CHAPTER 3

FIXING THE OW

The unicorn carefully lowered its gigantic hoof. Gorp and I took a step closer and looked for anything unusual.

I pointed at a scratch about the size of my arm and turned to Gorp. “Do you think that might be causing the trouble?”

Then I heard a squeal behind me. It was my mom. She stood with her hands pressed against her cheeks, staring up at the unicorn. “Oh my goodness! Aren’t you just the cutest little thing?” She put her arm around me. “Oh, Zoey. How special! A little itty-bitty baby unicorn!”

I slapped my forehead. Was I the only one who didn’t know the actual size of unicorns?

Gorp cleared his throat.

“Oh my goodness. I didn’t see you there, Gorp,” Mom said. “How are you doing?” She gave him a hug.

Gorp turned to show off his shiny fur. “Quite well. I was playing with friends in the forest when we felt the earth shaking. They sent me to figure out what it was. I thought you two would know.”

The unicorn shifted a little and the ground shook again. “HELP PLEASE?”

“Oh, sorry!” all three of us called up at once.

I pointed to the scratch. “This is all I could find,” I told Mom. “It seems pretty small compared to the unicorn’s huge leg. Do you think it’s like the unicorn version of a paper cut? It’s small but it hurts a lot?”

Mom walked around the leg and nodded. “That’s all I’m seeing too. What’s your plan?”

Oh, right. I needed a plan. I was about to start thinking out loud when my dad opened the back door to our house.

“Honey?” he called. “Why are so many things on the floor in here? Was there an earthquake?”

Mom turned to me. “I’d better go talk to your dad. Good thing he was at the store during this. Since he can’t see magical creatures, I am sure he’d be horribly confused right about now! I know you’ll come up with a great plan for how to help the unicorn. I’ll be inside if you need me.”

“GIRL SEE OW? HOW GIRL FIX?”

“I do see the scratch. It must hurt a lot. Let me go grab something and I’ll figure out what to do. One minute!” I turned to Gorp. “I’ll be right back. I just need to grab my Thinking Goggles to figure this out.”

Gorp nodded. “I should head back to my friends. They’re still wondering what happened. The baby unicorn will be OK, right?”

“Definitely.” I stood up a little straighter. “You can tell your friends I’m taking care of it.”

“I will,” said Gorp.

“Thanks, Gorp!”

“Oh, and um, say hi to Sassafras for me, I guess.” Then he headed back into the forest.

Sassafras! Where was that cat?

I waved goodbye and jogged into the barn. Aha! I found my Thinking Goggles right next to a blanket with a fluffed-up, shaking tail sticking out from under it.

“Sass?” I whispered. I lifted the blanket and discovered the rest of my fluffed-out, shaking cat. OK, so at least Sassafras was also surprised by the unicorn’s size.

“Oh, buddy. It’s just a baby unicorn. He won’t hurt you!” I explained. But it wasn’t any use. Sassafras was too freaked out. “Why don’t you stay here and I’ll go help him?”

“Mrrowww,” Sassafras agreed.

I gently covered him up again with the blanket and gave him a reassuring pat. Then I plunked my Thinking Goggles on my head and walked back out to talk to … Where were my manners? I’d forgotten to ask if the unicorn had a name.

I leaned my head waaaay back. “Hello again! I’ve got my Thinking Goggles, so I should have a plan soon. But I forgot to ask—do you have a name?”

The unicorn nodded his gigantic head and a huge gust of wind almost knocked me to the ground. I held on to a nearby tree trunk so I didn’t blow away.

“TINY,” said the unicorn.

You have got to be kidding me. “Your name is Tiny?”

The unicorn nodded again, and this time my Thinking Goggles flew off.

I chased them down and made a mental note to try to avoid asking Tiny yes or no questions.

“Nice to meet you, Tiny. I’m Zoey. Let’s see here. You have a cut on the back of your leg down here.”

“ZOEY FIX IT?”

“Yes, I will. I just need to think. Hmmm.” I tapped my Thinking Goggles. My knee started to itch. Oh! My knee! I had fallen last week while chasing some friends at school and had gotten a scrape.

“Tiny, when I get a scrape or cut, the first thing my mom asks me to do is rinse it really well with water. Then she dries it and puts some antibacterial cream on it. The cream is like medicine to kill any bad bacteria. After that she covers it with a bandage. In a day or two, I’m as good as new. I’ll do the same thing for you, but I need to think bigger. I mean, you’re going to need a slightly bigger bandage.” I giggled, thinking of one of my tiny bandages on Tiny’s ginormous unicorn leg.

“OK,” said Tiny.

“First up, rinsing. I can’t possibly get you to a sink. I need something bigger.” I adjusted my Thinking Goggles. “I need a really big faucet like … a hose!”

I ran to the side of the barn and dragged the hose over to Tiny.

Next, I’d have to dry the cut. Mom had dried my knee with a washcloth. Thinking bigger, I realized I’d need a blanket. After drying, I’d need a way to put some antibacterial cream on—a lot of antibacterial cream—and a bandage the size of, well, me. “I’m going inside for supplies. I’ll be right back, Tiny!”

Inside I told my mom the plan, and she distracted my dad while I made a pile on the kitchen table: a blanket, my largest paintbrush, a large tube of antibacterial cream, scissors, and rolls of paper towels, plastic wrap, and packing tape.

I loaded everything in my arms and headed out to Tiny.

“I’m just going to spray some water on your hoof.” I held the hose above my head and rinsed the cut.

“COLD!” Tiny yelped.

“Almost done,” I hollered. “I just need to make sure I’ve washed out any dirt or bad stuff that could be in there.”

After one final spray with the hose, I dried his cut with the blanket. Next, I squeezed antibacterial cream onto my paintbrush. I stood on my tippy-toes and painted the whole tube of cream onto the cut. Then I gently placed folded paper towels over the cut. After that I took the plastic wrap and walked in circles around Tiny’s leg, pulling the plastic wrap tight to hold the paper towels in place. Finally I topped it all off with some packing tape.

“OK Tiny, I think that should help. Come back tomorrow and I’ll check your leg. It should start feeling better really soon.”

“ZOEY NICE. THANK YOU.”

I moved away from the barn and trees and waved goodbye to Tiny. Then I crouched on the ground and covered my head and neck until Tiny’s earth-rattling hops faded away.