With a sigh of content, the unicorn laid its huge head in Glinda's lap. Glinda's hand wavered over its nose, then lighted gently. "My unicorn," she said again and it raised its head to tickle her face with a whiskery muzzle.
Glinda wrapped her arms around the unicorn's neck. For a long moment, her forehead rested against the upswept horn. Then the unicorn shook himself loose to look into her eyes. "Yes," said Glinda, "oh, yes! Take me with you!"
The unicorn sat back on its haunches. Glinda came to straddle the striped back. "Warm," she said, delighting in the discovery. She caught a handful of mane and hugged again.
The unicorn rose carefully to its feet. Glinda teetered, then found her balance with a laugh that sang of sheer giddy pleasure. It swaggered once around the kitchen table to let Glinda get the hang of the gait (and to show off for an appreciative ER) . . . then it trotted toward the wall.
"No!" cried Barbara, her hand outstretched. "No, don't go!"
The unicorn wheeled, bowed once in her direction. From its back, Glinda—no, Janie—grinned broadly at her. "Oh, Barbara, thank you! We'll never forget you—I promise! 'Bye, Harry! You take care of Barbara, you hear?" And then the unicorn wheeled again and with a kick of its heels—even better to show off its balls—it bounded through the wall, carrying Janie with it.
Barbara ran to the window overlooking the lawn just in time to see Janie and the unicorn vanish into the willow garlands, Janie's laugh of joy still echoing in her ears. "Don't go," Barbara said again, her eyes stinging, but she knew they could no longer hear her.
Harry's arms closed warm around her, and Barbara, turning to bury her face against his chest, let the tears come. "I'm damned if I know what you're crying about," he said quietly. "It's not just anybody who can conjure up a unicorn for a porn star."
"I'm crying—" she sniffled and wiped her face on her sleeve—"because I couldn't conjure one up for me."
"Maybe," Harry began—but ER launched himself from the kitchen table to land on his shoulder—"Oh, cat!" From his new vantage point, ER comforted Barbara with a loud purr and a prodding paw. "Maybe," Harry said over the purr, "it just takes practice."
Barbara's hat hit the floor. "D'you really think so, Harry?" She peeled ER carefully off Harry's shoulder and hugged the purr to her.
"Well, and some native talent. Which you've certainly got." Laughing, he gathered them both into his embrace and laid his cheek against her temple. "You showed me a unicorn, for god's sake . . . !"
"I did, didn't I?'' Barbara drew back, just far enough to look up into his eyes. "That's something . . . That's something!''
ER bumped her hard in the chin, firmly approving her change of tone. "That's better," said Harry, equally approving.
"Now, what are we going to tell them about Glinda?"
He bent, picking up her fallen hat. Having assured himself the ticket was still in the hatband, he set it on her head and said, "You're the wizard. You think of something."
He looked at her aghast. "Barbara—!"
She grinned up at him. "We'll tell them I called a ride for her."
For Michael Swanwick—of course
Selected Bibliography
Novels
The Last Unicorn, Peter S. Beagle
Unicorn Mountain, Michael Bishop
The Siege of Wonder, Mark Geston
Black Unicorn, Tanith Lee
A Swiftly Tilting Planet, Madeleine L'Engle
Young Unicorns, Madeleine L'Engle
The Last Battle, C.S. Lewis
Stalking the Unicorn, Mike Resnick
Sign of the Unicorn, Roger Zelazny
Anthologies
The Unicorn Treasury, edited by Bruce Coville
Horse Fantastic, edited by Martin H. Greenberg & Rosalind M. Greenberg
Reference Books
The Lore of the Unicorn, Odell Shepard
Unicorn, Nancy Hathaway
The Lungfish, the Dodo, and the Unicorn, Willy Ley
The Bestiary: A Book of Beasts, T.H. White
Psychology and Alchemy , C.J. Jung
Art Books
In Pursuit of the Unicorn, Josephine Bradley
A Book of Unicorns, Welleran Poltarnees
The Unicorn Tapestries, Margaret B. Freeman
Table of Contents
Preface
The Calling of Paisley Coldpony by Michael Bishop
The Black Horn by Jack Dann
The Hole in Edgar's Hillside by Gregory Frost
The Hunting of Death: The Unicorn by Tanith Lee
Stalking the Unicorn With Gun and Camera by Mike Resnick
The Boy Who Drew Unicorns by Jane Yolen
Ghost Town by Jack C. Haldeman II
The Stray by Susan Casper and Gardner Dozois
The Shade of Lo Man Gong by William F. Wu
The Princess, the Cat, and the Unicorn by Patricia C. Wrede
Naked Wish-Fulfillment by Janet Kagan