Magic Ballerina 1-6

by Darcey Bussell

  Then suddenly, amazingly enough, her feet started to tingle. The ballet shoes were sparkling and glowing!

  The tingling feeling whooshed through her body all the way from her toes to the top of her head and the next minute she was spinning up into the air and twirling round in a rainbow of colours …

  Delphie landed with a bump and looked about, expecting to find herself in the theatre again but this time she was standing beside a window in a large round bedroom that had a four-poster bed and a white fluffy rug on the floor.

  “Delphie!”

  A beautiful girl with long brown hair came hurrying over from the doorway, her hands outstretched in greeting. She was wearing a long pale blue dress and a silver tiara. “Princess Aurelia!” Delphie gasped.

  When she had last been to Enchantia, Delphie had managed to save Princess Aurelia from having to marry the evil King Rat.

  Aurelia hugged her.

  “Oh, I’m so glad you’ve come, Delphie. I wished and wished the ballet shoes would bring you. I really need your help.”

  “Why? What’s the matter?” Delphie asked the princess, pushing all thoughts of home to the back of her mind. “Is it King Rat again?”

  “Yes. Oh, Delphie, look!” Aurelia pointed out of the window.

  Delphie turned round. What she saw made her stare. The beautiful palace courtyard below was full of animals and birds – cats, dogs, horses, deer, goats and birds of all different colours. The air was filled with the sounds of squawking and whinnying, mewing and barking, bleating and hooting.

  “What’s happening? Why are there so many animals in the palace?” Delphie asked in astonishment.

  “They aren’t animals,” Aurelia said miserably. “They’re my parents’ friends! King Rat has changed them all – perhaps forever!”

  Aurelia started to explain to Delphie what had happened. “It’s all my fault,” she said, wringing her hands. “My parents are away visiting far-off parts of the kingdom. They’re coming back this afternoon and I thought it would be a really good idea if I organised a surprise masked ball for them. I secretly invited all their friends and had beautiful animal and bird masks made for everyone to wear.”

  “That sounds lovely,” said Delphie.

  Aurelia nodded. “The trouble is I didn’t invite King Rat.”

  “Well, of course you didn’t,” said Delphie, with a shudder. “He’s horrible and he doesn’t like dancing so he wouldn’t want to go to a ball anyway.”

  “He might not like dancing but he loves eating!” said Aurelia. “He heard we were going to have a huge feast and a massive cake so when he realised that he hadn’t been invited he was so cross that he cast a spell from his castle on all the masks. Everyone arrived this morning and as soon as they tried them on they turned into animals and birds. My mother and father are coming back in just a few hours and I don’t know what to do! Oh, Delphie, please can you help me?”

  Delphie wondered just how she could do that. “Um … well …” She saw Aurelia’s desperate look. She couldn’t let her down. “I’ll try,” she promised. “Where’s Sugar?” she asked, thinking of the Sugar Plum Fairy. She and Delphie had become friends the first time Delphie had ever come to Enchantia and Sugar always had good ideas.

  “She’s gone to King Rat’s castle,” said Aurelia. “She heard a rumour that he might have made an antidote – a potion that will reverse the magic – in case any of his friends tried on one of the masks. If the rumour’s true and we can get hold of the potion then we’ll be able to turn everyone back into people again.”

  Just then there was a tinkle of beautiful music and a sweet smell of sugarplums filled the air. Suddenly the Sugar Plum Fairy was standing in front of them. She was wearing a sparkling tutu and had her long hair pulled back into a bun. “Hello, Delphie!”

  Gingerly, Delphie went to greet her but as she stepped forward her foot didn’t seem to hurt any more. Delphie stopped for a moment, puzzled. “It’s better,” she breathed. “How can that be?”

  “What’s better? Are you OK, Delphie?” asked Sugar, seeing the look of surprise cross Delphie’s face.

  “Yes, I, I, well …” Delphie tailed off. It has to be the magic of Enchantia, she realised. Delighted that her ankle was feeling better, she ran over to Sugar. “Hello!” she said, hugging her.

  “So did you get the antidote, Sugar?” Aurelia asked.

