little and Large,' he called out.

Willow smiled. She and Storm probably did look quite funny together. After all, she only came up to his shoulder. She glanced at Storm who looked uncomfortable. ‘Just ignore him. Oriel's only teasing,' she said.

‘Were you stretched when you were a foal?' Oriel called to Storm. ‘Or did your parents plant your hooves in fertilizer to make you grow?'

The other Year Threes sniggered. Storm hung his head.

‘Oriel!' Juniper said sharply. ‘Stop teasing Storm or I'll report you to Atlas!'

‘All right. Don't get your horn in a twist, Juniper,' Oriel said cheekily, but he turned back to his food and stopped teasing Storm.