Here are a couple of extracts from the story. In the first
one Toni is about to set off for Fairyland with the
unicorn:
'Ready?' asked the
unicorn.
'Not really,' said Toni. 'I can't believe
this is happening. I can't believe in you. I'm too old for fairytales.'
'You'd better believe,' the unicorn said grimly, 'if you want to
get your baby brother back.'
Toni glanced towards the empty cot. 'OK,
OK, I believe,' she said.
Holding the fairytale book up high so that
its cover was reflected in the mirror, she grasped the unicorn's mane tightly. As the mirror began to shiver
and shake across its whole surface, he gathered up his forelegs and lifted himself into the air. Then, in
what seemed almost slow motion, they were flying over the chest-of-drawers.
And here, Toni
and the unicorn have caught up on the baby and his
kidnapper:
‘Wait!’ cried Toni to Rumpelstiltskin.
‘Take me instead of the baby.’
Rumpelstiltskin stood there, looking her
up and down. Then he threw back his head and laughed.
‘Take you?’ he said. ‘And where do you
think I’d find a prince who wanted your hand in marriage?
Someone sweet and wholesome is what princes look for, not a wife who’ll sell their children to the first
person who passes.’
‘I didn’t mean to,’ Toni said, feeling her
lower lip tremble. ‘I thought I was day-dreaming . . .’
|