First published in Great Britain by HarperCollins Childrenâs Books in 2018
Published in this ebook edition in 2018
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Text copyright © Jean Ure 2018
Cover illustration © Lucy Truman; decorative frame © Shutterstock
Cover design © HarperCollinsPublishers 2018
Jean Ure asserts the moral right to be identified as the author and illustrator of the work.
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Source ISBN: 9780008164546
Ebook Edition © 2018 ISBN: 9780008174866
Version: 2018-03-09
âI simply cannot believe ââChloe opened her tote bag and took out a little hammer. Then she picked up one of her pointe shoes â brand-new, sparkly-clean pointe shoes â and began bashing at it. âI simply cannot believe weâre in our second year!â
Somewhat soberly I said, âI canât believe weâve all survived.â
It still made cold, damp goosefeet go plapping down my spine when I thought how close Iâd come to being thrown out. At the end of our very first term, that had been. Not because my dancing wasnât up to standard but because Ms Hickman, Head of Ballet, hadnât thought I was committed enough. It was only thanks to Caitlyn that Iâd been given a second chance. She had actually been brave enough to speak up for me! What was more, Ms Hickman had actually listened. Which was why I was still here, a year later, on the first day of the new term â sitting in the Green Room next to Studio One, waiting for the studio to clear so that afternoon class could begin. We were all here, all eight of us. Me and Caitlyn, Alex and Roz, Tiffany, Amber, Chloe, Mei. Survivors!
Alex nodded, complacently. âItâs practically unheard of, everyone being kept on.â
I agreed. City Ballet School has a reputation for being ruthless when it comes to what Mum calls âweeding outâ. Too tall, wrong shape, hasnât lived up to earlier promise.
âWeâre obviously an exceptionally talented group,â I said.
âOh, Maddy, donât,â begged Caitlyn. âPlease! Itâs like tempting fate!â
Personally I felt Iâd already tempted fate. Going ice skating and injuring myself halfway through my very first term really had been asking for trouble. Even Sean had lectured me about it, and Sean isnât at all a lecturing kind of person even though heâs my big brother and doesnât always take me seriously. Mum and Dad, thank goodness, had never known. I still had nightmares, wondering what Mum would have had to say. Sheâd said enough when Jen (my sister) had got married and had Thomas and immediately stopped dancing. Youâd have thought the world had come to an end! But at least Jen had had an excuse, and now that he was a toddler even Mum thought Thomas was pretty cute. I wouldnât have had any excuse at all. Just as well it had stayed a guilty secret!
I slowly sank down on to the floor, leaning back against the wall, legs comfortably lolling. In just a few minutes Iâd be working hard enough, bending, stretching, leaping. Mr Leonardo, who takes us for Character (the class we were waiting for and one of the ones I like best) is a very sweet and lovely man who almost never loses his temper or makes sarcastic remarks (unlike Ms Hickman, who makes them all the time). Mr Leonardo would far sooner praise you for your good points than shame you in front of the whole class by sarcastically informing you that you looked like a sack of potatoes or moved with about as much animation as a slug. For all that, he doesnât believe in letting us relax. Character is a whirl of activity from the word go.
I gazed around, contentedly, at the others. Caitlyn, next to me, was taking the opportunity to finish darning a pair of pointe shoes. Darning pointe shoes is a job I particularly dislike, but Caitlyn actually takes pride in it. She is always so industrious! Chloe, meanwhile, was still merrily bashing with her hammer.
âIt always seems such a pity,â said Caitlyn, âthat we have to do these horrible things.â She held up the shoe sheâd been working on. Her stitches (unlike mine) are always so neat and precise; she turns darning into some kind of art form. âHonestly,â she said, âit makes me feel like a vandal. Those poor shoemakers! It must be absolutely heartbreaking for them ⦠They give us these beautiful, delicate shoes and the first thing we do is destroy them!â