The Magic Spell

doing?’
    ‘I’ve been trying to find the name of some flowers I saw in the woods,’ Lauren replied. She wondered if her mum would know what they were. ‘They were purple, sort of star-shaped with a gold spot at the tip of each petal.’
    ‘Sorry, I can’t help you,’ her mum said. ‘They sound very unusual, though. Now,’ she went on, changing the subject, ‘we need to get you some things for school – you start next week. Why don’t you run upstairs and get changed and we’ll go to the mall?’
    ‘OK,’ Lauren said.
    She hurried up to her room and pulled on a pair of clean jeans and a sweatshirt. The unicorn book was lying on her bedside table. It was still open at the picture of the unicorns grazing. As Lauren did up her jeans, she glanced at it again: the unicorns, the grassy meadows, the purple flowers…
    The purple flowers!
    She stared at the picture. They were exactly the same as the ones she had just seen in the wood!

Seven
    L auren snatched up the book. The flowers in the picture had the same star shape, the same gold spot. A wild thought filled her mind. The book had said that unicorns disguised as ponies could be changed back by saying a magic spell and using a certain type of flower. What if the flowers she had found in the wood were the very ones that were needed in the spell?
    She quickly turned the pages of the book until she found the part that explained how unicorns disguised as ponies could be changed back into unicorns. In the middle of the page there was a small picture of a purple flower just like the ones in the wood. Lauren read the words under the picture.
    The moonflower: a rare purple-flowering herb that is used in the Turning Spell .
    Lauren stared. She’d found the flower that the book said could give a unicorn its magical powers. She remembered the way Twilight had been nuzzling at the flowers

    in the glade. Maybe the story was true… and maybe, just maybe, Twilight really was a unicorn in disguise!
    Her heart started to race. If she could just find the words of the spell, then she could try it out.
    ‘Lauren! Are you coming?’ her mum called.
    Lauren could hardly bear to put the book down. The spell had to be here somewhere.
    ‘Lauren!’ her mum called again.
    Lauren closed the book reluctantly. ‘I’m coming!’ she called, and she went downstairs.
    Normally Lauren loved buying things for a new school term, but not that day. All she could think about was unicorns.
    On the way home, Mrs Foster stopped by the tack store to pick up a couple of spare feed buckets.
    Lauren had an idea. ‘Can I go and look in the bookshop?’ she asked.
    ‘Sure,’ Mrs Foster agreed. ‘I’ll meet you there in a few minutes.’
    Lauren ran to the bookshop. The doorbell tinkled as she went inside. The shop was just as she remembered it: the piles of books, the rose-patterned carpet. She caught sight of the owner near the back of the shop. ‘Mrs Fontana!’ she called.
    The old lady turned around. ‘Hello, dear,’ she said. ‘What can I do for you?’
    Suddenly Lauren didn’t know what to say. Mrs Fontana looked so calm and ordinary that the whole idea of asking her if she knew what the magic spell was seemed really dumb. ‘Um… well… I…’ Lauren stammered.
    ‘So, have you seen a unicorn yet?’ Mrs Fontana said softly.
    Lauren stopped stammering and stared.
    ‘That’s what you wanted to come in and talk to me about, isn’t it?’ Mrs Fontana said.
    Lauren didn’t even stop to ask how the old lady knew. ‘Is the story really true?’ she gasped.
    Mrs Fontana smiled. ‘It’s true for those who want it to be true.’
    ‘Do you know what the spell is?’ Lauren asked eagerly.
    ‘I do, but I can’t tell you,’ the old lady replied. ‘Those who want to find unicorns must do it for themselves. You have everything you need.’
    ‘But…’ Lauren began.
    Just then Walter gave a warning bark. The shop door swung open and Lauren’s mum came in. ‘Hello, Mrs Fontana,’ she said.
    ‘Hello,’ the bookshop owner said with a smile. ‘So how are you settling in at Granger’s Farm?’ Her tone changed and now she sounded brisk and efficient.
    Lauren waited while the two adults chatted. She felt frustrated. If Mrs Fontana really knew what the spell was, why wouldn’t she tell it to her? She longed to ask the bookshop owner more, but she couldn’t with her mum standing there.
    Lauren thought about the old lady’s words: You have everything you need .
    What did she