The Magic Spell

like angels. And together they had many magical adventures…

Five
    L auren put the book down. The way the book was written made everything about unicorns sound so real, not like a made-up story at all. She looked at the picture at the end of the chapter. It showed a beautiful unicorn cantering up into the sky.
    I wish the story was true , Lauren thought. I wish there were still unicorns on the Earth. I’d love to help one.
    And then she smiled. Unicorns might not exist, but Twilight did and he was going to arrive the very next day.
    Mr Roberts arrived with Twilight at ten o’clock. He opened the side door of the trailer so that Lauren could get inside. Twilight whinnied as she stepped into the trailer.
    ‘Hello, little one,’ Lauren said, stroking his nose.
    Twilight looked at her. Hello , his dark eyes seemed to say back.
    Mr Roberts lowered the ramp to the ground. ‘You can bring him out now, Lauren!’ he called.
    Lauren untied Twilight and backed carefully out of the trailer. Her mum and dad and Max came over.
    ‘Hello, boy,’ Mrs Foster said, feeding Twilight a carrot.
    ‘He’s really dirty, isn’t he?’ Max said, as he patted Twilight and a cloud of dust flew into the air.
    Twilight whinnied indignantly, as if he understood what Max had said.
    Mr Roberts smiled ruefully. ‘I’m afraid my daughter has been busy with her new pony. She hasn’t been looking after Twilight as well as she might.’ He looked at Lauren. ‘You’d like Jade. She’s just crazy about ponies.’
    Lauren wasn’t so sure. If Mr Roberts’s daughter was really crazy about ponies, she would have looked after Twilight better. But she didn’t say anything.
    While Mr and Mrs Foster sorted out paying Mr Roberts, Lauren and Max led Twilight to his stable.
    ‘Are you going to ride now, Lauren?’ Max asked.
    ‘I’m going to groom him first,’ Lauren replied.
    She tied Twilight up outside the stable and fetched the grooming kit.
    ‘Can I help?’ asked Max.
    ‘OK,’ Lauren said, handing him a brush with thick bristles called a dandy brush. It was good for getting rid of dirt and dust. ‘You can brush him with that.’
    Twilight nuzzled her shoulder. Lauren smiled happily and kissed his face. She didn’t think she’d ever felt happier in her life.
    Two hours later, Twilight was looking much smarter. Lauren and Max had brushed him and washed his mane and tail. Instead of being a dirty grey colour, he was now pale grey. The dust had come out of his coat and Lauren had replaced the old, tatty head-collar he had been wearing with the new red and blue one that she and her mum had bought the day before. However, despite everything, Twilight still looked a bit scruffy. His coat didn’t really shine, and the long hair

    around his hooves and under his chin was quite straggly. Still, Lauren didn’t mind.
    With her mum’s help, Lauren tacked Twilight up and rode him into the paddock. Just like the day before, he seemed to know exactly what she wanted him to do, and soon they were cantering around the field. When Lauren finally stopped him by the gate, her face was flushed and her eyes were shining. ‘He’s just great!’ she said to her mum, who was watching with Max. ‘Can I go for a ride in the woods?’ She saw her mum look doubtful. ‘I won’t go far.’
    ‘OK,’ Mrs Foster agreed. ‘But don’t stay out too long.’
    ‘I won’t. I promise,’ Lauren said. She remounted and rode Twilight out of the paddock. The mountain that rose up behind the farmhouse was thickly wooded and, as she rode Twilight into the trees, she felt his ears prick and his step quicken.
    Lauren smiled happily. ‘You like it up here, don’t you, boy?’
    Twilight snorted and broke into a trot.
    Lauren let him have his head and he broke into a canter. They made their way along the trail. The air was quiet so that the only sound, apart from the thudding of Twilight’s hooves on the soft ground, was the distant calling of birds in the tops of the trees. Lauren felt that she could have gone on forever. But she remembered what she had promised her mum, so she slowed Twilight down to turn him around.
    Twilight looked to one side. A small

    side-trail led off the main track. He pulled towards it. Lauren stopped him. ‘No,’ she told him. ‘We’ve got to go back now.’ Twilight pulled towards the side-trail again.
    ‘We’ll go another day,’ Lauren told him and then, turning him around, she rode back to the farm.
    That night, when Lauren