by Sue Bentley
“In a minute,” Olivia said, pretending to fiddle with her shoelace. When everyone had left, she went and picked Flame up. “Did you enjoy watching your first ballet class?” she asked him.
His forehead wrinkled in a puzzled frown. “It was interesting, but I found those movements very strange. Are you training to be a warrior, Olivia?” he purred.
Olivia laughed. “No! I want to be a ballerina.”
Flame blinked. “What is a ball-er-ina?”
“A very special kind of dancer. You get to wear amazing costumes and dance on stage in front of lots of people,” Olivia explained simply. “I’ve got an amazing book with tons of photos of dancers. I’ll show you sometime.”
“I would like that,” Flame meowed.
In the changing room, Flame sat licking his paws under the bench, invisible to all the other girls in Olivia’s class.
“We have normal lessons now, until the afternoon dance class,” Tamsin told Olivia, zipping up her gray skirt. “I’ll see you in the classroom? I just have to go to the bathroom.”
“Okay,” Olivia called after her.
She crouched down to the bench and lowered her voice to a whisper. “It might be better if you get into my school bag, Flame. It could look weird if I look like I’m carrying something that no one can see!”
“That is a good idea.” Flame jumped into the open bag.
“I guess you’re feeling pretty happy with yourself ?” a familiar voice behind her said.
Olivia didn’t bother to look up. She carried on making Flame comfortable among the books and ballet kit. “What are you talking about, Lucy?”
“Don’t act dumb! I saw you hanging around in the studio, so you could suck up to Miss Frances!” Lucy cried.
“That’s not true! I was waiting for . . . for . . .” Olivia tailed off, realizing that she had been about to mention Flame.
Lucy’s eyes flashed with temper. “See! You can’t deny it! You’re just trying to be a teacher’s pet!” Her arm shot out and she grabbed Olivia’s school bag.
“Hey! Give that back!” Olivia shouted.
But Lucy had already run away. She drew back her arm and hurled the bag across the changing room.
“No!” Olivia gave a horrified gasp as her bag, with Flame inside, flew high into the air.
She ran forward in a desperate attempt to catch the soaring bag, but then stopped suddenly as a familiar, warm tingling sensation ran up her spine.
Something strange was about to happen—and Flame was definitely involved!
Olivia watched in amazement as the school bag seemed to slow down. It came to a dead halt, floating in midair for a heartbeat, before whizzing back toward Lucy. Smack! It hit her in the chest.
“Oof!” Lucy lost her balance and sat down hard on a bench. The girls’ coats fell off their pegs and all landed on Lucy in a big messy pile.
“Aargh! Someone get them off me!” Lucy called, kicking her feet from underneath them.
Olivia quickly grabbed her bag before Lucy could get free, and hurried into the hallway. “Flame! Are you all right?” she said, opening the zip wide.
Flame’s bright green eyes gleamed at her from the depths of the bag. “I am fine,” he purred.
“Thank goodness!” Olivia breathed. She chuckled to herself as she headed for the classroom. “That was amazing, Flame! You should have seen Lucy’s face when my bag hit her!”
A howl of rage rang out as Lucy and Mariko burst into the hallway behind Olivia and Flame. “I don’t know what just happened. But I’m going to get that teacher’s pet. Just you wait!” Lucy stormed.
Chapter FOUR
Over the next week or so, Olivia gradually settled into the school’s routine. At first, she found two dance classes a day a real challenge. But the exercises designed to strengthen her feet and ankles, which Miss Frances gave her, helped a lot.
Olivia sat near Tamsin during normal school classes and at lunchtimes. Miss Frances often chose them to partner each other. As the tallest girls in the class, they danced together well. Olivia was starting to enjoy herself much more now that she and Tamsin were becoming good friends.
But as Tamsin wasn’t living at Yew Lodge, she went home before dinner every night. Olivia would have missed her a lot more if she hadn’t had Flame. She wished like crazy that she could tell Tamsin about the magic kitten, but a promise was a promise.
