Month 2nd, 1891 — a field

The end of the year was approaching so very, very quickly -her little unicorn, her yearling was rapidly approaching 2 years old, or as close as they could guess. Soon he would turn white, and soon he would be released into the forbidden forest herd and she would probably cry for days when he was gone. He had become such a little source of solace for her, when Georgie or Ana got to her she would go and visit him and she would feel better by just watching him in his paddock. Today was one of those days. The blistering row she had had with Georgi had ended with him slapping her across the face and Ana threatening to curse her for talking back to him. The appointment with the magizoologist had been an excellent excuse to leave the house, and she strongly considered never returning - but for now at least her little charge would keep her here.

She had recovered her composure by the time Mrs Millar arrived and was leaning on the gate post to the paddock watching as the foal tossed it's head chasing a wayward butterfly across the field, as the insect worked hard to stay ahead of the creatures tossing head. 'Mrs Millar,' Maddie greeted brightly 'Thank you for taking the time to come out to meet me, and of course the man of the hour' she gestured to the paddock.

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Elsie Kirke

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Look what MJ did!!

It wasn't often that Eva paid house calls, but it also wasn't every day that an inquiry about a juvenile unicorn came across her desk either. She should have sent Amelia, this was more her specialty, but Eva had worked with enough magical horses over the year to feel confident enough to give a thorough exam. If she had any questions she was sure Amelia could make a follow up, when she became available.

Not to mention, it was kind of nice to get out of the house and the zoo for a little while. Eva was not quite so used to being so stationary, but now that Nola was a little older, she could feed her and then leave her in Beau's capable hands for longer spurts. They would be just fine spending a couple hours together and Eva would come home refreshed and ready to go. This motherhood thing was mildly suffocating, even if she enjoyed it most of the time. At least Nola was an easy baby, they had that going for them.

So Eavan had met Miss Backus at the designated spot easily enough. "He's quite impressive, how did you come to have him?" Eva was innately curious about such things, as obviously the trade of magical creatures was tightly controlled, but she assumed this was legitimate.

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Maddie was perhaps looking forward to meeting Mrs Miller, about as much as she wasn't looking forward to the unicorns departure. In another life, if the inheritance and Ana hadn't entered her life she would have loved to have been a mazizoologist, it was something she had certainly considered.


'We were out riding and we came upon him on the road.' she explained, 'We knew it was odd, and I wrote to the ministry but no one knew where he came from' It was difficult to condense a long story into a cliff notes version of the attempt to locate the foals mother, 'But their best guess is that he was being smuggled, probably from outside of England, and that something went wrong and they just dumped him, probably to avoid the law.', she didn't know what might have happened to him if she had not found him, someone would have taken him in most likely, but the ministry was happy enough to allow her to pick up the foals bills at least until he turned white and was old enough to fend for himself within the forbidden forest herd. That couldn't be too far off now. 'They are keeping an eye on him, and he'll join the Hogsmeade forest herd as soon as he is able.' she added, a touch of melancholy tinging her voice.

'I suppose we want to know if he's developing correctly, he should be turning white in the next few months.' Maddie wasnt sure what the plan was if the unicorn wasn't 'right' in some way, or had some impediment which would prevent him from joining the herd - she wondered if the zoo might take him.

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Look what MJ did!!

Though she tried quite hard to keep her expression neutral, Eva couldn't quite help the quirk of her eyebrow as Miss Backus recounted the finding of the foal. It was... odd to someone who worked with creatures for a living, to just hear of the Ministry allowing a civilian with no training to keep something as a precious as a wee unicorn without putting more thought into it. She rather thought Mr. Adlard had more sense than that, but perhaps they were busy. It would have made far more sense for the unicorn to be transferred to Amelia's care in the first place, as her dear friend had sort of taken over the equestrian department at the zoo.

