Lulu Bell and the Birthday Unicorn (4 page)

The front doorbell rang and Rosie's friends began to arrive. The girls were all dressed as mermaids. They wore long fishy tails and jewels in their hair. They carried mysterious coloured packages under their arms.

The girls giggled as they ducked under the seaweed curtain. They
oohed
and
aahed
when they saw that the hall was swimming with silvery fish.

Mum waved her wand in greeting. She was dressed as a regal fairy princess. She wore a long velvet cloak over her sparkly dress and a tiara on her head.

‘Welcome to the underwater kingdom of Princess Rosie the Mermaid,' cried Mum. ‘Please place your kind offerings on the kitchen table for the princess to peruse at her pleasure.'

Rosie giggled with excitement as she greeted her friends.

‘Hi, Mia. Hi, Gracie. Hello, Ruby … come in … come in.'

‘Happy birthday, Rosie,' called Ruby. ‘You look so pretty.'

The girls crowded into the kitchen.
They admired each other's outfits and compared the size and shapes of the presents on the table. Pickles took one look at all the guests and stalked away to find a quiet place to sleep.

Jessie bounded over to welcome all the mermaids. She smiled broadly and wagged her tail wildly. Rosie had dressed the dog in a pink tutu and wings. The wings had slipped off to one side.

Gus crawled out from under the table. He was still dressed in his Bug Boy suit but Lulu had wiped his face clean.

One of the mothers smiled at Gus. ‘Hello, who's this little mermaid?' she asked.

‘I not mermaid,' declared Gus in disgust. ‘I Bug Boy!'

‘Yes, you are Bug Boy, honey bun,' replied Mum. She kissed the top of his
masked head. ‘And you're adorable.'

‘I not …' began Gus.

Lulu grabbed him by the hand and dragged him towards the door.

‘Come on, Gussie,' she said. ‘Let's show Rosie her birthday surprise.'

Lulu threw open the door and everyone crowded around. The garden had been transformed into an underwater pleasure ground. Balloons and coloured lanterns and seaweed streamers were strung in the trees.

Silken cushions were scattered on a blue tarpaulin ‘sea' and soft music played.
A mermaid piñata hung from a broad branch and the shallow paddle pool was filled with fragrant bubbles.

And best of all, in the very centre was a unicorn. His white coat had been brushed until it shone. His mane and tail rippled like silk in the sunlight. In the centre of his forehead was a golden horn tied with purple ribbon.

‘A unicorn,' shrieked Rosie. ‘You've turned the pony into a unicorn!'

Lulu winked at her sister. Molly laughed in delight.

‘Who'd like a unicorn ride?' cried Lulu, flicking a plait over her shoulder. ‘Who will ride upon Stardust, the noble unicorn steed?'

The little mermaids clamoured around Lulu. ‘Me! Me!' they squealed.

‘Princess Rosie, the birthday girl!
You shall have the honour of the very first ride upon Stardust the unicorn,' pronounced Lulu.

She led the way into the underwater garden.

First Rosie, then all the other mermaid friends rode around and around
the garden. Lulu led the pony.

‘Stardust the unicorn' behaved beautifully. He didn't go near the unicorn cake – but he did take a bite from the pink daisy bush on his way past.

After the rides, the girls had their faces painted by Lulu and Molly.

Then they searched for hidden treasure and chocolate eggs in the flowerbeds. They cuddled Flopsy, the pet rabbit, played musical cushions on the tarpaulin sea and danced like mermaids. There was a pass-the-parcel and smash-the-piñata and splashing races through the bubble pool.

Lulu laughed as she joined in. So far, the party was a success!

Dr Bell arrived at the side gate. The girls were throwing handfuls of bubbles at each other and screaming with glee. Behind him came a woman and a girl. The girl was dressed in jodhpurs and riding boots. Her dark hair was tied back in two plaits, just like Lulu's. The girl looked pale and red-eyed, as though she had been crying.

‘Snowy!' she shrieked. She ran and
threw her arms around the unicorn's neck. She buried her face in his mane.

