Dancing Queen (Zodiac Girls)

by Cathy Hopkins

  ‘And I’ve got five pounds fifty.’ I pointed at the poster for the cards.

  ‘Oh no, we mustn’t,’ she said. ‘My mum said never to waste money on those.’

  ‘Someone’s got to win,’ I said. ‘And I can feel it’s going to be me, I mean us. I can feel it in my bones. It’s just the amount we need. We could get two. Two goes, double our luck.’

  Lois looked unenthusiastic. ‘But we wouldn’t be able to get a drink then and I’m thirsty.’

  ‘Sacrifices have to be made in the line of honour,’ I said. I didn’t quite know what I meant, but it sounded good.

  ‘And now you’re making me feel guilty,’ moaned Lois.

  ‘Don’t be such a moaning Minnie,’ I said. ‘Guilt is good. It means you have a conscience and are really a good person. Now hand over your money.’

  Lois gave me her coins but she didn’t look happy about it.

  ‘Oh, come on, Lois, cheer up. In this life, there are winners and losers, and we, my dear, are winners.’

  ‘If you say so,’ said Lois, and with a look of regret back at the juice bar, she turned and trudged after me into the newsagent.

  I marched up to the counter behind which was a young Indian man who was busy watching a football match on the TV screen on the right of his till.

  ‘Two five-pound scratch cards,’ I said in my best confident voice.

  It seemed like a particularly exciting moment was happening on the screen and the man barely glanced at me. He peeled off two cards, all the while keeping his attention on the game. ‘OH!’ he cried as one of the footballers kicked a near miss.

  I handed him the money, which he put into his till as if he were on automatic pilot. We were about to leave the shop when he called after me: ‘Oi. How old are you?’

  ‘Sixteen,’ I said in a deep voice. ‘But the cards are not for me, anyhow. They’re for my sister for her twenty-first. I thought they’d make an unusual gift.’

  The shopkeeper was hardly listening as the players kicked the ball back down to one side of the pitch. As I opened the door to leave, I heard him cry at the TV, ‘Go, go GOOOOOO.’

  I shut the door behind us and grinned at Lois. ‘Well, that was easy! I thought for a minute he wasn’t going to sell us the cards.’

  ‘But you told a lie. Your sisters are sixteen and eighteen.’

  ‘White lie,’ I said. ‘There’s a difference and it’s for a good cause.’

  Lois pointed at a bus shelter over by the church on the green. ‘Let’s go over there.’

  We made our way over to the bench and sat down, ready to scratch our cards.

  ‘I feel so excited,’ I said. ‘Don’t you?’

  ‘A bit,’ said Lois. ‘Give me one, then, seeing as I paid for it.’

  I handed her a card and looked down at mine. ‘OK. Ready, steady . . . go.’

  And we started scratching. There were four games on the card. On the first, you had to match the winning symbol. I scratched off the winning symbol. It was the letter K. I scratched off the rest. Four letters appeared. N, P, R and X. No K.

  ‘Bummer,’ I said. ‘How did you do?’

  Lois shook her head. ‘No match.’

  ‘Well, we have three left,’ I said, and began to scratch the rest of the card. In the next game if the amount in the left-hand column under the title YOURS was higher than the amount in the middle column under THEIRS, you won the prize in the third column. We got busy scratching.

  ‘Oh!’ I cried as I scratched off the last amounts. ‘I almost won. Thirty-eight, thirty-nine, a million!’

  ‘Almost doesn’t make it,’ said Lois. ‘I haven’t won either.’

  We got busy on the third game. Match three amounts to win. I scratched off £40, £400, £50, £400. ‘Oo, oo, I just need one more four hundred,’ I said as I continued scratching. But no luck, the other amounts were £4 and £25.

  ‘One last game,’ I said. ‘This has to be it. Come on, Jupiter, my man. Work your magic.’

  The last game was like a fruit machine in that you had to get a row of three the same. I scratched away. Two cherries and a lemon. Two apples and an orange. Two oranges and a cherry. A peach and two lemons. I checked and checked all the games. I could not believe it. I hadn’t won a thing.

  ‘Ohmigod, ohmigod,’ said Lois as she got to her last row. ‘Cherry, cherry, ohmigod, cherry! Marsha, I’ve won. I’ve WON!’

  I felt a blast of adrenalin flood through me. ‘How much? How much? Scrape off the prize.’

