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The White Cat and Lila’s magic whisked them away. A crowd of dancers rushed towards them as they landed in the courtyard.
“It’s Red Riding Hood!”
“And Goldilocks!”
“Where have you all been? We were just getting worried about you!”
The hubbub of voices rose.
“We’ll explain later!” the White Cat exclaimed. “But the sun is about to set and we have to do the dance now!”
Holly realised there was music playing and the tables around the courtyard had now been laid out with plates of food and massive jugs of fruit punch. A trumpeter rang out a loud fanfare.
“Quick! Into your positions!” cried the cat. “There’s no time to waste.”
Everyone dashed to stand around the courtyard, hands held elegantly, faces turned expectantly to the palace doors. The door was opened by a page and the King and Queen stepped through.
The crowd all bowed.
Holly joined in with the White Cat and Lila. She didn’t have a clue what she was doing, but it was just so amazing to be here, watching everything.
The King looked in their direction. Lila nodded at him as if to say it’s all right. Holly saw him breathe a sigh of relief and his mouth moved in a silent thank you.
With a beaming smile, he led the Queen to where two golden thrones had been set. As they sat down there was another fanfare and Princess Aurelia and Prince Florimund appeared in the doorway.
Holly caught her breath. The princess had long dark wavy hair and big blue eyes. She was very beautiful. The music changed and the princess ran into the centre of the courtyard and turned a pirouette. With a leap, the prince was by her side. He took her hand and they began a graceful pas de deux. In the final moments, the princess turned with incredible speed on her pointes, moving round the courtyard and finishing with a dramatic dive towards the floor. The prince caught her and then Aurelia danced away, beckoning everyone to join in. The music changed again becoming bold and lively.
They all formed a circle and began to dance the graceful dance that Holly had seen them practising earlier.
The White Cat pulled her into the dance too. Holly eagerly joined in. With one hand holding the White Cat’s and the other extended elegantly out to the side, she ran and skipped, ran and skipped. He turned her under his arm and then they all jumped to the side …
Suddenly the sun set. There was a bright flash and silver sparkles rained down from the air. “What’s happening?” cried Princess Aurelia in astonishment.
Lila smiled and ran forward to clasp her hands. “It’s your happy ever after!” she said.
The music rose in volume. The White Cat hugged Holly. “We did it! We stopped the Wicked Fairy!” Holly laughed with delight. All around her were happy laughing people, dancing. Prince Florimund was swinging Aurelia round. Lila was dancing with Bluebeard, the King and Queen were joining in too. Holly had never known anything like it. The White Cat swung her back into the dance. “So are you glad you stayed and helped?” he cried as they skipped joyfully together.
“Oh yes!” exclaimed Holly. It seemed strange now to remember that she hadn’t wanted to, and just at that moment she felt her feet tingling. She looked down. Her shoes were glowing. “I must be going back,” she gasped. “I will come here again, won’t I?”
The White Cat nodded. “And I’ll be waiting to meet you when you do. We’re friends forever now!”
Friends. The word rang through Holly’s head.
The last thing she saw was everyone waving and smiling at her and then a cloud of bright colours surrounded her and she whirled away.
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Holly landed in her bedroom. “Oh my goodness,” she breathed. “I’m back.”
Her eyes flew to her clock. She felt like she had been in Enchantia for hours, but just as the White Cat had promised, no time had passed here at all.
She sank down on the floor. “You really are special,” she murmured to the shoes as she took them carefully off. “Thank you for taking me there!” Shutting her eyes, she relived the last minutes before she had left. The amazing dance, seeing everyone so happy, watching everyone smiling at her and waving her off, and then looking into the White Cat’s green sparkling eyes as she was whisked away.
I’ve got a friend, she thought, hugging herself. A real friend.
She felt a pang and realised that she was really going to miss the White Cat now that she was back in the real world.
As she got changed the doorbell rang downstairs and her aunt called up to her. “Holly! Someone’s here to see you.”
Holly went halfway down the stairs and found Chloe standing in the doorway. Holly stopped dead. She’d forgotten all about her ballet class and the row.
