Magic Ballerina 7-12

by Darcey Bussell

  “What’s that?” Rosa asked curiously.

  “It’s the song of the sea,” Nutmeg replied. “The music that all the sea creatures can dance to if they want.” As Rosa watched a shoal of green and yellow fish dive and swoop together, she realised it did almost look as if they were dancing.

  “Careful!” Nutmeg suddenly grabbed Rosa’s arm and pulled her to one side. A large black and yellow striped jellyfish had come bobbing out from behind a rock, its long tentacles trailing.

  “That’s a really poisonous type of jellyfish,” Nutmeg explained. “Don’t go near it.”

  Rosa swam quickly out of its way. It was amazing being under the sea even though there were dangerous creatures to avoid. “Where’s the Great Green Cave? Can you use your magic to take us there, Nutmeg?”

  “No, my magic won’t work underwater,” Nutmeg replied. “Let’s ask those fish over there if they know where it is.” She swam towards a shoal of tiny blue fish. “Excuse me…”

  But the fish raced away in a glowing cloud.

  Rosa heard a giggle. She turned and saw someone duck behind a rock – it was a girl in a silvery dress.

  Nutmeg hadn’t noticed. “Maybe I’ll ask that octopus,” she was saying, heading over to a large creature who was swimming along by the ocean floor. But as soon as she spoke to him, he shot away in a cloud of bubbles.

  “Why won’t anyone help?” exclaimed Nutmeg in frustration.

  Rosa was still staring at the rock. Was someone really there? She swam over. There was another giggle behind her. She looked round and caught sight of the same girl, diving gracefully behind a large blue sea sponge.

  “Hey!” Rosa called. “Come here!” She swam to the sponge, but when she got there, the girl had gone. “I saw someone,” Rosa said, going back to Nutmeg.

  Two clumps of seaweed suddenly dropped on to their heads. They looked up to see a girl swimming above them; she had wavy blonde hair and an impish face. She put her tongue out, twirled round and then dashed away giggling.

  “It’s a water nymph!” exclaimed Nutmeg.

  “They’re like mermaids, but they have legs not a tail and they can go out on to the beach as well as living in the sea.”

  “Wait!” called Rosa. “Please will you help us?”

  Rosa and Nutmeg chased after the nymph, but she was a much faster swimmer than them and swam around a clump of seaweed. When Rosa and Nutmeg reached it, she’d gone.

  Rosa bit her lip. She was beginning to feel that they were never going to find the Great Green Cave. No one seemed to want to help them and she wasn’t sure how long their magic would last.

  Suddenly there was a high-pitched scream from a cluster of tall rocks just ahead. “What was that?” Rosa said in alarm.

  “Help!” a frightened voice cried.

  Rosa and Nutmeg swam to the rocks as quickly as they could.

  The sight there made Rosa’s eyes widen. The water nymph was standing in a crack between two of the rocks from which she had been spying on Rosa and Nutmeg, but one of the poisonous black and yellow jellyfish had floated after her and was now blocking the entrance. She was trapped!

  She saw Rosa and Nutmeg looking at her. “Help me! Please!” she gasped in terror. “He’s going to sting me!”

  Rosa grabbed a handful of shells from the ocean floor and threw them at the jellyfish but it just made him bob closer to the terrified nymph.

  The nymph started to cry.

  “What can we do?” Rosa asked Nutmeg frantically.

  “I know!” Nutmeg exclaimed. “I bet he doesn’t like nutmeg!” She swam up, hovered in the water above the jellyfish and waved her wand. Brown spicy nutmeg powder sprinkled out and fell on the jellyfish. A shiver ran through its gloomy body. Nutmeg waved her wand harder. A whole load more nutmeg fell out! The jellyfish’s sides started to puff out…

  “What’s happening to it?” Rosa said.

  Suddenly, the jellyfish sneezed!

  Rosa only just managed to jump out of the way in time as the force of the sneeze sent the jellyfish shooting backwards away from the crack in the rocks. The water nymph dashed out after him.

  “Oh, thank you! Thank you!” she cried in relief as the jellyfish bobbed away looking confused. “You rescued me!”

