Wonder whined, and Indy huffed at Ben. “It’s all right, Indy-boy.” Ben gave each of the unicorns another lump of sugar.
“You steer,” Twig said. “I’ll get out the map.”
Twig scratched Wonder with one hand and traced their route from the boardwalk to the true heart of the Death Swamp with the other.
The dangers leaped off the page, tongues of fire and gnashing teeth. We’re here. We’re everywhere. And now we’ve got you, Twig. We’re going to take you from that island for good.
One wrong turn, and they could go up in smoke or be sucked—or dragged—into the mud, becoming a part of it forever. No one she loved would ever see her again. She thought of Mom, alone in jail. Twig knew her mother missed her, that she longed to see her. And Daddy would be home in a few days. He was looking forward to coming to see her at the ranch, watching her ride before he took her home with him.
The swamp haze grew thicker, the shadows darker. Twig got out the big flashlight she’d packed and flipped it on. Ben gripped her arm and pointed. She stifled a scream. Scattered above the water, small, round lights glowed red.
“Swamp lizards,” Ben whispered.
“Those are their eyes? There are so many of them.”
“We’ll stay still and calm. We’ll be okay, I think.” Ben pushed his paddle gently away from the glowing eyes. Twig did the same, trying not to make a splash.
Wonder shrieked. Twig jumped up to steady her, and that’s when she saw the snake creeping along Wonder’s back, wriggling through her mane. She recognized the pattern of stripes instantly from the illustrations on the map. It lifted its pointed head, poised to pierce Wonder’s neck.
Before Twig could draw her sword, Indy slashed at the snake with his horn and sliced it in two. But as he did so, he lost his balance and plunged into the water. Wonder leaped after him. Ben tossed the writhing remains of the snake over the other side of the boat and whistled for Indy to come back, but Wonder was spooked. She leaped farther away from the snake—and the pirogue.
Indy called to Wonder and turned back toward the boat and his rider. Twig held the flashlight up just in time to see a pair of those red eyes darting through the water, right toward Indy. Ben yelled a warning, and Indy leaped and swam away, after Wonder.
“Paddle!” Ben cried. “Hurry!”
They paddled furiously after the unicorns and away from the dozen or so red eyes—eyes that gleamed with new interest. One by one, the swamp lizards began to weave through the swamp plants toward the little boat.
Twig called to Wonder, and Ben whistled to Indy, and their unicorns struggled against the swamp, back to the pirogue. Ben grabbed Indy by the halter. He pulled while Indy lunged. Indy made it in, but the pirogue tipped with the impact. Twig shoved her paddle into the muck, and Ben shifted his weight, steadying it just before it tipped over. Ben scooped swamp water out of the pirogue with cupped hands while Twig tried to calm Wonder and get her to come to the boat.
“Nice and steady. Come on.” Wonder slowed down all right. Now she was barely moving at all, and the near capsizing of the pirogue had reignited the swamp lizards’ interest. Wonder snorted and tossed her head. She kicked, and Twig saw it—a tangle of swamp weeds wrapped around her foreleg.
“Wonder’s in trouble!”
The unicorn lunged forward, toward the boat—into a dip in the swamp floor, into deeper water. She sank up to her neck, her eyes wild with fear, pleading with Twig, Save me. Save me. Don’t let me die here. Ben struggled to keep Indy under control and in the boat. Twig threw everything off her back, even her shell and her mini-backpack. Holding only her sword, she jumped into the water and swam to Wonder.
Ben was shouting at her. An arrow whizzed by, and something splashed. Something big. A swamp lizard’s bumpy tail disappeared into the water.
Twig groped for Wonder’s reins and tried to hold her head still so she could talk to her. Wonder was growing more and more exhausted. Sinking deeper and deeper. And it was impossible to hold on to Wonder with one hand and her sword with the other while treading water. Twig took a deep breath, let go of Wonder, and dove into the murky water. She felt for Wonder, praying she wouldn’t take a hoof in the head or accidentally slash Wonder with her sword.
She found Wonder’s leg and worked her fingers under the weeds that threatened to tether her to the Death Swamp forever. There was no way she could cut them off Wonder’s leg with her sword without cutting Wonder too. Not the way the unicorn was kicking and fighting to escape, to stay alive.
Desperately, Twig slashed through the water underneath Wonder’s feet. The water surged around her, and Twig bobbed up, gasping and spitting swampy grit. Wonder swam toward the pirogue. She was free. Twig had cut the weeds away from the swamp floor.
“Twig!” Ben held his hand out for her, and she climbed into the pirogue.
Twig held on to Wonder’s bridle while Ben pushed the pirogue into shallower water, and Wonder clambered in. Ragged weeds hung from her forelegs.
Ben glanced behind them at the swamp lizards. He shoved a paddle at Twig. “Let’s go!”
Still out of breath, Twig paddled for her life—for all of their lives. They navigated around a cluster of floating plants that resembled blackened lily pads and into a patch of open water.
“Strange.” Ben took Twig’s flashlight and shined it. “They’re not following.”
The pairs of red eyes clustered together, watching but not following—almost as though they were waiting. For what?
A burst of blue flame lit up the swamp. The unicorns cried out, and this time, Twig couldn’t stop her scream.
“Swamp fire! Twig, the map!” Ben pushed them away from the flames. “We’ve gotten off course. We have to get out of here and headed the right direction without—” He nodded at the swamp lizards.
Without running right back into their hungry, razor-toothed mouths.