Free Secret of the Unicorn (Avalon: Web of Magic #4) by Rachel Roberts Page B

girl.
    “She said no,” the cat growled.
    Lyra jumped as Ghyll planted a slobbery kiss right between her eyes. “ Bleeccch!”
    “Hey!” The flobbin’s eyes flew open. “What’s the big idea?”
    Ozzie rolled on the ground, laughing. Even Storm looked amused.
    “Is this frog for real?” Kara asked.
    “He’s a flobbin,” Ozzie explained.
    “Listen up, flubber, you’ve been reading too many fairy tales,” Kara said. “I don’t do magic kisses.”
    Kara took a few steps away from Ghyll as Lyra glared at the flobbin suspiciously. “Maybe the unicorn is a flipper, too—”
    “Unicorn?” Ghyll broke in. “Is there a unicorn here?”
    “No,” Kara and Adriane replied at the same time Emily said, “Yes. Maybe.”
    “ There is a magical creature on the loose ,” Storm explained to the flobbin. “ Horse-like, but with no horn .”
    “Ah.” Ghyll blinked his bulbous eyes. “No horn means no unicorn, right? It’s probably an eqqtar—a wild Aldenmor pony.” He glanced at Emily. “You should be careful,” he added. “Eqqtari can be unpredictable at the best of times. And if this one’s pretending to be a unicorn, well, who knows what it could be up to? You really ought to stay away from it. Far away.”
    Emily was about to respond when five despondent dragonflies plopped to the ground at her feet. “Uh-oh,” she said, bending to pick up Barney. “I guess the shoelace thing isn’t working either, huh?”
    The dragonflies squeaked helplessly, sparks shooting out in all directions, and popped out of sight.
    Adriane turned to Kara. “So what do we try next?”
    Kara glanced at her pink-strapped watch. “Nothing, for now,” she said. “We have a tour in, like, ten minutes.” As part of their agreement with the town council, the girls had agreed to lead public tours of the Ravenswood Preserve on the weekends. Tourists could see exotic animals, just not the magical ones.
    “I will come, too,” Ghyll said eagerly. “I want to help you, beautiful princess of Earth. I will earn your love and gratitude.”
    “Fine,” Kara said. “Go stand over there and hide.” She pointed to a spot all the way across the field. “Forever.”
    “Your wish is my command!” Ghyll hopped away quickly.
    Ozzie shook his head. “I’ll make sure he stays out of the way,” he murmured, scurrying after Ghyll.
    “You guys probably don’t need me for the tour, right?” Emily said to the other girls.
    Adriane and Kara stared at her.
    Emily shrugged stubbornly. “Whatever Lorelei is, she needs help. I’m not just going to abandon her.”
    “Just be careful,” Adriane said.
    “Okay.”
    “Storm and Lyra will check on you once the tour’s finished.”
    Emily nodded as Kara and Adriane hurried toward the path leading back to the manor.
    Soon the field was empty except for Emily. She bent over to pick up her backpack. The top flap was half open, and she noticed something sticking out. Huh?
    She reached in and pulled out her flute. How had that gotten in there? She had taken it out to practice for the band tryout, but she always put it back in its case when she was done. Didn’t she? She must have stuck it in her backpack without thinking.
    “Oh well,” she muttered aloud. She slung the backpack over her shoulder and walked into the woods, holding the flute in her hand. The smooth, cool metal felt somehow comforting, reassuring.
    An hour later she stood at a crossroads in the trail, feeling stupid. What was she doing? She couldn’t even find Lorelei, let alone help her. Meanwhile, her friends were stuck doing her share of things—not just the easy things, like leading tours of Ravenswood, but really important things, like trying to replace the dreamcatcher.
    Glancing down at her jewel, she saw that it was cold and dark. If she didn’t know better, she would think it was just a pretty hunk of lifeless rock.
    Still, she kept walking.
    Somewhere nearby, a twig cracked loudly. Emily glanced toward the sound.
    And