A week of wet weather kept Olivia and Flame indoors in the evenings. As she didn’t like watching TV or playing computer games, Olivia began going to the studio for another practice session. With Flame beside her, she worked harder at her dancing than she had ever done before.
“I will help you, Olivia,” Flame said one evening, raising a tiny paw.
A cloud of sparks shot towards Olivia, who was working on her leg extensions. Suddenly her outstretched leg shot straight up in front of her and almost banged into her nose.
“Flame!” she said reprovingly, trying not to giggle. “Stop that! I have to do this by myself!”
“I am sorry,” Flame purred, looking crestfallen. “I did not mean to interfere.”
“That’s okay. I know you meant well,” she said, picking him up and giving him a cuddle. “Come on. I’m finished for tonight, anyway.”
On her way up to the dorm, she passed Lucy and Mariko who ignored her as they usually did now—which was fine with Olivia.
“I think you really taught Lucy a lesson,” she said to Flame later, as he curled up beside her on the duvet.
Flame blinked at her. “Maybe, but I would not be too sure of that,” he purred sleepily.
*
At the end of class the following day, Tamsin joined Olivia as they filed out of the studio. “Miss Frances is really happy with you,” she told her.
Olivia blinked at her. “How can you tell? She hardly says anything to me.”
Tamsin grinned. “I know the signs,” she said. “She watches you when you’re not looking and I even caught her smiling once!”
“Really?” Olivia felt a glow of pride. Maybe all her extra hard work was starting to pay off. She looked down at her feet where Flame was padding alongside her, invisible to everyone else, and smiled as she thought about how much fun she was having at ballet school now.
Miss Frances raised her voice. “Olivia! After you get changed, I want you to come to the shoe department with me.”
Olivia’s heart beat fast. This could only mean one thing. She was going to get her very first pair of pointe shoes!
“I knew it! Congratulations!” Tamsin said, giving her a hug back in the changing rooms. “I got my pointe shoes last year. I remember feeling like a real dancer for the first time!”
Olivia waited until everyone had left and then lifted Flame into her school bag. “Let’s go and find Miss Frances. This is so exciting!” she whispered to him.
Flame was fascinated by the shoe department. He jumped up on to the counters and sniffed at the rows of shoes, which were being dyed to match some brightly colored costumes.
Miss Frances supervised while Olivia’s feet were measured. Then came the wonderful moment when a cardboard shoebox was lifted down from a shelf. Olivia’s heart beat fast as she held the box in her hand. She opened it slowly and took out the beautiful, pale peach, satin shoes, with their printed gold labels and blunt tips.
“You have done very well. It’s a special time for a young dancer when she gets her first pair of pointe shoes. Enjoy this moment, Olivia,” Miss Frances said, smiling.
“Thank you. I will,” Olivia said, her eyes pricking with tears of pride and happiness.
After checking them for the correct fit, Olivia was allowed to take her new shoes away. She sat on her bed in the dorm to sew ribbons into them. Flame sat nearby on the window sill, watching her with pricked ears.
Olivia finished sewing and held up a shoe. “Isn’t it the most gorgeous thing you’ve ever seen?” she said admiringly.
Flame leaped on to the bed. He tapped the hard, satin-covered ti
ps with a tiny paw, his bright emerald eyes looking puzzled. “Why do they make you strap these on to your feet? Is it a punishment?”
Olivia laughed and lifted him into her lap. “No! They let us dance on the very tips of our toes, en pointe, and make us look light and delicate.”
“Humans do some very odd things!” Flame lifted a blue-gray paw and flexed his sharp, little claws. “I would never cover my paws!”
“I think that’s very sensible!” Olivia said, grinning to herself as a cute picture of Flame wearing tiny ballet shoes filled her head!
The following day, when she wore her new shoes in class and began simple exercises at the barre, Olivia felt very grown-up. It would be a long time before she could dance en pointefor any length of time, but this was definitely a major step toward her dream of becoming a ballerina!
Chapter FIVE
“See you tomorrow, Tamsin!” Olivia waved good-bye to her friend at the school gate and then turned back into the school grounds.
