Olivia Flies High

by Lyn Gardner

  Olivia nodded enthusiastically. She had gone with Eel, Tom, Georgia and Aeysha to see Pablo make a guest appearance on the swinging trapeze with the Cirque du Soleil at the Albert Hall on New Year’s Day, which had been thrilling.

  Jack had also told her that Pablo was famous for creating castells, the human towers or castles that hailed from the Catalan region of his native Spain. It was a skill that required great strength, agility and balance from the participants, who had to create a strong base of people at the bottom before others clambered up them like monkeys to create wedding-cake-style human tiers that rose high into the air. While travelling with the circus in Spain, Olivia had seen human towers eight or nine tiers tall, as high as a house, often with a tiny child as young as five perched on the very top. They required massive skill and balance and everybody had to work as a team to be successful.

  “I’m going to start the ducklings off by learning how to create castells, and maybe do some more high-wire walking as you’ve already got them going…”

  But Olivia wasn’t really listening. She was looking at the trapeze with shining eyes as if she was already imagining swooping through the air like a bird. “When can we start the trapeze?” she asked impatiently.

  “Right now,” said Pablo. “But first you’ve got to promise me and your grandmother two things, Livy.”

  “What?”

  Alicia looked grave. “One, you’ll stop being silly and make it up with Tom and your other friends. Friendship is much too important to fool around with, Olivia. Secondly, and this is really serious, that you’ll never practise the trapeze without Pablo being present.”

  Pablo nodded. “The trapeze is very different from the wire,” he said. “You’re very experienced on that, and if you do slip in the rehearsal room, it’s not so far to fall. You do not break the head or the arms or the neck. But with the trapeze? Madre mia! You could do yourself a big injury if you came off the trapeze. Terminado.” He made a gesture as if cutting his throat. Alicia gave another little shudder.

  “I promise,” said Olivia.

  “Right, partner,” said Pablo. “Let’s see what you can do.”

  Alicia felt delighted by the smile on Olivia’s face. She’d hated to see her so unhappy. She was watching her granddaughter shimmy up the rope when her mobile rang. It was another call from Hollywood. She hurried away to take it.

  Chapter Four

  The next morning, Olivia was waiting just inside the glass doors of the Swan, hopping from one foot to another. She had two good luck cards in her hands that she had stayed up late making while Eel had gone to see Matthew Bourne’s Nutcracker! at Sadler’s Wells with one of her friends. One was for Tom and the other was for Georgia.

  She also had a little “Sorry” card stuffed inside her pocket that she’d made for Eel and which she had wanted to give to her at breakfast but, inspired by Nutcracker!, Eel had rushed off early for an extra ballet class.

  Olivia knew that the children’s rehearsals for The Sound of Music started that afternoon and, having taken everyone’s words to heart, she wanted to make it up with her friends before they were swept up in the hard work of preparing for the show. The cards were a peace offering and she had been really creative with them.

  She looked impatiently out of the glass doors as the bell rang for morning lessons. Where on earth were they? Then she saw Aeysha hotfoot it up the road and take the steps outside the school two at a time, laden down with her saxophone and a bag full of practice clothes.

  “Hi, Livy, what’s up?” Aeysha asked a little hesitantly. She felt wary of Olivia in case she snapped at her.

  “I’m waiting for Tom and Georgia,” said Olivia. “Do you know where they are?”

  Aeysha saw the cards in Olivia’s hands and guessed what they were. “Oh, Livy, you’ve missed them,” she said. “They’re not coming to lessons this morning. They’ve got a costume fitting before rehearsals start this afternoon. They only heard about it late yesterday afternoon when we were in the park. I met them for breakfast. They were both so excited. If only you’d come to the park, you’d have known about meeting up for breakfast today and could have joined us.”

  “Oh,” said Olivia in a small voice.

  “You can give them the cards tomorrow.”

  “It won’t be the same,” said Olivia sadly. “I wanted Tom and Georgia to know how sorry I am about being mean before they started rehearsals.”

  “Why don’t you call Tom?” suggested Aeysha.

