Musical Mystery

by Laura Sieveking

  Can you help me with my lines again tonight? I’m still really nervous I won’t remember all the tricky poems, and you’ve been amazing reading Tilly’s dryad part so I can practice! You are going to know it off by heart by the time the musical comes around! Let’s video call after dinner and run through the forest scene again. You are the BEST sister ever!

  Love, Ella

  xx

  I walked slowly along the path, the late afternoon sun sinking into my skin. My hands were dry with a residue of chalk from the gymnastics training session I’d just finished. I’d thrown my PE t-shirt and shorts over my leotard, slung my sports bag over my shoulder and decided to take my time walking back to the dorm. So much of Eden College was rushing from one thing to the next. It was nice just to be able to meander through the beautifully manicured gardens and breathe in the heady scent of a sunny afternoon.

  The cicadas were singing their early evening chorus, which echoed around my head. I stopped, gently pulling a low-hanging branch of jasmine close to my face. I closed my eyes and breathed in all its loveliness. It reminded me of home. I was instantly taken back to summer afternoons in the garden with my family: sausage sizzles, slip and slides, trampoline dancing. My breath caught in my throat at the memories. I missed them so much.

  One of the best things about this musical was that my whole family was going to come and watch. Even Nanna Kate. It would be the first time I had seen them all in person since they had dropped me at the gates of Eden at the beginning of the term. My heart immediately lifted at the thought of seeing them. I smiled to myself, feeling motivated all over again to learn my lines as best as I could, to make them proud.

  ‘Ella! Up here!’

  I startled and looked up. On the balcony above me, I could see Grace waving bombastically, which is a fancy teacher-word for OTT. She had a paintbrush in her hand and specks of white paint flicked out, landing in her hair.

  ‘Come up and keep me company!’ she yelled.

  I climbed the stairs to the balcony just outside the art studio, where Grace was busily painting props along with other members of the musical’s set design team. Some were painting forest trees and some small snowflakes. Grace was painting a towering snowcapped mountain. She had bluish-grey paint all up her arms and white flecks in her hair.

  ‘How are the sets coming along?’ I asked, as I sat down on the floor next to Grace. I carefully avoided the drop sheets with splodges of paint all over them.

  ‘Good! You should see the Snow Queen’s castle. It’s going to be phenomenal!’ she gushed. ‘I’ve just got to finish this snow-capped mountain, then I’m done for today. Want to stay and talk to me? We can walk back to the dorms together after.’

  ‘Sure thing,’ I said. ‘So, did you hear about the latest weird incident with the musical?’

  Grace kept focused on the mountain top as she spoke to me. ‘The bugs in the box?’ she asked.

  ‘Yeah, that. And then during our lunchtime rehearsal today, a wheel came off the moving platform while Lauren was standing on it. She nearly fell right off the stage! We can’t do the show without the actual Snow Queen!’ I said.

  ‘It is all pretty weird,’ Grace frowned. ‘But I don’t know about cursed, like everyone is saying.’

  ‘Some of the chorus girls are really freaking out,’ I added. ‘They are worried about being in the musical at all.’

  ‘Do you think it’s all a coincidence, or do you think someone is messing with everyone?’ Grace asked.

  ‘Well . . .’ I trailed off.

  ‘What? Spill the beans,’ Grace said, stopping her painting and facing me.

  ‘I don’t want to point fingers. Last time we did that, we almost got Violet into trouble for something she didn’t even do,’ I said.

  Grace nodded, remembering the time we thought Violet was stealing things from the dorm. Now we were friends with Violet, we couldn’t imagine her ever stealing anything. But at the time we were so sure.

  ‘I just think Saskia is acting weird,’ I finally blurted.

  ‘In what way?’ Grace asked.

  ‘Well, she seems pretty keen for the musical to be cursed. She wants a killer story for Eden Press. She also didn’t seem that scared of the cockroaches, like she was expecting them. And when the wheel fell off the platform today, Saskia and the other wolves were standing right next to it.’

  Grace nodded. ‘I guess all you can do is keep an eye on her,’ she said. ‘Until you have evidence. I mean, it’s not like last time where it was Violet you were suspicious of. It is Saskia. We know she can be pretty . . .’ Grace trailed off.

