Skating School: Blue Skate Dreams

by Linda Chapman

  ‘Thanks,’ Emily said shakily. ‘Good luck. Will you be all right?’

  ‘Yes, don’t worry. I’ll be fine,’ said Heather. ‘I can do this.’

  Emily smiled. ‘I know you can.’

  Gritting her teeth, Heather set off.

  Emily watched her go. At first, Heather stumbled a few times, but she didn’t give up and soon she was speeding across the snow. Emily put an arm round the nearest husky’s neck and leant against his reassuring warm body. She shut her eyes and waited…

  Chapter Eight

  Rescued

  ‘Emily!’

  Emily blinked. Madame Letsworth was skiing towards her. She was with Trakin and Dina, who were on a big sledge pulled by twelve huskies. Within minutes they had all reached her. ‘Are you all right?’ exclaimed Madame Letsworth. ‘Heather told us what happened.’

  ‘I’m OK,’ said Emily. ‘It’s just my head. I banged it on a branch.’

  ‘You must be concussed,’ said Madame Letsworth. ‘Let’s get you back to school.’

  Trakin lifted Emily up and put her gently on to the sledge, which was covered with thick fur blankets. ‘I’ll drive you home,’ he said. ‘Dina will bring the other dogs.’

  ‘They’ve been keeping me warm,’ said Emily as the dogs followed her to the sledge. She breathed out a sigh of relief. ‘I’m glad Heather got back safely.’

  ‘Silly girl,’ said Madame Letsworth. ‘She told me what had happened. I don’t know what she was thinking of, trying to run away like that.’

  ‘She was just a bit worried about the competition, but she’s not silly,’ Emily protested, her dizziness making her bold. ‘She was brilliant. She was scared, but she skied back to get help for me. She was really brave.’

  Madame Letsworth nodded. ‘Yes, and she’s not the only one, according to what she told me. She said you skied down the hill and stopped the huskies.’

  ‘They were going to crash into the trees,’ said Emily. ‘I had to.’

  ‘No, you didn’t have to, you chose to,’ Madame Letsworth said softly. ‘You acted very courageously, Emily. Well done. Now let’s get you back.’

  Trakin got on to the sledge and, giving Emily a cheerful grin, he started to drive the huskies back towards the school.

  Emily was taken to the sick bay where Hannah and Molly were waiting anxiously.

  ‘Goodness me, you three girls!’ said Matron, who had looked after Molly the previous week after she had injured her ankle. She shot a look at Hannah. ‘It’s not going to be you next week, is it, Hannah?’

  ‘I hope not,’ said Hannah. ‘Oh, Emily, how are you feeling?’

  ‘A bit sick still,’ admitted Emily. ‘But I’ll be OK.’

  ‘Not well enough to go in the competition though,’ said Madame Letsworth. Emily looked at her in dismay. ‘No, absolutely not,’ said the headteacher firmly. ‘No skating or anything active for two days.’

  Matron nodded to confirm this. ‘It’s important to rest with concussion, Emily.’

  ‘You can watch the competition, but that is all,’ said Madame Letsworth.

  Emily felt awful. She looked at Hannah and Molly. ‘I’m so sorry. I was stupid to bang my head. Oh…’

  ‘Em! We’re just glad you’re all right,’ said Hannah, taking her hand.

  Molly nodded quickly. ‘We were so worried when Heather came back and told us what had happened. The competition doesn’t matter, Emily. It’s you who are important.’

  ‘We can do the competition with just the two of us,’ said Hannah. ‘It would be loads better with you of course, but we’ll be fine. Don’t worry.’

  ‘You’d better cheer us on though!’ smiled Molly.

  Emily felt relieved. She hated to let them down, but actually her head was really hurting and for once she didn’t feel like husky driving. ‘Thanks. Is Heather OK?’

  ‘Yes, she is fine,’ replied Madame Letsworth.

  ‘Can I see her?’ Emily asked.

  ‘Yes, but then that is your last visitor. You need to rest so that you will be feeling well enough to watch the competition this afternoon. Hannah and Molly, you had better go and have breakfast now. Can you tell Heather she can come up?’

  They nodded and set off.

  Heather arrived five minutes later, looking really worried. ‘Oh, Emily. I’m so sorry. I was so stupid to go off like that. If I hadn’t then you wouldn’t have got hurt and now you can’t go into the competition…’

  ‘It’s all right,’ interrupted Emily. ‘Don’t worry about it. I’ll be OK, that’s the main thing.’ She smiled at Heather. ‘You were brilliant. You skied all the way back on your own and got help. That was fantastic!’

  ‘I thought I wasn’t going to be able to do it,’ Heather confessed. ‘But I knew I had to because you needed me to and so I did. I thought about you all the way back and I didn’t fall over once.’

  ‘See! You can ski!’ Emily told her. ‘You are good at it. Maybe now you’ll believe me!’

