Magic Ballerina 1-6

by Darcey Bussell

  “You see there’s a flower in the ballet called a Love Flower. When it’s squeezed on someone’s eyelids they fall in love with the first person they see. King Rat snuck into the courtyard and swapped the pretend flower we were using for a real one! It was squeezed on to Florimund’s eyes when we were rehearsing this morning and the first person he saw was Sugar, so now he’s fallen out of love with me and in love with her!”

  “Oh no!” Delphie said.

  “Florimund’s called the wedding and the ballet off.” Aurelia’s eyes filled with fresh tears. “But the trouble is he’s my true prince and I still love him! Oh, Delphie, I’m so unhappy!”

  Delphie’s thoughts whirled. “Why did King Rat do it?”

  “Sugar said he’s still upset that we tricked him when he wanted to marry me ages ago. And of course he didn’t want me to have a big wedding because that would have meant people dancing all over the land, which he hates.”

  Delphie thought hard. She had seen A Midsummer Night’s Dream on TV once. She couldn’t remember all of the story, but she did remember how the flower had made everyone fall in love with the wrong people. “What would happen if you squeezed the flower on the prince’s eyes when he was asleep and then when he woke up he saw you? Would he fall in love with you again?”

  Aurelia gasped. “Yes, I’m sure that would work!”

  “Have you got one of the flowers?” Delphie asked.

  Aurelia shook her head. “No. But we could get one. They grow in the woods outside the palace. They only bloom from sunrise until midday on Midsummer’s Day and you have to use them before their petals droop, so we’ll need to be quick.” She glanced at the clock on one of the towers. “We’ve got about an hour before midday.”

  Delphie grabbed her hands. “Then let’s get to the woods straight away!”

  Delphie and Aurelia hurried through the palace gates and into the forest. The trees were clustered close together and it was all very green and peaceful.

  “So what does a Love Flower look like?” Delphie asked as they set off down one of the forest paths.

  “It’s a large pale lilac flower and it grows close to the ground.” Aurelia checked under some bushes. Delphie began to search the ground by the trees.

  Suddenly a twig snapped behind her. She looked round quickly. But there was no one there.

  As she turned to carry on searching, her eyes caught a slight movement. She continued searching but every now and then she heard a rustle in the bushes and she kept checking uneasily over her shoulder. It was as though she was being watched. She stared. Was that the end of a long thin tail sticking out from under the bushes at the edge of the clearing? She gasped and hurried over, but by the time she got there, the tail had gone.

  I must have imagined it, she thought.

  “We’re running out of time,” Aurelia said anxiously. “I’m going to call the forest fairies, Peaseblossom, Cobweb, Moth and Mustardseed, and see if they can help. They come from A Midsummer Night’s Dream. They’re really nice. I’m sure if I summon them, they’ll help.”

  Delphie nodded, knowing that in Enchantia it was possible to summon characters by dancing some of the steps they did in the ballets they came from.

  “I’ll show you the steps we have to do.” Aurelia stood with her feet touching in fifth position, and started to hum some music. Then she sprang upwards, crossing her feet over before doing a leap to the side and dancing forward, spinning and turning across the forest floor six times, her arms held out at shoulder height. She stopped on one leg, her body tilted forward. She held the pose before bringing her leg round and ending up in fifth position again. “Can you do that?” she asked Delphie.

  “I think so,” Delphie said.

  Aurelia moved into place beside her. “Just imagine you’re a forest sprite! Ready and…” She began to hum the music and sprang into the air.

  Delphie joined in. As they finished the sequence of steps for the second time, four fairies danced out of the trees—two girls and two boys. The girl in the front was wearing a floaty white and pink ballet dress and had sweet pea flowers woven in her brown hair. She leapt lightly through the air and landed in front of Aurelia.

  “Hello, Peaseblossom!” Aurelia said, giving her a hug.

  “Hello, Aurelia,” the fairy said. “Why have you summoned us?”

  “We need your help,” said Aurelia. “This is Delphie.”

  “Pleased to meet you, Delphie. This is Mustardseed,” said Peaseblossom, pointing to the boy in a green tunic.