  “I don’t have a phone, remember. Gran won’t let me have one until my birthday in May. She thinks you have to be thirteen to have a mobile phone, unless you’ve got a good reason like you lot do, travelling to and from school each day on your own. It’s so stupid, and makes me feel like a freak. I’m the only person in the year without one.”

  “You can use mine,” said Aeysha kindly. Olivia was smiling at her gratefully when they heard a voice behind them.

  “Come along, girls, you shouldn’t be chatting here, you should be in double maths,” said Miss Hanbury, the voice teacher, who had spotted them in the hallway. “Quick, or I’ll have to give you both a misconduct.” Olivia and Aeysha hurried off to the classroom.

  “You can borrow it at lunchtime,” said Aeysha, and she reached out for Olivia’s hand and squeezed it. “It’s good to have you back, Livy.”

  But when lunchtime arrived, Olivia got cold feet about ringing Tom. What if he didn’t answer and she just had to leave a message? What would she say? Or even worse, what if he answered and put the phone down when he realised it was her and not Aeysha? She wouldn’t blame him. She had been so unreasonable over the whole Sound of Music thing, she thought that by now he might not want to make up with her at all.

  “Thanks for the offer of the phone, Aeysha,” she said, “but I’ve changed my mind; I’ll see them tomorrow. Some things are easier said face to face.”

  Leaving Aeysha staring after her, she rushed off to find Pablo. She’d promised to help run the first lunchtime castell session. There was a big turn-out of children, including William Todd and Libby Oakham from Olivia’s class who had already proved themselves keen tightrope-walkers. Olivia was quite surprised to see Katie Wilkes-Cox’s former friend Kylie Morris, who had previously shown a disdain for anything to do with the circus. She guessed that Kylie might have come to get a closer look at Pablo, whose long curls made him look like the hero from a nineteenth-century romantic novel. Judging by their giggles, some of the older girls were there for the same reason.

  But it was the presence of Kasha Kasparian and his Year Eleven friends, Ryan O’Connor and Jazz Quarshie, that was creating a buzz. Kasha, a talented singer who had just signed a solo recording contract, didn’t turn up for any non-compulsory class unless it was cool to be seen doing so. Word that he was at Pablo’s lesson spread in a twinkling and there was a late rush to join the class that had been given the Kasha stamp of approval.

  “Now you are all here we shall make our very first castell,” said Pablo. “This will make me very proud because in Catalonia, where I come from, we make the human castles very often. They can be very tall, as high as a big house. Even very tiny children like Emmy here,” he pointed to a ringletted cherub who was a great friend of Eel’s in Year Three, “climb to the very top of these towers without fear because they know that everyone at the base will be strong and keep them safe. Olivia, please show the video.”

  Olivia had wangled two laptops from the office which she had connected to YouTube. The children split into two groups to gather around the computers. Olivia pressed play and a video of a group of castellers building a tower began. The largest and strongest people moved into position, their legs braced and their arms tight around each other to create a sturdy foundation. As soon as the base was in place, more people scrambled up over their friends’ bodies to create the next tier. In the space of a few seconds the structure seamlessly grew taller and taller; it was like watching the speeded-up film of a tree growing, although in this case
the trunk was made entirely of people. When they had gone as high as they could, the tower was slickly dismantled in what seemed like a second.

  Everyone clapped when the brief video came to an end.

  “It’s really cool; it’s like a human wedding cake,” said Kasha.

  Pablo nodded.

  “I want to go right to the very top,” said Emmy.

  “Then we must start immediately,” grinned Pablo, pleased by their enthusiasm. He looked around and pointed at the older boys and some of the girls.

  “You too, duckling,” he said to Kylie Morris. “I need the stout people to make the pinya, which is what we call the base in my country.”

  “Oh!” shrieked Kylie. “He thinks I’m fat!”

  Kasha raised his eyes heavenwards and shook his head. “Don’t be dumb, Kylie. He means strong, not fat.”