  “Not exactly,” Sugar said. “But I do know where it is.”

  “That’s great,” exclaimed Delphie. “Where? Is it in King Rat’s castle?”

  “No,” said Sugar. “King Rat is still really cross with his guards since we managed to rescue the Nutcracker when you were first here. He’s decided the potion isn’t safe enough there so he’s hidden it on Thorny Island in the middle of the Enchanted Lake just outside his castle.”

  “But that’s no use!” cried Aurelia. “We’ll never be able to get it!” she finished, beginning to cry.

  Delphie looked thoughtful and was quiet for a moment. She knew that Sugar couldn’t whisk them directly into King Rat’s castle because his magic was too strong, but if this lake was outside of it, couldn’t there be a chance?

  “Can’t you magic us there, Sugar?” Delphie asked. “Then we can just pick the potion up and come back?”

  “I’d thought of that already,” Sugar said, shaking her head. “The island and the lake are within King Rat’s castle grounds, and so they are still under his spell. I can use my magic there, but it’s very weak, and I can’t take us to the island itself. The closest I could get us would be the woods just outside.”

  “Well, maybe that’s OK,” Delphie said thoughtfully. “We could sneak to the lake from there, find a boat and row over.”

  “I’m afraid that we can’t do that,” Sugar sighed. “The lake is enchanted, you see, no boat can cross it.”

  “Oh, what are we going to do?” wailed Aurelia. “My parents’ friends are going to be animals forever!”

  “Don’t worry,” Delphie said, going over and putting an arm around the princess’s shoulders. She turned to Sugar. “Look, we’re not going to get the potion back by staying around here. Why don’t we go to the woods outside King Rat’s castle anyway and see if we can think up something when we’re there?”

  “All right,” agreed Sugar. She took hold of Delphie’s hands. Music filled the air and lilac light started to dance around them.

  “Good luck!” called Aurelia.

  As Delphie felt herself starting to spin round, she had a feeling they were going to need it!

  Delphie and Sugar landed near the edge of the thick wood. Through the trees Delphie could see the dark walls of King Rat’s castle surrounded by a moat of muddy water. She shivered. There was the smell of rotting rubbish in the air.

  “Where’s the Enchanted Lake, Sugar?” She kept her voice low in case any of King Rat’s guards were nearby. They were all mice with sharp teeth who walked on their back legs and who were as tall as her. They were very scary!

  “Just round to the left of the castle,” Sugar whispered back. “Follow me!”

  As they crept through the trees, Delphie tried to tread as lightly as possible. Every time a twig cracked under one of her feet she jumped and felt her skin prickle. But soon they had reached the edge of the woods. As Delphie gazed out through the trees she saw a dark lake.

  “There it is,” said Sugar.

  The lake certainly looked very spooky. The water was as still as a mirror. In the centre of it was a small island covered with stunted, dying trees. Delphie could just see a grey stone tower, its turrets visible above the tops of the branches.

  “We’ll have to cross the grass to get to the lake,” said Sugar. “Watch out for the mouse guards. Once we’ve left the woods I won’t be able to magic us away from here if they see us.” She checked around. “It looks like the coast is clear. Come on!”

  But just as Sugar stepped out of the trees, Delphie heard the sound of marching. Suddenly a group of ten mice came patrolling rou
nd the castle walls. Delphie grabbed Sugar’s arm, yanking her back into the woods, just in time.

  Sugar caught her breath. The mice were wearing leather waistcoats and had long, sharp swords hanging from their belts. Their whiskers twitched and their eyes darted around suspiciously. Delphie and Sugar stood like statues. Delphie could feel her heart hammering in her chest. Would the mice see them – or maybe even smell them?

  But to her relief, the mice marched on, disappearing from sight.

  “That was close,” Delphie whispered.

  “Thanks for stopping me,” breathed Sugar. “Hopefully if they’ve just been past, it means we’ve got a little while before they come back this way again.”

  She and Delphie stepped out from the trees, looked round cautiously and then ran as fast as they could across the grass towards the dark lake.

