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"I have a good one," I said to Ashley. We had been riding in our car for hours, and my sister and I were telling riddles. "What flower does everyone have on their face?" I asked.
"I give up," our mom said from the front seat.
Ashley twirled a piece of her blond hair and stared out the window. We passed another farm. We were way out in the country.
"Give up?" I asked.
"No way. I never give up," Ashley said, thinking hard. Then her blue eyes sparkled.
"I've got it! Tulips! Two lips, right?"
"Right," I said. "Lindsay would like that riddle, don't you think?"
Ashley nodded.
Lindsay Munro is our good friend. Lindsay and her family moved out to the country a couple of years ago. Our mother was driving us to her house for a visit. We were going to watch her compete in the Flower Festival this weekend.
"Is Lindsay growing tulips again this year?" Mom asked.
"Yes," Ashley said. "She told me these tulips are even prettier than last year's."
"Wow! She won first place for her tulips last year," I said. "I guess she'll win again this year."
"I wonder what her secret is," Mom said.
She turned on the windshield wipers. The skyhad turned gray, and it had started to drizzle.
"I guess she has a super-green thumb," I joked. That's what people say when someone is good at gardening. I petted our dog, Clue, who was sleeping on the seat between me and my sister. Clue is a basset hound, and boy, does she snore loudly! "How much longer, Mom?"
"Mary-Kate! You just asked me that five minutes ago!" Mom said, laughing. "We'realmost there."
"Stop the car! Stop the car!" Ashley suddenly screamed.
Mom hit the brakes, and the car stopped.
"What's wrong?"
"Look! Over there. It's a...It's a unicorn!" Ashley cried.
"What?" I rolled down my window and peered into the foggy drizzle. Clue woke, and her ears pricked up.
"It is a unicorn! Mom, drive closer!" Ashley yelled.
Mom started driving slowly down the road. Then she stopped in front of a whiteunicorn.
"Oh." Ashley groaned. "It's not real."
A huge wooden sign in the shape of a unicorn stood in front of a fruit stand. It had large angel-like wings and a horn coming out of its forehead.
"Of course it's fake," I told Ashley. "Unicorns aren't real."
"Let's get out anyway," Mom said. "Those strawberries look good."
Mom clipped a leash onto Clue's collar and Ashley and I scrambled out of the car. The fruit stand was piled high with berries, peaches, and melons. Huge buckets overflowed with colorful flowers. An old man with curly white hair stood by a cash register.
"Welcome," he said. "My name is Bill. Let me know if you need any help."
Mom smiled at him and smelled the strawberries. "Yum. Let's buy some for Lindsay's family." She gathered berries into a bag.
"Wow! You sure do like unicorns," Ashley said to Bill. She pointed to the little model unicorns that sat on the shelf by the cash register. There must have been more than twenty unicorns there.
"Everyone in this town loves unicorns," Bill said, his blue eyes twinkling. "Did you know that unicorns live in our hills?"
"Really?" Ashley said.
Bill nodded. "Our town is famous for them."
I laughed. Loudly.
"Mary-Kate!" Ashley whispered.
"Sorry," I said to Bill. I knew it was rude to laugh at someone. "But unicorns are made-up... pretend. Right?" I asked.
"Wrong," Bill said with a smile.
"Have you ever seen one?" I asked.
"Well, no. No one has -- yet. The time hasn't been right." Bill bent closer to us and whispered, "But it will be soon."
"What do you mean?" Ashley asked, leaning on the counter.
"The town legend says that unicorns can be seen during the month of June, but only if three rainbows have appeared in the sky that month," Bill said.
"Hey, it's June now!" I said.
Bill smiled. "And we've already had two rainbows this month. I've been waiting my whole life for three rainbows in June."
"I'd love to pet a unicorn," Ashley said. She had a faraway look in her eyes. "I think unicorns are beautiful."
"Even if we do get a third rainbow," Bill said, "you'll have to catch the unicorn first."
"Catch a unicorn?" I cried. "Isn't that like trying to catch Bigfoot? You can't catch something that's not real."
"Ah, but there is a way to catch a unicorn, if you believe in it." Bill pulled a small rolled-up paper tied with a purple ribbon out of a clay jar. He untied the ribbon and handed the paper to Ashley.
"This will tell you how to catch a unicorn," Bill said.
Ashley read the tiny writing out loud:
To capture the magical one-horned horse,Follow exactly this special course. Find the oldest tree in town, And lay your presents upon the ground.
First, offer a tasty treat -- Something powdered, tart, and sweet. Then leave a sparkly gift to wear, A delicate rainbow for the hair.
Do this after the third rainbow in June,And, behold, a unicorn shall appear soon.
"That is so cool," Ashley said.
"You can have it," Bill told her, as Mom paid him for the berries.
"Thanks!" Ashley said.
"Let's go, girls," Mom called. She and Clue headed toward the car.
"Why do you want that silly poem?" I asked Ashley.
"If there is a third rainbow while we're here, then I can try to catch a unicorn." Ashley's eyes shone with excitement.
Bill pulled a pink tulip from a bucket of flowers. He handed it to Ashley. "Unicorns love tulips. I hope this flower helps you find one."
"Thanks so much," she said.
I couldn't believe it. Ashley was always so logical. She liked to have all the facts. She liked things to make sense. So how could she believe in unicorns?
New Adventures of Mary-Kate & Ashley #46: The Case of the Unicorn Mystery
Excerpted from The Case of the Unicorn Mystery by Heather Alexander
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