  Heather gave her a shy smile. ‘I think I will.’

  ‘I bet you’ll ski brilliantly in the competition,’ said Emily. ‘Don’t let Amanda put you off before then.’

  ‘Actually, since I got back, she’s been really nice,’ said Heather. ‘I don’t think she realized how upset I’d been about the practising. She was really shocked that I had tried to run away. She said she hadn’t meant me to feel that bad; she’d just wanted to get me to try harder. It’s made me feel loads better. She’s been really worried about you hurting yourself. She wanted to see you, but Madame Letsworth wouldn’t let her come too.’

  ‘Tell her I’ll see her later,’ said Emily. ‘And good luck for the competition. I’ve got to support Molly and Hannah, but I’ll be cheering you on too!’

  Heather grinned. ‘Thanks!’

  ‘Come on now, Heather,’ said Matron, bustling into the room. ‘Time to give Emily some rest.’

  Heather said goodbye. When she was on her own, Emily sank back against the pillows. Her head was aching, but she felt very happy. Thoughts of the competition flashed through her mind. What was going to happen? She might not be in it, but she couldn’t wait to find out the result!

  Chapter Nine

  The Race

  The competitors all lined up on the starting line in the forest. There were five husky sledges being driven by Molly, Olivia, Alice, Camilla and Clare. They had to race through the trees to where their partners were waiting on skis. The husky driver had to pass the baton and then the skier had to ski across a field to the river where the skaters were waiting.

  Molly and Camilla, who were both doing two legs of their relay, would be driven by Trakin so that they would be waiting at the river when Hannah and Tess got there. Once the skaters had the baton from their teammates, they all had to skate back to school. The first to reach the stone steps at the front would be the winner!

  Emily was watching from a sledge that Dina was driving. They would follow the huskies and the skiers and then stop to watch the skaters race home. It was very exciting. The teams of dogs were pulling at their harnesses. It was clear they were eager to be off.

  Monsieur Carvallio, one of the skating teachers, was going to blow the starting whistle. ‘Good luck!’ Emily shouted to Molly.

  ‘On your marks…’ called Monsieur Carvallio. The huskies all jostled into position. ‘Get set… GO!’

  The teams set off, racing through the woods, weaving in and out of the trees, the huskies barking in excitement as clouds of rainbow-coloured sparks flew up in the air. Alice was doing really well and was in the lead, closely followed by Olivia. Both Molly and Camilla made their dogs go so fast that they had trouble turning them round the trees and they fell behind.

  ‘Go on, Molly!’ shouted Emily desperately. Molly got control of the dogs again and sent them racing after Alice and Olivia. By the time they came out of the trees, she was in third place.

  She passed the baton perfectly to Hannah who set off on her skis. Olivia had made a perfect hando
ver too, but Emily watched, heart in mouth, as Heather seemed to stumble.

  ‘You can do it, Heather!’ she shrieked from the sledge.

  Gritting her teeth, Heather started to ski. To Emily’s relief, she found her rhythm and was soon racing across the snow. She overtook Tilda and then gained on Hannah. Her eyes were fixed on Amanda who was waiting on the ice, urging her on.

  Emily watched, torn in two as Heather caught up with Hannah. ‘Go, Hannah! Go, Heather!’ she shrieked as they both approached the river. Everyone was shouting now!

  Molly and Camilla had jumped down from Trakin’s sledge, changed into their skates and were now on to the ice.

  ‘Well done, Heather!’ Amanda cried. ‘Come on. You’re nearly here.’

  And Heather was! She was the first to the ice. She passed the baton safely to Amanda, and Amanda took off, her face determined, her long dark hair flying out behind her. Molly grabbed the baton and chased after her. Camilla was close on her heels. Zoe and Helena, the other two skaters, were nowhere near as fast as the three leaders and they quickly dropped back, battling it out for fourth and fifth place.

  Emily bounced up and down on the sledge, her headache completely forgotten. Molly had almost caught up with Amanda, but Camilla had almost caught up with her! They skated like ice-hockey players along the river. Who was going to win? The other girls in each team charged to the finishing line, all shouting and urging the skaters on.

  Molly’s going to do it! Emily thought in delight.

  But just as Molly drew level with Amanda, Amanda found a final burst of speed and surged forwards. She swept across the finish line. Her team had won!

  Emily felt a rush of disappointment for Hannah and Molly, but when she looked at them, she saw them hugging each other, their eyes shining. They were so caught up in the fun of it all that they didn’t look upset at all! They saw her watching and Hannah came racing over, leaving Molly to change out of her skates.

  ‘Wasn’t that an amazing race?’

  ‘It was brilliant!’ said Emily as Hannah hugged her too. ‘You did so well to come second.’

  ‘We’d have won if you’d been in the team, but it was so much fun anyway!’ Hannah said.

  ‘It’s brilliant that Heather, Amanda and Olivia won,’ said Emily, looking over to where the three winners were holding hands and jumping up and down.

