by Lyn Gardner
Olivia had thought Tom really cared about the high-wire when he’d just been laughing at her all along. She felt tears gnawing behind her eyes and a gutting sadness, and the thought of her so-called friends finding her there and knowing she had heard what Tom had said was too humiliating. She opened the door into the hall and slipped into the throng like a ghost.
So she didn’t hear Georgia say, “Come on, Tom, that’s nonsense. We all know you’re almost as crazy about circus as Livy. You don’t mean that.”
Tom looked shamefaced. “No, Georgia, of course I don’t. I’m just angry with Liv. It’s so hard to make her believe how much I like her. It’s as if she wants me to prove myself all the time, to demonstrate that I’m worthy to be her friend.”
“I think it’s the other way round,” said Aeysha, with a flash of the insight for which she was known. “It’s more that she doesn’t feel worthy to be your friend, that she’s surprised you like her so much. Despite the success of Romeo and Juliet, she still feels like a fish out of water here at the Swan. As if she doesn’t quite belong.”
Tom sighed. “Maybe. All I know is that Liv Marvell doesn’t make it easy to be her friend. But I miss her loads already, so I guess I’ll have to be the one to make the first move.”
Alicia Swan, who had founded the school after her own hugely successful stage career had been halted by crippling arthritis, gazed down at her pupils. She loved their energy and their hard-working, sunny optimism. Alicia chose her pupils very carefully, after a long and demanding audition process; talent was necessary but attitude counted for a great deal, too. During her own career she had seen too many bright stars shine brightly then crash and burn, and she wanted Swan pupils to leave the school not just with a first-class training, but also equipped with the attitude and temperament to sustain long and successful careers.
Alicia knew that lots of children had some talent; many wanted to be famous. But talent and desire were not sufficient. They also needed some luck, or what Alicia often called “a little patch of sunlight”, and the determination to keep on practising and getting better however many knocks and rejections they received along the way. What they didn’t need was arrogance and the misplaced belief that the Swan Academy needed them more than they needed the Swan. The previous term she’d regretfully had to ask Katie Wilkes-Cox to leave after she had admitted trying to frame Olivia for theft. Alicia still wondered whether she had done the right thing. If Katie, a talented student cursed with pushy parents, had been allowed to stay on, perhaps she might eventually have stopped chasing easy fame and put in some hard work.
Alicia briefly wondered where Katie was now before her eye fell on her granddaughters. Eel was smiling as usual, but Olivia was standing apart from her class looking like someone who’d just got home to discover the ceiling had fallen in. Alicia sighed. She loved both her grandchildren dearly, and was happy to give them a home. But she wasn’t always finding being a grandmother easy.
Little Eel was no problem. She was happy just as long as she could dance and perform; she was a natural. But Olivia was a much more complex child, whose love of circus and aptitude for high-wire walking had initially put her on a collision course with her grandmother. The collision had been averted with the success of Romeo and Juliet on the High-Wire, which had made Alicia appreciate the creative possibilities of the circus, but her relationship with Olivia was not straightforward.
Alicia’s daughter, Toni, who had died in a plane crash when Eel was still a baby, had been a great actress and Alicia was certain that Olivia had inherited Toni’s talent. Olivia thought of herself as a circus artist though, never an actor. Alicia hoped that eventually she’d be able to open Olivia’s eyes to her own talent.
Abbie had told Alicia what had occurred outside the theatre that morning. Alicia guessed that Olivia’s disappointment at not being able to go to New York had something to do with the fact that it might have been a chance to see her dad. Jack Marvell, otherwise known as the Great Marvello, was a daredevil high-wire artist who was attempting to walk across Snake Canyon in Idaho while a film company made a documentary about him. Jack and Olivia adored each other; Alicia thought they were both like wild swooping birds who would never be entirely tamed.
She sighed. She hoped that some news she was going to announce would put a smile back on Olivia’s face, and cleared her throat. The hall fell silent immediately.
