Unicorn Academy: Ariana and Whisper E-Book

Julie Sykes

• Herausgeber: Nosy Crow
• Kategorie: Für Kinder und Jugendliche
• Serie: Unicorn Academy
• Sprache: Englisch
• Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2019

Seitenzahl: 65

Beschreibung

When your best friend is a unicorn, magical adventures are guaranteed! Imagine a school where you meet your own unicorn and have amazing adventures together! That's what happens for the girls at Unicorn Academy on beautiful Unicorn Island. Ariana loves hanging out at the Unicorn Academy stables and looking after her beautiful unicorn, Whisper. She just hopes that their differences won't stop them bonding! All the animals are leaving the Verdant Forest, and everyone is worried. Ariana and Whisper will need all their courage to protect their friends and bring the animals safely home... With a glittery cover and beautifully illustrated throughout by Lucy Truman, Unicorn Academy is the perfect series for 7+ readers who love magic and adventure. Check out the other titles in this series: Sophia and Rainbow, Scarlett and Blaze, Isabel and Cloud and many more!

Leseprobe

Whisper stopped suddenly. Coming towards them was a long line of rabbits, their tails flashing white as they hopped along. Bubbles of anxiety popped in Ariana’s tummy. What was making the rabbits leave the safety of the trees?

For Antonia, who is also magic.

CHAPTER ONE

Ariana woke to the sound of her unicorn alarm clock whinnying good morning. She stretched out a hand and switched it off, then carefully folded back her blue and silver duvet and swung her legs out of bed. Her toes sank into something soft and she frowned. What was that? Leaning over, Ariana saw Matilda’s hoodie crumpled on the floor.

“Matilda!” Ariana sighed, looking across at the girl in the next bed. Even in sleep, Matilda somehow managed to make Diamond dorm look untidy. Her red hair was spread over her pillow in a sea of tangles and her duvet hung from the edge of the bed.

As Ariana picked up the hoodie, a large spider with red stripes on its back scuttled across the sleeve. Ariana squealed and flung the hoodie back down, waking Rosa, Freya and Violet.

“Ariana, are you all right?” said Violet, sitting up quickly.

“What’s going on?” demanded Freya.

“Why did you scream?” said Rosa.

Only Matilda slept on, snoring softly.

“There’s a sp … sp … spider,” Ariana stuttered, pointing at the floor where the spider was picking its way over Matilda’s hoodie.

“I don’t like spiders.”

“Is that all?” Rosa groaned, flopping back against her pillow.

“Poor spider. It’s probably trying to find its way outside,” said Violet, pushing her dark plait over her shoulder and going to investigate.

“Let’s help it,” said Freya, joining her. Gently, she scooped the spider up in her hands. “Aren’t the red stripes on its back unusual? I’ve never seen one like it before. Open the window for me, Ariana.”

Ariana stared at Freya in horror. What was she doing picking it up? Red meant danger, didn’t it? What if the spider bit her?

“The window, Ariana!” Freya said impatiently.

Ariana hurried to the window and flung it wide open. She shrank back as Freya passed her, just in case the spider tried to escape. “Be careful!”

Freya rolled her eyes scornfully. “I can’t believe you’re scared of spiders. It’s not going to hurt us. Surely you know there are no dangerous spiders on Unicorn Island?”

Ariana bit her lip, not wanting to admit she didn’t know much about creepy-crawlies. She just knew she didn’t like them!

Freya held the spider as it sent out a thread of silk and sailed down the wall, but before she could close the window, Ariana saw a small emerald-green lizard climbing up the side of her wardrobe.

“Watch out!” she shrieked.

“Ariana, don’t freak out. It’s just a harmless lizard,” said Violet. She caught it and put it on the window sill. “It’s very pretty. I wonder where it came from – and the spider.”

“Probably from Matilda. She’s so untidy!” said Ariana, feeling better now that the spider and lizard were safely outside the dorm. “I bet she brought them in on her clothes. They’re always covered in grass and stuff. Look –” she gestured towards the dirty clothes around Matilda’s bed. “No wonder our dorm is full of bugs.”

“Bugs? Who’s got bugs?” Matilda yawned and opened her eyes. Reaching for her glasses, she accidentally knocked over her lucky duck toy. It immediately started quacking. “Whoops!” She picked it up and turned it this way and that. “I can never remember how to make this stop,” she said, frowning.

Rosa buried her head under her pillow with a groan. “Turn it down!”

“Good thinking!” said Matilda cheerfully. She shoved the duck under her pillow, muffling the quacking noise. “So, what’s going on?” she said, putting her glasses on and looking around at them all. “Why’s the window open? It’s freezing.”

“A spider and lizard decided to spend the night with us. We were just putting them outside,” said Freya, shutting it.

“It’s probably your fault.” Ariana frowned at Matilda. “I bet they came in on your clothes and you didn’t even notice. You’re so untidy! You really should fold your things and put them away.” Matilda flopped back with a sigh, sending the toy duck shooting out from under her pillow. Its loud quacks sent Rosa, Freya and Violet into a fit of giggles. Ariana broke off, feeling hurt. She’d hoped the others would back her up. Surely they couldn’t enjoy sharing a dorm with someone as messy as Matilda?

As Ariana turned away, Violet put a hand on her arm. “Don’t be upset, Ariana. I expect Matilda forgot to tidy up last night because she was working on a picture.”

“I was, actually,” said Matilda, her long red hair falling over her shoulders as she nodded earnestly. “My little cousin was so excited when I told her all about being at school here. I promised I’d draw her a picture of our dorm. I’ve got it here somewhere, if you want to see?” Matilda almost knocked a glass of water over as she began to sift through a pile of paper balanced on her chest of drawers.

“You can show me later,” said Ariana shortly. She sat down at the dressing table. Her long black hair was braided with colourful beads. She checked the beads were secure and tucked some braids behind her ear. Whatever Violet said, it wasn’t just last night that Matilda had forgotten to put her clothes away – she always forgot and it was really annoying! Back at home, Ariana lived with just her mum and dad, and they were very tidy and organised – just like Ariana. She had packed and repacked her suitcase several times before she left home to come to Unicorn Academy. She had been really looking forward to it, but she was finding it hard getting used to living in a dorm with four other girls, particularly untidy Matilda.

Remembering the scornful look Freya had given her when she’d carried the spider to the window, Ariana felt her stomach twist. Making friends was turning out to be so much harder than she had imagined. She hadn’t thought the other girls would be so different from her! Violet was easy to get on with, but Freya spent much of her time on her own with her engineering inventions, Rosa always wanted to be having adventures and Matilda was just annoyingly untidy and scatter-brained. I wish they were more like me, thought Ariana wistfully. I don’t really feel like I’ve got any friends here at all.

CHAPTER TWO

After a delicious breakfast of hot rolls and fresh fruit, Ariana was feeling better. She walked to the stables with the others, half-listening to their chatter, her hands buried in the pockets of her snuggly purple hoodie. She really did love Unicorn Academy. The spring sun was edging upwards in the forget-me-not-blue sky, its rays making the marble towers and domed glass roof of the academy sparkle and shine. Ariana breathed a happy sigh as she thought about Whisper, the unicorn she had been paired with. He had big brown eyes and long eyelashes, his white coat was patterned with trailing pink and blue flowers and his dark pink mane was streaked with strands of a lighter pink and purple. Ariana thought him the sweetest, most beautiful unicorn on the whole of Unicorn Island.