Magic Ballerina 7-12

by Darcey Bussell

  “Leonardo, this is Rosa,” said Nutmeg. “She’s going to try and help.”

  The man looked around. He had a pointed black beard and black hair, the wrinkles on his face were kind but his eyes looked very sad. “Please help,” he begged her. “Please get my Coppelia back.”

  Rosa looked uncertainly at Nutmeg.

  “Leonardo made a doll called Coppelia…” the fairy began to explain.

  “The most beautiful doll you ever saw,” broke in Leonardo. “She looked just like a real person. When you wound her up she would walk and talk. She was like a child to me and kept me company as she danced and moved around the shop, but now she’s gone and without her I don’t want to make toys any more!”

  “Now everyone’s getting really cross because they can’t buy presents,” added Nutmeg.

  “So where is Coppelia?” Rosa asked.

  Nutmeg took a deep breath. “She’s been stolen by King Rat!”

  “King Rat!” Rosa echoed. King Rat was one of the few horrible characters in Enchantia. He lived in a smelly castle with his fierce mouse guards and hated dancing. “But why would he steal her?”

  “He wants to get married,” explained Nutmeg. “Princess Aurelia refused to marry him a while ago so he’s been looking for someone else. He decided Coppelia would be the perfect bride.”

  “But she’s just a doll,” said Rosa, confused.

  Leonardo sighed. “Yes, but when King Rat stole her, he also stole a crystal orb I had made recently. It has the power to give three wishes to any person who throws it into the air. I, as its maker, cannot use those wishes, but King Rat can and he is planning to use it to wish Coppelia alive. He doesn’t know how to use the orb at the moment, but I fear it will not take him long to figure it out.”

  An image of King Rat flashed into Rosa’s mind – black greasy fur, pointed teeth, a sharp sword hanging at his belt and beady red eyes. She shivered, but forced her chin up. “We’ll just have to go to his castle and get her back!” she said. “Come on, Nutmeg! Let’s go!”

  “See you later, Leonardo!” Nutmeg called. “I hope so!” replied the toymaker.

  She waved her wand. Pink and silver sparkles surrounded her and Rosa, and they were swept away by the magic. A few moments later they were set down in the woods outside King Rat’s castle. King Rat had cast spells to make sure that no one else could work any powerful magic in his castle and its grounds, so Nutmeg’s magic couldn’t take them closer than the edge of the woods.

  Rosa peered through the trees at the black foreboding castle. There was an expanse of muddy grass covered with puddles between them and the castle door.

  Nutmeg looked anxious. “How are we going to get in?”

  Rosa didn’t know. They’d tried to sneak into King Rat’s castle in the past and it had never been easy. “There are some windows open.” She pointed at a couple of the ground-floor windows that were ajar. “We could climb through those.”

  “But what if we’re seen?”

  Rosa saw the fear on the fairy’s face. “Don’t worry. I can always go in on my own. You stay here.”

  “No way!” Nutmeg protested. “I’m coming with you.”

  They ran across the muddy grass towards the castle. Rosa’s heart beat fast. Where was King Rat? Was he in the castle? They reached the large windows. Through them, Rosa could see the Great Hall with a stool at the end. Sitting on it was a life-sized doll with pale blonde hair in plaits, a bonnet and big blue eyes. She looked so real, Rosa almost expected her to move!

  “Coppelia!” breathed Nutmeg. “That’s her, Rosa! And look!” She pointed to a table near the doll. On it was a sparkling glass ball. “That’s the magic orb!”

  Rosa’s mind raced. “OK,” she whispered. “Let’s get into the hall, grab Coppelia and the orb and run back to the woods. Then you can magic us away, Nutmeg.” Her breath was short in her throat, her palms damp. There was no one around. This could be their chance!

  “Come on!” She started to climb through the window.

  They landed inside as quietly as they could, but just as they had started to run towards Coppelia, there was the sound of heavy boots on a staircase. Nutmeg grabbed Rosa’s arm and pulled her into a curtained alcove. As the curtain swished closed behind them, Rosa heard the sound of voices.

  “Can we have lunch now, Sire?” an eager voice said. “Cook’s made chicken pie.”

