Stronger Than Magic Read online

  *

  ‘I’m just going out to see Twilight, Mum,’ Lauren said, pulling her trainers on after supper.

  ‘OK, honey,’ Mrs Foster replied. She stood up and looked over to where Max was playing with Buddy. ‘Come on, Max, time for your bath.’

  Lauren ran down to the paddock. She couldn’t wait to find out what Twilight thought of her plan about helping people with little problems as well as big.

  ‘So, what do you think?’ she asked as soon as he was a unicorn again.

  ‘It’s a good idea,’ Twilight answered. ‘The more people we can help, the better.’

  Lauren grinned in delight. ‘I was hoping you’d say that!’

  ‘There are some rocks of rose quartz over there,’ Twilight said, nodding in the direction of a cluster of trees at the end of his paddock. ‘We could check who needs help right now.’

  ‘OK!’ Lauren mounted and they cantered down the paddock. Not for the first time, Lauren felt thankful that Twilight’s paddock was well hidden from the house. She and Twilight should be safe in the shadow of the trees.

  ‘There they are,’ Twilight said, pointing his horn at several small boulders under an oak tree.

  ‘Let’s see Mel first,’ Lauren said eagerly.

  Within a few seconds, a picture had appeared in the rock, showing Mel snuggled up to her mum on the sofa.

  ‘She looks much happier,’ Twilight said, pleased.

  Lauren nodded. ‘OK, let’s try Jessica.’

  Twilight said Jessica’s name and the picture changed. Jessica was sitting in the kitchen talking to her dad. She was frowning. Lauren leaned forward to find out why Jessica was looking so miserable.

  ‘But I really wanted a pony, Dad,’ Jessica was saying.

  ‘It’ll be easier to find one in the summer holidays,’ Mr Parker replied. ‘We’ll have more time.’

  Lauren sighed. She knew Jessica wanted a pony right now, but she didn’t see how she and Twilight could help with that. She was about to ask him to look at someone else when Jessica said something that caught her attention.

  ‘But I get left out, Dad,’ she said. ‘Lauren and Mel meet after school to go riding together and I can’t join in. Like this afternoon, they went riding together and I couldn’t go with them.’

  Lauren sat back. ‘Did you hear that?’

  Twilight nodded. ‘It can’t be much fun for Jessica seeing you and Mel riding together.’ He shook his mane. ‘But it’s easy to solve. When you and Mel next meet up, ask Jessica to join you. You can take it in turns to ride me and Shadow.’

  ‘Good idea,’ Lauren said. Fired up by thinking how easy it would be to solve Jessica’s unhappiness, she looked at the rock again. ‘OK, let’s see if anyone else in my class is unhappy.’ She started suggesting different names. A little niggling feeling ran through her. She knew she shouldn’t really be listening in on other people’s conversations. Still, it was for the best, wasn’t it? It was so she could help them.

  Lauren got so engrossed in seeing the other kids from her class going about their everyday lives – watching TV, reading, doing homework – that she almost forgot that she was supposed to be looking for someone who was unhappy.

  She was relieved – everyone seemed to be doing just fine. She glanced at her watch. ‘I hadn’t realized it was so late.’ She stood up. ‘We’ve only got ten minutes before I have to go in. We’ll just have time to have a very quick fly-round tonight.’

  ‘Let’s go then,’ Twilight said, touching his horn to the rock and making the picture disappear. Lauren mounted and held on to his mane.

  Twilight started to trot forward, but then suddenly stopped. ‘I feel tired,’ he said, sounding surprised.

  ‘Tired?’ Lauren echoed.

  ‘Yes, sort of achy but… but…’ Twilight looked confused. ‘It’s strange – I never normally feel tired when I’m a unicorn.’

  ‘We don’t have to fly tonight,’ Lauren said, concerned. ‘Maybe you’re not well.’

  ‘No, I’ll be fine,’ Twilight replied bravely. ‘Let’s try again.’ He trotted forward and this time took off into the sky. Lauren felt the cool wind streaming against her face. She leaned forward. They were flying again!

  But soon she started to feel worried. Twilight seemed to be going slower than usual. Normally he galloped and swooped lightly and easily, but tonight his movements felt heavy and slow.

  ‘Are you OK?’ she asked.

  ‘I… I feel a little strange,’ Twilight replied.

  ‘Let’s go down,’ Lauren said quickly.

  Twilight didn’t argue. Turning, he flew back to the paddock.

