Saskia cleared her throat and began the song forcefully. A few girls in the seats around me startled in fright. She belted out the words and dramatically swung her arms about. Portia held the harmony really well, considering Saskia was practically shouting over the top of her. As Saskia finished the song, she held her arms up above her head then dropped them back down in a flourish. The girls in the auditorium clapped politely.
‘Thank you, Saskia and Portia,’ Mrs Lodge said.
‘Actually, can I chime in here?’ Miss Lopez said. ‘Portia, could you please step forward?’
Saskia frowned as Portia shuffled forwards.
‘Could you please sing the first verse for me? On your own?’ Miss Lopez asked.
Portia’s cheeks reddened. Saskia’s cheeks also reddened, but I guessed for a different reason.
Portia stood tall and closed her eyes. She waited a couple of seconds then began the first verse of Arianwen’s Song. Her voice was soft and smooth. As the verse progressed, she became louder. Her voice bounded off the walls of the auditorium and reverberated in a pleasant vibrato. When she finished singing, everyone sat silently . . . then broke into genuine applause.
Portia smiled meekly. Saskia glared at her.
‘Thank you, Portia,’ Miss Lopez smiled.
Mr Withers then gave Saskia and Portia two different parts to read. Portia’s was straightforward—it was some of Arianwen’s lines from the musical, and she read it with ease. But Saskia’s brow furrowed and she scrunched up her nose as she looked down at her piece of paper.
‘What even is this?’ she barked.
‘Just read what you see,’ Mr Withers encouraged.
‘But I have no idea what these words mean. They are not even from the musical!’ she protested.
‘No, they aren’t. It’s a classic poem called The Windhover, by Gerard Manley Hopkins. Just try, Saskia,’ he urged.
Saskia frowned. ‘I caught this morning morning’s minion . . .’
She looked up and shook her head. Mr Withers waved for her to read on.
‘Kingdom of daylight’s dauphin—’ Saskia stopped and looked up angrily. ‘What’s a dauphin?’ When there was no response, she continued, ‘. . . dapple-dawn-drawn . . . Falcon, in his . . . riding—’ She looked up again, indignant. ‘What is this nonsense?’
‘OK, thank you for trying, Saskia,’ Mr Withers said. Saskia huffed and threw the piece of paper off the stage. She muttered all the way back to her seat about how unfair it was that she had to read nonsense while Portia got to read some of Arianwen’s lines.
‘Violet,’ Mrs Lodge called out.
I squeezed Violet’s arm before she rose and walked up to the stage. She looked so tiny in the middle of the gaping space of the empty stage. Violet opened her mouth and sung in her high, soprano voice. She sounded like a tiny bird. At the end of the audition, we all applauded. As Violet sat back down next to me, I patted her back. ‘You nailed it!’ I whispered.
‘Ella,’ Mrs Lodge called.
I gulped. This was it.
My stomach tumbled around as I walked slowly up the aisle. I felt slightly giddy and disorientated, which is a fancy word for lost. I stood in the middle of the stage and looked out. There seemed to be hundreds of eyes staring right at me.
But then I locked eyes with Portia. She raised her eyebrows and sat up straight, encouraging me to stand straight. She then breathed in deeply, moving her hand up her chest to her throat. She was telling me to remember to breathe. I closed my eyes and breathed in deeply. I imagined the opening notes to The Girl I Mean to Be. Then I began.
I remembered to sing from my diaphragm and project my voice. I used my face to tell the story and my hands to feel the music around me. When I finished, I saw Portia clapping with her hands above her head. I smiled at her. ‘Ella, can you please have a go at reading this?’ Mr Withers asked, as he stood up and handed me a piece of paper.
I took the paper from him and looked over it. It was a poem. I smiled, because I love poetry. Then I realised it was the poem Saskia had tried to read.
‘Take a minute to read it over,’ Mr Withers said.
This poem was hard. Very hard. But I stared at the words, trying to understand their meaning. It was talking about the morning. It said ‘daylight’s dauphin’.
I knew a dauphin was a prince. But then it talked about a falcon. Perhaps the falcon was the prince of the morning? I read on in my head—yes, the poet was describing watching a bird flying in the morning air, gliding on the wind. I nodded—I understood. I cleared my voice, then began.
