She listened hard. There it was again. She sat up in bed.
The red ballet shoes were glittering and sparkling in the dark!
Delphie stared at the twinkling shoes and then leapt out of bed. She was about to run out of the room to get her mum when Madame Za-Za’ s voice came back to her: They are special shoes, Delphie. I hope that one day you will find out just how special they are.
Something seemed to be telling Delphie to stay – not to go. She reached out and touched the shoes. Her fingers seemed to spark with a tiny electric shock and suddenly she felt as if she just had to put them on.
She picked up the left shoe. As she slipped it on, her foot felt light and sparkly. She put the other shoe on and as she tied the ribbons, the tingling spread through her whole body. Delphie stood up and then gasped as suddenly the shoes began to make her pirouette round and round…
Delphie whirled, her bedroom blurring into a sparkling haze of colours. She cried out. What was happening?
Then the colours faded and she found herself on a seat. She looked around in astonishment. She was in a large empty theatre. In front of her there was an enormous stage with red curtains, shut tight. The lights began to go down and before Delphie’s eyes, the curtains rose.
A scene of a village street appeared with a large mountain behind it. On the slope of the mountain, a dark castle was painted. Feeling sure that she must be dreaming, Delphie looked at the stage. A fairy in a pale lilac tutu was sitting on a tree stump, her hands covering her face.
Behind her there were dancers dressed as multi-coloured flowers, two people in Russian costumes, a girl in a long red Spanish dress and a clown. Delphie wondered if this was the beginning of some sort of show, but as she looked more closely, she realised that the fairy was crying.
Delphie got to her feet and went down the aisle that led up to the stage. “Hello!” she called. Her voice sounded loud in the silence of the theatre.
The fairy jumped in surprise. “Who are you?”
“My name’s Delphie,” Delphie replied. “Who are you?”
“I’m the Sugar Plum Fairy,” she said.
“You mean you’re dancing the part of the Sugar Plum Fairy in The Nutcracker,” Delphie said, feeling confused.
“No, I really am the Sugar Plum Fairy.” The ballerina stood up, her sparkling tutu catching the lights on the stage. “People call me Sugar for short. This is the entrance to the Land of Enchantia – the land where the characters from all the different ballets live.” She looked curiously at Delphie. “Where have you come from?”
“From…from my bedroom,” Delphie stammered. “My ballet shoes started to sparkle and so I put them on and I ended up here.”
“You’ve got the magic ballet shoes!” Sugar breathed. “I’ve heard about those. Every so often they are given to someone who really loves ballet and they bring them to Enchantia. It happens whenever there’s a problem here.”
Delphie stared at her. “Madame Za-Za – the person who gave them to me – said they were special. She must have meant they were magic.” Delphie’s eyes widened and she looked around wonderingly. “So this is all real. It’s not a dream.” She remembered something the Sugar Plum Fairy had just said. “You said the shoes work when there’s a problem.”
Sugar nodded. “Yes, and we have a very big problem right now. The people in Enchantia usually live happily together and dance all day. But not any more.” Her blue eyes welled up with tears. “Evil King Rat has stopped everyone from dancing.”
“King Rat?” Delphie echoed, thinking back to the villain of the ballet she’d been reading about before she went to bed.
Sugar nodded sadly. “He hates dancing. He’s captured the Nutcracker and turned him into a wooden toy. Without the magic of the Nutcracker no one in Enchantia can dance – all the toys have become lifeless, the sweets have become just sweets again and the snowflakes have frozen. I can’t dance either. Look at this!” She stood up and with a graceful lift of her arms, she rose on to her pointes but she only managed to dance three steps forwards before she wobbled over.
“The magic of the dance has gone. The only way to stop King Rat is to free the Nutcracker and bring him back to life again but King Rat is keeping him prisoner in his castle and everyone’s too scared to go there.”
Delphie thought how awful it would be not to be able to dance. “I’ll help you,” she said eagerly.