Chloe looked uncomfortable. “Um. You dropped this from your bag, Holly.” She held out one of Holly’s pink ballet shoes. “Madame Za-Za asked me to call by with it because I only live a few streets away.”
Holly’s aunt took it. “It was kind of you to walk round with it,” she said. “Would you like to come in for a while?”
Chloe shook her head abruptly. “Thanks, but I think I’ll head off.”
“Wait!” The word burst out of Holly. She hurried down the rest of the stairs. Still glowing from her adventure, she wanted to make amends. “Um … thanks.” She felt herself blushing. “Thanks for bringing my ballet shoe round. It was really kind of you.”
Chloe looked stunned. “That’s all right.”
“Maybe … maybe I could walk back with you to your house,” Holly suggested hesitantly.
Aunt Maria smiled warmly. “That’s a good idea.”
Holly held her breath. She wouldn’t blame Chloe for saying no, but suddenly she knew she really wanted her to say yes.
Chloe paused, but then to Holly’s relief gave a tentative nod. “OK.”
The two of them left the house. “I’m sorry about how I acted earlier,” Holly apologised. “I was in a really bad mood. I shouldn’t have said those things.”
“It’s OK,” said Chloe awkwardly. “I just thought you might want to be friends.”
“I do!” The words came out before Holly had a chance to think. “If … if you still want to of course.” She gave Chloe a hopeful look.
Just then, a gust of wind blew through the branches on a nearby tree. A cloud of leaves fluttered down, catching in their hair. Their eyes met and they both giggled suddenly.
Chloe face relaxed into a grin. “Come on, my house is this way!” She twirled round happily in the leaves. Holly laughed and joined in.
The two girls spun down the street together, the golden leaves decorating their hair.
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This lively move means ‘step of the cat’ because it’s light and quick – just like a cat.
1. Lift your right leg to the side, pointing your toe and bending your knee. Place your pointed toe just above your left knee.
2. Hold your right arm out in front of you and your left arm out to the side at shoulder-level. Then bend your left knee and jump lightly into the air.
3. As you jump, swap legs so that your left knee bends as your right leg straightens.
4. Land gently on your right leg with your left leg coming down afterwards and in front. Repeat steps.
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Holly Wilde stood with her class, waiting to go on stage, as beautiful music filled the theatre. Her teacher, Madame Za-Za, had choreographed a forest ballet for their Christmas production and this dress rehearsal was the first time the girls had danced properly in their costumes. “Oh, I hope we don’t get anything wrong,” whispered Chloe, Holly’s friend.
The other girls nodded anxiously.
“I’m so nervous!” said Alice.
“Me too,” agreed Lily.
Holly tucked a loose strand of brown hair back into her bun and moved a few steps away. She didn’t feel nervous. After all, they were only dancing the part of the corps de ballet.
The corps were supposed to dance together with no one standing out or being different. A small sigh escaped Holly. She would have loved to have got a main part, but she had only been at Madame Za-Za’s for six months and all the bigger roles had gone to the older girls.
She looked around at her classmates – like her, they were all wearing long white dresses to dance the parts of sylphs – fairy-like creatures with wings who led people astray. But, unlike her, the other girls were whispering nervously together. It made her feel very different.
But things are different for you, Holly reminded herself.
Her mum and dad were both professional ballet dancers and whilst that was exciting, it didn’t make for the easiest of lives. Holly had spent most of her early years travelling around with either one or the other of them. Six months ago, they had decided that she needed to put down roots in one place, so she’d been living with her aunt and uncle ever since. She was getting used to it and now, at least, she’d made a friend in Chloe. Her first proper friend. Well, in this world, she thought.
An image of a dancing white cat flashed into Holly’s mind and she smiled. For she had a secret – a pair of magic red ballet shoes that whisked her away to the land of Enchantia, where the characters from all the different ballets lived. Holly couldn’t wait to go back, but so far the shoes hadn’t sparkled with magic since her first visit.
Still, there was plenty of time for that, she told herself and snapping out of her reverie, she practised a plié, finishing by rising up on her toes, her free arm moving out gracefully to the side.
Chloe came over. “How are you feeling?”
Holly looked at her in surprise. “Fine.”
“Really?” Chloe whispered. “You’re not nervous?”