  “I wasn’t sure if nutmeg would work, but I’m glad it did!” Nutmeg smiled at her. “What’s your name?”

  “Alina,” the nymph replied. “What’s yours and what are you doing here?”

  Rosa quickly told Alina their names and explained. “So, you see we have to find the Great Green Cave,” she finished.

  “Oh, I know where that is!” said Alina.

  “Could you tell us how to get there?” asked Rosa eagerly.

  Alina grinned. “I’ll do better than that. I’ll take you there! Come on!”

  Rosa and Nutmeg raced after the water nymph. Alina was so fast, she had to keep stopping and waiting for them to catch up.

  “Are we nearly there?” said Nutmeg after they had been swimming for some time. Her face was pale and she was breathing heavily. “I’m not sure my ballet magic is going to last much longer.”

  Rosa realised that she too was feeling out of breath. “How much further is it?” she asked anxiously.

  “We’ll be there soon,” Alina said.

  As they swam on, Rosa felt her breath getting shorter and shorter. Just when she was beginning to think she couldn’t go on any further, Alina stopped. “There it is!” She pointed to a cave in front of them. A curtain of thick green seaweed hung down over the entrance. “That’s the Great Green Cave!”

  Rosa’s ears were drumming and her chest was really hurting now. She was horribly aware she was deep under the sea and the magic could run out at any second. She just wanted to get to the surface. Turning, she saw Nutmeg leaning against a rock, panting for breath.

  I’ve got to get the sceptre, Rosa thought. She swam as quickly as she could into the cave and looked around. It was full of brown and green seaweed. But where was King Neptune’s sceptre? Rosa looked around desperately.

  And then she saw it! A tall, thin pole with a jewel-encrusted ball at the top was poking out from a thick clump of rubbery brown weed. Rosa’s heart jumped. Using the last of her fading strength, she swam over and pulled the sceptre out. “I’ve got it!” she gasped as she left the cave.

  “Brilliant,” Nutmeg panted. “Let’s get back to the surface now! I can hardly breathe.”

  “I hope we’ve got enough magic to get there,” said Rosa.

  “I’ll help!” Alina grabbed their hands and started to pull them upwards. With her strength and both of them kicking frantically, Rosa and Nutmeg got closer and closer to the surface. Just when Rosa felt she had run out of her very last breath, they burst out into the air.

  “We did it!” Nutmeg cried in relief as the grey waves rolled around them.

  Rosa drew in deep gulps of fresh air. They were the sweetest breaths she had ever taken. She clutched the sceptre, trying to hang on to it and swim at the same time.

  “The beach is a long way away,” she realised anxiously.

  “Don’t worry, now we’re not underwater, I can use my magic to get us there,” said Nutmeg. “Do you want to come with us, Alina?”

  “Could I really? I’ve never travelled by fairy magic before,” said the nymph shyly.

  Nutmeg grinned. “Of course you can!”

  Pulling out her wand, she twirled around in the water. A cloud of silver sparkles surrounded them. Nutmeg grabbed Rosa and Alina’s hands, and the next minute they were spinning round and lifting into the air. Her magic put them down again on the beach at the edge of the waves.

  “Phew!” Rosa said.

  “That was fun!” said Alina in delight.

  “Thank you so much for helping us,” Rosa said to her. “We’d never have got this sceptre back without you. Now we have to work out how to get it back to King Neptune…”

  There was an enormous crash of thunder and suddenly something erupted throug
h the waves. Rosa stared. It was a very large man standing astride the back of two dolphins. He had strong white hair and was holding a trident in his hand – a massive fork with three sharp prongs – and as he stopped on the surface of the water, three seagulls flew down to perch on his massive shoulders.

  “King Neptune!” Alina gasped.

  A familiar bony head with a tuft of hair held back by a red slide surfaced in the water beside the dolphins. “It was her!” shrieked Solly the sprite, pointing a long bony arm at Rosa. “That’s the human girl Solly was telling you about, your majesty. That’s the one who stole your sceptre. Clever old Solly the Sprite told you, yes he did!”

  “YOU!” the sea king thundered, his eyes on Rosa.

  “Me? I didn’t steal it!” gasped Rosa.

  The king didn’t listen to her. “Thief!” he roared.