  ‘Volatile?’ I offered.

  Grace shook her head. ‘More like, unpredictable.’

  I laughed. ‘Volatile means unpredictable.’

  Grace giggled. She dipped her thick paintbrush into the large tin of white paint and tried to reach the top of the mountain set. ‘Ugh, I can’t quite reach. Wait there, I’m getting a chair.’

  Grace ran into the art room and dragged a chair onto the balcony. She took the tin of paint by the handle and climbed on top of the chair, balancing the paint tin on the balcony railing. I frowned with unease. It didn’t look very stable. The word that leapt into my mind was precarious. That means very likely to fall.

  ‘Grace, be careful,’ I said in my best teacher’s voice.

  Grace just rolled her eyes, so I stood up and held her by the legs, to make sure she wouldn’t fall off the chair. This was pretty common in life with Grace: Grace doing something daring and me holding her stable.

  ‘Are you sure that’s a good place to put the paint?’ I asked, as it wobbled on the wall of the balcony.

  ‘Gosh, you’re worse than Monty,’ Grace scolded, before laughing and ignoring my warning completely. She dipped the brush into the paint and slopped it onto the wooden set.

  I gave up. ‘Anyway. As long as a cursed mask doesn’t show up, I think we should be OK,’ I said, thinking back to the musical.

  ‘Well, I’ll be backstage the whole time, helping with the set and props changes, so I promise to keep an eye out for any suspicious activity!’ Grace said cheerily.

  ‘Are you nearly done? I want to grab a shower before dinner. I feel like I’ve got gym chalk all over me,’ I said.

  ‘Just one more spot,’ Grace replied, hurriedly finishing the top of the mountain.

  She made one final stroke, then declared, ‘TA-DA!’, flinging her arms out to the sides.

  ‘Grace, no!’ I yelled. But it was too late. She knocked the paint tin with her outflung arm, sending it toppling off the balcony railing. We heard it hit the ground with an almighty crash, followed by high-pitched squealing.

  Grace and I looked at each other with wide eyes, then jumped to the edge of the balcony, peering over the ledge to see the damage below. Thankfully, the paint tin had not landed on top of anyone, but, as it hit the ground, it had splashed a tidal wave of white paint all over the path, hedges and . . .

  ‘Sorry, Saskia and Mercedes!’ Grace yelled.

  The two girls stood still as statues, screaming. Both were covered in white paint from head to toe.

  Grace smothered a giggle, whispering, ‘It looks like a monster-sized bird has done a massive poo on them!’

  I nudged Grace and shook my head. Saskia would not be happy to see us laughing at her.

  ‘You’d better go wash before the paint dries. I’m sure it will come out easily—it’s water-based paint,’ I offered, trying to console the screaming girls.

  Saskia looked up, furious. ‘Grace, you are a MENACE!’ she yelled, as she and Mercedes ran off towards the dorm.

  ‘Oopsie!’ Grace shrugged.

  Chapter 12

  ‘Come hither, thee, and to me wander,’ I said in my airiest voice.

  ‘Along this path to trek through yonder,’ Olivia said.

  ‘The purest heart alone will seek.’

  ‘Strength of mind, though spirit’s weak.’

  ‘Press on.’

  ‘Press on.
’

  Olivia clapped heartily on my computer screen. ‘That was heaps better!’ she gushed. ‘You remembered every line!’

  ‘And so did you,’ I laughed. I’d noticed that Olivia didn’t even need Tilly’s script in order to practice with me anymore.

  ‘Do you want to try the Fly Free song with me?’ I asked. It was only a short song, but it was sung by the dryads alone. The thought of singing in front of so many people made my stomach tumble.

  I sang the lines of the song, with Olivia singing Tilly’s part in a simple harmony. Olivia has a really good singing voice. The song sounded a bit weird as we were on a video call on the computer. Sometimes the connection would glitch and we’d get out of time. And there was no background music. But it was still good practice for remembering the words.

  As we finished the song, I smiled at my little sister. I could see her shining green eyes and the little freckles that seemed to dance on her face each time she changed her expression. Her shoulder-length chestnut hair was pulled back in a ponytail. And I noticed that her face seemed more mature than when I last saw her. We’d only been apart a short time, but I could see my little sister was growing up. I wondered if she would be an Eden Girl with me one day. The thought of it warmed my heart—imagine having my sister living with me at school!

