Olivia's First Term

by Lyn Gardner

  “Well, I do try not to breathe fire,” she agreed. “Eel, you dance very well. You have a gift for it. Would you like to come to my school and we’ll teach you how to do it properly?” Eel nodded vigorously, her ringlets bouncing up and down.

  “But that’s not fair!” shouted Katie, unable to contain herself. “She’s being rewarded for ruining my big chance—”

  She was silenced by a look from Miss Swan, who turned back to Eel. “Now, point out your parents and I’ll talk to them after the show.”

  “I don’t have a mum. She died,” said Eel, “but my dad and sister are there.” She pointed towards the auditorium where Olivia and Jack stood in the semi-darkness. “We wanted to see you anyway because Dad says my sister is going to come here as well. So we’ll all be together.”

  Alicia looked very confused. “Does he indeed?” she said.

  “He does. All the time,” said Eel firmly. She held out her hand towards a rather flummoxed Alicia to formally introduce herself. “I’m Alicia Ophelia Rosalind Marvell, but everyone calls me Eel, and you are my grandmother. That,” said Eel, pointing to the stairs, “that’s my big sister, Livy. Olivia Viola Juliet Marvell.” Worried that Alicia wasn’t quite keeping up, Eel added, “She’s your granddaughter too.”

  The audience gasped; the events unfolding on stage could hardly be more dramatic. It was like a final scene by Shakespeare when the characters are all unexpectedly reunited and people discover their long-lost relatives. Alicia’s eye followed Eel’s finger to where Jack and Olivia were standing at the bottom of the gangway. The follow-spot operator suddenly picked them out so they were bathed in light. Olivia froze as if she had been caught in a searchlight and was about to be shot. Alicia’s gaze lit upon Olivia’s serious, anxious face and for a moment her grandmother thought she’d seen a ghost. She felt dizzy and her eyes filled with tears.

  Her eyes met Jack’s.

  “Hello, Alicia,” he said quietly, raising a hand in greeting. Alicia stared at him for a moment, then looked at Eel, who had slipped off the stage and was now hugging Olivia and Jack tightly, and smiled. She took a deep breath and said, “Later, my dears. We’ll sort this tangled web out after the performance. I promise.”

  She clapped her hands and turned to the audience. “You have been waiting patiently and we mustn’t disappoint you. You came to see a show and you’ll get one, the best the Swan has ever delivered!” She nodded to the band, and then turned to Katie with a kind smile. “From the top of the dance, my dear,” she said gently. “You were doing very well before you spoiled it.”

  “Before I spoiled it!” spluttered Katie. She hadn’t invaded the stage uninvited, it was that crazy child.

  Miss Swan put a finger to her lips, speaking quietly so nobody else could hear. “One thing any truly great performer has to learn, Katie my dear, is how to share the spotlight, not hog it. It’s not just about talent, it’s about generosity too.” Then she clapped her hands again. “The show must – and will – go on!”

  Chapter Ten

  As soon as the concert was over, everyone crowded into the school hall for refreshments. There were glasses of wine for the parents and juice for the children, and the senior boys and girls carried around trays of food: miniature sausage rolls and quiches; tiny éclairs and fruit tartlets. Georgia and Aeysha had found a corner where they could watch people coming in. Parents were quietly congratulating their children on a good show. It would certainly go down in Swan history as one of the most memorable.

  Katie swanned in as if she had just made her triumphant debut on Broadway, not behaved badly at a school concert. A few of the parents looked askance at her, but Katie didn’t appear to notice and soon she was swept up in the booming congratulations of her parents, who gave her a large bouquet of flowers and took photos of her. Some of the other parents moved away a little.

  “Smile, kitten. I want a picture of my star!” said Katie’s dad, elbowing Abbie out of the way. Abbie was carrying a tray of full glasses and only just regained her balance in the nick of time. Encouraged by her mum, Katie pouted for the camera.

  “That’s my girl!” said Katie’s dad. “You were brilliant, kitten, despite that awful kid trying to ruin everything.”

  Georgia and Aeysha watched the scene from a distance.

  “You have to give it to her,” said Aeysha. “That girl’s got some nerve. If I’d behaved like that I’d want the earth to swallow me whole.”