  “How do you do?” said Mustardseed, sweeping into a bow.

  “And Moth.” Peaseblossom pointed to the other boy, who had large gauzy wings and a brown tunic. He bowed too.

  “And this is Cobweb.”

  The other girl stepped forward smiling shyly. She had a pearly-grey dress and a white cap on her dark hair. “Why do you need our help?” she asked in a silvery voice.

  Aurelia quickly explained. “If we don’t find a Love Flower soon, Florimund will love Sugar forever.”

  “I know where there’s a Love Flower,” said Moth quickly.

  “So do I,” said Mustardseed.

  “And I!” whispered Cobweb.

  “Go, my friends!” Peaseblossom urged. “If the flowers are still there, pick them and bring them back! Hopefully one of them at least will stay fresh until we find the prince.”

  The other three fairies vanished in a flash.

  “Do you think they will find them before midday?” Aurelia asked anxiously.

  Peaseblossom nodded reassuringly. “I’m sure they will. So how’s everything at the palace?” she asked, linking arms with Aurelia and walking a little way off.

  As Peaseblossom and Aurelia talked, Delphie rubbed her feet. They were really sore. She tried to move her toes but they were cramped up in her ballet shoes. Sitting down on a tree stump at the edge of the clearing, she untied the ribbons on her shoes. Putting them down behind the stump, she wriggled her toes, sighing with relief.

  Suddenly there was a flash of light and the three fairies appeared in the clearing again. They ran to Aurelia. Delphie joined them, seeing in delight that each fairy was carrying a lilac flower.

  “I picked mine from near a sparkling waterfall,” declared Moth.

  “Mine I plucked from between the roots of the oldest oak tree,” said Mustardseed.

  “And mine was growing at the edge of a field where golden corn stalks nod their stately heads,” said Cobweb softly.

  They handed them to Aurelia. “Oh, thank you!” she said in delight. “Now I just need to find Florimund before their petals droop and their magic fades.”

  “I saw the prince!” Cobweb breathed. “He was wandering through the corn field.” She sighed. “He looked very sad.”

  “Can you take us there?” Delphie asked. Cobweb nodded. “Of course.”

  “Brilliant!” Delphie ran over to the bushes to get her shoes, stopped and gasped.

  “What is it?” Aurelia said.

  “They’ve gone!” cried Delphie. “My shoes have gone!”

  Aurelia and the fairies hurried over to Delphie. “I left them here!” she said.

  “Maybe an animal took them,” suggested Moth.

  “Look! There are some tracks!” Mustardseed peered at some prints in the soft ground. Each had four long toes and a central splodge, and then in the middle of them was a line that appeared to have been left by a long thin tail dragging along the ground. “Rat prints.” Moth frowned. “A giant rat by the look of it.”

  “King Rat!” Delphie exclaimed in dismay. “It must be him! Oh no, I thought we were being followed earlier and that I saw his tail.” Her eyes filled with tears. “What are we going to do? I need my shoes!”

  “Don’t worry,” Aurelia said, hugging her. “As soon as we’ve put the juice on Florimund’s eyelids we’ll call a meeting at the palace and get everyone to help us come up with a plan. We’ll get your shoes back, Delphie, I promise!” She looked at Delphie anxiously. “We can
forget about Florimund, if you like. Go to the palace straight away.”

  “No,” Delphie shook her head, realising that would mean their plan to make the prince fall back in love with Aurelia would fail. “The Love Flowers won’t last that long. Let’s find the prince first and then get my shoes back.”

  Or try to at least, she thought, her heart sinking at the idea of horrid King Rat having her shoes.

  The fairies led the way to the edge of the forest where the trees gave way to a field of golden corn with a scarecrow in the middle. Prince Florimund was wandering through the field a little way off. He appeared to be pulling the kernels off a long piece of corn and tossing them aside. His lips were moving and Delphie could see that he was saying, “She loves me, she loves me not.”

  “How are we going to make him fall asleep?” she whispered.

  “We could do our Sleeping Dance,” suggested Peaseblossom. “It makes peaceful music start to play. Anyone who hears it who isn’t dancing will fall asleep.” She looked at Aurelia and Delphie. “You’ll both have to dance or you’ll fall asleep too!”