  Lois quickly scraped off the last box and her face fell. ‘A . . . a pound! Oh no. Is that all?’

  ‘Give it here. That can’t be right,’ I said, and checked her card for mistakes, but there it was: a pound.

  ‘Well, at least I can go and claim it and we can maybe get a can of something to drink.’

  ‘OK,’ I said. ‘Or . . . or maybe you could buy one of those pound scratch cards. Maybe we could still win.’

  Lois gave me a withering look. ‘Marsha, leave it. You stay here while I go to claim our winnings.’ She set off for the shop and while I sat waiting my zodiac phone bleeped.

  ‘Hello?’ I said.

  ‘Marsha?’

  ‘Yeah.’

  ‘Mario. Today there’s a good link to Saturn but there are no good aspects from Jupiter. In fact, it’s at a bit of a difficult angle.’

  ‘Too late.’

  ‘What do you mean?’

  ‘I’ve just gambled and lost.’

  ‘But I told you not to do anything until you heard from me.’

  ‘I . . . I’ve got to go. My friend’s coming back.’

  Lois didn’t look at all happy. ‘The man in the shop wouldn’t even give me our pound. He said you’d said you were going to give the cards to your sister and you lied. He said never to go in there ever again or he’ll call the police.’

  ‘So not even a drink?’

  ‘No,’ said Lois as she sat beside me. ‘I told you so. And now I hate you.’

  Chapter Sixteen

  Moneymaking Ventures

  When a bus came, two minutes later, Lois got on. I didn’t even bother to get up to go with her. I’m not speaking to her any more. She hates me. Life sucks, I thought as I watched the bus drive off. At least Lois had her bus pass with her. I had left mine at home and would have to call Mum if I didn’t want to walk the two miles to get home. And how was I going to explain that I had no money?

  As I was sitting there contemplating my next move, I saw a familiar figure coming across the green towards me. It was that weird headmaster man who’d been so rude to me in the waiting area of the hospital. Last person I want to see, I thought. I pulled the hood of my jacket over my head and looked down at the ground in the hope that he’d keep on going.

  ‘If it isn’t our little Zodiac Girl,’ I heard him say, moments later.

  I kept staring at the ground. ‘Nff. Not me. Must be mistaken.’

  Dr Cronus sat down next to me. ‘How’s the wrist?’

  I decided that there was no point in hiding. He clearly knew who I was. ‘Bit sore still. Why do you ask? Have you come to gloat again?’

  Dr Cronus sighed. ‘Not at all, my dear. Not at all. No. I like you and I like what you want to do. Mario told me. I’ve been looking at your birth chart and you’re a spunky young thing – I can see that.’

  ‘Yeah. Aries, the movers and shakers of the world.’

  Dr Cronus looked at me kindly. It was very unsettling. ‘You’re feeling dispirited, aren’t you?’ he asked. ‘I have days like that, days when I just feel weary and misunderstood.’

  I nodded. ‘That’s exactly how I feel. I . . . so wanted to do something good. To help at the hospital I was in, but . . . well, everything’s gone wrong.’

  ‘Everything?’

  ‘I need a million pounds and what do I do? I lose the only money I had by senseless gambling.’

  Dr Cronus burst out laughing. ‘See. I knew I’d like you. You’re bright. You learn fast and you’ve learned fast that
there are no easy ways to make money.’

  ‘Tell me about it. So. Mario said the people in his planet club will help me. That was the prize. Help. Can you help?’

  ‘Planet club? What planet club?’

  ‘You know. You all pick a planet to be. Nessa’s Venus. You picked to be Saturn. Mario is Mars. Actually, I was wondering about that. On my phone, it says there are ten of you. Is that the whole club? Like what if someone wants to join and also be a Venus planet? What happens then?’

  ‘Oh no, dear. There can only ever be ten of us. One of each. Individual. Unique.’

  ‘That limits your membership, Doctor Cronus. Like, I don’t know how you fund your club, but I am sure there are costs. Maybe that’s how I could make some money. Advertise your club a bit, get you a few new members – people who like pretending to be a planet like you lot. Sounds like it could be fun. Do you have special nights? You know, when you all get together? Themed dinners? Picnics? That sort of thing?’

  Dr Cronus was looking at me open mouthed. ‘You don’t seem to have quite gripped the situation. We are the living embodiment of the planets. We’re not in fancy dress or part of a club. We are the real thing. I am Saturn. I am not pretending to be him.’

