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Authors: Carolyn Keene

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BOOK: Unicorn Uproar
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“Is it really magic?” George asked Elly. “I mean, does it come with a spell book or something?”

“You make up the spells,” Elly explained. She raised the wand into the air. “Then you just point—and poof!”

Elly handed Nancy the magic wand. Then she selected garlands, which she placed over Nancy's and George's heads.

“There, m'ladies!” Elly declared. “Now beauty will follow you wherever you go.”

“You mean bees will follow us!” George groaned, looking up at the dried flowers encircling her dark curls.

As the girls left the Wizardly Woods, Nancy couldn't take her eyes off her new wand. She waved it in the air, making the lavender ribbons twirl.

“Ohmigosh,” Bess gasped. “I never saw anything so amazing!”

“Thanks,” Nancy said, still gazing at her wand.

“No, not your wand, Nancy,” Bess said. She pointed into the distance. “That!”

Nancy looked to see where Bess was pointing. Then she gasped too.

Inside a fenced-in pen was a magnificent white creature with a mane and tail like a horse. But a single silver horn on the creature's head told Nancy it wasn't a horse at all. It was—

“A unicorn!” Nancy cried.

Chapter Two
Spells Bells

The girls raced to the fence. The unicorn stood at the far end of the pen, too far away for them to get a good look.

“My mom said there would be a unicorn here at the fair,” George said. “But I thought she was joking!”

“That's no joke,” Bess said, staring over the fence at the unicorn. “That's got to be for real.”

Until now Nancy had seen unicorns only in books and as stuffed animals in toy stores. But the unicorn inside the pen looked pretty for-real to her.

“The sign says his name is Sparkle,” Nancy pointed out.

“Probably because his horn sparkles in the sun!” Bess declared.

The girls were about to call out to Sparkle when a jingly noise made them turn around. Nancy giggled when she saw Toby Leo from their third-grade class walking over. He was wearing a floppy jester's cap with tiny gold bells sewed to the ends!

“Are you supposed to be a jester, Toby?” Nancy asked.

“What did you think I was?” Toby said, shaking his head to jingle his bells.

“The Mr. Drippy ice cream truck?”

“Ha, ha, very funny,” Bess said.

“Funny is right!” Toby said.

“Jesters used to tell jokes to the king and queen. Do you want to hear a joke?”

“Go for it,” George said with a shrug.

“Okay,” Toby said. He stuck
out his hand. “That'll cost you a dollar.”

Nancy groaned under her breath. Toby Leo was always looking for ways to earn a buck.

“Come on,” Toby urged. “Cough it up.”

“Why should we pay you for a joke?” Nancy asked. “George tells great jokes, and they don't cost a penny.”

“Then tell me one,” Toby told George.

“Sure,” George said. She stuck out her own hand. “But that'll cost you
two
dollars!”

Toby smirked as if to say
Ha, ha
. Then he pointed over the fence and said, “What's that thing with the crazy horn on its head? Some kind of ringtoss game?”

“It's not a ringtoss game,” Bess said. “It's a unicorn!”

“A what-a-corn?” Toby asked.

“Unicorn,” Bess repeated. “I once read that unicorns are magical, can leap over rainbows, and are good luck—if you can catch one.”

“Good luck, huh?” Toby asked slowly. His eyes
lit up as he stared at Sparkle. “Now,
that
gives me an idea!”

The girls watched as Toby dashed away.

“What kind of idea do you think he meant?” Nancy asked.

“Maybe an idea for a unicorn joke,” George said. “Like, why did the unicorn try out for the school band?”

“Why?” Nancy and Bess asked together.

“Because he had his own horn!” George declared, sending the girls into a fit of giggles.

Nancy, Bess, and George were about to turn back to Sparkle when a girl wearing a long princess dress raced over. She pointed over the fence at Sparkle and cried, “There, Daddy! I want that for my Totally Tubular Tenth Birthday Party!”

“Isn't that Destiny Delgado from the fifth grade?” Nancy whispered.

“It's her, all right,” George whispered back. “I heard Destiny's parents are so rich they eat off of gold plates!”

“I heard the only reason Destiny doesn't go
to private school is because she hates the uniforms,” Bess whispered.