  She edged back into the shadow of the trees. “Look, these are the steps.”

  Delphie watched carefully. It was quite a difficult combination. Peaseblossom repeated it twice.

  “It looks hard,” Delphie said.

  “Don’t worry,” said Aurelia. “You’ll be able to do it.”

  “I wish I had my shoes,” said Delphie unhappily. “They help me to dance.”

  “No, they don’t,” Aurelia told her. “You just think that but it’s your heart and your feet that do the dancing, not your shoes, I promise.” She squeezed Delphie’s hands. “You can do this. I know you can!”

  Aurelia and Delphie joined the fairies. Peaseblossom nodded and they all started to dance. Delphie tried to remember the slow, graceful steps. She turned about, one arm above her head and the other sweeping round, then she stepped forward into an arabesque with her left leg held out behind her. She ran forward three steps and then spun.

  Soft music flooded through the air. “The magic’s working!” called Peaseblossom.

  Delphie felt her heart lift. With the music playing, the steps of the dance came even more easily. The dreamy notes floated out across the cornfield. The prince looked round in surprise. He yawned and sat down. A few seconds later he was sound asleep.

  “We’ve done it!” cried Delphie.

  Aurelia ran to the prince and squeezed the flower above his eyes. Two drops fell from the pale petals and landed on his eyelids. The fairies stopped dancing and the music faded away.

  “Quick, hide, everyone!” Delphie said. “Aurelia, you wake up the prince!”

  Delphie and the fairies peeped out from behind trees as Aurelia sat next to the prince. She stroked his brown hair. Delphie saw him stretch and open his eyes.

  Oh, please let it have worked, Delphie thought anxiously.

  A smile spread across Florimund’s face. “Aurelia.”

  “Florimund!” whispered Aurelia.

  “I have had the strangest dream!” cried the prince, sitting up. “Oh, Aurelia. I dreamed I was in love with Sugar.”

  “It wasn’t a dream, Florimund,” Aurelia said.

  “It wasn’t?”

  Aurelia shook her head and, as Delphie and the fairies came out from behind the trees, the princess told Florimund what had happened to him and about Delphie’s shoes going missing too.

  “Oh, Aurelia, I am so sorry,” he said, looking horrified. “I love you. You are my true princess. It must have been the enchantment that made me think differently. Please will you marry me after all?”

  “Of course I will!” smiled Aurelia.

  Florimund jumped up and swung her round. “And we’ll put on the ballet like we planned for your mother’s birthday!” He pulled out his sword. “But first we have to get back Delphie’s shoes.”

  “Oh, Florimund,” cried Aurelia in delight. “You’re so brave!”

  A loud snoring noise suddenly made them all jump. “What’s that?” Delphie said.

  “It’s coming from over there!” replied Mustardseed, pointing to the edge of the field.

  They all hurried over. Lying in the corn was a fat figure with black greasy fur, a belt with a sword, a red cloak and a golden crown. His eyes were shut and loud snores were issuing from his long snout, making his curly whiskers quiver and wobble.

  Delphie gasped. “It’s King Rat!”

  “King Rat must have been passing through the field trying to escape with your ballet shoes and then heard the music and fallen asleep,” whispered Peaseblossom.

  “Ssh, don’t wake him!” said Cobweb anxiously.

  “Look!” hissed Aurelia. “Delphie’s ballet shoes are sticking out of his bag!”

  A brown sack was lying beside King Rat and the two red ballet shoes could be seen at the top.

  “I’ll get them!” Prince Florimund crept forward and took out the shoes. He hurried back to the others and handed them to Delphie.

  Delphie smiled in delight. “Oh, thank you!” she said, quickly slipping them on.

  “Now we can get back to the palace!” declared Florimund.

  “First, I think we should play a trick on King Rat,” Peaseblossom said mischievously. She whispered in the other fairies’ ears. They giggled and then raced off towards the raggedy scarecrow in the middle of the field. It was wearing a dress and had a head made out of an old stuffed sack with large eyes and a mouth painted on. As they set the scarecrow down beside King Rat, Peaseblossom squeezed the juice from the flowers on to his eyelids and prodded him with her finger.