  Rosa tweaked the edge of the curtain back. King Rat was standing by the table, wearing a black cloak with a white fur trim around it.

  “Oh, very well!” he snapped to the two mouse guards. “But before you go, how do I look in my finery?” King Rat patted his cloak.

  “Like a girl…” one of the mice started to say before the one standing beside him kicked him sharply.

  “You look really…really majestic, your majesty!” he told the king.

  King Rat ran a paw vainly through his whiskers. “I do, don’t I?” He picked up the orb. “When I manage to make this rotten thing work and my future bride beholds me, she will be swept away by my good looks. What will she be?”

  He looked expectantly at his guards.

  “Swept away by your good looks,” said the second mouse quickly. He kicked the first one again.

  “Yes, yes, quite swept away, Sire,” the first mouse echoed.

  King Rat looked pleased. “Good. You may go!”

  The mice scampered off gratefully. King Rat strode over to the doll, his red eyes gleaming. “I wish for Coppelia to come to life!” he declared, shaking the orb.

  But nothing happened.

  “He’s got to throw it, hasn’t he?” whispered Rosa, remembering what the toymaker had said.

  Nutmeg nodded.

  King Rat swept the ball through the air in a complicated pattern. “I wish for Coppelia to come to life!”

  Still nothing happened.

  King Rat tried rubbing the orb. “Come on, come on, you stupid useless thing! Work, will you? I wish for Coppelia to come to life.”

  When nothing happened that time either, he stamped his foot. “Ga!” He thrust the orb in his pocket. “I’ll try again after lunch!” And with that, he strode away.

  Rosa turned to Nutmeg. “But why doesn’t he just use his own magic to bring her to life?”

  “King Rat’s very powerful, but only toy magic from the toymaker is able to do something like that,” said Nutmeg. “The orb is full of it.”

  Rosa looked back at the doll. She was worried it wasn’t going to take King Rat long to figure out how to make the orb give him the wishes. “We need to get Coppelia out of here and then somehow get the orb away from King Rat. We could take Coppelia now while everyone’s at lunch and get out there,” she said, pointing to a small window in the wall behind them.

  “But then King Rat will come back and find she’s gone,” Nutmeg said.

  Rosa frowned. “Hmm.”

  “Oh, it’s useless!” muttered Nutmeg.

  “No it’s not!” Rosa said, a plan coming into her mind. “Why don’t I swap places with Coppelia? You can sneak her out of here to the woods and then I’ll see if I can find a way to get the orb off King Rat. I could even pretend to come to life so he thinks the orb has worked! Then he might put it down or something and I can grab it.”

  “But what if King Rat realises it’s you pretending to be the doll?” protested Nutmeg.

  “I’ll just have to make sure he doesn’t,” Rosa replied. “I won’t have to fool him for long. Once I’ve made him think he’s brought me to life, I’ll ask him to go and fetch me something. Then while he’s away, I’ll take the orb and you, me and Coppelia can all escape.”

  Nutmeg still looked unsure.

  Rosa ducked out through the curtains. “Trust me. It’ll work!” she said. “I know it will!”

  Ten minutes later, Coppelia was in the alcove dressed in Rosa’s ballet clothes and Rosa was sitting on the stool wearing the doll’s red and white dress. Luckily, her hair was the same colour as the doll’s. Rosa had tied i
t up in plaits and pulled the bonnet down over her face.

  “You look perfect!” Nutmeg told her.

  Just then there was the sound of a door slamming. Nutmeg raced back to the alcove as King Rat strode into the hall with the orb in his hand. “Time to try again!” he declared, wiping chicken pie off his whiskers with the back of one paw. “Now, let’s see what haven’t I tried…?”

  Please don’t throw it, Rosa prayed. To her relief, King Rat didn’t. Instead, he breathed on it. “I wish Coppelia would come to life!”

  Rosa put her head up sharply.

  “W…what?” King Rat stared at her. “It must have worked!”

  Rosa heard the sound of music swelling out. It was Nutmeg! Even though the fairy couldn’t do strong magic in the castle, she could still manage to do a little bit, and making music play was one of the easiest magical things to do in Enchantia.