“Good afternoon, everyone, and welcome back. I’m delighted to see you all and I hope that you’re ready for a term of serious hard work and serious fun. We’ve had a thrilling Christmas holidays and my congratulations to all of you who took part in Romeo and Juliet on the High-Wire, which was such an enormous success. I know that some of you have probably heard the show has been invited to New York, but sadly that won’t be possible…” She paused to allow the groans in the room to subside. “But the reason for that is one of the show’s leading performers, Tom McCavity, has been cast in The Sound of Music along with another member of the Romeo and Juliet team, Georgia Jones! I know you’ll join me in wishing them lots of luck.” There was clapping and stamping of feet.
Alicia continued. “Of course, they’re not our only successes. Aeysha Aziz has a major role in the new Tracy Beaker movie and will be off on an eight-week shoot from the middle of the month. Many congratulations to Aeysha.”
Olivia joined in the applause mechanically, but she felt bereft. Perhaps it didn’t really matter that she had fallen out with her three best friends seeing as they would all be busy during the coming term anyway. One of her reasons for staying at the Swan was because of all the fun they had together. But it was as if they had already moved on since last term and would be off doing exciting things, while she was stuck at school without them. She suddenly felt as lonely and as nervous as she’d felt on her very first day at the Swan last September.
“For those of you who weren’t successful at the Sound of Music auditions, there will be plenty of other opportunities to try for professional work this term. Please keep an eye on the notice board, where auditions will be posted, and then come and see me if you would like to be considered. Do remember, though, that only those doing well in their academic studies can be put forward for professional engagements.”
Alicia paused.
“Now I have some really exciting news for you all! The success of Romeo and Juliet on the High-Wire has made me realize that the Swan’s range of training needs to expand. The theatre world is changing and we must change with it. So I’m delighted to announce that, as of this term, circus skills will be part of the curriculum.” There were gasps from the auditorium, and several heads turned to look at Olivia, who blushed scarlet. Her grandmother continued, “So I’d like you all to give a warm welcome to our newest member of staff: Pablo Catalano.”
A cheer went up, although only Olivia and Eel were familiar with the name. They looked at each other in surprise and then broke out into grins. Pablo, a rather dashing man with thick curly hair and fiery eyes, was their dad’s agent and a very fine circus teacher; it was a coup for the Swan to get him.
He winked at Olivia from the stage. She immediately felt the connection between him and her dad and smiled shyly back. Jack had only left for the US the day after Boxing Day but she already missed him hugely.
Alicia made a few more announcements and then dismissed the school. As the throng began to disperse, Pablo made his way down from the stage and caught Olivia by the arm. “I’m going to need you, Livy. You must be my left hand.”
“Right hand,” said Olivia, grinning at Pablo and enjoying his accent, which reminded her of her circus travels.
“I’m going to need loads of help, Livy,” said Pablo. “I can’t teach all these ducklings on my own. Particularly the high-wire. Alicia tells me what a magnificent teacher you were with young Tom.” Pablo threw his arms in the air and rolled “magnificent” around on his tongue. He added, “As good as your dad, the Great Marvello.”
The praise and mention of Jack made Olivi
a want to smile, but the reference to Tom made her remember how he had barely hesitated when it had come to choosing between The Sound of Music and Romeo and Juliet. Tom thought that circus was rubbish. It made her feel bruised and angry all over again.
“Oh,” said Olivia loudly. “I doubt you’ll find this lot very interested in circus skills. When given the choice, they’ll always opt for show business and getting famous. That’s all they really care about.” Tom, who had been walking by, looked as if Olivia had punched him in the stomach.
Alicia, overhearing this, sighed. She had expected Olivia to be thrilled by Pablo’s request for help, and had really hoped that Olivia was settling down at the Swan. After all, she had chosen to stay there. Nobody had forced her. Maybe it hadn’t been the right decision after all. Alicia had thought that after the dramas of last term this term would prove less eventful. But it had barely started and already she could see stormy times ahead.