Olivia had brought her ballet book outside with her. It was a gorgeous, warm evening, and she planned to find a quiet place to sit and read it with Flame. She wandered down a flower-bordered path, with him scampering along, whiskers twitching as he sniffed the interesting scents. Every now and then, he pounced on a twig or chased a feather. Suddenly, he gave an eager meow and leaped into the air to chase a bumblebee.
“Make sure it doesn’t sting you!” Olivia warned as Flame dived head first into the middle of a patch of yellow pansies, leaving only his fluffy, little back legs and short tail in view. A moment later, he reappeared, his nose dusted with sticky, yellow pollen. “What doyou look like?” she said, chuckling.
The sunset cast a soft glow onto a long, sloping lawn, with an old stone well in the center. After the recent rain, water had gathered in muddy puddles at the bottom of the slope.
“Perfect!” Olivia sighed happily, as she settled beside a flower bed on the dry grass at the top.
Flame jumped into her lap and curled up, purring contentedly.
Olivia opened her book and began turning the thick, glossy pages. She knew all the photos by heart, but it was fun showing them to Flame. “This is Darcey Bussell, one of my favorite ballerinas. She’s tall, like me,” she told him. “Here she is as Princess Aurora in The Sleeping Beauty. And this is Sylvie Guillem; she’s amazing . . .”
Olivia was so engrossed in her book that she didn’t notice Lucy and Mariko coming along the path toward her.
“All by yourself, now that Tamsin’s gone home?” Lucy called.
“She doesn’t have any friends,” said Mariko.
Olivia looked up. “If it’s a choice of having no friends or having you two, it’s no contest!” she murmured.
Lucy came over and stood, looking down at her. “You think you’re so smart, don’t you?”
Olivia raised an eyebrow. “Do I get a prize if I get the answer right?”
Lucy’s blue eyes narrowed with anger. She leaned down and grabbed the ballet book.
Flame was flicked sideways. He leaped into the air and landed in the middle of a nearby flower bed on all fours. Olivia glanced at Flame to check that he was all right before springing to her feet and facing Lucy.
“Give me my book back, or else!” she demanded.
“Why don’t you try and make me?” Lucy taunted, skipping backward. She pretended to drop the book and then caught it by one cover, so that the pages flapped.
“Don’t you dare tear it!” Olivia warned. “That book was a present and it cost a lot of money!”
Mariko glanced uncertainly at Lucy. “It does look really expensive. Maybe you should give it back.”
“Don’t be silly!” Lucy’s face lit up with an idea. “Come on!” she called to Mariko, already running down the slope.
The puddles! Olivia groaned, knowing what was coming.
Lucy raised the book high above her head.
Olivia felt a warm tingling down her spine once again. Time seemed to stand still. From where Flame was hidden in the flower bed, she saw a glowing, sparkly cloud rise. A tiny paw appeared and a shimmering blue lightning bolt streaked through the air.
The tiny, blue bolt struck the book, just as Lucy went to zing it into the puddle. The book didn’t move. It stuck firmly to Lucy’s hand.
“Ooh!” Lucy gasped, almost tottering forward off balance. She shook her hand, trying desperately to let go of it.
“Mariko, help! I can’t let go of it!” she gasped.
Mariko reached out and grabbed the other end. She tugged and pulled, but couldn’t get it out of Lucy’s grip.
Shaking her head, she stepped backward and dragged Lucy and the book with her.
“Hey! Stop pulling me around!” complained Lucy.
“I can’t help it! Now I can’t let go of it either!” Mariko wailed.
The two of them lumbered around crablike, pushing and pulling as they tried to get their hands unstuck.
Olivia bit back a grin as she sidled over to the flower bed. “How long will they be stuck like that?” she whispered to Flame.
His whiskery, little face peered out at her. “Only until you touch the book.”
Tempting as it was to leave them there, Olivia strolled over to Lucy and Mariko and reached for her book. “I think that’s mine!”
First Mariko, and then Lucy, pinged backward, just as if they’d bounced off a trampoline. There were two enormous splashes as they both landed flat on their faces in the puddle.
