Let the Dance Begin

by Lynda Waterhouse

  ‘Got it!’ Cassie picked up the folder, sending clouds of dust over Rubus, who sneezed loudly.

  ‘Shh!’ Cassie dug her knees into Rubus causing him to spin out of control. She let go of the folder, and it landed with a loud thud on the floor.

  They froze, but only silence followed. Then Cassie began to lean forward. Rubus grabbed her around the waist as she slid down. Cassie’s hand reached out, caught on the curtain and she landed with a bump on the window seat. She winced as she grazed herself on a small metal nail.

  Rubus wiped his itchy nose and quickly bent down to retrieve the folder. Cassie slid off the shiny window seat catching her leg on one of the decorative studs, which made a snapping noise.

  ‘These are just some pages from some old exercises book!’ she said, holding the open folder up to the window.

  ‘We’d better get going,’ Rubus said in a twitchy voice. ‘Uh-oh, I am going to sn— ATISHOOO!’

  ‘Shh,’ said Cassie crossly. She was so disappointed that they had not found the book or any clues about Marina. She picked up the tatty folder. ‘We’d better put this back and try and tidy up.’

  She climbed on Rubus’s shoulders and edged it back on to the ledge.

  ‘Maybe the pages did get destroyed,’ Rubus said as Cassie turned to close the curtains.

  ‘Or maybe we’re not looking in the right place.’ Cassie stared at the ledge by the peephole. The top of the window seat had clicked open, revealing a hidden hiding place. ‘Look!’ she exclaimed.

  ‘You must have unlocked it when you landed on it,’ Rubus said as they both stared in amazement.

  ‘There must be something about my mother inside here!’ Cassie put her hand in. ‘It’s too dark to see, but I can feel something. I think it’s pages. I’ve got them!’

  Just then they heard the sound of footsteps and Thassalinus’s low, mumbling voice.

  We’d better go. We’ll get into real trouble if he finds us. He’s probably checking the doors and when he finds this one’s open, he’ll search the room,’ Rubus warned.

  ‘Can’t we just take them?’ Cassie looked longingly at the pages.

  ‘Someone might notice they’ve gone before we have a chance to put them back,’ Rubus said.

  ‘But we’ll have to sneak back in again anyway,’ Cassie said, desperate not to put the pages back.

  ‘That’s just as risky – we could get caught with stolen property,’ Rubus replied.

  Cassie sighed. She looked down at one of the pages and read, Sandrine is in charge of the situation and, despite our reservations, must be obeyed.

  As quickly and carefully as she could, Cassie put back the papers while Rubus opened the door carefully.

  The sound of the footsteps came closer. It was too late! They were going to get caught.

  ‘Who’s there?’ called Thassalinus.

  Rubus quickly shut the study door behind him before replying, ‘Aah! Here you are.’

  ‘What are you doing here?’ Thassalinus’s whisper had a gruff edge.

  ‘Looking for you! I forgot to ask if you wanted me to bring mollusc mead or barnacle beer next time.’

  ‘A drop of mollusc mead always goes down a treat,’ Thassalinus replied.

  ‘I thought I saw a peephole flapping open down that corridor too. Do you want me to come with you? It might be dangerous,’ Rubus said.

  ‘Get away with you, laddie! I’ve wrestled with sea monsters! I’ll soon sort out any danger around here!’ Thassalinus set off down the corridor, grumbling.

  Thank goodness for Rubus’s quick thinking, thought Cassie, and quickly slipped out of the study. She took longer to lock the door as her fingers were trembling and her hairpin took longer to bend into the tight shape. Luckily, they managed to make their escape before Thassalinus returned and they sped as quickly as they could down to the beach.

  ‘I’ll be back this way in a few days’ time. We’ll finish the job then,’ Rubus said.

  ‘I don’t know if I can wait that long.’ Cassie tugged at a braid. ‘I’m going to try and find a way to get back in the study and read those pages. When I held those missing pages I just knew that they contained something important.’

  We don’t know for sure,’ Rubus cautioned. ‘They may not say anything.’

  Cassie’s eyes flashed. ‘I just know they’ll tell me something. I can feel it. The sand between my toes is tingling – that is always a sign.’