  King Rat grumbled in his sleep.

  Peaseblossom dashed away.

  King Rat sat up scratching his greasy head and then suddenly saw the scarecrow. He drew in a deep breath. “What beautiful lady is this before me?” he said in astonishment.

  Delphie put her hand over her mouth to stop herself giggling. The fairies had made King Rat fall in love with a scarecrow!

  King Rat scrambled to his feet. “You, madam, are divine!” He swept into a low bow. “My name is King Rat. Yes, I know,” he said raising up a hand as if to stop the scarecrow from speaking. “You are struck dumb by my charm. I often have that effect on people. But you,” he walked around her admiringly, “are a match truly worthy of me. Your eyes! Your smile! Your beautiful straw-like hair! I have never seen such beauty in all my life! Will you do me the honour of being my wife?”

  Cobweb giggled. “Doesn’t King Rat look silly?”

  “Serves him right for taking Delphie’s shoes,” said Peaseblossom. “And for causing all this trouble in the first place.”

  Aurelia grinned. “Come on, let’s go back to the palace now.”

  “But we can’t just leave King Rat in love with a scarecrow!” protested Delphie. It was funny but also slightly mean. “What will happen when the scarecrow falls apart?”

  “Hmm,” said Aurelia as King Rat kissed the scarecrow’s floppy hand. “I suppose you’re right.”

  “But what are we going to do?” said Moth. “There’s no cure from the Love Flower’s enchantment apart from making him fall in love with someone else.”

  Delphie thought for a moment and then had an idea. “Aurelia, have you got your little pocket mirror?”

  Aurelia nodded.

  Delphie grinned. “Then I think I might have a plan!”

  Ten minutes later, King Rat was snoring loudly, sent to sleep once more by the Sleeping Dance. The scarecrow had been removed and now Aurelia’s mirror was open beside him. Delphie clapped her hands loudly and King Rat woke with a start. As he did so, his eyes fell on the mirror.

  He gave a snort of delight as he saw his own reflection. “Well, look at me. I’m even more gorgeous than normal today!” he said, acting impressed. He preened his whiskers. “What a fine figure of rathood I am!” He tickled his nose in the mirror and sighed happily. “I think I’m going to just look at myself all day long!”

  Aurelia chuckled. “That
was a brilliant idea, Delphie! Now you’d hardly know King Rat was enchanted at all!”

  “Our job is done here,” said Peaseblossom. “You should get back to the palace and tell everyone the ballet show is on after all!”

  “There’s going to be so much to do to get it organised in time,” Aurelia said. “Will you come and see it tonight?”

  “We’d love to!” said Moth.

  “See you later!” called Aurelia and then she, Delphie and the prince ran back to the palace.

  When they arrived back and said the ballet show was on again, everyone began to rush around getting ready. Delphie found herself caught up in the whirl of preparation, helping to sew the final bits of costumes while all around her the dancers rehearsed. It was great fun and she didn’t mind at all that she wasn’t dancing in the show. She just couldn’t wait to watch it!

  At last it was time to sit down. Delphie had the honour of sitting with King Tristan and Queen Isabella.

  The show was great, the prince, Aurelia, Sugar and one of the prince’s friends, Prince Siegfried, were playing two couples who were in love. There was also a fairy king and queen and their fairy attendants, and a group of funny men who were supposed to be practising for a play. Delphie loved it. And so did the Queen!

  She clapped and clapped at the end and the cast had to bow ten times. “Oh, I’m so glad Aurelia is marrying Prince Florimund,”

  Delphie heard the Queen say to the King. “That was the most wonderful birthday treat ever!”

  Afterwards there was a big party to celebrate. Sugar came to find Delphie. “Thank you so much for helping sort everything out,” she said as they walked a bit away from the throng. “I’m very glad Florimund isn’t in love with me any more and it was brilliant to be able to perform the ballet after all!”

  “It’s been a really fun adventure,” said Delphie. “I’m glad it’s ended happily. Even King Rat is pleased to be in love with himself!”