Sparkling Steps (4 page)

“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 Beauty
for 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.

“We shall perform the dance in two rows,” Miss Frances told everyone. “In the back row will be . . .” She called out a number of names, including Lucy and Mariko. “And in the front row will be Olivia, Tamsin . . .”

Olivia hardly heard the rest of the names. She couldn't believe it. She was going to dance in the front row!

“Did you hear that, Tamsin? Isn't it amazing?” she said to her friend, as she placed the practice tutu upside down on the special stand in the corner.

Tamsin was drinking from a bottle of water. She wiped her mouth and grinned. “You've worked really hard. You deserve it,” she said generously.

“No one's going to be able to see me in the back row, with Beanpole clumping around in front of us!” Lucy complained loudly.

Miss Frances frowned as she turned to Lucy. “The dancers with the best technique will be in the front row. If you want to join them, my advice is to work a lot harder!” she snapped. “Olivia has put in hours of extra practice. Perhaps you should, too.”