Her eyes carried on scanning the room. The Fairy Godmother had gone off to look for Cinderella, but there wasn’t time to think about that now. The vital thing was to gather together the four Fairies of the Seasons and start them off in their dance.
Quickly Holly spotted the Winter Fairy and rushed straight over to ask her where the other three fairies were. The moment they were found, she hurriedly explained that it was of the utmost importance that they all did their dance right here and now.
They nodded and didn’t even ask any questions which was a big relief, as through the window Holly could already see pink streaks in the sky, as the sun began to set. Her heart was thumping, when the music for the fairies filled the air. It wasn’t until they started to dance that she looked around for the White Cat. He was nowhere to be seen.
An icy fear clutched Holly’s heart. Her friend would never go away when he knew he was needed. Never.
Something was terribly wrong.
The tension seemed to fade away, as everyone watched the four fairies dancing so beautifully. But Holly couldn’t relax – not when the White Cat was missing, and neither Cinderella nor the Fairy Godmother were anywhere to be seen, for that matter. Where had they got to?
Turning away from the dance for a second, she cast the most fleeting of glances around the guests – just to check. No, there was no sign of the evil owl face, thank goodness.
Holly swallowed as she suddenly realised it was all up to her now. She must join in the dance herself if anyone faltered and the fairies needed her to strengthen the magic. But would she be able to do it? Could she remember the steps?
“Concentrate, Holly!” she told herself fiercely.
She recognised the very steps that the Spring Fairy was dancing now, from her DVD of Cinderella. She was up to the part with the deep chassé then the rise on to pointe with the arms in fifth position.
But something was wrong. The fairy’s arms were wilting. She wasn’t smiling. Her eyes kept anxiously darting to one side. Then Holly spotted why. Cinderella was back in the room, her arms folded, her furious stare fixed on the dance.
Without a second thought, Holly ran out lightly and stood next to the Spring Fairy, rising up on demi-pointe, her arms in fifth, her head tilted. It felt so wonderful to be dancing, and from that moment on, she used all her concentration to get the rest of the steps right. She felt a lovely glow of happiness as the Spring Fairy gave her a grateful smile.
Together they wove patterns with the other three fairies until, finally, they began to bring the beautiful dance to a graceful close.
It’s working! Holly thought jubilantly as, out of the corner of her eye she saw Cinderella’s harsh stare slowly being replaced with a look of confusion.
At that very second, there was a thunderclap and instantly a great flash of light filled the room.
The Spring Fairy faltered, but Holly concentrated as though her life depended on it, and managed to finish the last few steps of the dance. Instantly, her stomach dropped at the sight of Von Rotbart storming into the midst of the guests, his evil owl eyes glinting dangerously at Cinderella.
“You! You!” he cried.
Holly gasped as she realised the similarity between the owl magician and the strange man she’d seen earlier. It must have been Von Rotbart in disguise!
Cinderella’s hand rose once again to her head and suddenly a great wail came out of her mouth as, with a massive tug, she wrenched the tiara from her head and hurled it away.
Gasps from all of the guests, the fairies and from Holly herself, filled the room. Then everything fell into eerie slow motion as the tiara floated across the room in the fearful waiting silence, seeming to have a life of its own. A second later, it was as if the world had clicked back into place as the tiara landed squarely on the head of the evil Von Rotbart!
Everyone held their breath, and Holly most of all. Whatever was going to happen?
After a silence that seemed to go on for ever, Von Rotbart suddenly broke into a smile and walked across to baby Pearl.
“Oh my, what an adorable baby!” he said.
Holly frowned in confusion, and noticing that the Fairy Godmother was back in the room, slipped across to join her.
“I don’t understand,” whispered Holly. “What is going on? Why is Von Rotbart being so nice?”
Cinderella snatched Pearl up and protectively held the baby to her chest.
“So sweet-tempered,” added Von Rotbart, making cooing noises as the baby broke into a smile.
The Fairy Godmother was frowning.
“It has to be a trick,” Holly answered. “He must be pretending to be nice.”
“And what a magnificent setting for a christening,” Von Rotbart was saying in the same kindly voice.
When he turned to gesture round at the grand hall, Holly saw his face was full of genuine pleasure and something clicked inside her mind.
“It’s the tiara,” she said slowly. “It’s making him a nice person. Its magic must be working in the opposite way to usual!”
The Fairy Godmother nodded. “Yes, I think you could be right.” She smiled, but then she frowned again as she scanned the faces around her. “But Holly,” she touched her arm, “where is the White Cat?”
Holly’s hands flew to her mouth. “I feel terrible. I’ve been so taken up with everything else, I completely forgot to tell you, he’s gone missing. I must look for him straight away.”
“Wait a moment, Holly,” said the Fairy Godmother. “He could be anywhere.”
“Maybe Von Rotbart knows,” said Holly. “I should ask him. If I’m right about the tiara making him nice, then as long as he’s wearing it, there shouldn’t be any danger.”
The Fairy Godmother put a hand on Holly’s arm. “Be careful, my dear.”