  “If it was my mum, she wouldn’t be taking pictures, she’d be telling me how ashamed she was of my behaviour,” said Georgia, remembering how, a few months after she arrived at the Swan, she’d got so overexcited and nervous at an audition for a TV advert for washing powder that she’d started showing off and had been cheeky to the casting director. She’d thought it was a grown-up thing to do. Her mum had made their excuses, taken her away and told her how disappointed she was in her daughter. The memory still made Georgia feel hot and pink.

  “If the Swan is going to turn you into a show-off, then it’s not the school for you,” Mrs Jones had said. But her qualms were eased by Alicia, who had given Georgia a gentle but firm talking to and agreed with her mum that there should be no more auditions until Georgia had settled down at school.

  “She has real talent, Mrs Jones,” said Alicia, “and talent is a delicate thing. I couldn’t live with myself if it was spoiled by anything we did here at the Swan. But it’s the home that really counts. I’ve seen too many children whose potential has been destroyed by pushy parents thinking their child is a shooting star. The trouble with shooting stars is that they burn out quickly and all you’re left with is ash. But you seem remarkably sensible, Mrs Jones, and I’m sure we can work together to realise Georgia’s considerable talent and increase her confidence without ruining her. I suspect it was nerves that made her behave the way she did and I also suspect she will have taken the lesson to heart.”

  Georgia had never been cheeky again and now knew the importance of behaving professionally at all times. Well, almost all; the exception was peeping through curtains before a show!

  “How’s the ankle?” asked Aeysha sympathetically.

  “Not too bad, but there’s no way I could’ve danced on it.”

  “It’s a shame,” said Aeysha. “You’d have been ace, much better than Katie.” Georgia felt a warm glow of pleasure seep through her tummy. Aeysha wasn’t the kind of girl to say things she didn’t mean.

  “Nah,” she protested. “Katie’s the one who’ll go far. Everyone says it.”

  “Mostly Katie herself,” said Aeysha with a wry smile. “Look! There’s that girl Olivia. She looks a bit lost. Do you think she’s going to come to school here with her sister? It would feel weird going to a school run by your gran.”

  Olivia was standing alone in the throng, feeling out of place. Jack and Eel had gone upstairs to Alicia’s flat so that Eel could brush her hair and change her clothes. Olivia looked around at the chattering, laughing adults and children and felt invisible. She caught a glimpse of Katie posing for another picture and saw her gran heading towards Katie’s dad, laying a hand firmly on his arm and shaking her head. At that moment, Abbie noticed Olivia and took her over to Georgia and Aeysha.

  “This is Olivia,” she said, “and this is Aeysha and Georgia.”

  Olivia smiled shyly at Georgia. “We’ve already met. Twice.”

  Georgia blushed. “Thanks for helping me,” she said.

  “If Olivia comes to school here, you three would be in the same class, so maybe you should get to know each other,” said Abbie as she hurried away.

  “What’s it like here?” asked Olivia.

  “Wicked,” said Georgia and Aeysha so completely in unison that they both burst out laughing. Georgia continued: “It really is, though. I used to go to an ordinary school and now I don’t know how I stood it. All those same dreary lessons day after day!”

  “Of course, we have to do all the ordinary lessons,” explained Aeysha. “Maths, English, histor
y, French. But we do them in the morning. Then in the afternoon we do the fun stuff: voice, acting, verse-speaking, ballet, tap, contemporary, modern, jazz, street dance, singing, improvisation. From next year we can even take classes in directing, and devising or writing plays. Or songwriting. I can’t wait to do that. It would be awesome to write your own songs.”

  Olivia sighed. “Don’t think it’s my sort of thing.”

  “So what is Olivia Marvell’s thing?” came a voice. It was Tom McCavity, who had wandered over with a plateful of chocolate éclairs. He was followed by William Todd. “We nicked the tray off Abbie when she put it down to talk to someone,” said Tom as he shared them out, grinning cheekily.

  Olivia shrugged. “I don’t know,” she said, afraid to mention high-wire walking. If Granny Alicia loathed the circus as much as Jack said she did, maybe everyone at the Swan hated it too. She didn’t want them to think she was a total freak. She thought hard.