  As he landed, Lauren slid off his back. He was breathing heavily. ‘What’s wrong?’ she asked.

  ‘I don’t know,’ he answered.

  ‘Maybe you’re coming down with some sort of bug,’ Lauren said anxiously. ‘Shall I get Dad to call the vet?’

  Twilight shook his head. ‘I don’t feel ill. Just tired. I’ll probably be better in the morning.’

  ‘I’ll turn you back into a pony and make you a warm bran mash,’ Lauren said. ‘That might help.’

  Twilight nodded and Lauren said the Undoing Spell. Then, going to the feed room, she put several scoops of bran, a handful of oats and some salt into a bucket and added hot water. Mixing it all up, she carried it back to Twilight. ‘Here, boy, eat this.’

  Twilight whickered gratefully and plunged his nose into the bucket.

  As he ate, Lauren kissed his head. Oh, Twilight, she thought, biting her lip, please be OK.

  Four

  Lauren didn’t sleep well that night. As soon as she woke up, she looked out of her window. Twilight was standing by the gate. Pulling on her clothes, Lauren hurried outside.

  ‘Are you feeling better now?’ she asked.

  To her relief, Twilight nodded.

  Lauren rubbed his forehead. ‘I’ve been so worried,’ she told him softly. ‘I don’t think I could bear you to be ill.’

  ‘Do you want to go for a ride this evening?’ Mel asked Lauren as they got their books out that morning.

  ‘Yes – if Twilight’s OK,’ Lauren replied.

  ‘What’s the matter with him?’ Jessica asked, looking concerned.

  ‘He didn’t seem very well last night,’ Lauren said. ‘He was tired.’

  ‘Maybe he’s got a cold,’ Mel suggested. ‘Shadow sometimes gets them. They make him a bit quiet, but they’re not serious. So, do you want to meet up?’ she asked. ‘We could ride at mine instead of going out, then, if Twilight seems tired, you can always go home.’

  ‘OK,’ Lauren replied. She happened to glance at Jessica and caught a look of unhappiness fleeting across her face. ‘Hey, Jess,’ Lauren said quickly, ‘why don’t you meet us as well? We can take it in turns to ride.’

  ‘Yeah,’ Mel said, looking at Jessica. ‘That’s a great idea.’

  ‘Really? Are you sure you don’t mind?’ Jessica said hesitantly.

  ‘Of course not,’ Lauren told her and Mel shook her head.

  ‘OK then,’ Jessica said, smiling. ‘Thanks. I’ll see if Dad will drop me off.’

  To Lauren’s relief, Twilight seemed to be back to his normal self when she got home from school that afternoon. He whinnied when he saw her coming.

  ‘Do you feel well enough to go round to Mel’s?’ she asked him.

  Twilight nodded. Feeling much happier, Lauren groomed him and saddled up.

  Jessica was already at Mel’s house when Lauren and Twilight arrived and the three girls had lots of fun timing themselves as they took it in turns to ride Shadow and Twilight around an obstacle course in Shadow’s paddock.

  ‘I’ve had a great time,’ Jessica said happily as they let the ponies graze afterwards while they ate home-made cookies.

  ‘We’ll have to do this again,’ Lauren said. ‘It’s more fun when there are three of us.’

  ‘Yeah, definitely,’ Mel said. ‘Until you get your own pony, you can ride Shadow as much as you like, Jess.
’

  ‘And Twilight,’ Lauren said.

  Jessica’s eyes shone happily. ‘Thanks, guys. You’re the best friends ever!’

  ‘Jessica really enjoyed herself today,’ Lauren said to Twilight that night after she had turned him into a unicorn.

  ‘I’m glad we found out that she was upset,’ Twilight said.

  Lauren nodded. ‘Let’s have a look and see if there’s anyone else who needs our help.’

  They went down to the end of the field where the rose-quartz rocks were. The first person Lauren and Twilight saw was a boy in her class, David Andrews, with his father.

  ‘They look like they’re arguing,’ Lauren said, leaning closer to the rock.

  ‘I’m not going to wear them!’ David was saying.

  ‘Yes, you are,’ his dad replied firmly. ‘And I’ve written to Mr Noland asking him to make sure that you do.’

  ‘Dad!’ David cried.

  ‘It’s for the best,’ his dad said. He shook his head. ‘David, lots of people wear glasses…’

  Lauren looked at Twilight. ‘Glasses!’ she exclaimed. ‘That’s all that’s upsetting David – he’s got to wear glasses.’

