The Wrong Side of Magic Read Online Free Page B

noise hadn’t been a troll. Two unicorns stood on the path behind him, their heads lifted too high to be hit by the arc of his swing.
    Hudson let out another startled scream. He was getting quite good at those. He put his hand to his chest and sat back down on the ground, too relieved and surprised to speak.
    One unicorn was a gray color—not the gray of rocks or dirty sidewalks. It was the soft gray of morning mist. The other unicorn was the tawny brown of glistening honey.
    The gray unicorn took a step back and turned to the unicorn beside him. “Did you see that, Nigel? That human tried to strike me.”
    â€œMost uncivil,” the tawny unicorn agreed. Both spoke with a sort of British-sounding accent.
    Hudson got to his feet, gaping at them. “You can talk?”
    The gray unicorn tossed his mane, warily keeping an eye on Hudson. He still spoke only to the other unicorn. “What sort of incantation do you suppose the boy was performing on the road a moment ago?”
    The tawny unicorn leaned his head toward his companion. “I don’t think that was an incantation. It sounded distinctly like cursing to me.”
    â€œHe was cursing the road?” the gray unicorn asked. “How barbaric.”
    â€œYou don’t understand,” Hudson said, still so surprised that it was hard to think straight. He held up the compass for them to see. “I accidentally flipped the knob off the compass because, well, I heard you grunting and I thought you were going to eat me or something—”
    The unicorns let out a simultaneous “Hmmph!” and turned back toward each other. In a lowered voice, the tawny unicorn said, “All those who vote that the human boy is impure in heart, raise their horn.”
    The gray unicorn immediately raised his head so his horn stood straight up. The tawny unicorn lifted his head, as well. “Impure it is, then.”
    They trotted around Hudson, noses twitching.
    It was only when the unicorns declared Hudson to be impure that he remembered Bonnie’s insistence that unicorns helped travelers who were pure in heart.
    â€œWait!” Hudson turned and walked after them. “I’ve got a pure heart. Really, I do!” He hurried to catch up. He had to convince them that he was good. Otherwise, he had no idea how to get home.
    The unicorns didn’t stop. As they continued down the path, the gray one glanced over his shoulder. “It’s following us now.”
    â€œDon’t make eye contact with it, Cecil. That just encourages them.”
    At that, the unicorns went from trot to canter. Hudson ran, plodding uselessly after them. “Come back!” he called. “I’m pure!”
    They swished their tails to shoo him off and galloped away, disappearing as they went around a twist in the path.
    There was no use in trying to catch up with them. Hudson stopped running and looked down the path, panting. What did a person do when he was stuck in a magic forest with trolls, giants, and no idea of how to get home? Somehow, none of his schoolteachers had ever covered this topic. Ditto for the stories he’d read.
    He would have to retrace his steps, find the missing knob to the compass, and hope he could figure out a way to make it take him home.
    He walked back along the path, past pink bushes, tufts of purple grass, and green ferns that seemed out of place for looking so ordinary. Several types of flowers grew along the way: orange ones that shot up like miniature flames on stems, white ones that resembled upside-down jellyfish, and pink striped ones whose petals twirled in the wind like pinwheels. Were any of them catflowers? Then again, catflower might be like cauliflower—something that didn’t look like a flower at all.
    Hudson stared at the plants, hoping they might produce name tags. Finally, he reached out and touched a white one. The petals immediately drew inward, disappearing into the stem like a sea