Holly gulped as she started to go over, suddenly feeling a bit nervous. What if he wasn’t nice? But this might be the only way to get her friend back. Taking a deep breath, she stepped towards the evil magician.
“Excuse me … Sir …” Holly began hesitantly. “You haven’t seen the … the …” she swallowed “… White Cat, by any chance, have you?”
The owlish eyes seemed to dart from right to left before settling on Holly’s face, and for a moment she thought he wasn’t going to say anything, but then he smiled.
It was hard to believe that this stranger was really the evil magician. Holly waited to see what else he might say.
“I’m afraid I locked him away in a cupboard,” Von Rotbart said sweetly. “I knew that my magic wouldn’t work here in the castle, so it was my last-ditch attempt to spoil the dance. Silly, really, to be so mean, but luckily it all worked out fine in the end.” He reached up and touched the tiara. “You know, I suddenly feel completely differently about things.”
Out of the corner of her eye, Holly saw the Fairy Godmother raise her hand behind Von Rotbart’s back and give a soothing smile, to calm all the worried onlookers. But Holly was getting more and more agitated by the second. She had to find out exactly where the White Cat was before anything could happen to turn Von Rotbart back into an evil magician.
“Er … which cupboard?” she asked in a bit of a stutter.
Von Rotbart leaned forward and peered right into her eyes, so Holly could clearly see her own reflection. “The cupboard under the stairs, of course.”
“Thank you very.” Holly began to say, but Prince Charming was by their side in a flash.
“I have received a message that you are needed at your castle, Sir,” he said to the evil magician. “May I escort you to the door? Did you have a cloak?”
“Certainly, my good chap. Many thanks.” Von Rotbart was still smiling as he went out of the door, and perhaps all the way down the drive too, but Holly didn’t wait to see. She just rushed to let the White Cat out of the cupboard under the stairs and to give him a big hug.
“Oh, my shimmering whiskers, am I pleased to see you!” he cried as he fell out of the cupboard. “But what about the dance?”
Then Holly went on to explain what had happened since the White Cat had been locked in the cupboard: about joining in the dance herself, the spell being broken and the tiara landing on Von Rotbart’s head, finishing up on the bit about him being escorted from the palace by Prince Charming.
When she had finished, the White Cat let out a huge sigh, just as Cinderella came over to thank everyone with baby Pearl in her arms.
“I understand I was … a little … er … bossy,” she said, looking embarrassed.
“Only a little,” the White Cat reassured her. “But, of course, you weren’t yourself.” Then he handed something to baby Pearl, which made her break into a beautiful wide smile.
“It’s her silver rattle!” cried Cinderella.
“Wherever did you find it?”
“When Von Rotbart pushed me into the cupboard, that naughty puppy darted out, dropping it on the way!”
“She was crying because she’d lost it,” said Cinderella, “but look at her now! She’s all smiles!”
“It was definitely the magic tiara that caused her the tears too,” the White Cat said.
“Well, thank goodness the spell is broken!” said Cinderella. “What would we have done without you?” she added, giving Holly another very grateful smile.
Then she turned to the guests. “The danger is past! Let the christening ceremony continue!”
Holly loved it when the Fairy Godmother bestowed the gift of a long and happy life upon baby Pearl, and everyone broke into applause. And she loved the dancing even more, especially the White Cat’s leaping and turning solo.
“Help yourselves to the delicious food!” came Prince Charming’s cheerful voice.
“Try one of these fairy cakes!” urged the White Cat. “I can highly recommend them, you know.”
But hardly a morsel had passed Holly’s lips before she felt a tingling in her toes.
“It’s time for me to go back to the real world, Cat,” she said, hugging him. “I’ll see you again soon!”
The White Cat gave her a little wave as Holly found herself surrounded by the brightest of colours swirling, before whirling her away.
Holly stretched up from rubbing at the dirty mark on her tights. It was incredible the way that she always got back from Enchantia to find that not a single second of time had passed in the real world. She hurried after Chloe, feeling a lovely glow inside her at the memory of all that had just happened.
“Right, let us try another enchainement, to use the proper balletic word for a sequence of steps,” said Madame Za-Za, a few minutes later.
The class stood in neat rows just as before, but this time when her teacher went through the steps, Holly concentrated with all her might. I’ll always make sure I do that from now on, she told herself firmly, thinking back to her dance with the Spring Fairy and imagining how awful it would have been if she’d not been able to join in.
“Well done!” said Madame Za-Za, breaking into a smile after Holly’s row had performed the steps. “When you concentrate, you dance like a dream!”
Her praise seemed to be for all the girls, but her gaze was on Holly. “Always remember how important concentrating is.”
And as their eyes met, Holly felt she really understood.
Yes I will, I really will, she thought from the bottom of her heart.
Prepare to be crowned with the magic tiara by doing this simple, elegant breathing exercise.
1. Stand with your feet together, arms relaxed at your sides and your head bowed forward so your chin is touching your chest.
2. Start to breathe in, raising your head and lifting your arms out sideways. Keep breathing in!
3. At the end of your intake of breath, your arms should be held out at your sides and your eyes looking straight ahead. Keep your neck as long and elegant as possible.