  ‘Well, if you tell him how good his glasses look, it might help,’ Twilight suggested.

  ‘It’s worth a try,’ Lauren agreed. ‘Come on, let’s look at some other people.’

  Most of the other kids seemed happy enough, apart from Joanne Bailey. Joanne sat at the table next to Lauren and she was miserable because her computer had broken down. She couldn’t do the geography research that Mr Noland had asked them to do by the next day.

  ‘I can easily help with that,’ Lauren said. ‘I’ll print out some extra research from the Internet and take it in tomorrow for Joanne to use –’

  ‘Lauren,’ Twilight interrupted. ‘I… I feel strange again.’

  Lauren looked at him in concern. ‘It’s my fault. I shouldn’t have made you do that obstacle course at Mel’s.’

  ‘But I was feeling all right then,’ Twilight said. ‘It’s just now – I feel tired all of a sudden.’ He shook his head wearily. ‘Can we stop doing the magic now? I think I’d better change back.’

  ‘Of course,’ Lauren said, jumping to her feet.

  Once Twilight was a pony again, he lay down. Lauren watched him, feeling very worried. What was the matter with him? He was never tired or ill. And this was twice now in two days.

  ‘I’ll leave my window open tonight,’ she whispered. ‘Whinny if you want anything and I’ll come straight down.’

  Twilight snorted softly and closed his eyes.

  Lauren kept her window open all night just as she had promised. At six o’clock, she jumped out of bed and crossed the room to look out. But Twilight wasn’t by the gate. Lauren felt alarmed. Twilight always stood there in the morning.

  Pulling on her jeans, she hurried outside.

  As she reached the paddock, she saw Twilight still lying where she had left him. His nose was resting heavily on the ground and his eyes were closed.

  ‘Twilight!’ Lauren cried out.

  Twilight’s ears flickered and he half-raised his head. He looked exhausted.

  Lauren scrambled over the gate and raced across the grass. Throwing herself down on the ground beside him, she touched his neck. ‘Twilight!’ she gasped. ‘What’s the matter? You look really ill!’

  Twilight snorted weakly.

  ‘I’m going to get Dad!’ Lauren said, jumping to her feet. ‘Don’t worry, Twilight. I’ll be back as soon as I can.’

  Five

  Mr Foster was very worried when he saw Twilight. ‘I’m going to call the vet,’ he said.

  As he hurried off, Lauren crouched down beside her pony. ‘You’re going to be OK,’ she told him, her eyes stinging with hot tears. ‘We’ll find out what’s wrong with you, I promise.’

  Tony Blackstone, their vet, arrived within the hour. He took Twilight’s temperature and monitored his heart rate, then he ran his hands all over Twilight’s body.

  ‘Has Twilight been off-colour for a while?’ he asked Lauren.

  ‘He seemed tired the day before yesterday,’ she replied, ‘but otherwise he’s been fine.’

  ‘So he hasn’t had a cough, or runny nose, or been restless and wanting to roll?’

  ‘No,’ Lauren replied.

  Tony continued his examination, but at last he shook his head. ‘Well, it’s puzzling. If it weren’t for the way he’s acting, I’d say he seems to be a very healthy pony. I’ll take a blood test and see what shows up.

  Maybe he’s got a virus.’

  ‘Is there anything we can do?’ Mr Foster asked.

  ‘Call me if he gets any worse, but otherwise just let him rest. I’ll ring you with the test results as soon as I have them.’ Tony shot Lauren a comforting glance. ‘Don’t worry. I’m sure he’s going to be just fine.’

  Lauren thought about Twilight all the way to school. What if there was something seriously wrong with him? A cold feeling clenched at her heart.

  Walking into the cloakroom, she saw Joanne Bailey talking to her friend; Rachel. Lauren suddenly remembered about the extra research that she had printed out. ‘Hi,’ she said to them, as she put her coat on the peg. ‘Did you do the geography homework last night?’

  ‘Yeah,’ Rachel replied.

  ‘I couldn’t,’ Joanne said. ‘My computer broke down.’

  ‘I’ve got some extra if you need some more,’ Lauren offered eagerly.

  ‘It’s OK, thanks,’ Joanne replied. ‘Rachel’s lent me some of hers.’

  ‘Are you sure?’ Lauren asked, taking out the papers. ‘I have them right here.’

  ‘No, really, I’m fine,’ Joanne said, and turned back to continue her conversation with Rachel.

