Unicorn Uproar (6 page)

“By then Sparkle will be bald!” Bess cried.

“At least we know Toby has Sparkle,” George said. “I wonder if the kids who bought his hair had any luck.”

“If they did, then we'll know Sparkle is a unicorn for sure,” Bess said with a little smile.

After helping the vendors clean up, Mrs. Fayne drove the girls home. She dropped Nancy off at her house first. Hannah was waiting on the doorstep with Chocolate Chip. She usually welcomed Nancy with a cheery smile, but not today.

“My vegetable garden was ruined today,” Hannah said, and sighed.

“No way!” Nancy gasped. Chip followed her as she ran around to the back of the house. Her father was in the backyard, standing over a few straggly stalks.

“It's a shame,” Mr. Drew said with a frown.

“Hannah's carrots and tomatoes totally disappeared.”

“Disappeared?” Nancy asked. She turned to stare at her magic wand, which was still on the picnic table. The glittery star was pointed straight at the garden!

Oh no
, Nancy thought.
Did I make the vegetable garden disappear too?

“Don't look so worried, Nancy,” Mr. Drew said with a smile. “Chip probably got a little hungry, that's all.”

“It wasn't Chip,” Hannah said. “I took Chip to the groomer today. The garden was like this when we got back.”

“It must have been a hungry deer, then,” Mr. Drew said. “We're not too far away from the woods.”

“At least someone likes veggies,” Hannah said, tossing Nancy a wink.

“I like veggies, Hannah!” Nancy said, trying to smile. What she didn't like was her new wand. It may not have made Sparkle disappear,
but when it came to Hannah's veggie garden, it seemed to be guilty.

That does it
, Nancy decided, eyeing the wand on the table.
That thing goes back tomorrow!

“You're bringing your wand to the festival today?” Hannah asked Nancy the next morning.

Nancy slipped the purple and silver wand into her backpack, careful not to point it at herself.

“I'm returning it, Hannah,” Nancy said. “I don't like the color.”

“But purple is your favorite,” Hannah said.

“Um … I've got to go now, Hannah,” Nancy said. She opened the door. “Bess and George are waiting outside.”

Nancy blew Hannah a kiss, then ran out the door. She didn't mention the wand to Bess and George as she joined them on the sidewalk.

All three girls were wearing their medieval costumes again that morning.

“I hope we don't have to do any running today,” Bess said, nodding down at her long skirt.

“How did girls do anything in those days?”

“They probably never did cartwheels,” George said, sighing. “Boy, am I glad it's the twenty-first century!”

“Me too,” Nancy agreed. She looked from George to Bess. “Did anyone find Toby Leo's address last night?”

“Got it!” George said. “Toby lives on Minnow Street, four blocks away. That means we can walk there before my mom picks us up.”

“Sweet!” Bess said.

Nancy, Bess, and George all had the same rules. They could walk up to five blocks from their houses as long as they were together.

Nancy and Bess lifted the hems of their skirts as they headed to Minnow Street. They found the Leo house in the middle of the block. They also found a mob of kids yelling: “We want our money back! We want our money back!”

The girls walked over to Shelby Metcalf from their class. Shelby was the loudest yeller in the crowd.

“What's up, Shelby?” George asked.

“Toby promised his unicorn hair was good luck,” Shelby yelled into George's face. “And all we had was
bad
luck!”

“Yeah!” Quincy Taylor said. “I found out my grandma is moving into my room—and she snores!”

“And I tripped in ballet last night!” Nadine Nardo cried. “During my recital. If that isn't bad luck, what is?”

The girls stepped back as the kids kept shouting.

“If they all had
bad
luck,” Bess shouted above the noise, “does that mean Sparkle isn't a real unicorn?”

“No one ever said unicorn hair was lucky,” George said with a shrug. “Just the whole unicorn.”

A window suddenly flew up. Toby stuck his head out and yelled, “Get lost or I'll call my dog. And you don't want to mess with him!”

Nancy wanted to giggle. Duncan the sheep
dog with his long shaggy hair was a big friendly mush. But the kids walked away, grumbling.

“What do
you
want?” Toby called down to the girls.

“We want to know where you got all that unicorn hair!” Nancy shouted up. “The ones you sold to those kids.”

“None of your beeswax!” Toby shouted back.

“Yes, it is!” Nancy insisted. “Sparkle the unicorn went missing from the Dragon's Breath Fair on Friday. Did you steal him for his lucky hair?”

“Or unlucky!” George added.

“I didn't steal any unicorn,” Toby said.

Bess pulled the tiny bell from her pocket. She jingled it in the air and said, “How do you explain this bell I found in Sparkle's pen?” she asked. “Wasn't it part of your jester's cap?”

Instead of answering, Toby whistled loudly. Then he shut his window with a bang.

“Let's check the backyard,” Nancy said. “If Toby has Sparkle, he's probably there.”

The girls began rounding the house. But as
they were about to enter the backyard—

“WOOOOF!”