  “But it wasn’t Rosa, King Neptune!” Nutmeg cried. “It was…”

  “It was that girl!” shrieked the sprite. “Solly heard her plotting it in his cave. Solly swam all the way out to your kingdom to tell you, your majesty. Ooooh, Solly deserves a proper reward for his bravery, he does.”

  “He’s lying!” Alina cried.

  But Neptune didn’t listen to her either. “And I thought it was my cousin who had wronged me by taking it, when all along it was you, human girl!” He raised his trident and pointed it straight at Rosa. “Well, I will have my revenge! You shall be punished!”

  Rosa’s heart pounded. If only she could make Neptune stop and listen, so they could explain the truth. But how could she manage that? She did the only thing that came into her head – she danced! Hearing the music in her mind, she danced like a water nymph again. The sand by the water was firm and damp, and she spun across it with light steps, her arms moving like seaweed in the water.

  “Good idea, Rosa!” she heard Nutmeg cry. There was a tinkle of Nutmeg’s wand and real music flooded out. Rosa lost herself in it, turning round faster and faster.

  As she paused for a moment on her toes, with her arms above her head, she dared to glance at King Neptune. He was staring straight at her.

  “You dance like a nymph from the water!” his voice rumbled in astonishment. “How can that be?”

  Rosa seized her chance. Running forward she placed the sceptre at the water’s edge and swept into a deep curtsey. “King Neptune, here’s your sceptre. I promise I didn’t steal it. I was trying to find it with Nutmeg because we wanted you to stop the storms. Here. Please, have it back!”

  “Don’t listen to her!” shrieked Solly.

  “Please do listen, your majesty!” Alina exclaimed. She picked the sceptre up and swam to the king, holding it out. “It’s the truth. Rosa and Nutmeg have been trying to get the sceptre back for you. They had to be very brave and go far under the water to do it, because it was hidden in the Great Green Cave. I helped them find the way there. Rosa really didn’t steal the sceptre from you.”

  “So who did?” the sea king demanded, bending down and taking the sceptre from the nymph.

  Rosa hesitated, but Alina and Nutmeg had no such scruples. “He did!” they both said, turning and pointing at Solly.

  “Solly? Oh, no, no, no,” said the sprite hastily, starting to swim backwards away from the king.

  “Is this true, sprite?” Neptune demanded as Alina joined Rosa and Nutmeg again.

  “No, of course not! No, it wasn’t Solly, no,” the cave sprite blustered.

  “He did do it! He did it just to cause mischief!” said Nutmeg. “He told us!”

  Neptune looked from the girls to the sprite. “Bah! I should have known better than to believe a tricky cave sprite!” he roared. He pointed at Solly. “See him off!” he shouted to the seagulls.

  The birds instantly swooped down on to the sprite, pecking and prodding him with their beaks.

  “Ow! Ooh! Ah! Ow!” Solly swam towards the shore as fast as he could. Reaching the beach, he scrambled out of the water. The slide fell out of his hair, but he didn’t have time to get it. Racing away up the beach, he was chased all the way back to his cave by the gulls.

  “And may that be a lesson to you, sprite!” Neptune thundered after him.

  Alina picked up the hairslide and held it out to Rosa. “What’s this? It’s very pretty.”

  “It’s a hairslide. It was mine.” Rosa made a quick decision. “But you can have it now, Alina.” She wanted to say thank you. “We’d never have found the cave without you.”

  “It’s beautiful!” Alina said in delight. She clipped it into her wavy hair. “Thank you!”

  Neptune held up his sceptre. “My special prize,” he said lovingly. “I should have listened to my cousin. I have been punishing him unfairly. To make amends, I will stop these storms and make it the most perfect day that Enchantia has ever seen.” Raising his trident to the sky, he called out a deep command in a language that Rosa didn’t understand.

  The clouds above seemed to shiver and then they split apart, racing away to leave behind a pale blue sky. The wind dropped and the waves instantly calmed. As the sun sparkled on the rock pools, Rosa felt her spirits soar.

  Nutmeg waved her wand and the watery music started up again. The fairy grabbed Rosa and Alina’s hands and swung them round.