‘I caught this morning morning’s minion,
kingdom of daylight’s dauphin,
dapple-dawn-drawn Falcon in his riding
Of the rolling level underneath him steady air,
and striding...’
I continued to read, marvelling with the poet at the thought of a majestic bird, hovering on the wind. When I finished, I looked up. Mr Withers had cupped his hands under his chin and his eyes were sparkling. ‘Beautiful,’ he said simply.
I smiled, feeling a bit shy, and walked back down to my seat.
‘That was amazing,’ Violet whispered.
‘Really?’ I asked.
‘Yes! You sung so beautifully and your poem was like nothing I’ve heard before,’ she said, squeezing my hand.
By the end of the afternoon, we were all exhausted. We had sat through over 50 auditions.
‘Thank you, everyone, for auditioning,’ Mrs Lodge said. ‘We will have the names of the cast pinned to the noticeboard by the end of the school week. Then, rehearsals begin Monday!’
I sighed a deep, relieved breath. I’d done my best and there was nothing more I could do. It was all in the hands of the teachers now. But as I walked out of the auditorium, I still had my fingers crossed on both hands.
Chapter 5
× −
From:
Ella
Sent:
Friday, 8:15 AM
To:
Olivia
Subject:
Cross your fingers!!!
Hi Olivia!
Did you make the soccer team? I bet you did. How’s Bob? Is he still wearing the cone of shame over his head? That photo Mum sent was soooo funny! It should stop him licking his leg wound, at least. How’s Max?
After the auditions yesterday, everyone has been talking non-stop about who is going to get the main parts for Enchantment the Musical. The roles should be up on the noticeboard today, and I’m so nervous! I actually don’t care if I’m just in the chorus—as long as I get in! The teachers said not everybody will, because the stage can’t physically hold the number of girls who tried out. But they did promise there would be a good mix from every year level. Did I mention I’m so nervous?!
I know I won’t get a big part like Arianwen. I hope Saskia doesn’t get it! Not trying to be mean, but she will be unbearable if she gets the main junior role. I hope Violet gets it. She is so good!
Cross your fingers and toes that I get a part!
Love, Ella
xx
I checked the noticeboard on the way to class, but the announcement sheet for the musical’s cast hadn’t been posted yet. Girls had been constantly checking the board since before breakfast, looking for the exciting news. I knew all I had to do was listen for the shrieks to know that the parts were up. But it hadn’t happened yet.
I sat in History class, completely distracted by my thoughts of the musical. What if I didn’t get in? What if I got a part I didn’t like?
‘How’s the set design going?’ I asked Grace, who was sitting next to me.
‘We’ve only met once,’ she said. ‘We probably won’t get stuck into the design and everything else until we’ve met with Miss Lopez to see what she has in mind.’
I nodded. ‘She seems pretty nice,’ I said. ‘I saw her perform in a musical a couple of years ago. She’s an amazing singer. I just can’t understand why she would be doing a school musical.’
‘It is a bit weird,’ Zoe agreed, leaning over Grace from her other side. ‘I mean, shouldn’t she be auditioning for big shows or something?’
I shrugged.
‘Alright, class,’ Mr Quinn, our History teacher, said. ‘Break into your groups and continue your work on Spartan civilisation, please.’
We broke into the groups we had been working in over the past couple of weeks. Each group had been given an area of ancient Spartan life to investigate. We were looking at agoge, which was Spartan physical training. Our group consisted of Violet, Grace, Zoe, Saskia, Portia, Mercedes and me. My friends and I had chosen to be together, but we had not chosen to join with Saskia’s group. Mr Quinn had made us do that. Grace pulled up our slideshow presentation on her laptop.
‘Who’s excited about the cast announcement for Enchantment?’ Saskia asked. But before anyone could answer, she continued. ‘I can’t WAIT. I mean, I might not get Arianwen, but then again, I might! But if not, that’s OK. I’m perfectly fine being one of the other main characters, like one of the dryads or other siblings. Or even the Snow Queen herself!’
‘The Snow Queen is a senior part,’ Violet said. ‘That’s going to be one of the Year 11 or 12 girls.’