Nancy froze as a huge white creature bounded out from behind the house. But it wasn't Sparkle the unicorn. It was Duncan the sheepdog!

Bess shrieked as Duncan knocked her to the ground with his huge paws. She shrieked even louder as Duncan began licking her face.

“Ewww! Dog spit!” Bess cried. “Get him off!”

Nancy grabbed for Duncan's collar. But he was wearing a bandana around his neck instead.

“Come on, boy,” Nancy said, gently tugging his bandana. “Bess doesn't like dog spit.”

“And you do?” Bess cried, standing up.

George tilted her head as she studied Duncan. “What happened to all his white shaggy hair?” she asked.

“He must have gotten a haircut,” Nancy said. But as she pet Duncan, she noticed something about his bandana. It was polka-dotted—the exact same bandanna Chip was wearing from
her
groomer!

“Wait a minute,” Nancy said. “I think I know where Toby got those hairs. And they weren't from a unicorn.”

“You mean that hairy stuff in the jar belonged to Duncan?” Bess asked.

“If Duncan was at the Jet Set Pet,” Nancy explained, “Toby probably asked the groomer for some of his hair.”

“Okay, Clue Crew, so you figured it out!” Toby yelled from his window, open again. “Now can you please keep your big mouths shut?”

“We won't tell the kids that you sold them dog hair,” Nancy shouted up. “That's your job.”

“So is giving them their money back,” George said.

“Can't!” Toby said. “I already spent it at the
Dragon's Breath Fair. Mostly on caramel apples with nuts.”

“My favorite,” Bess said, licking her lips.

“Mine too, until I ate seven of them!” Toby groaned. He then gagged, clapped his hand over his mouth, and shot away from the window.

“I don't think he's got Sparkle,” Nancy decided.

“And I don't think caramel candy apples are my favorite anymore,” Bess said, and sighed.

“But how does that explain the bell Bess found in Sparkle's pen?” George asked. “Toby
was
wearing bells!”

As the girls left the yard, they passed the Leos' family car. Nancy glanced into the backseat. She spotted Toby's jester costume and cap draped over the front seat. It was covered with plastic from the cleaners. Nancy pressed her nose against the window to study the costume.

“Aha,” Nancy said.

“Aha what?” George asked.

“The bell Bess found in Sparkle's pen was golden,” Nancy said. She pointed at the cap inside
the car. “The bells on Toby's cap are silver.”

“Then who did that bell belong to?” George wondered.

Nancy, Bess, and George waited on the sidewalk until Mrs. Fayne picked them up and drove them to the fair.

“We have one more day to look for clues,” Nancy said as they climbed out of the van. “But before we do that, I have to do something very important.”

Bess and George followed Nancy to Enchanted Elly's tent. There she pulled the pretty purple magic wand out of her backpack.

“I want to return this, please,” Nancy told Elly. “You don't have to give me my money back.”

Bess and George looked surprised. Elly just chuckled and said, “What's the matter? Didn't get your gown for the prince's ball?”

Nancy looked away from Elly. How could she tell her that the wand might have made a vegetable garden disappear? And maybe even a unicorn?

“Elly, do you know how to catch a unicorn?”
Bess asked, interrupting Nancy's thoughts.

“A unicorn!” Elly declared. “Unicorns love the woods. You might catch one there.”

“Or poison ivy,” George mumbled as the girls left.

“Why did you return the wand, Nancy?” Bess asked. “Are you beginning to think you made Sparkle disappear?”

Nancy looked at Bess. So far they hadn't found Sparkle—anywhere. But she refused to give up.

“Let's go back to Sparkle's pen,” Nancy said. “Maybe we can find more clues.”

On the way the girls passed a man juggling fire, an archery contest, and a cart where someone was selling peanuts. But when they passed a horse stable, they had to stop.

“I'll bet these horses are for the jousts!” George said as they entered the stable.

“There's Speckle!” Bess said, pointing to a white horse with black speckles.

Nancy studied the horses, their big handsome heads hanging over the stall doors.

“You know,” Nancy said, half to herself, “those horses look like unicorns without the horns.”

“Are you saying Sparkle was a
horse
?” Bess asked.

Nancy noticed a list hanging on the stable wall. It was a list of the horses and what to feed them. She read the names out loud: “Speckle, Midnight, Darby, Thunderfoot, Lindy—Ohmigosh!”

“Ohmigosh?” Bess giggled. “That's a weird name for a horse.”

“No!” Nancy said. “Look at the last name on the list.”

Bess and George looked up too. Then their mouths dropped wide open. Speckle was the first name on the list. But the last name was
Sparkle
!

“Not only is Sparkle on the list,” George pointed out, “he ate the same stuff the other horses ate. Vegetables.”

Vegetables?
The word hit Nancy like a ton of cauliflower.

“Someone ate vegetables from Hannah's garden yesterday,” Nancy said.

“Carrots from my neighbors' garden were nibbled on too,” Bess said. “It happened Friday during the night.”