Lucy sat up covered in mud, her silver blond hair drooping like a big cowpat over one eye. “What . . . what just happened?” she babbled.
Mariko staggered out of the puddle, dripping mud. “Just look at me! If you hadn’t grabbed that book, this wouldn’t have happened!” she grumbled.
“Oh, stop whining and help me up!” Lucy shouted.
“Get up by yourself!” Mariko shouted back.
Olivia left them arguing with each other. As she walked back up the lawn, chuckling to herself, Flame jumped out of the flower bed and trotted after her, leaving a few telltale blue sparkles crackling behind him.
Chapter SIX
“I have good news, everyone,” Miss Frances announced in class a few days later. “You’re going to be doing the Garland Dance from Act 1 of The Sleeping Beautyfor the school performance at the end of semester.”
Olivia and Tamsin exchanged excited looks.
“The Sleeping Beauty’s one of my favorite ballets,” Olivia said dreamily.
“Mine, too,” Tamsin agreed excitedly. “I wonder what our costumes will be like.”
No one could talk about anything else. The excited buzz of conversation became even louder when Miss Frances showed the girls some samples of pastel colored fabric and delicate flower trims.
“You may choose the color of your costumes. You’ll be wearing classic tutus and matching headdresses made by the wardrobe department,” she said with a rare smile.
Everyone gathered around eagerly. Olivia chose a pale oyster silk, trimmed with tiny, pink rosebuds. Tamsin chose pale gray, trimmed with blue forget-menots.
“Isn’t this amazing?” Tamsin said. “We’re having our costumes made, just like dancers in the ballet company!”
While Tamsin and the others were totally engrossed in deciding on their costumes, Olivia sidled across the studio and stood by the piano, where Flame was stretched out in a patch of warm sun.
“Mom and Dad are going to be so proud when they see me in my first ballet school production! I can’t wait to call them tonight and tell them all about it!” she whispered to him. “Are you looking forward to it, too?”
Flame had been dozing. He lifted his little head and nodded sleepily. “I hope very much that I will be here to see you dance.”
“Be here? Of course you will. Where else would you be?” Olivia asked, confused.
“If my enemies—” Flame began.
“Girls! Get into position to learn the first steps, please.” Olivia missed the rest of Flame’
s reply as Miss Frances’s voice carried across the studio.
“I’d better go, Flame. I’ll come and get you after class.” Olivia bit her lip worriedly as she got into position next to Tamsin. She knew in her heart of hearts that Flame would have to leave one day, but she couldn’t bear to even think about it just yet!
Her worries faded gradually as she worked hard to learn the complicated steps for the Garland Dance. Tamsin seemed to get the hang of them quite quickly, but it took Olivia many tries before she got them right.
“Again!” Miss Frances ordered. “The arms are held like this!” She made the students dance the sequence over and over again.
Every movement had to be perfect, the head held just so, the toe pointed at the right angle. Miss Frances was very difficult to please. Usually Olivia loved every second of dance class, but today she was really happy to have normal school classes.
As Olivia bent down at the end of class to let Flame jump into her school bag, she winced a bit.
Flame immediately pricked up his ears. “Is something wrong?” he purred softly.
“It’s just my feet. They’re a little sore,” Olivia said.
Flame meowed with concern. “Should I make the hurt go away?”
Olivia smiled. She had decided not to ask Flame again about when he might leave—he seemed happy to be here with her. “Thanks, Flame,” she whispered. “But it’s just my body getting used to hard work. As I get stronger it won’t hurt as much. It’s just part of being a dancer. Don’t worry about me. I love it here. I feel like the luckiest girl in the world and I wouldn’t change a single thing. And that includes having you here!”
After another week of rehearsing to the piano, Miss Frances put on a CD of the beautiful music for the Garland Dance. Olivia was surprised how different it felt to dance to an orchestra. Now the work of getting the dance perfect started all over again.
The girls had begun to come to class wearing practice tutus, to get used to dancing in costume. One morning, at the end of the class, Olivia was slipping hers off, when Miss Frances called everyone together.