  “Maybe gymnastics,” she said shyly, thinking her acrobatic skill might make her shine there.

  “We don’t do that here. We don’t do any sport. There isn’t time,” said Georgia sympathetically.

  “It’s a pain,” said Tom. “No football.” He made an exaggerated gesture with his hand against his forehead. “I’ve had to give up the chance to play for Man U for the sake of my art.” He pretended to swoon and everyone laughed, even Olivia.

  “Playing the idiot as usual, Tom?” said Katie, who had come over to the little group. “When will you ever grow up?” she added witheringly.

  “When he’s had a few more birthdays,” said William. Katie glared.

  There was an awkward pause. It was as if Katie was waiting for them all to congratulate her. “It must have been awful for you out there on the stage,” blurted out Georgia, to fill the silence. Katie narrowed her eyes and glared at her. Georgia wished she’d kept her mouth shut.

  Then Tom went and made things worse. “Everyone’s really sorry for you, Georgie girl,” he said. “It should have been your big day and I can’t think of anyone who deserved it more. What happened?”

  Georgia looked really flustered. She could feel Katie’s gimlet gaze. “I really don’t know,” she stuttered. “I must’ve slipped.”

  “It didn’t look like you slipped to me. You had far too much momentum,” said Olivia, eager to join in the conversation. “From the auditorium side, it definitely looked as if someone pushed you through the curtains.”

  Georgia’s stomach felt as if she’d just been dropped through a trapdoor.

  Katie gave a tight little laugh. “Don’t be dumb, she slipped. We all know how clumsy Georgia is. It was just bad luck. There’s no mystery, just a silly accident. It’s her own fault; she shouldn’t have been looking through the curtains in the first place.” While she said this, Katie held Georgia’s gaze very firmly.

  Just then, Olivia heard her name being called by Eel. She said goodbye shyly and left.

  “She seems nice,” said Aeysha.

  “I wouldn’t count on it,” said Katie. “Seems like a bit of a drama queen to me, trying to turn Georgia’s stupid accident into some kind of whodunit. And of course,” she added casually, “we’ll never be able to trust her if she comes to the Swan.”

  “Why not?” asked Tom.

  “Think about it, dummy,” said Katie. “She’s the Swan’s granddaughter. Everything we say or do will go straight back to her old gran. She was probably spying on us just then.”

  The others shook their heads but a few minutes later Abbie suddenly swooped down on them. “Tom McCavity. I’ve been looking for you. My spies tell me that it was you and William who stole all the éclairs.”

  The children stared at each other in surprise.

  “There! What did I tell you,” said Katie, with her triumphant cat’s-got-the-cream smile. “You shouldn’t believe a word that Olivia Marvell says. You’ll see.”

  Chapter Eleven

  It wasn’t until several hours after the newbies’ show had finished that Olivia, Eel and Jack had finally been left alone with Alicia. They were in her flat on the top floor of one wing of the school. The living room was dominated by a beautiful portrait of Toni. Olivia couldn’t take her eyes off it. It made her feel as if her mother was in the room, looking over them like a guardian angel. Everyone was exhausted, although Eel, who was thrilled at the prospect of being taught to dance, kept saying it was her “bestest day ever”.

  Olivia decided it was one of her worst days ever, and it showed absolutely no sign of getting any better either. Watching Jack and her grandmother talking was, she thought, a bit like watching two suspicious cats warily circling each other. Alicia, although delighted by her granddaughters’ return to London, clearly still blamed Jack for Toni’s death. Sensing this, Jack was too proud to tell Alicia that they needed help because they had no money left and nowhere to live.

  Eel had fallen asleep on the sofa, a little smile on her face. Olivia curled up beside her with her eyes partially shut, but she was really wide awake and listening. Alicia kept glancing at Olivia and murmuring, “So like her mother,” and Olivia overheard her grandmother telling Jack that Eel was one of the most naturally gifted dancers she had ever encountered.

  “She needs to dance,” said Alicia. “I’ve come across children like Eel before. Once she’s doing what she was born to do, she’ll settle down. She’s clearly very bright, Jack, and very self-possessed. She just needs an outlet to express herself. Trust me.”

