Chapter 6

Maggie gave the unicorn’s horn one last swipe with the polishing rag and stepped back to admire her handiwork. The horn glistened in the sunlight pouring through the stall window. Pale blue and silver, it looked beautiful against the unicorn’s white coat.

Randal snorted and shook his head, tossing the mane Maggie had just brushed. His coat glistened from being brushed, too, but she knew that wouldn’t last long. He would roll and get dirty again as soon as she let him out in one of the paddocks. Having one wooden leg didn’t stop Randal from having fun.

‘That beast has only three legs!’ Peter said from the doorway. ‘Why do you keep it around?’

‘What are you doing here, Peter?’ Maggie asked.

‘I came to see Bob,’ he said, smirking.

‘Bob!’ Maggie called without taking her eyes off her stepbrother. ‘Peter wants to talk to you.’

Bob came out of the end stall, where he’d been fixing a broken board. When he saw Peter, he nodded as if he’d been expecting him.

‘I found something that I think belongs to you,’ Peter said, opening a cloth bag. He pulled out Maggie’s journal and handed it to Bob. Glancing at Maggie, Peter’s smirk grew broader.

‘Maggie left your book in the forest,’ said Peter. ‘You can see that she doesn’t take very good care of your things. See how dirty it is? Some of the pages are torn, too. I wouldn’t lend anything to someone who treats my stuff that way.’

‘I wouldn’t either,’ Bob said, shaking his head. ‘This is a real shame. Here you go, Maggie.’

Maggie took the journal from Bob and turned it over to look at the damage.

‘Why did you give it to her?’ asked Peter.

‘Because it belongs to her.’ Bob pointed at the writing on the cover. ‘If you or your mother could read, you’d know that’s Maggie’s name. She wouldn’t do this to her journal or to mine, which means that you did it. I don’t take kindly to thieves or liars. Maybe I should contact the sheriff.’

‘I’m not a thief!’ exclaimed Peter.

‘Really?’ said Bob. ‘You used your little sister to lure Maggie into the forest. While Maggie was trying to help a child who needed her, you stole the journal, thinking it belonged to me. I don’t know which is worst: using your little sister like that, stealing the journal, lying about it, or trying to blame Maggie for the damage you did to the book.’

‘Hey, at least I brought it back,’ Peter said grudgingly.

‘Don’t ever touch my stuff again, Peter!’ Maggie told him.

Peter scowled and walked away.

Leonard kicked the side of his stall. ‘If he does, I’ll tell the sheriff myself,’ he shouted, loud enough for Peter to hear. ‘And don’t you ever say anything bad about Randal again. That unicorn is better with three legs than you are with two!’