  ‘I’m really pleased for them,’ said Hannah. ‘Doesn’t Heather look happy?’

  Emily nodded. She’d never seen Heather look so ecstatic.

  Madame Letsworth picked up a megaphone. ‘Well done, everyone! That was a hard-fought and very exciting race. Will you all please come over to the school steps and we will have the presentation of the sky-blue skates.’

  Everyone made their way over. Emily felt very grand being pulled along in Dina’s sledge! Madame Letsworth walked up the steps to a table. A cloud of frost fairies were fluttering above it.

  ‘You have all done extremely well this week,’ Madame Letsworth said. ‘The other teachers and I were very keen to see how you would respond to the challenge and how you would get on working in your teams. The competitions are important in helping us decide who will be the Ice Princess. As you know, the girl who is chosen needs to have certain special qualities. Many of you have demonstrated these qualities in the last five weeks; the question is which one of you will make the best Ice Princess? Next week, our final competition will be a skating competition on the rink for a pair of silver skates. The Ice Princess will be announced after that. But now for the results of today’s competition…’

  The frost fairies formed a big number three in the air. ‘In third place, Camilla and Tess. Well done, girls! It was a great team effort!’

  Everyone clapped and Emily was surprised to see Camilla, who didn’t usually take losing very well, actually smiling for once.

  ‘In second place, Molly and Hannah, who did particularly well seeing as they hadn’t practised as a pair until this morning.’

  Molly and Hannah grinned at each other.

  ‘And our winners are…’ Madame Letsworth paused, ‘Amanda, Olivia and Heather! Would you please come up to get your sky-blue skates, girls?’

  The three girls ran up the steps and Madame Letsworth presented them each with a pair of blue skates.

  ‘Congratulations,’ she said warmly. ‘You all did very well. In particular, Amanda, you skated superbly at the end.’

  ‘Thank you,’ Amanda said happily. ‘But we wouldn’t have won if Heather and Olivia hadn’t been so good on their bits. They were both brilliant!’ She smiled at them.

  Heather half put up her hand.

  ‘Yes, Heather?’ Madame Letsworth said.

  Heather blushed shyly as everyone looked at her, but she took a deep breath and forced herself to speak out. ‘I’d like to say a really big thank you to Emily. She’s helped me so much this week with my skiing. She made me believe in myself and made me realize I could do it and… well, as everyone knows, she also rescued me this morning.’ Her eyes met Emily’s. ‘I might have been the one injured if she hadn’t saved me. Thank you so much, Emily. I wish you hadn’t had to miss the competition.’ Her face was bright red and Emily knew just how much it had taken out of her to speak up like that in front of everyone.

  Around her, everyone cheered.

  Thank you, Emily mouthed at Heather and the blonde girl smiled. A warm glow rushed all the way from Emily’s toes to her head. She might not have taken part in the competition, but she had had a brilliant time and next week they were going to find out who was going to be the Ice Princess. How exciting was that?

  Emily smiled in delight as she looked round at all her happy, laughing friends. Iceskating school really was the very best place to be!

  Do you dream of becoming an Ice Princess?

  Have you ever wanted to go to a REAL Skating School?

  All readers of Skating School get FREE membership to the National Ice Skating Association’s Skate UK programme!

  Skate UK will help you to learn all the moves and basic skills you need to become a true Ice Princess! It’s all about fun and continuous movement and is taught in groups, so why not share your love of Skating School with your friends and bring them too?

  To get your free membership, go to www.iceskating.org.uk/skatingschool and enter the secret password: Twirl.

  Skate UK is taught by licensed NISA coaches and can be assisted by trained Programme Assistants.

  For full terms and conditions visit:

  www.lindachapman.co.uk

  www.iceskating.org.uk/skatingschool

  Do you want to enter super competitions, get sneak previews and download lots of fun?

  Just enter this secret password:

  Twirl

  The Land of Ice and Winter is waiting for you…

  Hi there,

  I hope you’ve enjoyed reading about the adventures of the girls who go to the Magic Iceskating Academy. I love writing them all down! Wouldn’t it be amazing to go to the Land of Ice and Winter and see all the creatures who live there? Can you imagine holding an actual ice dragon or talking to a frost fairy?

  Sometimes readers write to me and ask about my life. Being a writer is the best job ever. I live in a cottage in a village with my family and two dogs – a Bernese mountain dog and a golden retriever. I spend my days writing and going to visit schools and libraries to talk about writing.

  I always think I’m really lucky because I get to spend my days writing about magic – mermaids, unicorns, stardust spirits, genies and now the Land of Ice and Winter. If you love them too then why not go to www.lindachapman.co.uk and join the Sparkle Club? It’s my online fan club with loads of activities and downloads, and you can only get to it by using the secret password at the back of this book. Have fun!

  Love,

  Linda

  xxx