Charm School (14 page)

‘Next!’ called Mrs Opalene firmly.

Amethyst floated up the steps onto the stage, flicked her hair and stood shyly in her glorious silver gown, cradling a glittering wand. She couldn’t help feeling a little bit more nervous than usual. The other two had had such very exciting acts. They’d been such fun to watch. And all she had was … Well, never mind. What Mrs Opalene always said was, ‘Don’t waste time wishing yourself like other people. Just make the best of what you have.’

What she had was pretty unexciting. But she’d make the very best of it.

‘I’m going to perform
The Dance of the Evening Star
,’ she explained to them carefully. ‘I’m going to be Starlight. As evening falls around me, I wake and flutter to and fro, touching the wonders of nature lightly with
my
starry wand.’ She waved it, to show them. ‘And everything glistens with starlight, just for me, because everything loves me so much.’

In the control room Bonny shook her head in amazement that anyone would willingly dance something so soppy. She couldn’t imagine anything more likely to banish any lingering doubts she might have had that she was doing Mrs Opalene’s girls a giant favour, sparking up their Curls and Purls Show.

‘Anyway,’ went on Amethyst, ‘I dance all night, except that, obviously, in the dance, the night only lasts two minutes. Then I curl up in my forest dell and fall asleep. And daybreak comes. Then I wake up and flee.’

‘Lovely!’ said Mrs Opalene, filled with relief that one of her precious girls, at least, was planning something more ladylike and traditional. ‘Lovely, dear Amethyst! I do so look forward to seeing how very elegantly you can flee.’

Amethyst smiled. Her beautiful face lit up. ‘Yes,’ she admitted. ‘I have been practising fleeing.’ She turned to face the glass window and nodded at Bonny, who slid in music tape number 3, and wound down the forest backdrop Amethyst had chosen earlier.

Amethyst curled in a neat silver ball, and everyone waited. Out swelled the music. As its busy first bars gave way, within moments, to a more sleepy, going-to-bed sort of melody, the silver ball that was Amethyst gradually uncoiled a little, and the glittering wand waved gracefully in the air. Then she rose to her feet and looked around, making grand gestures of surprise and delight, as if she’d never seen an evening before.

And she’d certainly not seen one like this. It started well enough, with Bonny focusing exactly the right tree shadow shapes onto the stage, and turning the evening through the right shades of darkening blue while switching the stars up more brightly. Amethyst flitted round, flicking her hair prettily and pretending to pat each of the soppy, sloe-eyed creatures that were painted on the backdrop with her starry wand of evening.

‘Aaaah!’ everyone cooed dutifully when she tapped the baby deer sternly on its head.

‘Ooooh!’ everyone chorused politely when she shook her finger crossly at the chipmunks.

Amethyst swirled around, pretending to look for the squirrel.

And then she screamed. For from the branch over her head dangled the shadow of a massive spider. Amethyst skidded to an ungainly halt. In the control room, Bonny was jiggling the spider silhouette furiously in front of the lantern, and, on the stage, the spider shadow leaped obediently to the attack.

Amethyst screamed again. She’d secretly wanted something different. But this was horrible. Horrible! The whole stage darkened and the shadows loomed. Out went the stars, as if a cloud had swirled in front of them. Swampy green lights flickered eerily, and strange mists rose. In a frenzy of switch-flicking from Bonny, the baby deer ended up howling like a wolverine, the squirrel snarled, and when a demented chattering began to pour out of one of the loudspeakers behind the backdrop, Araminta suddenly had the bright idea of wheeling it behind the bit with the painted chipmunks, as if they’d suddenly come to life, and flown into a fury.

It was quite terrifying. From side to side ran Amethyst, desperate to find a way off the stage. She wasn’t fleeing very elegantly, for all her hours of practice. Each time she
thought
she’d found a safe way to go, a shadow shaped like broken fingers seemed to snatch at her, or shadows of branches underfoot snaked out as if to trip her.

Her enthralled audience shouted.

‘Try that way, Amethyst!’

‘No! It’s not safe! Try the other side!’

‘Amethyst! Watch out!’

‘Look behind you!’

Round and round Amethyst ran, in ever more desperate circles. From behind the backcloth came a werewolf’s cry. And then another, sounding even closer.

Amethyst tore at her hair in fright. Sweat glistened on her face, melting her perfect make-up. Her lovely features twisted in terror and in the end she did the only thing that she could think of, and hurled herself back in a silver ball on the floor, covering her eyes with her fingers.

And that’s when Bonny switched on the sounds of tiny, scurrying feet. Spreading her fingers slightly, Amethyst saw the little furry balls of shadow flitting across the stage.

‘Oh, not rats! No!’

