Unicorn Uproar (5 page)

“When we're all wearing
pants
!” George declared.

Mrs. Fayne drove the short distance to Destiny's. Nancy had seen the house before, so she knew what to expect: a mansion.

After checking out the fountain in the front yard, filled with real fish, Mrs. Fayne rang the
doorbell. Instead of
ding-dong
it played the tune “Happy Birthday to You.”

“How did they do that?” George whispered.

“Well, hello!” Mrs. Delgado said as she opened the door. She smiled at Mrs. Fayne. “Oh … we're not using your catering service today.”

“Yes, I know, but I'm not here to deliver food,” Mrs. Fayne said, forcing a smile. ”My daughter and her friends would like to wish Destiny a happy birthday.”

Mrs. Delgado looked the girls up and down. She then smiled and said, “And they're dressed for the party too!”

Bess spread out her skirt and curtsied.

“Why don't you go around to the backyard?” Mrs. Delgado said. “That's where Princess Destiny is holding court.”

“Have fun, girls,” Mrs. Fayne said. “See you soon.”

“Are we lucky or what?” George whispered as they scurried around the house. They froze when the backyard came into view.

“Ohmigosh!” Bess squeaked. “It looks like a mini Dragon's Breath Fair!”

Nancy couldn't believe it either. On the neatly trimmed lawn stood a miniature wooden castle—big enough for at least ten kids to step inside! Instead of balloons there were banners hanging from trees. Sticking straight up from the ground was a maypole with colorful ribbons blowing in the breeze. Sitting around the maypole were Destiny and her guests—all dressed in medieval costumes.

“She's opening her presents,” Nancy whispered.

After ripping open a package, Destiny dropped the wrapping paper onto the grass.

“Oooh!” Destiny swooned as she held up a laptop computer. “Now I have one in hot pink.”

While her guests oohed and ahhed, the girls glanced around the yard.

“No unicorn sighting,” Nancy whispered.

“That castle is big enough for Sparkle,” Bess whispered. “Maybe Destiny is keeping him in there.”

The girls waited for Destiny to open the next big gift. Then, when all eyes were on the birthday girl, the Clue Crew scurried toward the castle.

As they hid behind it, Nancy heard bumping sounds coming from inside.

“Someone is in there,” Nancy whispered.

“Someone or something,” George whispered.

“It's probably Sparkle trying to break down the walls with his horn!” Bess said.

“Don't worry, Sparkle!” George called through the castle wall. “We'll save you!”

The girls ran around the castle to the door. George grabbed the handle and gave it a yank. The door swung open and—

“ROOOOOOAAAARRRRR!”

Nancy, Bess, and George jumped back as a giant green head popped out of the door. Inside its huge gaping mouth were two rows of needle-sharp teeth!

“That is no unicorn!” George shouted. “That's a
dragon
!”

Bess screamed as the gigantic dragon head jerked forward. By now Destiny and her guests were racing over.

“Run, Destiny!” Bess warned. “Dragons carry off princesses—and you're the biggest princess we know!”

Instead of running, Destiny stepped right up to the dragon. She looked him straight in his bulging eyes and said, “You're too early. You were supposed to come out and pretend to light the candles on my cake with your dragon breath. Now the joke is ruined, Daddy.”

“Daddy?” Nancy whispered to Bess and George.

The dragon's claws reached up to pull off its
giant head. Underneath was the red, sweaty face of Mr. Delgado!

So that's what that noise was
, Nancy thought, feeling dumb.
His mask bumping against the wall.

“Sorry, sweetie,” Mr. Delgado said. He nodded at Nancy, Bess, and George. “But your friends here opened the door. I thought that was my cue to jump out and roar.”

Destiny stared at Nancy, Bess, and George. Then she shook her head and said, “Those aren't my friends. I never invited them!”

“Uh-oh,” George muttered.

“They're from our school,” a boy dressed as a medieval baker said. “I think they're in third grade.”

“Wait a minute,” Destiny said as she circled Nancy, Bess, and George. “I think I know who you are. You're those detectives, aren't you?”

“We're the Clue Crew,” Bess said with a smile. “And we're solving the mystery of the missing unicorn. We think you stole him because—OWWWW!”

Nancy jabbed Bess with her elbow. She didn't want to embarrass Destiny in front of her father and friends. But it was too late.

“Is that why you crashed my party?” Destiny demanded.

“We didn't really crash,” Nancy said quickly. “Your mom invited us in so we could say happy birthday.”

“Happy birthday!” Nancy, Bess, and George said at the same time.

“Everything is fine, princess,” Mr. Delgado said. “Why don't you go back to your party and have a tubular time?”

“Not until these
spies
leave!” Destiny blurted.

“Not until you tell us where you were during the parade when Sparkle went missing!” George blurted at the same time.

“The parade?” Destiny said. “I was
in
the parade!”

“You were?” Nancy asked.

“When I couldn't get the unicorn for my party, Rex invited me to sit on the princess float,”
Destiny said. She jutted her chin into the air.