  ‘I know I can’t help with the reading, but you do need help with Thassalinus.’ Rubus looked serious. ‘I can distract him with some mollusc mead, which is twice as strong as barnacle beer. I can also get him to tell me some sand faring stories. That should buy you some more time.’

  ‘I’ll try to be patient,’ Cassie said to herself, as she watched Rubus disappear on his sand surfer across the beach.

  Chapter Thirteen

  ‘The truth can hurt – that is why it hides

  behind smiles and half-truths.’

  The Sands of Time

  Cassie felt she was so close and yet still so far from finding some answers as to why Marina came to Sandringham Dance School on the Night of the Great Sandstorm. She was sure that she would find some evidence to show that Sandrine had been jealous of her mother and had sent her out into the storm. She thought about creeping down to the study by herself, but it was too dangerous without Rubus. She couldn’t risk being caught and sent home. Twice she decided to speak to Madame Rosa, but each time she stopped herself.

  She wanted to confide in Lexie and Shell, but it never seemed to be the right moment. Besides, all they could think and talk about were the upcoming tests, or the routines they were going to make up for the Harvest Moon Festival auditions.

  Cassie really wanted to improve her dancing technique, but it seemed that the harder she tried, the more her body refused to twist or bend itself into the right shape. She was desperate to pass the tests, but on top of everything else she was finding the Sand Glide really hard to get right.

  ‘Your mind and body have to flow as one!’ Mrs Sandskrit kept telling her. ‘My advice to you all is to focus solely on your dancing. Nothing else must matter to you!’

  Cassie tried to focus, but instead of studying she spent every evening staring out from the balcony waiting for a flash of Rubus’s sand surfer. The days passed slowly.

  ‘Come on, Cassie. You’re going to be late for class,’ Lexie whispered to her one morning at breakfast when Cassie’s mind was far away.

  ‘You look awful. I can lend you some of my elderflower gel to brighten the shadows under your eyes. Sandrine swears by it,’ Shell added.

  ‘Why should I want to try something that a spiteful, jealous person like Sandrine recommends?’ Cassie snapped back.

  A pink blush appeared on Shell’s cheeks. After a long time she replied, ‘She’s not as bad as that.’

  ‘That’s not what I heard,’ Cassie murmured.

  You really need something to help you remember the order of the Sand Glide, Cassie,’ Lexie said. ‘It might help if you put some elderflower gel on your feet!’

  They all giggled at the thought.

  ‘NO laughing and messing around during meal times, Alexsandra!’ Calluna snapped. ‘As a punishment you can polish all the tables after supper.’

  ‘I was laughing as well.’ Shell’s eyes flashed at Calluna.

  ‘Me too,’ chimed Cassie.

  ‘It’s all right,’ whispered Lexie. ‘There’s no need for us all to get into trouble. I can manage.’

  Calluna stood up. ‘Then you can all clean the tables.’

  ‘Why is she so mean?’ Cassie said as she watched Calluna walk out of the dining hall.

  ‘She did catch me imitating her that time in the dance studio,’ Lexie sighed.

  Shell snorted. ‘That’s not the reason why she is especially mean to you.’

  ‘What else have I done?’ Lexie wailed.

  ‘Something unforgivable,’ Shell said. ‘You are one of the best – if not the best �
�� dancer here, Lexie. That is what she doesn’t like.’

  Lexie blushed. ‘Am I? Do you really think so? I have been working hard lately’

  Cassie suddenly realised with a sinking feeling that Shell was right. Lexie was an amazing dancer, but she’d been so wrapped up in other things she’d never really noticed. She tried to push away the sting of regret that it wasn’t her. Cassie realised again just how important dancing had become to her. She would never have believed she’d feel sad that someone was better at it than her!

  ‘I am going to try harder for my mother’s sake. Starting with my classes today’ Cassie told herself as they left the dining hall and walked towards the practice rooms.

  At suppertime that evening, Ella came dashing over. ‘Have you heard the rumour? Tomorrow is test day. If you are not good enough you will be sent home.’

  ‘Oh no!’ said Cassie. ‘I’ve got to practise my Sand Glide. I’m hopeless at it! But there’s hardly any time – we’ve got to polish the tables.

