My Secret Unicorn Read Online Free Page B

hay and went back inside.
    She went straight upstairs to her bedroom to look at the map. Withtrembling fingers, she undid the scrap of red ribbon and let the parchment unfurl. The map was drawn in spidery silver ink that glimmered in the fading light from her bedroom window. Lauren pored over it, tracing her finger over the mountains and valleys criss-crossed with winding rivers. The Plateau of Light was marked with a glowing, golden square halfway up one of the tallest mountain peaks. It looked like such a long way. She took a deep breath and looked out of the window at Twilight. He looked up at her from the paddock and whinnied. He was obviously waiting for their adventure to begin.
    Lauren’s heart did a little somersault.
    Please, please, Twilight, don’t ever leave me. Please don’t go back to Arcadia.
    Her dad called her down to dinner, so Lauren put the map to one side and went downstairs. There were sausages and green beans to go with the baked potatoes, and Mr Foster began to serve it up.
    ‘Feeling hungry, Lauren?’ he asked, as he held up three sausages with the serving tongs.
    Lauren smiled weakly. Usually, sausages and baked potatoes was one of her favourite dinners, but today there were butterflies fluttering around her stomach and she didn’t feel like eating at all. ‘Not very,’ she admitted. ‘Two will be plenty, thanks, Dad.’
    Mr Foster raised his eyebrows in surprise. ‘Well, that means all the more for the rest of us, doesn’t it?’ he commented cheerfully.
    Mrs Foster flashed Lauren a sympathetic smile. ‘I expect you’re worried about Shadow, aren’t you?’
    Lauren nodded. ‘Mel says he’s getting worse,’ she said. ‘And the vet still doesn’t know what’s wrong with him. The blood tests didn’t show anything.’
    ‘Oh dear,’ sighed her mum. ‘We’ll just have to hope that a good night’s rest will do Shadow some good.’
    Lauren picked up her fork and played with her green beans, but she could only manage a few mouthfuls. She keptthinking about the journey ahead, and the moment when she would have to tell Twilight the truth about the Plateau of Light. The more she thought about it, the more nervous she felt, and she just wished it was time to go and get it over with. It was a relief when dinner was over and she could finally leave the table.
    ‘I think I’ll have an early night,’ she said, heading for the stairs. ‘I’m going to get up early tomorrow to go and see Mel.’
    ‘That’s fine, honey,’ said her mum. ‘Try not to worry. Shadow might be a lot better by then.’
    In her bedroom, Lauren had another quick look at the map. She wondered what it would be like in the mountains at night. Mrs Fontana had said it would be cold, so she would have to be prepared. She’d need warm clothes, an apple for Twilight and some water, but she couldn’t do anything until everyone else had come upstairs. So she lay down on her bed and stared up at the ceiling, listening to what was happening in the rest of the house. She heard Max going to bed, then she heard the faint sound of the TV in the living room. She guessed that her mum and dad were watching a film. The minutes ticked by very slowly.
    At last, Mr and Mrs Foster climbed the stairs and Lauren heard the click of their bedroom door closing shut. She got up and took her warmest jacket out of her wardrobe and rummaged for her rucksack in her cupboard. She shrugged on the jacket and put the map into one of the zip-up pockets. She packed a little blanket, just in case it got really cold, and then crept out of her room and down the stairs. As quietly as she could, she stuffed a plastic bottle of water and an apple in with the blanket and slung the rucksack over her shoulders. Then she slipped out of the house. It was quite chilly already, but there was a full moon, so she could see quite clearly.
    Twilight was waiting for her at the gate. ‘It’s time to go, Twilight,’ she whispered. She muttered the words of the