  Rosa had watched the ballet of Coppelia, where the ballerina acted as if she was a doll coming to life. She moved her hands sharply down to her sides, keeping every movement precise. The music really helped. She drummed her toes quickly on the floor, perfectly in time with the short, quick beats of the music and then stood up.

  King Rat stared as if he couldn’t believe his eyes. The music swelled into a waltz and Rosa set off round the room, turning and spinning, moving at first like a mechanical doll, but then trying to make her movements smoother so that it seemed as if she was turning into a real person. She stopped in fifth position and looked at the floor as the music faded. Her heart was beating faster than ever. Had she fooled King Rat?

  “My love! My sweet! You’ve come to life!” King Rat exclaimed.

  Yes! Rosa thought.

  He walked around her, looking her up and down. “You don’t look quite so beautiful now though,” he said frowning. “You’re scrawnier, your cheeks look paler…”

  Rosa quickly covered her face with her hand as if she was shy. “But I am Coppelia!” she said, making her voice as light and musical as she could. Her heart felt as if it was in her throat.

  To her relief, King Rat shrugged. “Oh, well, you’ll do. We shall be married this very evening, my love, and you will live here with me forever.”

  “Oh, good!” Rosa enthused, trying to sound as if she meaned it.

  He put the orb down on the table. Rosa looked at it. If she could just get to it…

  King Rat strode to her and twisted his mouth into what he obviously thought was a charming smile. “I am sure you are thinking how lucky you are to have a rat like me for your future husband. Would you like to kiss me, my dear?”

  To Rosa’s horror, he shut his eyes and pursed his pie-smeared whiskery lips for a kiss.

  “Um!” she stepped backwards quickly. “Not until…until I have an engagement ring, my…um…my love.” The thought of kissing King Rat was just too horrible!

  King Rat frowned but didn’t argue. “Oh, very well. I will call for my carriage and go and choose one.” He started to stride across the hall.

  Rosa’s heart leaped; maybe this was going to be her chance to get the orb!

  But just then, King Rat’s eyes fell on it and he gave a sudden laugh. “But of course, I don’t need to go anywhere. I can wish for a ring! I’ve got two wishes left, after all.”

  Rosa almost squeaked in fright. If King Rat made a wish and it didn’t work, he’d realise he’d been tricked. How could she stop him? But it was too late. King Rat had already picked up the orb!

  “I wish for an engagement ring!” King Rat declared, breathing on the orb.

  Rosa’s heart pounded. When nothing happened, King Rat looked confused, and then cross. A frown deepened on his face. “I wish for an engagement ring!” he repeated, more loudly and angrily.

  Suddenly, there was a faint tinkle of music. “Ah, maybe it’s working!” said King Rat.

  Out of the corner of her eye, Rosa saw a note flutter out from the alcove. King Rat hadn’t noticed. He was too busy looking round. “But where’s the ring?”

  Rosa ran to the note. As she read it, her heart lifted.

  “What’s that you’ve got there, my love?” King Rat said.

  “It’s a note for you,” Rosa said innocently, turning round.

  King Rat took the paper. “Look in the woods for the ring you want to find. Magic has placed it there so your hearts may be entwined.” He blinked. “The ring’s in the woods!” he exclaimed in astonishment.

  “I suppose you didn’t actually say you wanted the ring here,” Rosa pointed out. She was sure she knew what was happening. If Nutmeg could get them to the woods she could use her own magic to conjure up a ring herself.

  “Useless orb! Now I’ve got to go outside,” King Rat grumbled.

  Rosa glanced out of the window and saw Nutmeg racing across the grass towards the trees. King Rat couldn’t go out now! She ran over and stopped in front of him. “Dance with me before you go,” she said quickly.

  “I hate dancing!” King Rat frowned.

  “So it would prove how much you loved me if you did dance with me,” said Rosa. “Just once round the room.” She grabbed hold of King Rat in a waltzing position. “Here we go!”

  “But…but…” King Rat spluttered. “NO!”