Regardless, the foal seemed to be doing alright, a little skinny for her tastes, but she also knew they could be picky about what they were fed, so it really wasn't a surprise. Without hesitation, she stepped between the rungs of the fence and watched the unicorn prance around the paddock for a moment. They really were a sight. Eva had never had much interest in horses of any nature, though she did ride quite well, but all unicorns were simply beautiful. She whistled quietly to gain his attention and waited to see if he would trot her way for a treat. "What have you been feeding him?" She asked with a glance over her shoulder.

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   Melody Crouch

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'oh a mixture of things' she stated and counted them off on her fingers, as though reading from a book, because a book is where she had found the list, 'a mash of acorns, with some carrots and apples mixed through and wild flowers. One book said to offer ordinary hay as well in case he is a picky eater, but he won't touch it, just the acorns and flowers' In fact what the little foal clearly preferred were the sweetest apples, but those were a 'treat' according to what she had read, so she limited him to only 1 a day.

At the whistle the foal turned towards them and got a little closer, but no where near close enough to be touched. 'I've been trying not to handle him, I was worried that he might get too used to humans and not be able to go back to the wild.' she explained, if she stood long enough, and waited patiently enough the foal would allow Maddie to touch him. 'Do you think he will be able to?
Join the herd I mean? Or will he have to go to the zoo?' Not that the zoo would be terrible, selfishly it would allow her to see him, but she didn't really want walls for him.

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Look what MJ did!!

The answer was textbook in that it was exactly what any common book on the creatures would say. Eva didn't get to read very often, and equine hospitality was not her main focus (she had Amelia for that), but she did know enough to recognize it was a common, and perfectly reasonable diet for the foal.

"I'd try adding some greens. Spinach or dandelion leaves." It would help with the shine of the coat, though this handsome fellow was already starting to fade from gold to silver. Frankly Eva always found the gold stage a little bright, but he look well-kept enough that she could be satisfied with the job Miss Backus was doing thus far.

Watching the colt eye her intently, Eva was in no rush. Clearly he still had some wild instincts and they were naturally intelligent creatures, but it was hard to say if he would be able to live outside the paddock after this. "I cannot succinctly say one way or another, it will have to wait until he reaches the right age." The Forbidden Forest was an unforgivable landscape, but unicorns were usually fine within its confines, one who did not grow up inside may struggle.

He wandered further and Eva waited him out. "But we would be prepared to take him at the zoo if necessary." She assured the younger woman with a small smile.

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Maddy's shoulders sagged with obvious relief as the other confirmed that in either respect the little one would be taken care of - her current purse would allow her to take care of the creature at its current age, but without her inheritence, she would not be able to take on the foals long term needs - and there was little chance of that on the current horizon.

'How long?' she asked, struggling against the lump in her throat as she faced the prospect that she had been dreading for more than a year, 'how long is there left before he turns white do you think?' by her own estimation there was perhaps 3 month s- it couldn't be much more than that. She guessed that not long into the new year she would be passing on his care, either to his own kind or to the zoo.

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Look what MJ did!!

"No more than six months, I'd say." It generally turned around the two-year mark and he was already slightly lighter than normal. "I can send my equine expert out in a few weeks and she'll be able to give you a better idea." Amelia would know. This was her favorite, just as Eva's heart was with her birds.

The colt came nearer now and Eva extended a slow hand that was met with only a slight hesitation. Something seemed to change in his demeanor as he nudged her abdomen with his nose. "Well, aren't you sweet." Eva chuckled. Gentle she ran her hands over him in a quick exam. "He seems perfectly healthy. I would just add some greens and we'll check back in soon about finding him a permanent home." Eva passed Miss Backus a wide smile as she stroked the unicorn's mane.

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you can probably wrap!

  

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'Thank you so much for your time Mrs Miller,' Maddie enthused as the magizoologist explained how little time she might have with her charge. She wished it was more, but at the same time there was a pride in her little orphan growing up so quickly. She glanced into the field fondly, as the little unicorn ran through the grass hassling the butterfly and May flies that fled from his path.

'As soon as I see any hints of a colour change I'll be sure to let you know,' she shook the other womans hand.

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Look what MJ did!!