Half Title

Dedication

For Andrej,

I’m glad we’re on this quest together

Also by Kamilla Benko

Also by Kamilla Benko

The Unicorn Quest

Secret in the Stone

Frozen II: Forest of Shadows

Title Page

Map

Epigraph

THE TRAVELER’S SONG

The horn may sound

And faces may fade

But follow the edge on the blade.

The sails may rip

And signs be misread

But follow the needle in the thread.

Lands may be lost

And worlds may be found

But follow the moss on the ground.

The way may be long

And the path may be hard

But follow the fire in the star.

Your feet may fail

And your eyes grow dark

But follow the beat of my heart.

And I’ll meet you there,

In the space between,

For the unicorn

Was always

me.

—S. A. M.

Chapter One

CHAPTER

1

Claire Martinson was doing something either incredibly brave or incredibly foolish—and deep down, she suspected it was the second. Because if she were actually brave, her heart probably wouldn’t be pounding in her throat and her palms wouldn’t be slick with sweat.

A hundred feet below her, the sea chopped at the wooden hull of the Thread Cutter, sending Claire’s world swaying. She wasn’t uncomfortable with heights necessarily, but being huddled at the highest point of the ship, with only a few wooden slabs to stop her from tumbling into the gray water, left her feeling exposed. Still, it wasn’t the height of her perch that set her pulse racing.

Bracing herself against the mast, Claire carefully sifted through some of the contents of her traveling pack: a blanket, a bundle of seed cakes, a tiny pink marble, and a water-stained map.

Normal enough.

But what wasn’t normal—at least for a rising sixth grader to have—was the slender spyglass that gleamed from within the bag’s belly, nestled next to a gauzy handkerchief that shimmered like the Milky Way.

And, of course, the arrow in her hand.

A Lode Arrow, to be specific. One that would take her exactly where she pointed it. Exactly where she needed to be … hopefully.

Staring down at the weapon, Claire wondered for the thousandth time if she was making the right choice. If the stone was properly attached to the arrow. If the bow she’d cobbled together would give her the spring she so desperately needed. That Arden so desperately needed. That Sophie needed.

“Mind the rigging!”

Claire looked up just in time to see the tail end of a rope whir upward as the crew on deck used pulleys to unpack barrels and crates from the anchored ship. From the vantage point of the crow’s nest, the ropes moved around in a hypnotic ballet of twists and spirals, some just sweeping past one another while others swung into solid knots that might never be undone … knots like the one Claire had found herself in.