The Hunt for the Cursed Unicorn by Alex Bell

Author:Alex Bell
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780861546015
Publisher: Oneworld Publications

Does everything want to kill us in this terrible place?” Beau muttered as they parked their go-carts inside the garage.

He took the message from the puppet pigeon and opened it. “The Train of Dark Wonders is here,” he told the others. “They want to know where to meet us.”

Frankie transformed back into a human, spitting out a few stray cactus spikes, while Bess and Beau studied the almanac map together. There were train tracks across the salt flats, but they ran out at the nearest volcano.

“The train will just have to go around,” Bess said. “There are tracks all the way to the forest. We can meet up with them there.”

“I’ll send a message back,” Beau said. He scribbled a note on the other side of the one the professor had sent and gave it to the pigeon. The bird spread its wings and flapped up into the air, disappearing into the night. It looked odd seeing such a plump puppet flying, but Bess guessed it was all part of the magic.

“It’s late,” Louie said. “We should make shelter here for the night.”

They all agreed this was a sensible plan. The garage not only had a roof but a selection of rock cakes too. They were piled up on a counter in one corner, amid spare wheels for the go-carts, a variety of tools and small high-vis jackets.

Frankie examined one of the jackets. “These look like they’d fit a kid who was, what, five or six? But we haven’t seen any children around. Do you think they could be hiding just out of sight, watching us?”

This was an unpleasant thought, especially when they were all about to settle down to sleep.

“I’ll put my fire lion on guard,” Maria said. “He’ll alert us if any tap-dancing flamingos, or worse, come wandering in while we’re trying to sleep. Did the almanac say anything about cursed children?”

“Yikes, that’s all we need,” Beau said. “I mean, I like weird and interesting stuff, but there’s a limit.”

“They might be children like us who came to visit and then got attacked by something that turned them into cursed versions of themselves?” Louie suggested. “A bit like when I got bitten by that werewolf in the Land of Moon Wolves.”

“Well, I don’t think there are any cursed children in the almanac,” Beau said. “But I guess we should take another look.”

They combed carefully through the pages, but there was no mention of children – cursed or otherwise.

“They make excellent rock cakes, whoever they are,” Frankie said, licking her fingers appreciatively. “And a creature that makes a good rock cake can’t be all that bad, in my experience.”

“I hope you’re right,” Beau grumbled.

He looked a bit fed up and tired, so Frankie handed him another rock cake.

“We’ll find your mum, Beau,” Bess said. “Don’t worry. If we can face zombie ducks, haunted lobsters, dread deer and encore flamingos and live to tell the tale, then I’m sure we can defeat the Grooms, whoever they are.”

She only hoped there might be a decent guard animal somewhere along the way too.

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