  Kylie, who didn’t know whether to be outraged that Kasha had called her dumb or delighted that he even knew her name, was mollified and joined the others who stood barefoot, shoulder to shoulder, their arms wrapped around each other. Pablo selected another group of children.

  “Now,” he said, “you must slither like eels up their backs and form another layer of the wedding cake.” With much laughing and the occasional “ouch” as a foot was placed on a head rather than a shoulder, they created another layer. Pablo was impressed: the Swans’ years of training in dance had made them both strong and agile, essential qualities needed to create a castell.

  “We will try one more level,” said Pablo. “The littlest ducklings must climb now like the naughty little monkeys they are.”

  Emmy and her friends giggled as they climbed over the shoulders of the other Swans. The base began to sway with the added weight. Kasha said something rude under his breath. The second tier began to wobble dangerously and suddenly the whole thing collapsed like a deflating soufflé. Everyone ended up on the rubber mats in a great big laughing heap just as Alicia walked into the hall.

  Pablo shot Olivia a worried look. He suspected that Alicia might not be too happy to see some of her best dancers falling into a heap of twisted arms and legs, but she was so preoccupied that she hardly noticed the collapsing castell.

  “Ah, Olivia, there you are. Could you come up to the flat just as soon as you’re finished here, please? I need to talk to you urgently.”

  Olivia was puzzled. She couldn’t think of anything she’d done that merited her returning to the flat during the day. Normally if Alicia wanted to talk to pupils, she did it in her office, and during the school day she treated Olivia and Eel like pupils, not grandchildren. Olivia could see the others eyeing her curiously. She hated it when the other Swans were reminded that she was Alicia’s granddaughter.

  “I’ll be up in just a tick,” she said.

  Alicia nodded briskly and swept away. Nobody would know from her graceful movements how badly her arthritis affected her.

  Everyone started to put away the mats. “That was buff. Can we try again tomorrow?” said William.

  “If you’d like to,” said Pablo, delighted by the response.

  “Yes,” said Kasha. “We would. We want to make the tallest human castle in the world.”

  Pablo grinned, and went to help Olivia put the last of the mats away. “I’m free after school tonight if you want to do some more trapeze?” he said.

  “Yes, please,” said Olivia. “I love it,” she added shyly. “It makes me feel so free and dreamy. It must be how birds feel when they are soaring in the sky.”

  Pablo smiled. It was exactly how it made him feel too. “Go, Livy. You must not keep Miss Alicia waiting.”

  Olivia climbed up the stairs to the flat. She pushed open the door and was surprised to see two suitcases in the hall. She wondered whether Alicia had a guest to stay. But when she walked into the living room, Alicia was wearing a coat, and her handbag and passport were sitting on the table. Alicia was going somewhere. During term-time. Olivia knew it must be very important for her to leave her beloved Swans. Her heart started thumping and she felt a sudden terror.

  “It’s Dad, isn’t it? Something’s happened to Dad!”

  Alicia looked perplexed. “Jack?” Then a look of understanding passed across her face. “No, Olivia darling, nothing terrible like that,” she said, walking across the room and putting her arms around Olivia. “How silly of me to frighten you. You always think the worst. Jack’s fine. I spoke to him only an hour ago.”

  “Then where are you going?” asked Olivia.

  “To Hollywood!”

  Olivia’s eyes widened. “Are you going to make a movie?”

  “Yes,” said Alicia. “With Peter Jackson, who made The Lord of the Rings.”

  Olivia swallowed. “That took three years,” she said and hugged Alicia fiercely. Alicia was very touched; spontaneous demonstrations of affection from her eldest granddaughter were few and far between.

  “I’ll only be gone for three weeks,” said Alicia. “Mine is just a tiny part. My real job will be to try and coax a good performance out of the Wood twins. They’re the stars, but it seems that Wood is a very good name for them.”

  Even Olivia had heard of Cosmo and Cosima Wood. They were the youngest members of a great American acting dynasty and had been appearing on TV since they were a few days old. They launched their own fashion range when they were six and for the last few years had starred in their own TV show that was shown all over the world. They were the same age as Olivia but were already said to be worth millions.

