The secret of the unicorn

**Happy Festive Season to one and all**

After Jack the Horse got things underway many weeks ago  and Professor von Puppet made initial introductions, we have met almost all the new cast of Horse of the Same Colour.

As to who else will be joining Megan and Amy in their new adventure, you can be sure that Naylor O'Neill and her gang will push their way to centre stage. Their long-standing teachers will do their best to keep things under control; fearsome Mr Connor, Miss Blanchard, the new teaching assistant, and the absent-minded Mrs Linstead who turns out to have hidden depths. And the traveller family who join the school for the autumn term also make quite an impact, in particular brothers Menowin and Patrin and their little sister, Rosella.

Here’s a quick reminder of the characters who have been introduced over the past few weeks. Have you decided upon a likely favourite? If so, please leave a comment to let us know which one.

Oh yes, the secret of the unicorn ... I'm afraid I'm not allowed to divulge that. It will all come out when Horse of the Same Colour is published in 2021.

Ellie 

Snowy 

Starlight Piglet 

Smirf 

Ossie 

Polo 

Rainbow 

Jazz 

Jasper 

Flo 

Mischief 

Fmelodie 

Solo 

Tristan 

Koby Blue 

Custard 

Spice 

Peanut 

Zack 

Nutella 

 

Introducing Nutella

The person who knows Nutella best describes her thus: “Totally a foodie.”

Now if you’ve been monitoring the unfolding introductions of the cast, that description might have elicited a disbelieving laugh. Is there a single one of them who is not wholly consumed by thoughts of food and how to snaffle it from under the noses of its rightful owners?

Well, no, there isn’t, they’re all obsessed with food, how to track it down and how to grab a share, but of all of them, Nutella is the worst. There isn’t a single task, no matter how important, that Nutella won’t interrupt in the pursuit of a tasty snack.

Nutella's favourite snack would look something like this:

Introducing Zack

Zack is the youngest of the bunch who are in on the secret. He is small and chestnut in colour, with a very cheeky face.

Zack’s role model is Jasper, but he always rushes to Flo when he’s in big trouble.

This is Snowy with her ‘Oh no, what now?’ look as she watches Zack race into the barn.

Introducing Peanut

If you’re a toadaphobe, look away now.

Peanut isn’t a toad but he has toad eyes that he can put to good use if the gang need to have someone distracted. And the gang often want to distract someone, especially if the someone is guarding a stash of food.

Peanut creeps up on people and peers at them through some handy obstacle like a hedge, then he opens his eyes W-I-D-E. For a second, they think they’ve seen this:

And if they are bufonophobic, they will run away and leave their picnic unattended.