  Feeling disappointed that her plan to help hadn’t worked out as she’d hoped, Lauren went into the classroom. As she walked through the door, she saw David talking with a group of his friends. She stopped. David had his new glasses on but, to her relief, his friends didn’t seem to be teasing him.

  Just then, David glanced up and caught her watching him. ‘What are you looking at?’ he asked suspiciously.

  ‘Nothing,’ Lauren replied.

  ‘It must be your glasses,’ one of David’s friends sniggered.

  ‘It isn’t!’ Lauren said quickly, seeing David go red. ‘They’re… they’re very nice glasses.’

  David’s friends burst out laughing.

  ‘Lauren likes you, David!’ one of them said.

  ‘Lauren Foster wants to be your girlfriend.’

  ‘No, I don’t!’ Lauren exclaimed.

  She hurried to her desk, her own cheeks burning. As she went, she could hear David’s friends start to tease him about how girls really liked boys with glasses. Oh, great, Lauren thought in dismay. I haven’t helped David at all – in fact, it looks like I’ve made things worse!

  To her relief, Mel and Jessica arrived and she didn’t have to listen to David’s friends any more.

  After school, Lauren went straight to see Twilight. To her relief, he whinnied when he saw her and trotted over to the gate. Lauren’s heart rose. He looked much happier.

  She got out her grooming kit and spent ages brushing him and combing out every tangle in his mane and tail. As she worked, she told him about David and Joanne. ‘They didn’t seem to need my help,’ she said. ‘In fact, I think I made things worse for David by saying that his glasses were nice. His friends started teasing him then.’ She sighed. ‘I wish you could talk back, but I won’t turn you into a unicorn tonight. You’ve got to rest.’

  Twilight nuzzled her.

  ‘I’m going to go and get you some carrots,’ Lauren said. ‘I’ll be back in a minute.’

  She hurried to the house. Her dad was in the kitchen with Max. They had just got back from dog-training class and Max was putting Buddy’s lead away.

  Lauren took three carrots from the fridge. Buddy came over to see what she was doing. She patted him. ‘How was Buddy’
s lesson? Is he still top of the class?’

  ‘No,’ Max said, stomping over and sitting down. ‘No, he isn’t.’ Buddy tried to put his head on Max’s knee, but Max pushed him away.

  Mr Foster sighed. ‘Buddy wasn’t very good today,’ he explained to Lauren. ‘They were trying to teach the puppies to fetch a toy, but Buddy just kept running off and not coming back.’

  Max stared at the floor.

  ‘Don’t worry,’ Lauren said sympathetically. ‘I’m sure Buddy will learn soon.’

  ‘Lauren’s right, Max,’ Mr Foster said. ‘You’ve got all weekend to teach Buddy how to fetch. There isn’t another class until Monday.’

  Lauren bent down and stroked the puppy. ‘He’ll learn to fetch, won’t you, Buddy?’

  Looking up at her, Buddy wagged his tail.

  The next morning, Tony Blackstone came to check on Twilight again. ‘Nothing obvious has shown up on the blood test,’ he told Lauren and Mr Foster, ‘but I’ll send it off to the lab for further analysis. Still, I’m sure there’s nothing to worry about. He looks better already, don’t you, boy?’

  Twilight whickered.

  Tony smiled. ‘You’d almost think he could understand what I was saying.’

  Lauren only just managed to hide her grin. If only he knew! ‘Should he rest today?’ she asked.

  ‘Yes, just to be on the safe side,’ Tony said.

  As Mr Foster walked with the vet back to his car, Max picked up a stick and threw it. ‘Go, boy!’ he called to Buddy. ‘Go fetch!’

  Buddy bounded up to the stick and grabbed it.

  ‘That’s it! Bring it here, Buddy!’ Max called.

  Buddy wagged his tail, the stick firmly clenched in his teeth.

  ‘Buddy, come here!’ Max said, his voice rising in exasperation. He started to walk

  towards the puppy, but Buddy dodged around Max and gambolled away up the path.

  ‘Buddy!’ Max shouted crossly. ‘Come back!’

  But Buddy ignored him and galloped out of sight.

  ‘You could try keeping him on a lead,’

  Lauren suggested as Max stared after him. ‘Then he couldn’t get away.’

  ‘I know how to train him, Lauren,’ Max snapped. ‘You don’t need to tell me.’

  ‘I was only trying to help,’ Lauren told him.

  ‘Well, I don’t need your help!’ Max said. ‘I –’