Chapter Three
Olivia jumped off the wire and ran across to the window of the rehearsal room. She peered out wistfully and just caught sight of Georgia, Tom and Aeysha walking away from the Swan towards the park. From the tilt of their heads she could tell they were laughing.
She bit her lip, and for a moment thought about rushing downstairs and catching up with them. She’d been invited. Georgia had made a point of looking for Olivia and asking her to go with them, but Olivia just shook her head and said she was busy, which had made Georgia look really unhappy.
“Please come, Livy,” she’d said. “We all miss you. You’re being really unfair in making me and Tom feel so bad about doing The Sound of Music. Tom’s really upset. He doesn’t know what he can do to make it better.”
Olivia almost melted, but her pride stopped her. She knew that she was being silly and that she was driving her friends away with her own stupid behaviour, but it was almost as if once she’d started, she couldn’t stop herself. It was addictive, in the same way that sometimes you couldn’t stop eating chocolate even though it was making you feel sick. Part of her wanted to rush up to them and apologise for being so grumpy and resentful, but there was another part of her that wanted to make them suffer because they had made her suffer.
She hated herself for even thinking of it but she had a fantasy of Tom coming to find her, begging her forgiveness and saying of course he’d give up doing The Sound of Music if it would make her happy. But she knew that wasn’t going to happen, not in a million years, and in fact she was the one who really owed him an apology for being so horrible. But she could still hear him saying “rubbishy circus act” with all that scorn in his voice, and it made her harden her heart against him.
The Sound of Music rehearsals began the next day and it was clear from her friends’ faces and their little huddled chats that Tom and Georgia were really excited about it. It made Olivia feel all the more left out. Once they got caught up in the thrill of meeting the rest of their team and the hard work of rehearsals, they wouldn’t give her another thought. Aeysha would be off soon, too.
It felt as if everything was going wrong because of what had happened in that split second outside the Duke’s Theatre. Even her relationship with the two people she loved most in the world, her dad and Eel, had been tainted by it. Only last night Jack had called from Idaho while Olivia was sitting alone in her bedroom, brooding. By the time it was Olivia’s turn to talk to her dad, it was clear that both Alicia and Eel had filled him in on what had been happening, and he wasted no time in telling Olivia that she was behaving badly.
“Honestly, Liv, sweetheart. Be reasonable,” he’d said. “I know it’s disappointing. But if it were the other way round and you got a long-term gig in the circus, you wouldn’t give it up to do a one-night performance somewhere else, would you?”
In her heart, Olivia knew that he was right, but she felt mortified that Alicia and Eel had been discussing her with Jack. If only he was here, she could have talked the whole thing through with him. But he was thousands of miles away, so far away he might just as well have been on the moon, and that thought made her feel so lonely that she could barely speak. It felt as if someone had stuffed a brick down her throat.
If Jack had been able to see her, he would have realised this, but instead he mistook her terse replies and silence for sulkiness. The conversation had ended with Jack saying, “You really need to get over yourself, Liv,” and Olivia slamming the phone down on him. She felt completely abandoned; even her dad was against her!
Her shoulders sagged. She had been so bound up in herself that she hadn’t even asked him how the preparations were going for his walk across Snake Canyon. It was a very dangerous stunt, performed deep in the heart of a wilderness. The team was using a light aircraft to cover the terrain and would also be filming the stunt from the air as the centrepiece of the documentary. Olivia had wanted to ask him what it was like flying in such a tiny plane. She felt so miserable and furious with herself that later she had turned her anger on Eel.
“You’re a horrid little sneak to talk to Dad about me,” she railed. “You don’t even know anything about it.”
“Yes, I do! I was there when you stormed off, remember,” said Eel mutinously. “I felt sorry for you, Livy. So did the others; everyone knows how much Romeo and Juliet means to you. I’m disappointed too. I wanted to go up the Empire State Building. But you’re the one not talking to Aeysha, Tom and Georgia. They want to make up. They’re all really upset that you’ve got the hump. Particularly Tom.”
“Have you been talking to my friends about me behind my back?” demanded Olivia furiously.
