9

Pearl tried to remember everything she and Ben had learned about Maximus Steele. He was a hunter, and he trapped the rain dragon in order to steal one of her horns. According to Dr. Woo, Mr. Steele was extremely dangerous, but she hadn’t told them anything else.

“Is he mean enough to hurt a unicorn?” Pearl asked.

“He would do anything for a prized horn.” Dr. Woo picked up the crumpled note and tossed it into a wastepaper basket. “But there’s no time to discuss that right now. I must visit the unicorn king and find out what has happened.”

“Good luck,” Ben said.

“Please take us with you,” Pearl pleaded. This was the opportunity of a lifetime. She had to go! “We can help.”

“I don’t think…” Dr. Woo paused. Then she pressed her fingertips together and gazed at Pearl. “In any other situation, I would be hesitant. Mr. Tabby has not yet trained you in certain procedures. But in the case of a unicorn, Pearl, you might be of great value.”

“Really?” Pearl beamed.

“While the kelpie preferred Ben’s scent, unicorns prefer the company of young girls. In fact, only a girl can summon a unicorn.”

“Hey!” Ben cried. Violet had found the yellow knitted hat in his back pocket and was nibbling on the yarn. He pulled it free. “How come you keep eating my clothes?”

She blinked rapidly. “I can’t help myself, little darlin’. I just love to eeeeeat.”

“Goats like to eat everything,” Pearl said. “I saw a show once where a goat was eating a tin can. Am I right?” She smiled, but then realized that Dr. Woo and Violet were looking at her as if she’d just said the most horrid thing in the world.

Violet put her hands on her wide hips and scowled. “I’m no goooooat,” she said huffily. “I’m a satyress. Goats are simple, domesticated critters from the Known World. I am descended from a Greek demigod, not from a faaaaarm animal.” She grabbed a bag of ivy and began chewing on a vine.

“Sorry,” Pearl said. She hadn’t meant to insult anyone.

Dr. Woo cleared her throat. “I must attend to the unicorns. Violet, while I’m collecting my supplies, please have the apprentices watch the Portal training movie.” She began to walk toward the stairwell.

“We have to watch a training movie?” Pearl complained. “That sounds boring. Can’t we just learn on the job? My dad says that’s the best way to learn.”

“Will we be back by three?” Ben called. “My grandfather wants me home because he’s making brisket for dinner. It’s his favorite.”

“I will make every effort to return you by three o’clock,” Dr. Woo said. Then she left the tenth floor, the door closing behind her.

Pearl poked Ben’s arm. “If we’re late, we won’t have to go to Victoria’s award ceremony. I’d rather feed sardines to that kelpie than watch someone put a crown on Victoria’s big, bloated head.”

Violet wiped a few bits of green leaf from her mouth, then motioned with her hand. “Follow me, little daaaaarlin’s.”

A side door opened into a room that looked exactly like a miniature theater. Six red velvet chairs sat in a row facing a white screen. The walls and ceiling were painted black. An old-fashioned projector stood in the back of the room.

“Wow,” Ben said as he looked at the contraption. The film was wound onto one reel, which fed it through the projector, then onto a second reel. “This is really old.”

“Have a seeeeeat,” Violet said, her hooves click-clacking as she walked to the projector.

Pearl and Ben chose the two middle seats. Even though the hospital theater was small, it was so much better than the one in Buttonville, where the seats leaked stuffing and the metal springs poked into your back. The old popcorn machine always overcooked the kernels so that you had to spit out the little burned bits. That was why the floor was crunchy and sticky at the same time.

Violet darkened the room, then switched on the projector. A beam of light shot through the lens and onto the screen.

“Should we take notes?” Ben asked. “Is there going to be a test?”

Pearl groaned. She hated tests. No matter how much time her teacher gave her to study, she always seemed to forget something.

“Y’all pay attention and there’ll be no need for a teeeeest,” Violet said as she left the room.

The movie began.