“It could be very dangerous,” Sugar warned. “The castle is guarded by King Rat’s army of mice. They’re big and carry swords and are very fierce.”
“I don’t care,” said Delphie bravely. “I want to help you free the Nutcracker!”
“Oh, thank you!” Sugar grabbed Delphie’s hands. “Thank you so much!”
“So, how do we get to the castle?” Delphie asked.
Sugar smiled. “By magic of course!”
Sugar pulled a silver wand out of a pocket in her tutu and waved it in the air. Purple sparks flew out and swirled round them in a haze. Delphie felt herself pirouetting round three times in the air before she landed on her feet and the sparkles cleared.
Delphie gasped. They were no longer on the stage but standing in a wood with fallen branches and leaves beneath their feet. The air smelt horrid – of rotten fruit and old food.
“That’s King Rat’s castle,” whispered Sugar pointing through the trees. Delphie could see a dark shape looming ahead of them, its stone turrets silhouetted against the sky.
Two mice, a bit taller than Delphie, were guarding the big wooden door that led into the castle. They were standing on their back legs and had swords slung through leather belts. Their eyes were beady and their snouts were long.
“What’s that horrid smell?” Delphie whispered back.
“King Rat gets his mice to bring great piles of rubbish here so he can rummage around in it and eat it to his heart’s content. He loves it.”
Sugar waved her wand. There was a tinkle of music and two sugar-coated plums appeared in her hand. “These should help take the smell away. Put one in your pocket.” She handed one to Delphie.
Delphie breathed in a wave of sweetness – icing sugar, candyfloss, fresh plums and peaches. “That’s much better!” She slipped the sugarplum into her pocket and looked around. “How are we going to get into the castle to rescue the Nutcracker?”
“I don’t know,” said Sugar. “I can use my magic to travel around Enchantia, but I can’t use it to get inside King Rat’s castle. His powers are much stronger than mine.”
Delphie crept forward to the edge of the trees. How were they going to get in?
Suddenly both mice sniffed the air.
“Sugarplums!” said the mouse on the left who was tall and thin with very pointed teeth. “I smell sugarplums!”
“Me too,” said the other mouse, who was smaller and fatter with tiny eyes.
They scented the air. “It smells like they’re this way!” said the thin mouse, starting to walk away from the castle and towards the trees where Delphie and Sugar were hiding.
“They’re coming over here!” Delphie whispered in alarm.
Sugar looked dismayed. “I forgot that all of King Rat’s mice love sugarplums! I’d better magic us away!”
But Delphie had noticed something. With the mice walking away from the castle, the door was unguarded. An idea popped into her mind. If they could just get the mice into the trees and properly away from the door…
“Wait!” she hissed as Sugar lifted her wand. “This could be our chance to get into the castle! Can you get me some more sugarplums – and fast!”
“It’s too dangerous!” said Sugar as the mice approached the trees.
“Please!” Delphie begged.
Sugar hesitated and then pointed her wand at the ground. With a faint tinkle, a pile of sugarplums appeared.
Delphie picked up as many as she could. “Quick! Let’s make a trail leading away from the castle!”
Sugar grabbed the remaining plums and they hurried through the tre
es. They placed one of the plums near the entrance to the wood and then another and then another, all leading down the hill away from the castle. Delphie glanced round. Already she could hear the mice crashing through the woods! Sugar put the last plum where the wood ended in a steep bank that led into a shallow but fast-flowing stream.
Delphie suddenly had an idea of how to get the mice really out of the way. “If only we had some string.”
“How about some ballet ribbon!” Sugar waved her wand and a big roll of pink ribbon appeared in her hand. “What do you want it for?”
“To hopefully get two mice very wet!” grinned Delphie.
She raced to the bank and tied one end of the ribbon round a tree on the left side and the other end round a tree on the right side. Then she smiled and grabbed Sugar’s hand. “Come on! They mustn’t see us.”