  The water looked even more spooky close up. Delphie gulped. It was easy to imagine all sorts of horrible creatures lurking in its depths. She certainly didn’t fancy trying to swim across it.

  “So no boat can go through the water?” she questioned.

  Sugar shook her head. “Any boat that tries will get thrown off.”

  Delphie thought hard. “Well, how about we don’t use a boat, but use something like a raft instead? Maybe the enchantment only stops boats?”

  Sugar looked doubtful.

  “It’s worth a try,” said Delphie. “Can you magic one up?”

  Sugar waved her wand. There was a flash of light and suddenly there was a wooden raft and two paddles on the grass next to them. It looked a bit small and unsteady, but Delphie guessed this was because Sugar’s magic was weaker within King Rat’s grounds.

  Delphie started dragging the raft to the lake. There was no time to lose!

  The water rippled like oil as she pushed the raft on to it. Delphie took a deep breath. “Come on!” She crawled on top and it bobbed up and down unsteadily beneath her. Delphie felt fear catch in her throat as she grabbed one of the paddles. Sugar quickly joined her.

  “Here goes!” said Delphie, trying not to feel scared. She knelt up and pushed her paddle against the bank. As the raft drifted out into the lake it started to swing round in a circle. Delphie put her paddle into the water and paddled hard against it but it had no effect. Sugar helped too but the raft continued to swing round in a circle. It started to spin faster and faster.

  “It looks as though the enchantment does work on rafts as well as boats!” Sugar cried, dropping the paddle to grab on with both hands to stop herself from being swung into the dark water.

  It was like being on the teacup ride at the fair but with no safety bar. The world blurred as they spun. Just when Delphie felt like she could hang on no longer, the raft suddenly shot backwards and hit the bank. Delphie and Sugar both somersaulted through the air and lay, sprawling, on the grass.

  For a moment, Delphie just stayed there, her head spinning. She was very, very glad she hadn’t landed in the water. She sat up and saw Sugar starting to sit up too. “That was horrible,” said Delphie shakily.

  “I guess we can’t use a boat or a raft to get across the lake, then,” said Sugar. “Just what are we going to do?”

  Delphie looked out at the water. They couldn’t sail across it, and there was no way she wanted to try swimming through it. “If only I had wings I could fly over the lake. Could you do that with your wings, Sugar?”

  Sugar shook her head. “My flying doesn’t work here either. But maybe … Of course!” she gasped. “That’s it!”

  “What?” asked Delphie.

  Sugar smiled. “I can’t fly there, but I’ve got some friends who might be able to help.”

  “Who?” demanded Delphie.

  Sugar grinned. “The Swans, of course!”

  Sugar waved her wand and music from Swan Lake filled the air. “We can summon the swans by dancing. We’ll be using the magic of Enchantia, not my magic.” she said. “Come on. Just copy me!”

  The Sugar Plum Fairy ran forward with short steps, her toes outstretched and pointed. She jumped into the air, her left arm moving forward and up, her eyes following the line of her fingers as she held one leg gracefully behind her. She landed in perfect balance, ran on and jumped again. Delphie wondered if her foot would be all right, but as she stepped forward it was just as it had been before and so she began to copy Sugar, moving lightly on her toes and keeping her arms as graceful as she could.

  It felt good to be dancing again. Down and up. Down and Up. Her arms began to feel like wings and the joy of dancing filled her. This was so much fun. She could almost believe she was a real swan!

  The music changed and Sugar started to spin round on the spot, balancing on one leg and swinging her other through the air, her arms moving out lightly to the side with every turn. It was a famous part of Swan Lake that Delphie had watched lots of times. Delphie tried to copy her. She could only manage two turns but Sugar kept on going, bending her knee and rising on to her toe each time.

  Suddenly Delphie saw something that made her gasp. Twelve enormous white swans were flying across the sky towards them, their long necks outstretched. “Sugar! Look!” she cried.

  Sugar ended her spin as the swans swept round them in a circle. For a moment all Delphie could see was a swirl of white feathers. The swans were about twice as large as normal swans. They landed and one of them stepped forward. She had beautiful dark eyes and held her head proudly.