Mr. Delgado joined Destiny at the fence. So did another man dressed in a green tunic and matching tights.

“Who's that? Robin Hood?” Bess asked.

“That's Rex Martindale, the director of the Dragon's Breath Fair,” George said. “He came to our house to talk to my mom last week. But he wasn't dressed like that.”

Destiny began jumping up and down. “Daddy!” she said. “Tell Rex I want that unicorn for my Totally Tubular Tenth Birthday Party!”

Mr. Delgado turned to Rex and said, “Destiny's birthday party will have a medieval theme. Just like here at the fair.”

“Yes!” Destiny said. She flipped her hair over her shoulder. “I'll be the princess and all my friends will be the peasants.”

“It's always been her dream,” Mr. Delgado added.

Nancy rolled her eyes. Destiny didn't need a
medieval party to be a princess—she already was one!

“I'm sorry, Mr. Delgado,” Rex said, sighing. “The unicorn is our main attraction. He has to stay here all weekend.”

“It's not fair!” Destiny cried. “Daddy, do something!”

The girls stepped away from the fence.

“Destiny is spoiling our visit with Sparkle,” Bess complained. “I wish she would just disappear or something.”

“Did you say disappear?” Nancy asked, and giggled. She pointed her wand straight at Destiny. Then in a low voice said, “Abracadabra, abraca-dear. Make Destiny disappear!”

“Nancy, don't!” Bess gasped.

“Don't worry, Bess,” Nancy said. “Destiny is still there. That means my wand isn't really magic. Just pretty.”

“Yeah, pretty
scary
,” Bess said, and shuddered.

A woman dressed in a red cape and feathered cap shouted as she walked by: “Lords and ladies, boys and girls! Come one, come all to ye royal parade!”

“Let's go,” Nancy said. She stuck her wand into the back pocket of her jeans. Then she ran with Bess and George to catch the parade.

A crowd had already gathered on the field for the parade. Nancy, Bess, and George squeezed to the front just in time to see marching knights,
jugglers, and the king and queen waving from a castle float.

When Nancy spotted Enchanted Elly marching in the parade, she remembered her magic wand. But when she glanced back at her pocket, it was gone.

“Bess, George!” Nancy cried. “I think I lost my wand!”

“Maybe it really was magic,” Bess gasped. “And it magically disappeared!”

George shook her head and said, “Or maybe it just fell out of your pocket on the way here.”

The girls left the parade to retrace their steps. As they neared Sparkle's pen, Nancy spotted a flash of silver in the grass. As they ran closer, the glittery purple star and lavender ribbons came into view.

Nancy smiled with relief as she picked up the wand. “See, Bess?” she said happily. “It didn't disappear.”

But Bess wasn't looking at the wand. She was staring into the unicorn pen.

“You guys … what happened to Sparkle?” Bess asked.

“What do you mean?” Nancy asked. She looked into Sparkle's pen too. But instead of seeing the white unicorn, she saw Rex Martindale. His hands were on his hips as he spoke loudly to a teenage boy.

“Seth, as Sparkle's handler you should know where he is!” Rex was saying.

“I told you, Rex,” Seth said. “When I got back to the pen, Sparkle was gone.”

Nancy, Bess, and George traded stunned looks.

“Did he say Sparkle was gone?” Nancy whispered. “As in … missing?”

Chapter Three
Point and Poof

“He can't be gone!” Bess cried. “We never got a chance to pet him. Or watch him jump over a rainbow!”

“Let's see what we can find out,” Nancy whispered.

The three girls inched closer toward the pen. Rex and Seth were so busy arguing that they didn't notice the girls.

“Where were you all this time, Seth?” Rex asked.

“I left Sparkle to help Mayor Strong,” Seth answered. “He said it was important—”

“What could be more important than our
main attraction?” Rex cut in. “Maybe you left the gate open!”

“When I came back, the gate was latched,” Seth said. “Sparkle must have found some other way to get out.”

“I don't care how he got out,” Rex huffed. “Just call me the second you find him.”

“Why don't I call the police in the meantime?” Seth suggested. “Maybe they can look for Sparkle.”

“Not the police!” Rex cried. “If our guests see the police, they'll know something is wrong.”

BOOK: Unicorn Uproar
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