  I glanced around the room and saw there were several other girls video-calling their families. We were all sitting in the dorm study room and had our earbuds in so that we didn’t have to hear everyone’s families talking. Portia was sitting at the far table and I saw Grace opposite her, smiling at her screen as she nattered on to her family.

  ‘Thank you so much for practicing with me again, Olivia,’ I said, as I pressed a love-heart emoji which bounced up onto the screen. Olivia laughed.

  ‘No problem—it’s actually really fun!’ she said.

  ‘I can’t wait to see you when you come to see the show,’ I smiled.

  ‘Me, too. We are going to stay in a motel near your school so that we don’t have to drive home late at night. It’s going to be so fun! As long as I don’t have to share a bed with Max, like last time we went on holidays,’ Olivia said, scrunching up her nose.

  I laughed. ‘It will be so cool to introduce you to Grace and Violet!’

  ‘Oops, I have to go now,’ Olivia said. ‘Mum says she needs the computer to finish off some work.’

  ‘OK. I’ll call you again in a couple of days?’

  ‘Absolutely,’ Olivia smiled.

  I waved at the camera as I pressed the ‘end call’ button. Olivia’s face faded on the screen until the window on the computer had turned black. I took in a deep breath and let it out in a puff. Pulling my earbuds out of my ears, I slapped my laptop shut and stood up. I thought I might wander over to Grace and wave to her family while she video-called them. As I walked over, I passed by Portia and her computer. She didn’t have earbuds in—she must have forgotten them—so she had the sound turned down low. But I could just make out the voice coming through the computer. It sounded like she was talking to her mum.

  ‘And all the family are coming: Uncle Bernard and Aunty Lola and Uncle Dave and Sharon and your brother and grandma and grandpa and great-nan and even your godmother, Polly! I told Polly she didn’t have to come but she said she wouldn’t miss it for the world, so she’s coming and bringing her daughter, Michelle, with her, too. I swear half the auditorium will be there just for you, Portia!’ her mum laughed.

  I glanced at Portia’s face and she was white as a sheet.

  ‘You didn’t have to invite everyone,’ she mumbled.

  ‘Nonsense!’ her mum gushed. ‘You are the star of the show!’

  Portia glanced up at me and offered a half-hearted smile. She looked stressed. I smiled and quickly moved on, as I didn’t want her to think I was listening in on her conversation. I walked over to Grace, who had her headphones on. I looked over her shoulder and saw her dad sitting with her brother, Alec. Her dad was laughing, but Alec seemed to be looking at something beyond the screen.

  I leaned over Grace’s shoulder and waved to her dad. I’d met him on a video call before. He waved at Grace to unplug her headphones and she started to protest, but then rolled her eyes and unplugged them so I could hear him.

  ‘Hi, Ella!’ Grace’s dad said. ‘How are you going?’

  ‘Good, thanks!’ I said. ‘Hi, Alec! I’m Ella. We haven’t met before, but Grace has told me so much about you.’

  Alec looked into the camera, but didn’t smile. ‘She hasn’t told me about you,’ he said.

  I couldn’t tell if he was being cheeky or serious. I laughed nervously.

  ‘Hasn’t the first part of the year flown by?’ Grace’s dad said. ‘You really are Eden Girls now!’

  ‘Years don’t fly. And you’ll find that time does not slow down or speed up. That makes no sense. There are 24 hours in every day. That’s 168 hours in a week, regardless of how fast you perceive it to move,’ Alec said evenly.

  I laughed again, but Alec didn’t.

  ‘Ella’s gotta go,’ Grace said hurriedly, nudging me away from her screen. She quickly plugged in her headphones so I couldn’t hear her family anymore. It was weird, and a little bit rude. I didn’t even get to talk to Alec properly and it was the first time I’d ever met him. I opened my mouth to object, but Grace waved me away with her hand. I frowned at her. It was unlike her to be so cold.

  Grace finished her conversation abruptly and closed her laptop. She gathered her things together and stood up.

