Mission Unicorn

Chapter One

The staircase was dark but Zoe was brave. She had faced worse. She was, after all, almost four years old. With her faithful mouse Trigger wrapped under one arm, she used the other hand to reach up and take hold of the banister. She looked at her feet as she stepped carefully down - one, two, three, four, six, five, seven, eight, six, nine, five, ten! - and followed the sound of fun to the family room. It was dark in there, too, but there were flashlights and glowing phones, and Zoe could see her sister and her sister's fun friend and her sister's not-fun friend and a girl she'd never seen before sitting on the floor in a circle. Were they telling secrets? Zoe liked secrets. And she liked the way the wooden floor felt on her bare feet. Slap slap slap. Then she was at the carpet. Then she was right behind them.

"Found you!"

Sook shrieked. Charlotte grabbed a pillow for protection. Maddison spun her flashlight to face the intruder. Indy just fumed.

"Zoe, get back to bed! This is my sleepover and you're not allowed!"

"What are you doing?" Zoe asked.

Indy grabbed Maddison's flashlight and shone it right in her little sister's eyes. "Did you hear what I said? Go. Back. To. Bed."

But instead of doing as she was told, Zoe just covered her eyes with her arm and sat down on Charlotte's lap. Indy sneered. Zoe didn't even like Charlotte. But the kid was already a scammer, and she knew Charlotte was a weak link.

"Aww, hi Zoe," said Charlotte.

"You know she's playing you, right?" asked Indy.

"Yes, I want to play with you!" said Zoe. "So does Trigger. Can we play?"

Maddison laughed. "Let the kidlet stay for a bit, Indira. She's not doing any harm."

But the harm was already done. Indy had enjoyed a good run as an only child for almost nine years before her mom remarried and a half-sister appeared on the scene. Now 'cute little Zoe', took all the attention, all the time. There was a reason Indy had suggested to her friends that they start the sleepover going to a movie that ended after Zoe's bedtime. And there was a reason that they had been in the middle of trying to figure out what to do outside of the house tomorrow when Zoe interrupted them.

"Whatever," said Indy. "But if mom and dad find out you're awake this late, they're going to be super mad."

"No they won't," said Zoe. "They'll cuddle me and be glad to see me and tuck me in."

"Well aren't you adorable?" said Sook. Indy sighed.

"Yeah, she's great."

Zoe squinted at Sook. "Are you new?"

Maddison laughed again. "Yeah, Sook, are you new?"

"Brand new," said Sook. "Just born last week. But my parents used a ton of fertilizer so I grew super fast."

"Really?" said Zoe, her eyes wide. "Because I'm really old but I'm growing too slow."

"Sook's just joking," said Charlotte. "Her parents don't use fertilizer."

"Nope," said Indy. "She grew fast because she went to bed when she was told."

"She just moved here a few months ago," said Charlotte.

"Oh," said Zoe. Disappointed, she stood up out of Charlotte's lap and plopped down onto Sook's.

"Hey! So, that's what I get for being honest?"

"That's what you get for being boring."

"Shuddup, Maddison."

Sook found Zoe far heavier than she was expecting. This little child with her dusky skin and green eyes and curls of wispy brown hair looked like a magical forest creature, but she was built like a water buffalo. Charlotte might have been able to take it, but she was a good foot taller than Sook. It was nice to be chosen and all, but Sook also wanted to be able to feel her legs.

"Hey, it's Zoe, right? What's that on the front of your pajamas, Zoe?"

Zoe leapt up and spun to face Sook, her arms in the air, poor Trigger dangling by one foot.

"It's... a... UNICORN!"

"Unicorns are pretty cool," said Sook as she casually pulled her bony knees up towards her chest and wrapped her arms around them.

"Oh, god no," said Indy. "Please not unicorns. Don't get her started on unicorns."

"Lots of little kids like unicorns," said Charlotte.

"Not like her," said Indy. "She's super weird about them."

Zoe sat down in Maddison's lap, directly across from Sook. Sook smiled a little to herself. Maddison was all sporty and loved a challenge. She could take on the water buffalo child.

"Unicorns live in our forest," said Zoe, far more intensely than Sook was expecting. The little girl's voice had changed somehow. She didn't sound like a kid anymore. "I have to go find them. I have to find the unicorns."

"Really? So how do you know they live there?"

"I saw one."

"Oh stop lying," blurted Indy. "You've never even been in the forest."

"Yes I have!"

"No, she hasn't."

"Why hasn't she been in the forest?" said Maddison. "She should be getting out in nature."

"I have been there! I have been!" yelped Zoe, getting out of Maddison's lap. She was clutching Trigger tightly and tears threatened at the corners of her eyes.

"It's okay Zoe," said Charlotte quickly, "Don't get upset."

"Mom and Dad won't let her go there. They don't even like me going there. Mom thinks it's too dangerous."

"Pfft. It's not dangerous. I go there all the time," said Maddison. "I've camped there."

"But it IS dangerous," said Zoe, intensely. "You should be careful, Maddison. You have to be careful when you look for the unicorns."

"You've never even been there!"

"Yes I have, Indira. That's where I died."