"Interesting," muttered Odette as she wrote her name on the girl's arm cast, in elaborate cursive and in an arc resembling a swan's neck.
"Blinded by Science is such a great program," Sue Ellen enthused. "Mrs. Stiles and Muffy have really come up with something. I can't wait until the next volume."
Odette stuck her feather pen into her backpack and glanced up at the Sugar Bowl menu posted on the wall. The Big Pig Sundae...The Harry Mills Special...Sue Ellen's Chicken Surprise...
She looked again at the orange-haired girl who sat across the table from her, still babbling about the glories of science. "Was that named after you?" she asked curiously.
Sue Ellen stopped in mid-sentence. "What?"
"Sue Ellen's Chicken Surprise. Is that named after you?"
"Yeah, it is. Mr. Menino added it to the menu after I saved him from having to sell the place to Chicken Licken."
"So what's the surprise?" asked Odette.
"There's no chicken in it." Sue Ellen giggled.
"That's really clever," said Odette flatly. "Now, I'm thinking of taking up yoga, and I understand you know a thing or two about..."
"Yoga? Who has time for that?" Sue Ellen checked her watch. "I just checked out a book about cellular biology, and if I start reading now, I think I can finish it by bedtime." Grabbing her pack with her good arm, she flung it over her shoulder and leaped from her seat. "See you later, Van's sister."
As Odette watched her exit the ice cream shop, George strolled up to her table, licking a chocolate chip waffle cone that was dripping on his shirt. "Hey, you're Van's sister," he pointed out.
"I have a name," said Odette peevishly.
"Did you know that sound travels faster in water than it does through air?" said the moose boy.
Odette feigned ignorance. "I didn't know that."
George licked his cone again. "Which means if you fall in the river and you're drowning, if you yell for help with your head under water, then you'll get help faster."
"If only I'd known that the last time I was drowning," Odette quipped. "Well, you live and you learn."
A moment later Binky rushed into the store, a huge grin on his huge face. "Hey, George!" he called out. "Hi, Odette," he said, glancing briefly and somewhat indifferently in the swan girl's direction.
Odette waved and smiled weakly.
"I think I figured out the answer to your question," Binky said to George. "An irresistible force can't meet an immovable object, because if an immovable object exists, then an irresistible force doesn't exist, and the other way around."
"That's really good, Binky," said George as a few more drops fell from his waffle cone onto his shirt.
"Blinded by Science is making me smarter all the time," Binky exulted.
Odette stared straight ahead and paid no attention to the exchange between George and Binky...but found that she couldn't stop thinking about her former ballet classmate.
Oh, Binky, she thought wistfully. If only things could be the way they were before. If only I had trusted Van instead of trying to spy on him and Muffy...
Then, unexpectedly, a new and unsettling possibility occurred to her.
----
"Woof, woof, woof!" shouted D.W. She and Greta stood in the Read living room, their golden horns in full view. In front of them Pal lay on a circular rug, obliviously licking his paw.
"Not like that," said Greta. "Now watch and listen." The unicorn girl opened her mouth, and several ethereal barking sounds emerged from her throat.
Pal, suddenly intrigued, looked up at her. "Arf!" he responded, then went back to his paw licking.
"What did he say?" asked D.W. curiously.
"He said that someone broke a Christmas ornament and didn't clean up all of the pieces, so he stepped on one and cut his paw," Greta replied.
"Whoa." D.W. put her fingers to her mouth thoughtfully. "You got all that from one bark?"
"Dog languages are very efficient," Greta remarked. "Now, close your eyes and concentrate, and see if you can make the same sounds that I made."
D.W. closed her eyes tightly and opened her mouth wide. The horn sticking out of her forehead seemed to glow more intensely as she succeeded in producing a number of unearthly-sounding barks and howls.
Pal suddenly leaped to his paws and scampered away from D.W., yelping in terror.
The surprised D.W. opened her eyes and watched as Pal disappeared behind a corner. "What happened?" she asked Greta.
"That was much better," Greta commended her. "Pal was frightened because he's never heard you speak dog before."
"What did I say?" asked D.W. eagerly.
Greta placed her hands on the girl's shoulders. "You don't need me to answer that. You know what you said."
D.W. thought for a moment, then smiled proudly. "I know what I said! I told him I was sorry for breaking the Christmas tree ball, and I hope his paw gets better."
Greta pulled D.W. to her chest and embraced her. "That's right! Oh, D.W., you'll make such a great unicorn!"
"What else can unicorns do?" asked D.W. as Greta pulled her arms away.
"We can do all kinds of magic," Greta answered. "But it takes a long time to learn."
"I want to learn all of it." D.W. clapped her hands with excitement. "How long will it take, Greta?"
"Five hundred years, or more," said Greta seriously. "And I can't teach you everything. You need a more experienced unicorn teacher."
"Five hundred years..." The light in D.W.'s eyes began to dim. "That's a really, really, really long time, isn't it?"
"In human years, yes," Greta replied. She put her hand on D.W.'s back and led her to the couch, where they sat down together. "I don't think you fully understand. D.W., now that you're a unicorn, you're going to live for a long, long time. When your parents die, when Arthur dies, when all your friends die, when Kate dies, you'll still be a child."
D.W. looked at her with confusion and anxiety.
Greta's voice became more somber. "You should think about looking for new friends and a new family. A unicorn family. A family that will live as long as you will."
"But I don't want a new family," said D.W. naively. "I want to stay here with Mom and Dad and Arthur."
"I know you do. But you're a unicorn now. You're different from them. You need to be with other unicorns so you can learn their ways."
"How many unicorns are there?"
"Many," said Greta with a wave of her hand, "but that's not important. D.W., you can't learn unicorn magic by going to kindergarten. You need to go to a unicorn school with other unicorn children."
"Where do unicorns live?" asked D.W., her curiosity unabated.
"We have hidden places. But that's..."
Greta's thought was interrupted by a ring of the doorbell. "I'll get it," called Mrs. Read from the laundry room.
"Turn your horn off, quick!" Greta ordered D.W. The two girls concentrated, and their golden horns evaporated into mist and vanished.
As she and D.W. rose from the couch, Greta glanced toward the front door and observed, to her dismay, that Mrs. Read had allowed Fern Walters into the house.
"So this is where you've been," said Fern, approaching Greta eagerly. "Why didn't you tell me? Why have you been avoiding me?"
Then she looked down at D.W., who was standing next to Greta, and froze in her tracks.
She looked at Greta again. Then at D.W. Then at Greta.
She opened her mouth, but no words would come out.
(To be continued...)