  “Livy, this has all happened so quickly I haven’t had a chance to discuss it with you and Eel. I only heard about the possibility a few days ago and it was just this morning that they called to say that if I was going to come, it had to be today. But if you really don’t want me to go, then of course I’ll stay.”

  Olivia looked at her grandmother’s face. She knew that the chance to act again meant a great deal to Alicia. “Of course I think you should do it!” she said. “But how will the Swan run without you?”

  “Like clockwork,” said Alicia, smiling broadly. “Sebastian Shaw will be in charge and all the rest of the staff will pull together. I’m doing this for the school too, not just for me. They are paying me very handsomely indeed. So well that I’ll finally have enough to secure a mortgage on the land next door where that derelict building is. It means the Swan will be able to expand.”

  “That’s brilliant!” A sudden thought struck Olivia. “What about Eel and me while you’re away? Where will we live?”

  “I discussed it with Jack. Eel is sorted. I spoke to her while you were helping Pablo. She’s going to go and stay with Emmy Lovedale’s family around the corner. They all adore her. You’ve been invited too; they say they’d love to have you, but you could stay here if you would prefer. Miss Hanbury has offered to move in while I’m gone. It will save her the journey each morning.” Her grandmother’s face grew serious. “You’re my main concern, Olivia darling. If you’re not happy, I’ll cancel the taxi and ring them to say I’m not coming, and we’ll say no more about it. I know you’ve been slow to settle at the Swan and I promised Jack I’d look after you, so if you don’t want me to go, I’ll quite understand.”

  But for Olivia, there was no choice. She didn’t want any more change in her life, that was true, but she also realised that this was a real opportunity for Alicia and the Swan. If she said no, then she knew that Alicia would feel just as she had felt when Romeo and Juliet on the High-Wire had been scuppered.

  “Of course you must go!” she said brightly. “I’ll stay here with Miss Hanbury.”

  Alicia gave a huge smile. She reached into her pocket and brought out a mobile phone.

  “This is for you, Olivia. I know how much you want one. My number and Jack’s number and the Lovedales’ number are already stored. The slightest problem, call me, and don’t worry about the cost.”

  “Don’t you worry; we’ll all be fine,” said Olivia, delighted with her phone and feeling rather grown up.

 
But after waving goodbye to Alicia’s taxi, Olivia suddenly felt incredibly alone again. Eel had already said goodbye to Alicia and was back in her afternoon lessons, so Olivia couldn’t even talk to her sister. She suddenly realised that she still had the crushed card for Eel in her pocket, along with the ones for Tom and Georgia. If only she hadn’t fallen out with her friends, she might have been staying at one of their houses, rather than on her own with Miss Hanbury in the flat.

  The urge to try to speak to Tom was suddenly huge. She felt as if she couldn’t wait another moment to apologise. She knew Tom’s number because he was always laughing at the word it spelled out if you turned his phone upside down. She looked at her watch. He’d be in rehearsal now. She’d text him. Quickly she composed a text message, entered the number and pressed send. She suddenly felt lighter. Everything was going to be all right with Tom. They’d be best friends again. She just knew it.

  Chapter Five

  Tom and Georgia had really enjoyed the costume fitting. They had been met at the costumiers in a back street near Tower Bridge by the assistant director, Josie Cutwell, who’d ticked their names off her list and sorted them into teams. It was a bit chaotic because there were lots of children milling around, several backstage staff from The Sound of Music – including the head of costume and her assistant – and the steamstresses who were going to make the four changes of clothes that each child would require.

  “Tom McCavity and Georgia Jones, you’re in Alps team and you’re playing Kurt and Brigitta. Go and join the rest of your team over there and introduce yourselves to the others. You’re going to be working closely together over the coming months, so it would be good to get to know each other, and even better if you all got on,” said Josie. She turned to one of her colleagues. “Oliver! was a complete nightmare because one of the Artful Dodgers fell out with his Oliver and all the other kids took sides. We had to give them all warnings after there was nearly a fight during the curtain call one evening.”