She pulled Sugar back to the edge of the woods where there was a big bramble bush to hide behind, just as the smaller mouse burst into sight.
“I found the sugarplum!” he exclaimed, snatching it up.
The tall one appeared just behind him. “There’s another!” he cried, pouncing on the pale fruit. “And look! There’s more of them!”
Peeping out from behind the bush, Delphie and Sugar watched as the mice began to run down the hill, scooping up the sweet plums and squabbling over them.
“I saw that one first!”
“I want it!”
“No! I want it!”
The two mice were so busy jostling and pushing each other that they didn’t see the ribbon stretched across the path until they both tripped over it.
“Whoa!” shouted the mice grabbing hold of each other as they crashed to the ground. Over and over they tumbled down the bank until with two very loud splashes they fell, still shouting, into the stream.
Sugar gasped, looking half-shocked and half-delighted. “Oh, Delphie! You’ve made them so wet!”
Delphie grinned. “Maybe that’ll teach them not to be so greedy in future. Come on! Let’s get inside the castle while they’re busy drying off.”
They raced towards the entrance. The wooden door had a huge metal handle in the shape of a rat’s head. Delphie turned it and the door opened. On the other side there was an enormous empty hall with a stone fireplace. Above it there was a framed picture of a black rat with a crown on his head and a red cloak.
On the far side of the room were two towers of boxes, piled almost up to the ceiling with the words GLUE printed on the sides of them.
“Look!” Sugar pointed to a table just in front of the boxes. Standing on top of it was a small painted wooden figure. He looked like a soldier wearing a red jacket with brass buttons, black trousers and boots and a sword in his belt.
“It’s the Nutcracker!” Delphie said, running over and picking the figure up.
But then she heard a noise. It sounded like footsteps marching towards the door on the left.
“Get back in the hall!” came a voice outside the door. “You know King Rat said the Nutcracker wasn’t to be left on his own! Call yourself a soldier! Coming to me with poppycock stories about smelling sugarplums through the windows!”
“But I did, Sarge. I really did. I…”
“GET BACK IN THERE!”
“Quick!” Delphie gasped to Sugar. “There’s someone coming! We’ve got to hide!”
Delphie ran over and turned the handle of a door at the side of the hall. It opened into a small room which seemed to be used for keeping firewood. “In here!” she gasped.
Just as they were about to go in, Sugar waved her wand at the table. There was a tinkling sound and she magicked up another Nutcracker doll. “I’ll put this on the table in front of the boxes so that they won’t realise the real nutcracker has gone.”
Delphie and Sugar dived into the room and peeped back round the door just in time. Two mice hurried into the hall. One was dressed with boots and a sword like the mice outside had been. The other was wearing a smart waistcoat with gold buttons. He looked very relieved when he saw the fake Nutcracker on the table in front of the boxes. “Lucky for you that the Nutcracker’s still here. King Rat’s been ever so pleased since he turned him into a toy.
He was going to use the quick-drying glue in those boxes to stick all those horrible dancers to the ground but he doesn’t have to now. No one can dance while the Nutcracker’s a prisoner here.” He glowered at the other mouse. “So, stay where you are and don’t let anyone past!”
The other mouse nodded and the Sergeant strode out.
Sugar looked scared. “If that mouse stays outside the door then we’re trapped in here!”
“Maybe there’s another way out.” Delphie looked around. But there were no windows or other doors in the little room.
“If only we could bring the Nutcracker back to life, he would be able to help us fight our way out,” Sugar said.
“Can’t you use your magic to make him come alive again?” Delphie asked hopefully.
Sugar shook her head. “King Rat’s powers are too strong while we’re inside the castle. Only really powerful magic will turn him back.”
Suddenly Delphie heard Madame Za-Za’s words from that afternoon echo in her head: The real magic of the ballet comes from telling a story and making the audience believe in that story. Never forget that – always believe in it.