“Didn't you see me?”

Bess and George shook their heads. Nancy didn't remember seeing Destiny in the parade either. But she did remember something else.

“We left the parade to look for my wand,” Nancy whispered to her friends. “We probably missed the princess float.”

A sudden trumpet blast made everyone jump.

“My cake!” Destiny squealed, jumping up and down. “My cake is coming! My cake is coming!”

Destiny and her friends stampeded past the girls, almost knocking them down.

“You can have some cake too, girls,” Mr. Delgado said. He pulled the mask over his head. “Now, if you'll excuse me—it's showtime!”

A cake shaped like a castle was wheeled into the yard by two boys dressed as knights. Nancy recognized one of the knights as they stepped away from the cake. It was Ned Nickerson, her friend from school.

“Don't ask,” Ned groaned to Nancy. “My
parents are friends with Destiny's parents. I had to do it.”

Everyone laughed as Mr. Delgado pretended to light the candles with his dragon's breath. He finally pulled off his mask and lit the candles with a match.

“My mom could have baked that cake with her eyes closed,” George muttered.

“Let's go,” Nancy said.

“But we didn't have cake yet,” Bess protested. “And we didn't get our goody bags—”

“We're not getting goody bags,” Nancy interrupted. “And who wants gray cake, anyway?”

They were about to leave when Nancy felt someone tap her shoulder. A girl dressed in a long green gown was standing behind her.

“I'm Sophie Wang,” the girl said quickly.

“You mean the Sophie who called me yesterday?” Nancy asked, surprised. “Did they find your horse, Carrot Cake?”

“No,” Sophie said with a frown. “I had to practice with Babe this morning at the riding academy.”

“You mean the horse with oat breath?” Nancy asked.

Sophie nodded sadly. “They're still not telling me what happened to Carrot Cake,” she said. “I can't believe you'd rather look for a unicorn than a missing horse. Everybody knows there's no such thing as unicorns.”

“There is too!” Bess said. “We saw one with our own eyes.”

“George, your mom is here to pick you up,” Mrs. Delgado called to them.

Nancy felt bad for Sophie. But as long as
Sparkle was still missing, they couldn't look for Carrot Cake.

“Sorry, Sophie,” Nancy said. “We've got to go.”

The girls rode in Mrs. Fayne's van back to the Dragon's Breath Fair. Nancy tried not to think about Sophie and how sad she'd looked.

“How do we know Destiny was telling the truth about the parade?” George asked.

“We don't,” Nancy said. “That's why we have to find someone who would know for sure. Someone like Rex.”

After the van arrived at the fairgrounds, the girls jumped out. First they helped Mrs. Fayne unload pie boxes. Next they ran to look for Rex. They found him eating a pretzel as he strolled past the game stalls.

“Mr. Martindale, Mr. Martindale!” Nancy called as they ran to him. “Was Destiny Delgado on the princess float?”

“Destiny?” Rex sputtered pretzel crumbs. “It wasn't enough for Destiny to be a princess. She had to be queen!”

Nancy raised an eyebrow at Bess and George. That proved Destiny had been on the float. But what about her dad?

“Do you know where Destiny's father was?” Nancy asked.

“On the float too.” Rex groaned. “He wanted to make sure everybody cheered for Destiny.”

“So Destiny was telling the truth,” Bess said.

Rex looked confused. He gave his head a shake and said, “If you'll excuse me, I have a mud-wrestling contest to introduce.”

“Wait, please,” Nancy said. “What about Sparkle the unicorn? Did you tell the police that he's missing yet?”

Rex froze at the mention of Sparkle … or at the mention of the police!

“No,” Rex said. “I'll handle it myself.”

Nancy, Bess, and George watched Rex hurry off.

“Did you see that?” George asked. “When we asked Rex about the police, he practically flipped.”

“But he did help us rule out Destiny,” Nancy said. “Now our only suspect is Toby.”

The girls looked around the fairgrounds for Toby. Instead, they found Toby's best friend, Peter Patino. Peter was standing in the line for giant turkey drumsticks.

“Hi, Peter,” Nancy said as they walked over.

“Hey,” Peter said, nodding toward the stall. “Did you see the size of those things? Turkeys must have been huge in medieval times!”

“Peter, have you seen Toby around?” Nancy asked.

“He was just here, but he went back home,” Peter said. “He said he ran out of unicorn hair and had to get more.”

“More?” Nancy gasped.

The girls backed away from Peter. They were too stunned to even thank him for the information.

“If Toby is getting more unicorn hair,” Nancy said, “it means he's cutting Sparkle's beautiful mane and tail!”

The girls ran to Mrs. Fayne. But when they asked her to please drive them to Toby's house, she shook her head.

“I was just about to drive us all home,” Mrs. Fayne said. “The fair is closing in less than an hour.”

Nancy turned to her friends and said, “Don't worry. We'll find Toby first thing in the morning.”