The Unicorn Sisters

by Charles Richard Laing

Don’t worry, lad. This one’s on the house. I saw what you were staring at, and I figured you could use a drink.

If you don’t mind a little advice, young stranger, I think you should stop thinking what you are thinking. Stay away from them. Yes. I know they look young and pretty. And I’m not so grizzled that I don’t remember the power a young and pretty girl has over a young and foolish boy.

Please don’t take offense. I know what you are thinking. Under normal circumstances our girls are free to choose the company they keep. So it isn’t you. It’s them.

Trust me. We’ve learned our lesson the hard way. You don’t touch the Unicorn Sisters.

Hmmm?

Yes, they are indeed true sisters. I suppose it’s a fair question. How can a blonde, a brunette, and a redhead spring forth from the same two parents? But it’s a fact. They grew up here.

Oh, they’re friendly. Indeed. Not to mention flirtatious. I think they compete against each other for the intentions of the young men. But look closely. See the men they choose to dance with. Do you notice anything about them?

That is exactly it. They all look foreign. Not unlike you, my dark-skinned friend. See how the locals all try to avoid them?

The townsfolk know about the Unicorn Sisters. We’ve known about them for over two hundred years.

Indeed. Two hundred years. That’s how long they’ve been coming here. I’m the forty-second barman to serve them.

How? Why, by making a deal with that creature in the forest.

Eternal youth.

Eternal beauty.

But eternal chastity is the price they must pay. The locals have come to respect it. Others haven’t. Many a lusty, drunken fool entranced by their beauty has followed them out into the night. In the morning we find them in the woods. Dead, with a single stab wound to the heart.

Of course I’m not trying to frighten you, lad. I’m trying to educate you. Stay and have another drink, sir. Ignore them. Let them go.

Lad?

Fool.