‘Maybe. I’m sure they will give each part to the exact right person,’ Saskia purred.
‘How about we add some sporty music to this slide?’ Grace asked, pointing to her screen.
We all nodded, excited.
‘I’ll find something!’ Zoe volunteered, as her fingers danced across her own laptop keyboard.
‘Portia, if I get Arianwen, can you do one of your amazing braids in my hair for the performance?’ Saskia asked.
‘Of course,’ Portia smiled.
‘Unless you have your own main part to worry about,’ I added, nodding at Portia.
Portia reddened. ‘Oh, I don’t think I’ll be a main part.’
‘Why not? Your audition was amazing!’ I protested. ‘And you are so good at music. I never would have been able to audition so well if you hadn’t . . .’ I trailed off as I realised what I was saying.
Saskia frowned. ‘If Portia hadn’t what? What did you do, Portia?’
‘Oh, it was nothing really . . .’ Portia mumbled.
‘She just gave me a couple of pointers. Nothing major,’ I said quickly, trying to cover my tracks.
‘Sounds like more than a few pointers if it changed your whole audition,’ Saskia snapped. She turned to Portia. ‘And here I was thinking that you were helping me get a part, not Ella!’
‘Saskia, it wasn’t like that,’ Portia whispered.
‘Well, it’s not easy to find a loyal friend, is it, Mercedes?’ Saskia said, linking arms with Mercedes, who had been watching on vacantly.
‘Saskia, don’t be like that,’ Portia said.
Saskia glared at her. ‘You’d better hope Ella doesn’t get a main part, Portia. If she takes my part, it will be all your fault!’
‘Calm your farm, Saskia,’ Grace said. ‘Let’s just get on with this assignment, OK?’
Saskia turned her back towards Portia. Portia looked at the carpet. I felt a hollow feeling in the pit of my stomach. I hadn’t meant to cause trouble for Portia, who had been so kind to me. I suddenly really hoped I didn’t get the part of Arianwen. That would cause a huge problem between Portia and Saskia. I patted Portia on the back reassuringly.
All through class, Saskia continued to gush over Mercedes, just to make Portia jealous. And every time Portia had an idea for our project, Saskia would shoot it down.
Suddenly, the bell pierced the air for recess. Girls bundled out of the classroom, eager for their morning snack. Grace quickly finished the last part of our Sparta presentation, then we slowly began to pack up. Just as Grace was shutting her laptop, Annabelle came running back into the classroom.
‘They’re up!’ she yelled. ‘The cast announcements are up!’
Violet and I stared at each other with wide eyes. Then we leapt to our feet and ran out the door.
Chapter 6
The crowd around the noticeboard was like a pile of ants on a piece of cake at a picnic. Due to their sheer number, the girls heaved, pushing, jostling and wriggling, trying to see. Some girls looked ecstatic, high-fiving and smiling, while others looked sad and disappointed as they walked away from the board.
‘Lauren, you are the Snow Queen!’ one of the Year 12 girls gushed.
Lauren is the Year 12 School Captain and she is good at everything. She also has an amazing singing voice, which was why she was cast as the Snow Queen. Lauren smiled brightly as she moved away from the noticeboard.
Violet and I wriggled in through the crowd, trying to catch a glimpse of the cast list. One role immediately caught my eye:
Songbird – Violet, Year 7
‘Violet, you are the songbird!’ I squealed. The songbird is the one who leads the children through the forest with the dryads. It’s a highly complex singing role for a beautiful soprano singer. It was perfect for tiny Violet, who has the most amazing classical voice.
I looked under the heading ‘Chorus’ and wildly scanned for my name. I knew I was unlikely to get a bigger part, so I desperately wanted to be in the chorus. But as I got to the end of the list, I realised my name wasn’t there.
‘I don’t think I got in,’ I whispered to Violet, as I began to turn away from the board sadly.
‘No, wait!’ she said. ‘Look! You’re one of the dryads. You’re a dryad!’
My eyes shot back to the board. Sure enough, there was my name:
Dryads – Tilly, Year 8; Ella, Year 7
I couldn’t believe it! I was a dryad! One of the sweet, magical forest spirits.