  ‘Have you finished all your homework? Want to go watch TV?’ she asked, smiling as if nothing had happened.

  ‘Why did you shoo me away?’ I asked. ‘I didn’t even get to meet Alec properly.’

  ‘Oh, he had to go anyway. He has homework. And besides, once you get him talking about the hours in the day and the rotation of the Earth in the solar system, you’ll never shut him up,’ she laughed. ‘He’s probably just like your sister, Olivia, when she’s talking about her science inventions!’

  ‘I guess,’ I said, unsure.

  ‘Anyway, let’s go. Chef Warriors hasn’t started yet, and if we hurry we can get the beanbags before anybody else comes in,’ she said.

  Grace bounded across the hallway into the common room. I shook my head, a little confused.

  As I began to move, Portia came out of the study room behind me.

  ‘Portia, are you OK?’ I asked. She still looked a little pale.

  ‘Oh, yes, I’m fine. It’s just my mum is bringing half the country to the musical to see me sing, and there’s no way I’m going to be as good as she expects.’

  ‘Portia, you’ve been amazing in rehearsals. You can do this. You just need confidence,’ I said, linking arms with her.

  ‘But what if I can’t do it on the night? What if I get stage fright? Or I forget my lines? Maybe Saskia is right,’ Portia said.

  ‘Right about what?’ I asked.

  ‘She wasn’t trying to be mean,’ Portia said quickly. ‘She was just really surprised when I got the role. She said main parts didn’t usually go to shy people, because they were more likely to get stage fright. And she’s probably right—I’ve never performed in a proper concert before.’

  I rolled my eyes. ‘She’s just annoyed she didn’t get the part of Arianwen. And if she was a true friend, she would be supporting you, not filling you with doubt.’

  Portia shrugged.

  ‘Come on, let’s go watch Chef Warriors,’ I said, pulling her arm slightly.

  ‘Oh, thanks, but I think I’ll just go upstairs to my room and practice my lines for the musical some more.’ Portia hugged her laptop tight to her chest and slowly walked up the main stairs. I felt sad for her. She had so much talent, and everyone in the entire school knew it. Everyone, except Portia.

  Chapter 13

  The following weeks seemed to fly by. Our rehearsals became more regular as we got closer to showtime. The set design team had finished creating props and painting sets, and Zoe a
nd the tech crew had started coming to rehearsals to practice the lights and sound. The cast also started using microphones, and I even got to wear one of my own! We were all given tiny, little individual microphones that sat in the thin line of our cheeks. The microphone was hooked up to an invisible cord, which plugged into a small pack concealed in the back of our costumes.

  A whole committee of teachers and Home Economics students had hand-sewn each costume. Tilly and I went to get measured and were so excited when our costumes were finally ready. We walked to the Home Ec department together one afternoon, buzzing with the excitement of trying on our finished outfits. We both stood in the little change rooms, which were closed with heavy velvet curtains. I slipped off my uniform and turned to the delicate fabric that hung ready on a coathanger. I pulled it over my head and let it slide down my body. It felt like a perfect fit.

  I stepped out of the change room and stood in front of the full-body mirror. Tilly stepped out of her change room and stood beside me. We both stared, speechless.

  The material was light and airy and flowed like a weeping willow. It was green with little tiny diamantes sewn into the fabric, which caught the light as I gently swayed from side to side. The dress was secured over one shoulder, with gauzy chiffon covering the other shoulder and both arms. It made us look like beautiful Greek goddesses. The bottom half of the dress hung to the floor and swished around my feet.

  ‘And for the finishing touch,’ the Home Ec teacher said, as she picked up two floral crowns and placed them gently on our heads. The gorgeous little flowers lightly clung to our heads. I felt the delicate petals between my fingers, and, even though they were not real flowers, they felt soft as satin.

  I turned and looked at Tilly, who raised her eyebrows. It was all becoming very real now.

  We began wearing our costumes, or at least our flower crowns, to rehearsals, so we could get used to moving around in them. Violet often rehearsed with her long feathered wings, which was important as they felt heavier the longer she wore them and she needed to get used to the weight. Sometimes she even forgot she was wearing them, and would accidentally swipe a chorus member as she fluttered through the forest scenes.