  She glanced over at Olivia. “What’s Olivia’s special talent?”

  Jack looked a little embarrassed. “She’s a high-wire walker like me. In fact, one day she’ll be far better than I ever was … am.” He suddenly looked stricken, but Alicia didn’t notice, as she was wrestling with her own emotions. If Toni hadn’t gone to the circus that night and fallen in love with Jack at first sight, she would have stayed in London near her mother, continued her triumphant career in the theatre and still be alive.

  “Well,” said Alicia, a tight little edge creeping into her voice, “maybe she could be persuaded into something worthwhile. Toni had many talents, and I’m sure she will have passed them on. I’m confident we can find something else that Olivia’s good at besides high-wire walking. We’ll have to if she’s going to study at the Swan.”

  On the sofa, Olivia bristled like an angry hedgehog. How dare her grandmother talk in this arrogant way about something that she loved and that she had spent long hours trying to master, something that was thrilling and dangerous! What could be more worthwhile than high-wire walking, which was both a skill and an art, and was part of the greatest show on earth – the circus. All that silly dancing, singing and acting couldn’t compare.

  “So,” said Alicia. “Where are you staying in London? I can see by your suitcases you came straight here. I hope it’s not far. The school day is long and tiring enough without having to trek halfway across London.”

  “Actually, Alicia…” Jack paused. Olivia could see his face, so pained and pale, so unlike the laughing, charismatic father he had once been. Alicia raised an eyebrow and waited.

  When Jack didn’t say anything for a very long time, Alicia sighed.

  “I see,” she said. “Am I right in thinking that you don’t have anywhere to live?”

  “I’m afraid you’re correct, Alicia.” He stood up and started pacing the room in an agitated manner that only exacerbated his limp. “Alicia, we desperately need help. I want you to look after the children for me. I’ve got to go away and try to make some money. I’ve got a plan. But for the moment, we’re completely destitute. I haven’t a penny to my name. Everything I’ve got in the world is here in these suitcases and everything I love is lying on that sofa.”

  “It’s exactly as I imagined,” said Alicia angrily. “This circus business has been the ruin of you and your family. You’ve always been completely irresponsible, Jack, living hand to mouth and not thinking beyond the next day. I warned Toni what a circus life would be like and, see
, it’s reduced your own children to poverty. You’re not a fit father.”

  “He is, he is a fit father. He’s the best father in the whole world!” cried Olivia, springing to her feet with fury. “How dare you say he’s not! You’re not a fit grandmother. You never tried to get in touch with us to check if we were all right. You just abandoned us after Mum died and told Dad you didn’t ever want to see him again. Well, that means that you didn’t want to see us either. Because the Marvells come as a package. And he’s not irresponsible. He was hit by a car and couldn’t work and that’s why we haven’t got any money!”

  Alicia was staring at Olivia, white-faced. Her fingers grazed the letter in her pocket addressed to Jack that had been returned to her only this morning, but she said nothing.

  “You’re right, Olivia. I haven’t done my duty by you. But I intend to from now on. I make you a solemn promise.”

  “I don’t want your promises!” said Olivia. She strode over to Jack, who had sunk into a chair with his face buried in his hands. “Come on, Dad,” she said. “We’re clearly not welcome here. Let’s go.”

  “I don’t want to go,” came a little voice. The noise of angry shouting had woken Eel up and she was sitting on the sofa in a daze. “I want to stay and learn to dance. Granny promised me I could.” She burst into noisy tears. Jack scooped her up in his arms and carried her away to the bathroom so that the others wouldn’t see he had tears in his eyes, too.

  Olivia and her grandmother faced each other. “Olivia, please…” said Alicia, feeling her granddaughters slipping away from her again, perhaps this time for ever.

  Olivia ignored her.

  “Olivia,” pleaded Alicia. “Tell me about the accident. Please, Olivia, I want to try to understand.”

  There was something so desperate in the old woman’s eyes that Olivia was persuaded to speak. So, reluctantly at first, Olivia told her grandmother about the car accident in Italy. When she had finished, Alicia said, “Poor, poor man. I noticed he’s walking with a limp. I know what it’s like to be prevented by accident or illness from doing the thing you love most in the world.”