4. Now gently breathe out, lifting your eyes up to the sky and your arms above your head with your fingers pointed upwards.
Holly Wilde skipped down the steps of her ballet school. Twirling around, she thought about the class she had just finished. Her teacher, Madame Za-Za, had been teaching them to dance like baby swans. They were holding an open day for parents and that was the dance Holly’s class were going to be performing.
Feeling happy, Holly danced a few of the steps. As she moved forward, stepping first on to one leg and then the other, a picture of her mum doing the same dance up on her pointes a few years ago came into her mind. Holly’s happiness ebbed away slightly. Her parents, who were divorced, both worked for different ballet companies, which meant they were away travelling a lot. Holly had come to live with her aunt and uncle.
It had been hard at first, but it had helped that an amazing thing had happened to her. She’d been given a pair of red ballet shoes that were magic! They had the power to whisk her away to Enchantia – a land where characters from all the different ballets lived.
It was wonderful to have magic in her life, but it didn’t stop Holly missing her mum and dad. Before she had come to live with her aunt and uncle, she and her mum had travelled everywhere together.
Holly sighed as she walked through the ballet-school gates. She couldn’t help wishing that she was going home to show her mum the steps she was learning for the open day.
A car drew up. It was Holly’s aunt.
“Hi, Holly!” she said and smiled.
“Hi,” Holly replied, opening the door.
“There’s a nice surprise waiting for you at home,” her aunt said. “Your costume for the open day has arrived.”
Holly brightened up. “Oh, wow!” She couldn’t wait to get back!
As soon as they got home, Holly hurried inside. On the kitchen table was a white tutu and a white headdress made of gorgeous feathers. She picked it up and ran upstairs. After changing into the costume, she got her red ballet shoes out of her bag and put them on. Walking over to the mirror, a sigh of delight escaped her. The costume was so beautiful! Holly touched the net of the tutu. Her arms crossed in front of her, she did an experimental plié and then moved with small light steps to the side.
Catching sight of herself in the mirror, she paused. Oh, Mum, she thought, if you were here with me, we could dance together and practise like we used to.
A wave of loneliness swept over her, but then Holly was distracted by a tingling in her feet. Glancing down she saw that her shoes were glowing.
The magic’s working! she realised feeling a thrill of excitement. I must be going to Enchantia again!
She started to spin round and round, and the next second she was whirled away in a cloud of glittering colours.
Holly’s feet touched down on solid ground and as the magical haze cleared, she saw that she was standing in a beautiful garden. There were roses everywhere – white ones, red ones, pink ones. Holly looked about her. Where was she? And where was her friend the White Cat? He was usually there to meet her whenever she arrived in Enchantia.
But just at that moment, Holly heard a loud shrieking cry.
“H-hello?” Holly called warily.
There was another loud shriek and out from behind a bush strode a peacock. His body was bright blue and he had golden eyes. On his head was a crest that looked almost like a little crown. His long tail of feathers trailed on the ground after him. Seeing Holly, he stared.
Holly stepped backwards uncertainly. The bird’s beak looked very sharp and he had sharp claws on his feet too.
He looked her up and down intently and then his eyes seemed suddenly to glitter with approval. “Well, hellllllo there!”
His tail feathers rose and snapped open, like an enormous fan. “And who might you be, my pretty little one?”
“I’m Holly,” she stammered.
The peacock stalked towards her. “Do you come here often?”
“Um…” Holly said. “Well…”
“No tail, but what fabulous feathers you have,” the peacock interrupted, examini
ng her feathery headdress. “I like them!”
“Feathers!”
Holly’s hand flew to her head, as she realised that they must be confusing him into thinking she was a bird! “Oh, but they’re not real. I’m a girl you see, not a—”
The peacock cawed with delight. “And I am a boy! We shall be married!”
“Married!” Holly exclaimed. “But we can’t be! No!”
“No?” The peacock chuckled. “Of course we must, my sweetest swan-ling!” He lifted a claw and wagged it at her. “No one, but no one, would ever say no to Peregrine the peacock.”
Pulling a golden hand mirror out from under his wing, he admired himself. “Am I not the most handsome, most sophisticated, and most perfectly perfect peacock you have ever seen in the whole of Enchantia?”
Looking at himself smugly, he blew himself a small kiss before tucking the mirror away and turning back to Holly.
“You and I are the perfect match, even if you don’t have a tail. We shall live here, strolling through the roses, pecking at the insects, sharing the juicy worms. Together forever.”
He ran a claw through his crest and fixed her with an expectant look. “Well, what do you say?”
Holly backed away. “Look, I’m really very sorry, but you’ve got it wrong, I can’t marry you. I’m not a—”
A massive roar from behind her drowned out her words. “Beauty! You’re back!”
Peregrine screeched in alarm and Holly swung round. Behind her there was a huge man, with the head and shoulders of a giant beast!
The beast’s monstrous face was full of hope, but as she looked at him, his expression changed to one of anguish.
Magic Ballerina 13-18 Page 7