Delphie remembered how Madame Za-Za had looked straight at her while she had been speaking. It had been as if she had been talking directly to her. Never forget the story …
Maybe she’d been trying to tell her something. Delphie began to think hard. What happened in the story of The Nutcracker before the toy came to life?
Of course, she realised. Clara dances with the toy Nutcracker. An idea grew in her head. Maybe if she danced with this Nutcracker he would come to life too!
Almost before the idea had formed in her mind, Delphie’s feet began to tingle and in her head she heard the opening bars of the dance she had watched the girls doing that afternoon. Delphie moved forward into the opening pose. Holding her arms down low and with her left foot pointed forward in front of her, she looked down at the Nutcracker in her hands.
I’m Clara, she told herself and then she began to do the dance she had been longing to do ever since the class that afternoon.
She skipped forward with tiny steps as if she was floating across the floor. Stopping, she raised her hands, drew her right leg up against her left and stretched it out behind her, staying perfectly balanced.
She gasped. The Nutcracker’s arm had started to raise and his mouth to open…
Sugar stared. “Your dance is bringing him to life! Dance some more, Delphie!”
Delphie didn’t need any more urging. She moved into a pirouette, ran forward a few steps then nimbly jumped into the air. She lifted the Nutcracker high up and spun round with him, her whole body glowing and tingling with the music as in her mind she became Clara dancing with her beloved doll.
There was a bright white flash. Delphie stopped with a gasp. The Nutcracker had come to life!
“Hello, Delphie,” he said, smiling down at her.
Sugar threw her arms around him. “Oh, Nutcracker! Delphie’s brought you back by dancing.”
The Nutcracker nodded. “The strongest magic of all.” He hugged her. “And now everyone in Enchantia will be able to dance again!” He looked at Delphie. “I can’t thank you enough. You must have really believed in the dance to make the magic work.” He took her hand. “Thank you,” he said softly.
Delphie grinned in delight.
Sugar ran to the door. “We need to get out of here then I can use my magic to take us back to the village.
“Follow me!” The Nutcracker pulled out his sword and opened the door.
The mouse who was standing guard by the table squeaked in surprise. “It’s you!” He swung round and looked at the fake Nutcracker doll. “But…but…how can it be?”
The Nutcracker smiled. “Ballet magic,” he said. “Let us past!”
; “Oh no you don’t,” said the mouse running to stand between him and the front door. “You aren’t getting away that easily!”
With one swift movement the Nutcracker danced forward and used his sword to flip the sword out of the mouse’s grip. It flew into the air and landed with a clatter on the floor. With nothing to protect him, the mouse ran hastily backwards. “Help! Help!” he shouted. “The Nutcracker’s escaping!”
There was the sound of running footsteps. Then suddenly a door slammed open and a very loud voice boomed into the room.
“What is the meaning of this?”
The mice cringed, and Delphie stared as a haughty black rat with red eyes walked into the room, flanked by four guards.
He was wearing a purple cloak trimmed with white fur, and he had a golden crown on his head. He saw the Nutcracker and stopped. “You!” he exclaimed. “I turned you into a toy!”
“But now I have turned back!” cried the Nutcracker. “And all of Enchantia will dance again!”
“Not if I have anything to do with it!” King Rat leapt forward, swiping his sword viciously at the Nutcracker. His guards closed in as well. Bravely, the Nutcracker fought them off with strong, sweeping swipes. But he was being beaten back.
“There’s too many of them for the Nutcracker to fight!” Sugar exclaimed as the king and the guards advanced with their swords. They began to back the brave Nutcracker into the corner where the piles of boxes marked GLUE were stacked. He knocked against them and they wobbled precariously.
Suddenly, Delphie had an idea. She pulled off one of her ballet shoes. “Stop it, King Rat!” she shouted.
King Rat swung round. “Who are you?”
“Delphie!” She lifted the shoe up and hurled it at him.
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