“Come on,” Grace said. “Let’s ask if we can play, too!” They ran to join the creatures, Cuddle skipping beside them. Grace gazed up at the fairies playing above them.
“Your wings look just like theirs,” she said to Olivia.
“Hello!” one of the fairies called down. “Have you come to join Miss Rosamund’s school?”
“We hope so!” Grace called back. Cuddle swerved to the left, bounding towards a broad tree at the edge of the playing field. It was covered in pink, yellow and blue flowers.
A white pony stood underneath it, munching. Sticking out from his forehead was a long horn, twisted into a spiral like a seashell. It had a kink in its tip, just like Cuddle’s tail.
Grace’s mouth dropped open. “Look – a unicorn!”
At the sound of her voice, the unicorn’s cheeks went rosy pink. He dropped his flowers and ducked behind the trunk, out of sight.
“I think he’s shy,” Olivia whispered.
Cuddle peered round the trunk, stretching her pink nose into the air.
“What’s she doing?” Grace wondered.
The unicorn’s long white muzzle poked out. He leaned down and gently touched his nose to Cuddle’s.
She mewed and jumped on to his back, curling up just behind his head.
“She’s making friends,” Olivia said, clapping her hands.
Cuddle’s tail brushed against the unicorn’s neck. “Neigh-heehee!” he snorted, and shook as if she were tickling him. He trotted round the tree trunk, picking his hooves up high. Cuddle gave a mew as she bounced on his back.
“Wow,” Grace said. “It’s almost like he’s dancing!”
The unicorn stopped dancing and his eyelashes fluttered. “Thank you,” he said.
“You can talk!” Olivia gasped. “Please don’t be scared of us. I’m Olivia. This is Grace, and you’ve met Cuddle, our kitten.”
“I’m Cosmo,” the unicorn said quietly.
“Nice to meet you, Cosmo,” Grace said. “Why don’t we go and play, too?”
“Because no one wants to play with a silly unicorn,” a voice said.
The girls looked round. Standing beside them was a troll. His skin was as green and warty as a toad’s, and he had yellow eyes. The troll jammed his thumbs into his ears and waggled his fingers. “Stupid putrid Cosmo!” he jeered.
Olivia put her hands on her hips. “Stop it! Calling people names is nasty.” The troll stuck his tongue out and sloped off.
Grace patted Cosmo’s silky mane. “Let’s go and play.”
But Cosmo hung his head and sighed.
Olivia took Grace’s hand, pulling her aside. “I think he’s too shy to join in,” she said. “And that troll’s making him feel even worse.”
“That must be why Cuddle’s brought us here,” Grace whispered. “To help Cosmo make friends!”