‘Oh, it’s the best part for you!’ Violet squealed. ‘It’s all in poetry, which is just perfect since you love it so much! And you get to sing a song with Tilly from Year 8, as well.’
My mind swam. I was suddenly overwhelmed by a sense of excitement and nerves. It was a big part with difficult lines. Could I really do it?
As Violet and I turned to wade back through the crowd, we heard a gasp from behind us.
‘A wolf? A WOLF?!’
It was Saskia.
‘I don’t want to be a WOLF!’ she shrieked.
‘The wolves are the Snow Queen’s evil minions! I’m not a minion, I’m a STAR!’ Saskia turned and stomped off in a huff.
Violet and I muffled our giggles.
Then there was another gasp of horror from just behind us. It sounded like someone else didn’t get the part she wanted. I turned and saw Portia. She was standing there, frozen, with wide eyes and pale cheeks.
‘Are you OK, Portia?’ I asked.
She stood completely still, but then slowly pointed her finger to a part on the noticeboard:
Arianwen – Portia, Year 7
‘You got Arianwen!’ I squealed, giving her a little hug.
Portia just continued to gape at the noticeboard.
‘But . . . but I can’t be Arianwen!’ she stuttered.
‘Of course you can!’ Violet beamed. ‘Your voice is perfect!’
‘But . . . but . . .’ Portia stammered.
‘You’ll be amazing,’ I said, gently interlocking my arm into hers as I led her away from the jostling group.
Zoe and Grace were standing back from the crowd, watching the crazy scene. We jogged up to them with excitement.
‘Violet got the songbird!’ I blurted.
‘And Ella is a dryad!’ Violet beamed.
‘And Portia got Arianwen!’ Violet and I said at the same time.
‘Wow! Congratulations, you guys!’ Zoe said, pulling Portia, Violet and I into a hug.
Portia licked her pale lips and took in a sharp breath.
‘Not excited?’ Grace asked her.
‘Oh, I just wasn’t expecting it,’ she mumbled. ‘It’s . . . a lot.’
‘Well, I’m sure you’ll nail it,’ Grace said warmly.
‘So what did Queen Saskia get?’
‘She�
��s an evil wolf!’ Violet giggled. ‘And she’s NOT happy!’
We all laughed jovially.
‘Hey, don’t be mean. Saskia would have been a really good Arianwen. I don’t know why they gave it to me over her,’ Portia said, defensive of her friend.
‘They gave it to you because you are amazing,’ I said. ‘Don’t ever let Saskia make you think she’s better than you or that you don’t deserve this role.’
Portia seemed to think for a moment and then nodded. ‘I guess,’ she said, unconvinced.
‘I know what we need,’ Grace suddenly said, a sly smile creeping onto her face. ‘CRMF time!’
We all groaned. CRMF was Grace’s code name for a Common Room Midnight Feast. Last time we tried to have one, Monty, who was the Juniors’ housemistress as well as vice headmistress, nearly sprung us. I had to pretend to be sleepwalking to save us all from about a year’s worth of detentions.
‘Really?’ Violet asked.
‘YES!’ Grace insisted. ‘It’s to celebrate everyone getting amazing parts in the musical. Plus my dad just got back from another US business trip and he posted me a whole lot of American candy to share. I’ve been hiding it under my mattress. I hope it hasn’t melted.’
We looked at each other. The thought of all that candy was a bit too much to resist. We broke into smiles.
‘OK, I’m in,’ I said.
‘Me, too,’ Zoe and Violet chorused.
‘I’m in. And I’ll tell Saskia and Mercedes,’ Portia smiled.
‘Great! I’ll spread the word around the rest of the Year 7 girls,’ Grace said. ‘Tonight. Midnight. See you there!’
Grace trotted off up the path with a spring in her step. I just hoped that this midnight feast didn’t end like the other one had. The last thing I wanted was trouble!
Chapter 7
The quiet pip of Grace’s alarm woke me from my sleep. I rubbed my eyes and glanced at my watch. 11.58 p.m. I pulled my bedspread back up to my chin and rolled over to face the wall. No amount of American candy was going to get me out of bed.
Musical Mystery Page 3