‘This is Mrs Winters, and this is her daughter Serena,' introduced Dr Bell. ‘As you might have guessed, Snowy the pony belongs to them. Mrs Winters, this is my wife Chrissie, and my daughters Lulu and Rosie. All the other mermaids are her friends.'

Mum came over to say hello.

‘I can't thank you enough, Dr Bell,' said Mrs Winters. ‘We've been so worried. Snowy was missing from his paddock this morning when Serena went to feed him. We think somebody let him out deliberately. The gate was closed last night.'

Mum shook her head in dismay.

‘Who would do such a dreadful thing?' she said. ‘Snowy could have been killed on the road or broken a leg.'

‘Poor Serena has been so upset,' Mrs Winters whispered. ‘She's been crying all morning. We rang the police, the fire department, the radio station – everyone we could think of. We were so relieved when the police rang to say that Dr Bell had found Snowy.'

Lulu went over to Serena and Snowy.
Serena looked up from Snowy's neck and smiled a watery smile.

‘Hi, Serena – I'm Lulu.'

‘Thanks for rescuing Snowy,' said Serena. ‘Did you make the unicorn costume?'

‘Yes,' said Lulu. ‘I dressed Snowy as a unicorn to cheer Rosie up. You see, it's her birthday and Snowy did the wickedest thing. Well, actually, it was
probably my brother Gus's fault, but he's only three.'

Lulu told Serena the whole story. Serena laughed at the thought of Snowy stealing the cake and having his whiskers covered in green icing.

‘I guess it
is
funny,' admitted Lulu. ‘But it wasn't at the time.'

‘Well, Snowy definitely makes a beautiful unicorn,' said Serena. She stroked his forelock and straightened his horn. Then she looked back at Lulu. ‘You can come and visit Snowy at our place. Any time you'd like.'

‘Do you mean it?' asked Lulu. Her eyes were shining with excitement. ‘I'd love to.'

‘We could go riding together,' added Serena. ‘We have a big paddock at home that backs onto the bush trails. I go riding
nearly every afternoon after school.'

Lulu grinned at Serena. ‘That would be awesome.'

Mum called the girls over.

‘Rosie, Lulu. Mrs Winters has brought you something. She wants to say happy birthday and thank you for rescuing Snowy.'

Mrs Winters had brought in a large box from her car. It was wrapped in white paper and tied with a giant green ribbon.

‘When I rang the vet hospital, the nurse told me that you were celebrating Rosie's birthday. So I thought we should bring something along,' explained Mrs Winters.

‘Help me open it, Lulu?' asked Rosie. ‘It's heavy!'

Together they undid the ribbon and
tore open the paper. Inside the box was a pile of lovely books. Beautiful picture books with gorgeous illustrations. Thick chapter books with enticing covers. Adventure books and fairytales and all kinds of exciting books in between.

Rosie shrieked with excitement.

‘Serena helped me choose them,' explained Mrs Winters. ‘I hope you like them.'

‘Thank you, Mrs Winters,' cried Lulu and Rosie together. They
oohed
and
aahed
as they flicked through the pages and read the back covers.

‘We'll have to keep these away from Gus,' Lulu warned Rosie. Gus scowled and stuck his thumb in his mouth. ‘But I'll read them to you, Gus, I promise.'

A buzzer went off in the kitchen.

‘Oh, the sausage rolls,' cried Mum. ‘I nearly forgot. Would you and Serena like to stay for the mermaid feast, Mrs Winters? I'm just about to serve it.'

Serena looked hopefully at her mother. Snowy cropped the grass, his tail swishing with contentment. His horn had slipped back over one ear.

‘I'll help you load Snowy in my trailer after the feast,' offered Dr Bell. ‘Then I can run him home for you.'

‘That would be wonderful,' replied Mrs Winters. ‘Thank you, Mrs Bell, we'd love to stay.'

‘Thanks, Mum,' cried Serena. ‘Thanks, Mrs Bell.'