  “Sabrina!” Sugar greeted her warmly. “This is Delphie, the girl who has the magic ballet shoes.”

  Sabrina opened her beak as if she was smiling. “I’ve heard people talking about you,” she said, “and about how you have been helping us. I’m pleased to finally meet you.”

  “And I … I’m pleased to meet you too,” breathed Delphie, feeling slightly in awe of the beautiful, graceful swan in front of her. She curtsyed.

  Sabrina looked pleased and the other swans nodded as if in approval.

  “Why have you called us, Sugar?” Sabrina looked uneasily at the castle. “We don’t like coming here. Last time we flew over King Rat’s castle, his guards attacked us with bows and arrows. Two of us were injured.”

  “That’s awful!” exclaimed Delphie.

  “Well, that’s not going to happen this time,” Sugar said swiftly. “We don’t need you to stay here for long. We just really need you to do us a quick favour. It’s like this …” She explained what King Rat had been up to. “So do you think you could possibly fly us to Thorny Island so that we could fetch the potion?” she pleaded.

  Sabrina touched her beak gently to Sugar’s shoulder. “Of course. I will be only too glad to help you stop King Rat and his evil plans.” She looked at the swan behind her. “Sahara. You and I will take Sugar and Delphie on our backs.”

  The other swan nodded. “Climb on,” she said.

  Sugar ran forward and lightly leapt on to Sahara’s back.

  Delphie looked at Sabrina who nodded encouragingly and moved closer. “Take hold of the feathers between my wings, Delphie.”

  Delphie did as she was told, bent her knees and sprang as lightly as she could on to Sabrina’s white back. She pulled her legs out of the way of the swan’s wings and the two giant swans rose into the air, their great wings beating. Delphie hung on to Sabrina’s feathers as they swooped over the lake. She didn’t want to fall off into the water!

  Sahara and Sabrina reached Thorny Island and circled above the trees. “There’s the tower!” said Sugar.

  The swans flew lower. The top of the tower poked out from the trees. The swans flapped down and landed on its flat roof. There was a trap door in the centre with a metal ring in it.

  “Come on!” said Sugar, jumping off Sahara’s back. She tried to pull the trap door up. She heaved and pulled. “It’s too heavy!” she panted.

  Delphie and the swans hurried over to help. With all four of them pulling hard, they just about managed to get the trap door up. It crashed open on to the floor. Delphie peered down into the hole. There
were stone steps inside leading downwards into darkness.

  Delphie took a deep breath. The steps looked really spooky but if the potion was in the tower, there was only one thing for it. She started down them …

  “Wait!” called Sugar. Pulling her wand out of her pocket she waved it high in the air. Sparkles of light streamed out and shot down the hole, lighting up the darkness with a silvery glow.

  Delphie could see more clearly now, and she started to hurry down the steps. “Look!” she gasped, as the steps stopped in a round room, where a large black casket rested on a wooden table. Delphie ran down the rest of the steps with Sugar following and opened the lid of the casket.

  Inside was a purple bottle.

  Sugar touched the bottle with her wand. Sparks fizzed off it. “It’s the magic potion!”

  Delphie’s heart leapt. She picked the bottle up. “Now we just need to get it back to the palace!”

  Sahara and Sabrina flew them safely back to the side of the lake where the other swans were waiting.

  “Thank you so much for flying us to the tower!” Delphie said gratefully as she got off Sabrina’s back. “Now we’ll be able to use Sugar’s magic to go back to the palace and turn all of the King and Queen’s friends into people again!”

  Sabrina smiled. “Good luck! I’m glad we could help.” She turned to the other swans. “Come! Let us leave this place!”

  They all rose into the air. “Goodbye, Delphie! Goodbye, Sugar!” they called.

  “Goodbye!” Delphie and Sugar called back.

  “We’d better get out of here too,” Sugar said quickly to Delphie. “Let’s go back to the woods and I’ll magic us away before anyone sees us!”

  But as they turned to run to the safety of the woods, Delphie saw something that made her freeze. A group of King Rat’s guards were marching back round the castle walls in the other direction! “Look!” she cried.