“There’s nothing to be nervous about, is there?” Holly said, as she heard a change in the music. “Come on, it’s almost time to go on. We’d better join the others!”
They hurried over to get ready.
When they danced on to the stage, the lights were so bright, Holly couldn’t see anything in the darkness of the auditorium, but she knew Madame Za-Za would be out there, watching them. Holly did just as the others were doing, moving forward with tiny running steps, sweeping her arms down, and then up and turning round, before continuing onwards again.
But gradually the music took hold and the urge to dance as well as she possibly could started to build inside her. She tried to ignore it at first, but it grew fiercer and stronger. When the others stood on their toes, their arms in the air, Holly held her position for a moment longer, and as they moved into a circle and stood on one leg, she lifted hers higher than anyone else’s. She wanted to be different. She didn’t want to be just the same. She wanted to dance her very best!
At the end of the dance, the girls all ran offstage in their line. Holly stopped in the wings and took a deep, happy breath. She felt wonderful!
She vaguely noticed a few of the other dancers giving her cross looks as they headed off to the changing rooms, but she didn’t really take them in until Chloe came over to her. “Holly! How could you?” she said.
“What?” said Holly in surprise.
“Dance like that. You were showing off like crazy!”
“No, I wasn’t,” Holly protested.
“But you were!” Chloe went on. “You know we’re supposed to be dancing together, all doing the same thing. But you were dancing differently. Madame Za-Za’s going to be really mad.”
Holly felt a flash of anger as the buzzing happiness she had been feeling after the dance was abruptly extinguished. “I was only dancing as well as I could,” she said, aware that a certain amount of haughtiness had crept into her voice. “What’s wrong with that?”
“It’s not what you do when you’re dancing in the corps,” Chloe said. “You know it’s not.” Her voice softened. “We’re meant to act like a team.”
Holly felt angry and she marched away, grabbing her old red ballet shoes from where she had left them at the side of the stage. How could Chloe tell her off like that? They were supposed to be friends. How dare she say she was showing off!
But you were, weren’t you? a little voice in her head pointed out.
I was just dancing the best I could, Holly thought defensively. We’re supposed to do that.
No, she realised, her temper finally calming. In the corps we are supposed to dance together.
As the anger drained out of her, she started to feel bad. What was Madame Za-Za going to say? And it wasn’t just that. She’d snapped at Chloe. And the other girls, how must they be feeling?
Holly swallowed hard and stopped. She had reached the large scenery hall and the backstage entrance to the theatre. The stage-door keeper sat in a little cubicle letting the dancers and stage crew in and out.
“Are you OK, sweetheart?” he asked. “You look rather flushed.”
“I’m just hot,” lied Holly.
“You should be glad of the warmth. It’s snowing outside,” he commented.
“Snowing!” gasped Holly, her own problems momentarily forgotten. “Can I go and see?”
The stage-door keeper frowned. “You’re not really allowed outside the theatre when you’re here with the school.”
“But it’s the interval in a minute. I’m not needed on stage. I’ll only be a few seconds. Oh, I could really do with some fresh air. Please? I won’t do anything stupid,” Holly begged.
“Oh, all right,” he gave in. “But don’t go too far and if you’re not back inside in one minute, I’m coming to get you. Deal?”
“Deal!” said Holly, quickly hurrying outside.
The stage door opened into a quiet back street. The sky was dark and the only light came from a nearby golden street lamp. Snow was falling in big silent flakes, settling on the ground like a white carpet.
“Oh, wow!” Holly breathed, putting her hand out and feeling the flakes land icily on her fingers.
She watched them swirl down and suddenly was filled with the urge to dance in the snow. She couldn’t in her performance shoes – she would be in even more trouble if she got those wet and dirty. Pulling off her white shoes, she put on her old red ones, tied up the ribbons and jumped to her feet. She could hear the music faintly from inside the theatre as the first act finished and she began to twirl and dance.
Suddenly she became aware that it wasn’t just her hands and arms that were tingling where the snowflakes were landing, it was her feet too.
She glanced down and saw the shoes were shining as if they were covered with bright jewels.
“Enchantia!” she gasped. “I’m going to Enchantia again!”
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