  Just then, Calluna came over and handed them dusters. ‘When I return I want these tables to shine.’

  ‘Am I the only one who can’t do a Sand Glide?’ Cassie said as she waved the duster. ‘I can’t stop myself lifting my feet up between moves. My movements are not polished. I don’t flow’

  ‘Not polished, eh? I’ve just had the most brilliant idea for extra practice!’ Shell announced. ‘Put these on your feet and take a table each!’ Shell, Lexie and Cassie wrapped the dusters around their feet and slid backwards and forwards along the long tables.

  They were so busy gliding and trying not to giggle too loudly that they didn’t notice Mrs Sandskrit pass by on her way from the kitchen having stocked up on sea pasties. She had to place a pasty in her mouth to stop her from laughing at the sight but reasoned that, as they were practising, there was no need to tell them off.

  *

  The next morning they joined the others making their way to the practice room where Madame Rosa and Mrs Sandskrit were waiting for them.

  Mrs Sandskrit clapped her hands and everyone immediately fell silent.

  ‘This morning, each of you will be asked to perform the seven basic steps of the dune dances. At this point in your training I am not expecting perfection, but I am looking to see who has applied themselves. You will be sent home if you have not mastered the steps to my satisfaction. So let the dancing begin!’

  Half an hour later, when the sand dancers had performed each step as a class, Mrs Sandskrit clapped her hands and everyone sank down to the floor exhausted.

  It had been so much harder than anyone expected. Mrs Sandskrit had made them perform the moves over and over again. They waited outside the practice room for their results.

  ‘I was about as light as a loaf of laver bread instead of liquid and floaty,’ Ella wailed. ‘My feet and arms were all jumbled up during the Dune Arabesque and I could feel Mrs Sandskrit’s eyes burning into me the whole time.’

  ‘You tried your best, Ella.’ Lexie put an arm around her.

  ‘She seemed to look at me at the exact same moment I landed awkwardly’ Cassie groaned.

  ‘The moves are so easy to do when there is no pressure, but the minute I knew that someone was looking at me, my legs went all wobbly,’ Shell grumbled.

  ‘If you can’t perform under pressure then you will never make it as a sand dancer,’ Calluna said, coming up beside them.

  ‘It’s easier for those who don’t have any feelings in the first place,’ Shell hissed back at her.

  Calluna blushed, and kept walking.

  ‘That was uncalled for, Shell,’ Lexie said, when Calluna had gone.

  ‘But she picks on you all the time. She deserves all she gets,’ Shell replied.

  ‘I don’t think we need to stoop to her level to beat her, that’s all,’ Lexie commented.

  Mrs Sandskrit appeared at the door to call them back into the room.

  ‘The hard work is beginning to pay off,’ she said to them all. ‘I am seeing some glimmers of commitment and discipline.’

  There was a big sigh of relief around the room. Lexie squeezed Cassie’s hand and Shell winked at her friends.

  Then Madame Rosa spoke. ‘There are some sand sprites who are performing well below their best. I am not going to send anybody home, but there is no room at Sandringham for dancers who cannot give everything.’

  Cassie could barely believe it; she had passed the tests. She swallowed hard to stop the tears from coming.

  Chapter Fourteen

  ‘Dance, dance on the edge of the dune,

  by the light of a large and kind harvest moon.’

  The Sands of Time

  In the dining hall the next day Mrs Sandskrit clapped her hands for quiet. ‘Tomorrow the eight best sand dancers will be chosen for the dancing display at the Harvest Moon Festival. You have until then to perfect your dance routines.’

  There was an excited flutter around the room.

  Madame Rosa smiled and added, ‘Those of you who do not get picked will be allowed to come along to Silica City to support the others.’

  There was a loud cheer. The Harvest Moon Festival was lots of fun, with all kinds of celebrations, games and cake stalls.

  ‘Be warned! I have a special medicine for sand dancers who eat too much cake!’ Miss Youngsand Snr said, taking out a large bottle filled with purple liquid from her pocket.

  ‘Your families are, of course, welcome to attend,’ Miss Youngsand Jnr continued.

  Madame Rosa stopped smiling and looked serious. ‘This will be a good experience, as it will help us decide who should be picked as the principal dancers for learning the dune dances next term. The prima dune dancer will probably come from one of this group.’

