Free My Secret Unicorn by Linda Chapman Page B

into the car.
    â€˜OK, thanks,’ Lauren said, dumping her school bag down by her feet. ‘I’ve got loads of homework though. I can’t believe the teachers have given us so much. We’ve only got two extra days at the weekend.’
    â€˜You’d better get it done tonight before Hannah arrives tomorrow,’ her mum said. She began to drive to the shops. ‘Now, I thought we could buy her a book for her birthday. Shall we call in at Mrs Fontana’s bookshop?’
    â€˜Oh yes,’ Lauren said eagerly. ‘I bet Mrs Fontana will suggest something good.’
    Mrs Fontana was one of the few people in the world who knew about Twilight. She had once owned a secret unicorn too and when Lauren had first got Twilight, Mrs Fontana had given her an amazing old book called
The Life of a Unicorn.
It had lots of information about unicorns and the magic land they came from which was called Arcadia.

    As Lauren thought about Mrs Fontana, she suddenly realized that she hadn’t seen her for a while. She began to work back in her head. It must be about six weeks since she’d last been into the bookshop or had met Mrs Fontana in the woods at night. Weird. When she had first got Twilight, they had always been searching Mrs Fontana out to ask her for advice on how to use his magic to best helppeople and other animals but now they seemed to be much better at working out how to use his magic themselves.
    Looking out of the window, Lauren reflected on all the things she and Twilight had been up to since she had last seen Mrs Fontana. They hadn’t had any really big adventures, just a few small ones. A few weeks ago, Mel’s cat, Sparkle, had gone missing. Lauren and Twilight had used his seeing magic to look into a rock of rose quartz and had discovered that Sparkle was stuck in a tree in the woods. They had flown to rescue her and returned her safely. Then another night they had used Twilight’s ability to untangle things with his horn and hadfreed a young terrier dog they had found trapped in a bramble thicket with an injured leg. Twilight had used his magic to heal the dog’s leg and he had run home. Then, only the other night, they had helped Max by flying to fetch a school book that he’d left in his friend’s garden. They hadn’t needed to ask Mrs Fontana’s advice for any of those things.
    Mrs Foster turned off the road and drove into a parking space in front of a row of shops. Mrs Fontana’s shop had a bow window with a brown and gold wooden sign above it that read: M RS F ONTANA’S N EW AND S ECOND-HAND BOOKS.
    â€˜You go on ahead of me. I need to getsome dog food and call in at the chemist,’ Mrs Foster said. ‘I’ll come and find you at Mrs Fontana’s when I’m done.’
    â€˜OK.’ Lauren ran over to the bookshop.
    As she pushed open the door, a bell tinkled and Mrs Fontana’s black-and-white

    dog scampered across the faded rose-patterned carpet to meet her.
    â€˜Hi, Walter,’ Lauren said, leaning down to tickle him under the chin. She straightened up and looked around. There were the usual piles of books everywhere and comfy chairs to sit on, but there was no sign of Mrs Fontana. Breathing in the familiar smell of blackcurrants that always seemed to hang in the air of the bookshop, Lauren made her way down to the children and young adult section.
    As she reached it, she heard the sound of coughing. Mrs Fontana came out from the storeroom at the back of the shop. Not noticing Lauren, she leaned on a bookshelf and drew in a painful breathbefore coughing again. Lauren felt very worried. The old lady’s face was very pale and her wrinkles looked much deeper than normal. She had lost weight and her hand, holding on to the bookshelf, trembled.
    â€˜Mrs Fontana?’ Lauren said.
    Mrs Fontana looked round. Seeing Lauren, she quickly straightened up and smiled. ‘Lauren! I didn’t realize you were here. I