Chapter 8

It started to rain as Maggie walked away from the cottage. Angry and bewildered, her tears felt hot on her cheeks. How could Zelia kick her out? If only Maggie could tell her father!

Maggie stumbled down the path as the rain poured and the wind blew. She wasn’t thinking about where she was going.

The wind got colder. Maggie shivered and looked around. She had reached the main road. In a few hours, it would be night. Then she wouldn’t be able to find her way.

Maggie wondered what she should do. She didn’t have any relatives around who could take her in. Bob was the only person who had been really nice to her, but his magic stable was so far away. She would be soaked to the bone before she made it that far!

Thunder rumbled as she stopped to think. She needed to find a place where she could get out of the storm. Although she knew of a few caves where she would be dry, none of them were empty. A grumpy black bear lived in one. A family of wolves lived in another. Something she’d never seen lived in the third, but she had heard it growl and she definitely didn’t want to go any closer. Maggie saw that she wasn’t far from the ruins. She hurried along the path. Her wet clothes clung to her body, making her more uncomfortable. Water streamed from her hair. When she finally spotted the ruins, she climbed over the first big rocks and crawled under the next big ones. Finding a dry spot big enough for her, she sat down, shivering.

A rock fell. Suddenly, other rocks scraped against each other.

“Owiee! I stub my big toe! It hurt,” a voice cried out.

“You have big feet!” said another voice. “You always stub toe.”

Maggie huddled in her space between the rocks. She had heard these voices before: once in a field of wild flowers, and once on the road with Bob and Leonard. The goblins were here and they sounded close by.

Maggie dug around in her pocket until she found a small, hard triangle. It was the tip of the silver unicorn’s horn that he had given to her when she pulled prickers from his mane. The little piece of horn was the only thing that could protect her now. Bob had told her that unicorn horns destroyed poison. There was poison in goblin blood. Any goblin that even touched a unicorn horn would go poof! and vanish. Maggie took the tiny piece out of her pocket and held it tightly in her hand.

Thunder boomed overhead. “Agh!” shrieked the goblins.

“Me hate thunder!” cried one.

“Me hate it more!” yelled another.

“Me hate it most!” shouted the third. “Quick, under rock before thunder get us.”

Maggie waited, her heart pounding as the goblins came closer. The moment they stuck their heads under her big rock, Maggie held up the piece of unicorn horn. The piece of horn began to glow. The goblins screamed.

“Unicorn!” they cried. Their faces disappeared from the opening.

The goblins were clumsy as they ran away and bumped into everything. Small rocks bounced against bigger rocks while other rocks crashed to the ground. Maggie waited until she couldn’t hear them anymore before she crawled out from under the rocks. She peeked her head out and made sure everything was clear before setting out again. When she safely reached the path, she started to run. The goblins were gone, but other creatures would be looking for shelter. There was only one place where she was sure she’d be safe even though it wouldn’t be easy to get to—the magic stable.

Maggie slipped and slid as she ran down the road. Tripping over a rock, she landed on her hands and knees in a puddle.

“Ow!” Maggie cried. She was just getting to her feet when she felt something nudge her from behind. Startled, she turned around and found the silver unicorn that had once chased away the goblins. It was the same unicorn that had given her the tip of his horn. She gasped when the unicorn knelt down, as if offering her a ride.

When the unicorn didn’t move, Maggie climbed onto his back. She dug her fingers into his mane and held on as he started to gallop down the road. Pounding rain stung her eyes, and cold wind chilled her as the unicorn carried her past the mill, beyond the castle, and all the way to Bob’s stable.

It was pitch dark when Maggie slipped off the unicorn’s back. “Thank you!” she told him, stroking his cheek. “You saved me twice now!”

The unicorn nickered, bumping her with his head. When he turned and disappeared into the storm, Maggie hurried into the stable, dripping wet from head to toe. She found an empty stall where she piled clean hay in a corner and curled up, still shivering.

The stable was warm and soon she was sound asleep.