  “One, two, three. One, two three,” Rosa waltzed a struggling King Rat around the room until saw Nutmeg reach the trees and then she caught sight of a faint silver flash. Hopefully that meant Nutmeg had worked her magic! With a sigh of relief, Rosa let King Rat go. “You do love me!” She fluttered her eyelashes at him. “Now can we go and see if my engagement ring is there, my love?”

  “You’re very demanding,” scowled King Rat. “Dancing one minute, finding you a ring the next. Huh! I hope you’re not going to be like this when we’re married.” He straightened his cloak and then strode out of the door, putting the orb in his pocket as he went.

  Rosa hurried after him, jumping over the puddles. As he reached the first tree in the woods, he began hunting around.

  “Aha!” He seized something sparkling. “Here it is!” he said, straightening up with a ring. “Now, I shall propose to you.”

  “Wonderful!” Rosa gasped. “But you must get changed before you ask me to marry you. You’re dreadfully dirty.”

  King Rat looked down at his mud-spattered clothes. “That’s the very last thing I’m doing!”

  “I won’t ask for anything else,” promised Rosa, hoping she was right.

  As King Rat strode away, she saw Nutmeg peep out from behind a tree and they gave each other a quick thumbs up. Rosa hastened after King Rat.

  Back in the hall, he threw off his cloak. “Wait here, Coppelia,” he commanded. “I will return as soon as I have changed my clothes.”

  He stomped away up the stairs. Rosa didn’t waste a second. She grabbed the orb from the pocket of his cloak and ran to the alcove. Nutmeg was just climbing back in through the window.

  “I’ve got the orb!” Rosa gasped.

  “Brilliant!” Nutmeg looked at the glittering ball. “There’s so much magic inside it, Rosa. It really shouldn’t be in the hands of someone like King Rat. Let’s get Coppelia to the woods while King Rat is changing and I’ll use my magic to whisk us away. We mustn’t use the orb’s amazing magic for something I can do easily. It’s too precious.”

  They started pulling the doll towards the window but she was stiff and hard to manoeuvre.

  “Oh, I wish she really was alive!” Rosa said in frustration. As the words left her lips she lost her grip on the orb. She caught it instinctively. There was a tinkling sound like an old-fashioned music box playing and suddenly Coppelia blinked and smiled!

  Rosa and Nutmeg both gasped.

  “I…I didn’t mean to make a wish!” Rosa exclaimed.

  Coppelia stretched her arms above her head. “Hello.”

  Rosa and Nutmeg exchanged horrified looks.

  Coppelia turned on her toes and stopped in fifth position. “I’m alive!” she cried.

  “Sssh!” Nutmeg hushed her q
uickly.

  “This wasn’t part of the plan,” said Rosa staring at the doll.

  “Look, let’s just get her to the woods and get out of here,” said Nutmeg climbing out of the window. “Coppelia, come with us.”

  Coppelia looked at her in surprise. “Is walking through windows what you do when you are alive?”

  “Oh, yes,” Nutmeg told her.

  “If you want to escape from King Rat that is,” Rosa muttered. The three of them climbed through the window and jumped down. Rosa grabbed the doll’s hand but as she did so, Rosa heard King Rat’s voice from inside the hall. “Coppelia! Where are you, my love?”

  “Here I am!” cried Coppelia merrily.

  “No!” Rosa cried in horror. “Coppelia, shush!”

  “You’re outside?” King Rat said in astonishment.

  “Yes!” cried Coppelia as Rosa started trying to pull her towards the woods.

  The large front door flew open and King Rat came charging out in his cream and gold wedding clothes. He was so astonished when he saw Rosa, Nutmeg and Coppelia that he skidded to a halt. “What? How? Who?” he spluttered, pointing.

  His boots slipped on the muddy ground and the next moment he had tumbled over into a puddle. He sat up, mud and water dripping from his ears and whiskers. “It’s all a trick! Guards! Get them!” he roared.

  “Time for a wish!” gasped Rosa.

  “Yes! Use the orb, Rosa! This is an emergency!” said Nutmeg.

  Grabbing the orb from her pocket, Rosa threw it into the air. “I wish that me, Nutmeg and Coppelia were all back in the toyshop, RIGHT NOW!”

  The guards came running to the door but they were too late. There was a flash of pink light and Rosa and the others were suddenly whisked away!