Unicorns? Get Real!

wings like silk you then will fly ,
And let us hope that he’ll not die. ”
    “SILK!” all four princesses exclaimed at once.
    “Of course!” Gundersnap’s eyes widened and sparkled with new hope. “Remember that was the one of the things Frankie said no one was sure about—how unicorns could sometimes travel vast distances in something the ancients called flash time.”
    “Well now’s the time to prove it,” Alicia said.
    “Yes.” Kristen nodded. “Fact or fiction?”
     
    In the stables the three princesses helped Gundersnap prepare Silk. The unicorn stood patiently as Kristen tightened the girth of the velvet saddle and Gundersnap fitted the bridle into his mouth. The scent of roses was strong in the stall. It seemed that Princess Myrella was the only one who had truly kept her wits about her as they completed sewing the scene of the tapestry. She ticked off the important points. “The battlefield is on a peninsula that juts out into the Hottom Sea. There is a forest on the west side, the side that you’ll be approaching from, and there is moss, which is where the drops of blood were. So if you follow those drops of blood once you get there…” She hesitated. “Well, that’s where he’ll…Menschmik will be.”
    “I wish we could go with you,” Alicia said.
    “If we had only captured more unicorns.” Kristen sighed. “Imagine it—the four of us riding together.”
    “But do you know the way to Hottompot?” Alicia asked.
    “Certainly. Mummy always gives us very complete geography lessons on any kingdom she is planning to invade. It is part of our strategic war unit, taught by herself and her best general, Commander Gokinblat. I know the place like the back of my hand.”
    “But will Silk know how to get there?” Myrella asked.
    “If I guide him right. If I ride him well. We will get there,” Gundersnap replied confidently.
    “But how will you ever get Menschmik back?” Kristen asked.
    “I’ll figure that out when the time comes. First I must save him. Then I must bring him back, and he will never, ever be in battle again.”
    Then Alicia, who was holding the reins of Silk’s bridle as Gundernsap mounted, looked up at the squat little princess who seemed to glow the second she settled on the unicorn’s back and said softly, “Gundersnap, I think you are beginning to believe in magic—practical or not.”
    “The heart insists!” Gundersnap smiled broadly.

Chapter 20
    WHEN FACT MEETS FICTION

    Kristen opened the gates of the corral and Gundersnap raced through. The three princesses watched but only briefly, for within a few seconds Gundersnap and Silk had disappeared over the horizon. The gleam persisted for several seconds, as if a sun had just set, even though it was midnight. The princesses, still waving, could just barely smell the lingering scent of roses that stirred in the wake of the unicorn, and then the gleam was gone.
    “Well, I guess that’s one faction proved.” Kristen clapped her hands together as if to punctuate what she was about to say. “Unicorns can cover vast distances very quickly. Maybe she should have named him Streak instead of Silk.”
    The princesses planned to return to Camp Burning Shield before they were missed and, of course, they had to hatch a plan to cover Gundersnap’s absence.
    “Why don’t we just say,” Myrella spoke up, “that the note she received on the archery field suggested that there was some emergency, and her mother required her presence in court. It’s sort of true, after all.”
    “You’re right,” Alicia said. “And we can tell Gortle the truth. He’ll understand, if anyone will.”
     
    “It’s a fact all right!” Gundersnap whispered to herself as she saw great hunks of a large continent disappear under her. She hunkered down flat against Silk’s mane. Sometimes she was not sure if Silk’s hooves were even touching the ground. But was it really flying? And so far there were no wings. They were traveling east, and soon she saw water ahead that must, she guessed, be the sea of Hottompot. Reaching out into that sea like a long, crooked finger was the peninsula where the battlefield lay! Gundersnap felt her heart beat wildly. They had made good time, but there was still a long way to go, for they must follow the contour of the shoreline all the way around to the peninsula. She heard Silk breathing hard. “Oh, dear Lord, don’t let his breath give out now.” But there was an ominous deep rumbling in the