  Now it was my turn to laugh. ‘You’re good, Doctor, really good. And I’ll play along; I like a game as much as anyone. But, seriously, how can you guys help me achieve my aim?’

  Dr Cronus sighed and rolled his eyes. ‘To make a million?’

  I nodded.

  ‘Start with small steps,’ he said. ‘Every journey begins with the first step. That’s my advice.’

  ‘Small steps.’

  ‘Yes. There are loads of practical things that you could do. You need a plan. Now, have you got a notebook?’

  ‘No.’

  Dr Cronus produced one from his pocket. ‘Always carry paper. That’s another bit of advice. You never know when a good idea might strike. Now. Practical ways to make money. You could wash cars for neighbours on the weekend, that would be a start.’

  I looked down at my wrist. ‘Not going to be much use at that, am I?’

  ‘You’ve got one good hand and, anyway, you can delegate. Get a team together. Now, come on, work with me.’

  ‘Er . . . babysitting. People pay good money for that,’ I said.

  ‘Now you’re cooking,’ said Dr Cronus. ‘What else?’

  ‘Um . . .’

  We spent the next half hour coming up with ideas and, once we got going, I really got into it and in the end we had a good list.

  ‘So what have we got?’ asked the doctor when it seemed that we couldn’t think of anything else.

  I read out the list. ‘Cake sale. Candle making. Guess games – like guess the number of sweets/coins in a jar. Sponsored walks. Raffle tickets for donated prizes. Face painting. Jumble sale. These are really brilliant ideas, but they’d only make peanuts. We’d raise some money, maybe enough to buy a piece of furniture, but never the whole wing. I need the big bucks.’

  ‘This would be a good start and you have to start somewhere.’

  I had my doubts. It sounded like a lot of hard work for little return. Dr Cronus seemed to pick up on my thoughts. ‘There you go. Impatient as usual. Always wanting everything to happen yesterday.’ He stuck out his bottom lip. ‘See if I care. If you don’t like my ideas, ask one of the others. That is why you have a zodiac phone, you know.’

  ‘It’s not that I don’t like your ideas, Dr Cronus, but you’re not thinking very ambitiously. This is a big project.’

  The doctor’s lip went out further. ‘Ask the others, then. See if I care.’

  ‘Well, Mario hasn’t been much good. He keeps saying it has to come from me,’ I said.

  Dr Cronus looked at the list. ‘These ideas did all come from you, well mainly. Got your phone?’ I nodded and pulled it out of my rucksack. ‘Go on, then. Ask for help.’

  I texted in the message:

  Need help to raise big bucks.

  And pressed SEND TO ALL.

  My phone bleeped a few seconds later. It was Mario.

  ‘You have two weeks left,’ he said. ‘You’d better get on.’

  ‘You are so impatient, Mario,’ I said. ‘Like most people say, “Hi, how are you?” when they pick up the phone.’

  ‘Hi, how are you and what’s your next step?’ he asked.

  ‘Um, I’m working on a plan and waiting for some input.’

  Dr Cronus nodded and stroked his beard. Moments later, Uri appeared at the end of the concrete path that led across the green. He was on a skateboard and wearing his sci-fi costume again. He whizzed past us.

  ‘Friends,’ he called as he balanced on one leg. ‘New friends. Unite.’

  ‘Well, he would say that, wouldn’t he?’ Dr Cronus muttered.

  ‘Why would he?’ I asked as I watched Uri stand on his hands on the skateboard and go backwards. He really was an ace performer.

  ‘Uri, Uranus. Rules Aquarius. Aquarians are big on friends and unity.’

  ‘So what did he mean? Oh, don’t tell me, only I can figure that out. Maybe that I have to apologize to Lois. I . . . I guess I can do it. In fact, I’ll do it now!’ I got out my normal phone and called Lois’s mobile. With a bit of luck, she’ll pick up on the bus, I thought as I listened to the dial tone.

  ‘It’s me,’ I said when she answered. ‘Please don’t hang up. I’m sorry, Lois. I really am. I was a pig making you spend all your money and I’ll make it up to you. When Mum gives me my next pocket money, I’ll repay you. Honest.’

  ‘No more scratch cards?’

  ‘Heck no. They’re for losers.’

  I heard Lois laugh at the other end of the phone. ‘Mates forever, yeah?’