“Well, somebody has to talk to them if you won’t,” said Eel reasonably, doing the little hop she did when she was nervous. Olivia was making her really edgy. Her sister had a short temper and often suddenly exploded with anger, but she was usually quick to say sorry. Eel had never known her to hold a grudge like this before.
“Well, I bet they didn’t tell you that Tom said Romeo and Juliet is just a rubbishy circus act, did they?”
Eel looked shocked. “Oh, Livy, there must be some mistake. I’m sure he doesn’t believe that. Tom loves the tightrope almost as much as you do.”
“Look, Eel, it’s none of your business, so just buzz off. Stay away from them and stay away from me, too. You’ll just make everything worse with your babyish meddling.”
Eel flinched. Olivia had never spoken to her so harshly before. She ran back into the living room where Alicia was on the phone to someone in Hollywood.
Remembering that conversation now, Olivia slumped against the wall. She’d been unforgivably horrible to her beloved little sister. The list of people she needed to apologise to just kept getting longer and longer. She muttered furiously to herself: “You’re a complete idiot, Olivia Marvell, and your own worst enemy.”
“Yes, and you’re cutting off your toes to spite your feet.”
Olivia spun around. It was Pablo.
“You shouldn’t listen in when people are talking to themselves, it’s rude,” she said, embarrassed. “And it’s nose and face, not toes and feet.”
Pablo shrugged, his eyes sparkling. “It’s the same thing,” he said. “The only person who feels the pain is you.” He pretended to stab himself through the heart and rolled his eyes dramatically. “How’s the wire-walking coming along?” he asked. “Have you been practising the new routine you and Jack were working on before he left?”
Olivia sighed. “It’s not the same without Tom. It was fun being a double act.”
“There’s no reason why the two of you shouldn’t be a double act again. You must make up with him. He’s not going to be in The Sound of Music for ever, and once the rehearsals are over he’ll be able to practise with you again.”
“He won’t want to,” said Olivia, gloomily.
“He won’t if you keep cutting off the toes,” said Pablo seriously, pushing back his dark curls. “Listen, Miss Alicia sent me to get you. She’s got a surprise for you.”
“Nice or nas
ty?” asked Olivia nervously.
“Magnificent, of course!” grinned Pablo. “Not that Miss Grumpy deserves a surprise. But come and see. We must not keep Miss Alicia waiting. She is very scary if you do that.”
“How do you know?”
“I was a day late for my interview. I got my Wednesdays mixed up with my Thursdays. I felt like a very naughty boy.” Pablo grinned. “But I still got the job, and I like the Duck Academy and all the little ducklings very much.”
Olivia smiled. She knew Pablo was trying to cheer her up and she felt grateful.
Alicia was waiting for them just outside the school hall. She didn’t look at all impatient. In fact, she looked unusually nervous, but she smiled when she saw Olivia.
“This isn’t my idea, Olivia,” she said. “It’s your dad’s. He rang me late last night. I wasn’t at all sure about it. But I discussed it with Pablo – he’s the expert after all – and he was all for it.”
“Dad rang you?” cried Olivia. “Last night?”
Alicia nodded.
Olivia suddenly felt a lightening of her heart. He couldn’t have turned against her completely then! “What is it?” she asked eagerly.
Alicia opened the door and the others followed her through. Hanging from the high rafters, fully rigged, was a swinging trapeze.
Olivia gasped. “For me?”
Alicia nodded. “And Pablo, and maybe some of the others in the school if any of them show any real aptitude.” She gave a little shudder. “Although I’m not sure I really want them to. All this circus business seems so risky. Nobody ever got hurt doing a plié.”
“Miss Alicia, I’ve explained before it is not about risk, it is about managing risk. I will look after your little ducklings; I will not let them fall,” said Pablo soothingly.
He turned to Olivia. “Jack said that you’d done much static and swinging trapeze work the summer before last when you were all in Italy, and he tells me that you are a girl who can fly. He thought a break from the high-wire might do you good, and the trapeze is something that you and I can do together. You know it’s my speciality, along with the castell.”