Amethyst jumped to her feet and started beating at them with her glittering wand. As the music came to an end and Bonny regretfully turned up the light to flood the stage with rosy dawn, Amethyst was to be seen clutching her torn skirts around her, still
trying
to beat to death a dozen skittering rats that were just shadows.

And how the audience clapped.

‘Amethyst! Why didn’t you tell us you could
act
?’

‘My heart’s still thumping, Amethyst. You ought to be in horror films! You’re brilliant!’

‘Do the scream again. Just one more time. It was so
bloodcurdling
.’

‘I really thought that was a spider. And the rats fooled me too.’

‘The rats fooled
everyone
. Did they fool you, Mrs Opalene?’

Mrs Opalene blinked hastily. It wouldn’t do at all to admit that, ever since the spider, she’d had her eyes tightly closed. Not that it had helped much. She had still heard the werewolf’s cry, the wolverine’s snarl, and the terrified squeals from everyone around her.

Better say something, or they’d force her into watching it again, so she could mark it properly.

‘Gratifyingly macabre, dear.’

Amethyst smiled bravely. She didn’t know what gratifying meant. Or macabre, either. But now the lights were on again, she could at least get off the stage without falling over
from
fright. It hadn’t been fun. It had been
terrifying
. But they were all talking about it so excitedly, and patting her on the back as she went shakily back to her seat. Only a minute ago, she could have cheerfully strangled that new Miss Sparky. Miss Electric Shock, more like! But now that her heart had stopped thumping, she could admit to herself that this
Dance of the Evening Star
must have been a whole lot more thrilling to watch than the usual old waking and fluttering and fleeing.

‘Next!’ called Mrs Opalene faintly.

Up on the stage walked Sarajane. But as Bonny reached for music tape number 4, she saw a shadow fall on the desk in front of her.

Hastily, she swung around.

‘Toby!’

He nodded through the glass towards the stage. ‘Brilliant!’ he told her. ‘Stunning! A real spectacular! It’s quite amazing how much you’ve picked up in one short day.’

‘Araminta’s been helping. It turns out she knows a whole lot more than she ever realized. She’s a real star at—’

He wasn’t listening. He was looking worried.

‘But you must promise me you won’t make a fool of Sarajane.’

Bonny couldn’t help staring. ‘Oh, come on,’ she managed to get out at last. ‘If it’s all right for the others, then it’s all right for her. Sarajane is no different.’

‘She is to me,’ Toby said stubbornly. He blushed. ‘I know that she can be as silly as all the others. But still I don’t want her ending up head down in a well with her bloomers showing, or singing in her vest and knickers, or running round screaming.’

‘Nothing wrong with that,’ Bonny said, equally stubbornly. ‘They’re all enjoying it. You can tell.’

‘It doesn’t matter if she
does
it,’ Toby said. ‘It just matters that she gets to
choose
. And you haven’t asked her.’

Bonny was silent. It was no more than the
truth.
But they were halfway through the show now. She wasn’t going to stop for anyone.

Bonny turned back to the controls. ‘Sorry, Toby,’ she said firmly. ‘But I’m afraid Araminta and I are running this show.’

She felt a finger in the small of her back. ‘Well, I’m afraid I’m warning you and your very good friend Araminta. Don’t mess with Sarajane’s song, or you’ll regret it.’

Bonny made a face. So Cristalle was right. Toby was soft on Sarajane. But that was no reason for the two of them to change their plans. Araminta had already filled the bucket with water, and what could Toby do to them anyway? The day was very nearly over. How could a tea boy cause trouble for them? It was an empty threat. Of course he couldn’t.

And then it struck her. Yes, he could. He could rush down and tell the lady on the desk what she and Araminta were doing, and she could hurry off to fetch Mum out of Bookkeeping (Advanced), and …

Fetch Mum out of her class? Oh, that would be
awful
. It was so very near the end of the day that she might be in the middle of the test that would give her the certificate she needed so
badly.
Why, she might be on the very last question. To be so close, and have to lay down your pen and rush up to the third floor because of your troublesome daughter! What a way to start your new life in a brand new place.

‘All right,’ said Bonny sourly. ‘You win.’ But then suddenly, ringing in her ears again as if she’d somehow pressed the ‘echo’ switch, she heard the little phrase he’d used to warn her so sternly: ‘you and your very good friend Araminta’.

And suddenly she didn’t mind. Let Sarajane get on and do her bit in the Curls and Purls Show as soppily as she’d planned. If it mattered so much to Toby (and it obviously did), she’d just sit back and watch – with her good friend Araminta!

‘All right,’ she said again, a whole lot more cheerfully. ‘We won’t do anything to Sarajane. And that’s a promise.’