  ‘Deffo,’ I said. I clicked off and gave Uri, who was whizzing past on one leg, the thumbs up. ‘Sorted.’

  ‘Is Lois a new friend?’ asked Dr Cronus.

  I shook my head. ‘No. We’ve know each other for ages.’

  ‘Uri said new friends, didn’t he?’

  ‘Did he?’

  ‘He did. So maybe not sorted. Oh, here comes Venus,’ said Dr Cronus as the beautician lady from the hospital appeared on the other side of the green. She was dressed in a white tracksuit and was jogging with her blonde hair flowing out behind her.

  ‘The right image will help,’ she said as she ran past.

  I looked down at what I was wearing. I had on my usual jeans and a blue jacket. So? I was out on a cold grey autumn day. What did she expect? That I wore a tiara? I put my hand up to my head. ‘Do you think she means my hair?’

  Dr Cronus looked at my head. ‘Very possibly.’

  ‘Do you mean my hair?’ I called after her.

  Nessa turned round and jogged back. She caught her breath then took a good look at my hair, picking up strands and scrutinizing them critically. ‘Mmm. Ya gotta do somethin’ soon, love. But ya can’t risk colourin’ again, not after what ya did to it. It might all snap off. And . . . although yer roots are comin’ through with new ’air, there’s not enough there yet to cut it short without ya lookin’ like ya joined the marines. No, best come in the salon one day and I’ll do ya a moisturisin’ treatment and we’ll try to improve the condition. Awright?’

  I nodded. I knew that I looked weird – my red roots really stood out against the white colour of the rest of my hair. I’d tried to tell myself that it was an individual look, but even I wasn’t convinced. I pulled my baseball cap out of one of the pockets of my rucksack.

  ‘Cover up,’ I said as I put it on.

  ‘Good idea and it suits ya,’ said Nessa, and off she jogged.

  I turned to Dr Cronus. ‘Hair advice wasn’t exactly what I meant when I texted that I wanted help.’

  ‘You have to be more specific, then,’ he replied.

  Next came Selene. Queen of the wackos, I thought as she approached and I saw what she was wearing. She was dressed in a long silver-green ankle length skirt and a blue silk top, and she had her silver-grey hair loose
down her back. She beckoned to Nessa who was now on the far side of the green. Nessa went over to her and the two of them began to dance on the green. It was a strange dance that involved a lot of arm waving.

  ‘What the . . . ?’ I said. ‘They look like a pair of mad hippies.’

  Dr Cronus chuckled. ‘Do you think I should join them?’

  ‘If you do, I’m leaving,’ I said.

  Dr Cronus looked put out. ‘I can dance, you know. I really can. Just no one ever gives me the chance. Just because I look old doesn’t mean I can’t move.’

  ‘I know how you feel, Dr Cronus,’ I said. ‘I was up for a great part in the school show, you know, but because I hurt my arm I can’t be in it now. I think the school is prejudiced against people like us.’

  ‘Then why don’t you tell them that?’

  ‘Yeah right, don’t think I didn’t try. Actually . . .’ an idea was starting to hatch in my head. ‘Hey, you may have something there.’

  Dr Cronus sighed wearily. ‘I have my uses.’

  I didn’t hear any more because I was up, on my way home. I had things to do. People to see. Speeches to write.

  Chapter Seventeen

  School Assembly

  I gazed out at the sea of faces in front of me and took a deep breath. This is it, I told myself. My moment to change everything. It was Wednesday morning of the third week of my zodiac month and Mr Simpson, our headmaster, had given me a spot at our school assembly after he’d made the usual announcements. Stay calm, I told myself. And remember to speak slowly. That was what our drama teacher had always told us about doing presentations – that and be prepared. I reckoned I was as ready as I was ever going to be having spent every moment that I could since Saturday on the green with Dr Cronus discussing what I was going to say. Plus I’d done a practice run-through on Monday evening and last night with Lois after school. I was confident that my speech would have the desired result. I’d worded and reworded it so many times. My plan was to appeal to everyone’s conscience. People would have to have a heart of stone not to be moved by what I had to say. I was going to get everyone on board with the project to raise money for the new hospital wing. I’d realized while talking things over with Dr C that I couldn’t do it on my own. It had to be a group effort involving everyone in the school. I’d coordinate it after I’d inspired everyone in front of me with what I had to say.