  Cassie’s heart beat faster. She thought about her mother, the last prima dune dancer, and suddenly it mattered more than anything to be picked. She knew her dancing had not been so good lately, but if she concentrated and tried really hard she might just scrape a place. She had to be one of the dancers! That meant she had to push down all thoughts of the missing pages and finding out what happened to her mother.

  ‘Now eat up your breakfast and we will see you in the practice room in one hour!’ Mrs Sandskrit said.

  As they were clearing away their plates, Shell came over to Cassie. ‘Lexie is going to help me go over the dance steps. Do you want to come?’

  Cassie shook her head. ‘I just want to go over the steps in my head.’ She needed some time alone to try and focus her mind.

  ‘To your places!’ Mrs Sandskrit commanded as the auditions began the next day in the practice room. Madame Rosa sat at a table and watched everything they did.

  ‘It feels like the entrance auditions all over again,’ Lexie whispered as they moved to their starting positions.

  ‘At least we don’t have Sandrine staring down at us,’ said Cassie. ‘When I saw her there my heart sank.’

  ‘I thought she’d always be coming to Sandringham to check up on us,’ Lexie added.

  ‘Thank goodness she hasn’t,’ Cassie muttered.

  ‘Sandrine is not that bad,’ Shell said.

  Cassie laughed. ‘You have changed your tune. When we met you were full of complaints about Sandrine and how miserable you were at the palace.’

  ‘Now that I have a bit of distance from Sandrine and the palace, I can see that you do need discipline and structure to help you be the best you can,’ Shell sighed.

  The audition began and Cassie struggled to keep up. Unlike in the test, when they had had to show how they had mastered the steps separately, here they were integrating the steps into dance routines. Each of them had been working on individual dances over the weeks, and they had the chance to display these, too. Cassie caught Mrs Sandskrit looking at her a few times and she tried even harder.

  At the end everyone waited to find out who had been selected, but Mrs Sandskrit simply said, ‘I need some time to consult with Madame Rosa. We will let you know our decision after supper.’


  ‘Come on, let’s go for a swim,’ Cassie suggested to Ella. ‘We’re all wound up after the audition. We need to do something to take our minds off it.’

  ‘I don’t think my character can stand up to being tested much more,’ Ella said and everyone laughed as they ran down to the pool.

  Splashing about in the water did help them relax.

  Shell rubbed her hair with a towel. ‘My braids are all soggy’

  ‘I’ll re-do them for you,’ Lexie offered.

  Shell shook her head. ‘I think I can manage. I’ve been practising. It’s about time I did things for myself

  There was a nervous buzz at supper that night. ‘Please let me have done enough to be picked,’ Cassie whispered to herself as Madame Rosa stood up to announce who had been chosen. She desperately wanted to dance at the Harvest Moon Festival. She could hardly breathe as she waited for Madame Rosa to read out the names.

  Lexie’s name was one of the first, along with Calluna’s and Shell’s. There was a ripple of surprise around the room when Ella’s name was called out.

  Cassie carried on listening out for her name for a long time after Madame Rosa had finished, but gradually realisation dawned on her. She had not been chosen.

  ‘There must be some mistake,’ she said to herself. ‘I thought I would just scrape a place.’

  Shell gave her arm a sympathetic squeeze. She looked hurt when Cassie pulled away.

  ‘What about Cassie?’ Ella asked.

  Lexie said, ‘They’ve missed you out! They must have forgotten to call out your name.’

  All the colour drained from Cassie’s face. ‘I just wasn’t good enough,’ she said sadly.

  Cassie kept a brave face until she got to her room. Then she fell on her bed and sobbed and sobbed.

  She didn’t hear the knock but felt a hand on her shoulder. She was about to shrug it off when a voice said, ‘Drink this.’ Madame Rosa handed her a cool drink.

  Cassie sat up and wiped away her tears as Madame Rosa asked, ‘Why are you crying? Is it just a tantrum because you haven’t been picked?’

  ‘No!’ Cassie wiped away her tears. ‘I wasn’t picked because I wasn’t good enough. But I know I can be. Truly I know I can be …’