“There was green alligators and
long-necked geese
Some humpty backed camels and some
chimpanzees
Some cats and rats and elephants, but
sure as you're born
The loveliest of all was the unicorn.”
Lyrics and Music by Shel Silverstein
This song kept running through my brain
when I wrote about Diamond, a lonely unicorn, who meets up with Kat
in her travels through the Otherworld. Naturally, unicorns are drawn
to...um...maidens, so Diamond immediately joins Kat’s journey to
help her in whatever way he can. That’s what a unicorn is all
about, right?
Lately, I’ve seen at least two books
which portrayed vicious unicorns, but in both cases, the aberration
was a result of some type of black magic. Unicorns are always good,
rainbows and lollypops, paragons of virtue, and all-round nice guys
when it comes to their attachments to innocent girls.
But is Diamond all good? Does he really
have Kat’s best interests at heart? Guess you’ll have to read
more than this excerpt from Scotch Broom to find out.
Excerpt from Scotch Broom
Kat spotted Cait Sidhe angling backward to the same spot where Sianach and Cusith were
converging. Frustrated by the soggy muck, Kat could only slog slowly
across the swamplands. As she neared her three companions, she
spotted a pond. About twenty feet across, it was bigger than most of
the scattered pools sprinkling the bogs. Tall grassy bunches topped
with white, feathery tufts hid much of the pond from view. When Kat
finally came near enough to see the surface, she stopped to stare.
Two horses sloshed in the pool. Sunk up
to their hocks in the water, they struck at each other with raised
forelegs. Strangely, neither horse whinnied or screamed, but the
sounds of their huffing breath made it clear they were both near
exhaustion. One horse was sky blue, the other snow white. Kat looked
harder and thought she saw...yes! A horn grew from the white horse’s
forehead. A unicorn! A smile spread across her face before a scowl of
concern quickly replaced it. Blood ran down the unicorn’s neck,
splashing into the scummy, green pond water turning it a noxious
brown.
The two creatures, their muscles
rippling, hooves slinging the muck into the air, appeared to be
matched in strength. Steamy breaths came out in blasts from the blue
horse’s dilated nostrils. Kat lifted first one leg then the other
out of the mire, only to have them sucked down again. Now up to her
knees, she could hardly move at all. She’d lost one shoe somewhere
along the way and would have to spell another up as soon as she
figured out what to do about the battling beasts.
Kat reached out
with her thoughts, trying to break into the mind of either the
unicorn or the blue horse, but hit the same frustrating wall blocking
her ability to read animal thoughts. Then, she heard something in her
head.
“Help me!”
It was the unicorn pleading for aid. For a moment, Kat was puzzled.
She had not been able to hear the thoughts of the other creatures in
the Otherworld. She felt the sincerity in the plea and had to help
the unicorn.
The edge of the
pond had a raised bank, which kept the water from streaming across
the bogs. Kat glanced around but couldn’t see anything to use as a
weapon. Pulling her legs out of the muck, she climbed atop the small
berm. When the battle moved her direction, she bent her knees and
jumped as far as she could. Grabbing the long mane of the blue horse,
she pulled herself forward and slung both arms around its powerful
neck. At first, she thought she had him when his head ducked toward
the water. Her grip didn’t last long.
The blue horse reared back on its hind
legs, but Kat held on, her body whipping back and forth under the
horse’s neck. When its forelegs came down hard, her hold slipped.
Plunging toward the water, her stomach knotted, and she held her
breath. But when her feet hit the bottom the water was not quite
waist deep. She fell backward onto her rear end with her head just
above the surface. Kat let out her breath in relief...until she
looked up into a wide-opened mouth full of black teeth surrounded by
a flash of blue. It lunged at her head. She tensed her shoulders and
brought her arms to cover her face in a feeble attempt to protect
herself.
The unicorn had jumped backward when
Kat launched herself at the blue horse. Now it lunged forward with
its head down, its spiral horn pointed at the breast of the blue
horse. The blue reared, barely avoiding the unicorn’s attack.
Kat risked a glance while she struggled
to stand. She saw Sianach, Cusith, and Cait Sidhe were all standing
around the pond, looking on with interest, but doing nothing.
“Why don’t you help?” she
screamed at them.
“Who would you
have us help?” asked Sianach with a mild tone.
“Me,” Kat
yelled.
Cusith jumped
into the pond and slogged his way through the shallow water to her
side. “Grab hold, and I’ll get you out.” Kat clutched his neck
and pulled herself to her feet. Looking around, she saw that the two
horses stood still at opposite sides of the pool, their heads down,
sides heaving.
“What is this?
I cannot believe you, you people!
All I wanted was to take my Winter Abroad. But could it be that
simple? No! Instead, I get a bunch of gladiator animals all intent on
proving whose attitude is bigger! What is wrong with you...you...see!
I don’t even know what to call you!” She waded ashore holding
Cusith’s fur to keep herself upright.
Sianach laughed his bugling, grunting laugh. “Not an attitude comparison at all.
These two are quite intent on killing each other.”
* * *
BAD SPELLING (Free at Smashwords)
A klutzy witch, a shaman's curse, a quest to save her family. Can Kat find her magic in time?
Follow the adventures of Katrina and her half-vampire brother, Rune, as they chase down an evil shaman. Dodging the shaman's curses on a dangerous trip across the ice-bound arctic seas, they meet both friends and foes. Kat and Rune must find the shaman and stop him before their beloved island home is destroyed.
Shipwrecked on a legendary island, how can a witch rescue her boyfriend if she can’t even phone home?
Traveling with her newly-found grandfather, a raging storm catches them unawares. Kat is tossed into the icy seas, while her brother and grandfather travel on to find help. Kat is rescued by an unlikely creature, and Rune is captured by mutants. Only the magical Midnight Oil can save her brother, but an evil forest elemental is trying to stop her.
A magical trip to Stonehenge lands a witch in the Otherworld where an ancient goddess is up to no good.
Kat is on her way to an exciting trip to Stonehenge but is led astray by a jealous rival. Caught in the Otherworld within the Scottish Highlands with a has-been goddess trying to kill her, Kat has to defeat the goddess and rescue her brother from the hag's clutches.
SPELLSLINGER - A Witches of Galdorheim Story (Free at Smashwords)
What does a teenage half-warlock, half-vampire do to have fun? Why build an old west town on a glacier in the Arctic. There he can play at being the good guy sheriff up against mean old Black Bart.