  We did it! Rosa thought. We got the sceptre back. The storms have gone!

  The seagulls swooped through the air and a shoal of flying fish leapt out of the waves as if they were dancing too.

  “Goodbye, human girl and fairy!” called King Neptune. “Take these gifts as a reward for so bravely returning my sceptre.” He threw two beautiful pink and cream curly shells into the air and they flew across the waves. “May they always sing to you with the voice of the sea and remind you of your adventures in my kingdom.”

  Rosa and Nutmeg caught the shells.

  “Thank you!” they cried as Neptune and his dolphins sank down beneath the waves.

  “Oh, wait until we get back to the Royal Palace and tell the King and Queen about all of this!” said Nutmeg, skipping in delight. “They are going to be so pleased!”

  But just as she spoke, Rosa’s ballet shoes started to sparkle. “I can’t go to the palace! I’m going home!” cried Rosa. “Bye, Nutmeg! Bye, Alina!”

  As her friends called goodbye, the world blurred into a swirl of colours and suddenly she was swept away…

  Rosa landed in her bedroom and blinked. It was always strange coming back to real life after having been in Enchantia. Realising she had the shell, in her hands, she lifted it to her ear. It made the sound of the waves just like a normal shell, but as well as the swirling whooshing sound, there was a faint tinkling of beautiful watery music.

  Rosa smiled. Neptune was right. The shell would always remind her of the adventure under the sea. She put it down on her bedside table. As she did so, her eyes fell on the Royal Ballet School forms form on her bed. Of course, the auditions! Everything came rushing back. She picked up the leaflet and looked at it sadly.

  Just then there was a sound behind her. Rosa turned and saw her mum in the doorway. “Rosa, can we talk? I really want to know why you don’t want to go to the auditions.” Her mum wheeled herself into the room. “It just seems so unlike you. Are you telling me the truth?”

  Rosa thought about her adventure in Enchantia. So much trouble had been caused by King Neptune refusing to talk to King Tristan. She felt awkward about it, but she suddenly knew she should be honest with her mum.

  “Actually, I…I do want to go to the auditions,” she admitted. “And I do want to go to the Royal Ballet School, it’s just…just…” The words suddenly came out in a rush. “I don’t want to leave you on your own, Mum!”

  A sigh escaped from her mum. “Oh, Rosa, is that what it is? You mustn’t worry about me. You know I’d be so happy if you got into the Royal Ballet School. In a way it would be like a dream come true for me.

  Yes, it would mean you boarding and I’d miss you of course, but there are phone calls and emails, and I could come and visit.
And you’d be home in the holidays.”

  “But you said you didn’t want me to go away!” Rosa cried.

  “I know, however, I had been about to say, but of course I’d cope and I’d be so happy for you – but you’d already left the room.” Her mum took her hand. “I do want you to audition, I really do.”

  Rosa felt as if a massive weight had been lifted from her shoulders. “Oh wow! Then I will!”

  “Why don’t we fill in the audition forms right now,” said her mum happily.

  Rosa nodded and fetched a pen from her bedside table. As she did so, her mum spotted the shell.

  “Where did that come from?” she asked. “I’ve not seen it before.”

  Rosa hesitated and then smiled. “Oh, someone I know gave it to me.” She picked it up. “Can I ring Olivia before we fill in the form? I’ve got to tell her I’m going to be auditioning after all.”

  Her mum smiled. “Of course.”

  Rosa skipped a pace and spun round as she followed her mum out of the bedroom. She was going to audition for the Royal Ballet School! How amazing was that?

  Almost as amazing as having magic ballet shoes, she told herself. And having brilliant adventures in Enchantia!

  She lifted the shell and smiled to herself as she heard the music of the sea ringing in her ear.

  1. Start by sliding your right leg out to 2nd position and push firmly off your left leg, opening up your arms.

  2. Put your weight on to your right leg and bend it slightly, sweeping your left arm into 3rd position and follow the movement with your head so your body is curved softly in the same direction.

  3. Tuck your left foot behind your right ankle and put your weight on to the ball of your right foot.

  4. Bend your knees and gently bob down, hold for one count and come up straight. Then start again, but this time begin with your left leg. You will sway in the other direction!