Music Mad

by Rowan McAuley

  Table of Contents

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Copyright Page

  It was a warm day and the air conditioning in the car was broken. All the windows were down and a dusty wind blew everyone’s hair into a tangle.

  Iris didn’t care one little bit. She was in the car on the way to her first music camp and nothing could put her in a bad mood. In the boot of the car, her saxophone was tuned and polished. She even had a brand new orange-and-purple sling for wearing around her neck while she played.

  For four days and three nights she was going to be at Camp Melody. Imagine! Actually living with other kids who loved music as much as she did. Best of all, on the last day, they would perform in the concert — with their families watching.

  ‘Iris?’ called her mum from the driver’s seat. ‘Ask Kick if he needs to go to the toilet, would you? There’s a service station up ahead, but we won’t stop if we don’t have to.’

  Iris turned to her brother. He was reading a comic and had taken out his hearing aids because of the wind rushing through the car windows.

  Iris tapped him on the arm. When he looked at her, she said, ‘Mum says, do you need the toilet?’

  He grinned. ‘No, but I want a chocolate bar.’

  ‘Hey, I heard that,’ said their dad, looking up from reading the map.

  Kick always spoke too loudly, even when he was trying to whisper.

  ‘Dad heard that,’ Iris repeated for him.

  Kick shrugged. ‘Well, I do!’ He licked his lips. ‘I want a huge chocolate bar with chocolate on the outside and chocolate fudge in the middle!’

  ‘All right,’ said their mum. ‘I could do with some chocolate, too.’

  ‘Mum says yes!’ said Iris.

  Kick threw both hands in the air and cheered. ‘Cool!’

  Somehow they got lost after the service station and ended up getting to Camp Melody almost an hour after the official sign-in time.

  Iris stood by the car and looked over to the cabins. There were kids running everywhere, and a pillow fight had broken out on the lawn.

  Iris’s dad was unpacking her things from the boot when a young woman with very short hair and a clipboard walked over.

  ‘Hello,’ she said. ‘You must be Iris? You’re the last one to tick off my list! I’m Amber, your cabin leader.’

  Iris suddenly felt shy and couldn’t think of a thing to say. She wasn’t sure what a cabin leader was, and that started her thinking about all the other things she didn’t know. Like, where would she sleep? Would the other kids want to be friends with her? Most importantly, would they be better musicians than she was?

  Iris felt goose pimples prickle over her skin.

  Amber didn’t seem to notice. ‘Because you’re a bit late,’ Amber continued, ‘all the rooms have been allocated. Don’t worry, though. You’re in with a really great group of girls. They were all here last year, so they can help you find your way around.’

  Amber picked up Iris’s saxophone case. ‘Come on, I’ll show you where you are sleeping.’

  Iris turned around to pick up her back-pack. Kick and her mum had wandered over to look at the river, but her dad was still with her. He had her pillow and sleeping bag.

  ‘Let’s go, kiddo,’ he smiled.

  Iris smiled back, but it felt a bit wonky on her face. She really, truly, absolutely wanted to be at music camp. But she also wanted to jump straight back in the car and yell, ‘Step on it, Dad!’

  Because no matter how much she wanted to be there, four days was a long time if she didn’t fit in.

  Iris followed Amber across the grass to the cabins. Mobs of kids were running around, laughing, throwing balls and telling jokes. They’re probably all best friends from last year, thought Iris. I’m probably the only new one.

  The cabins were solid little wooden houses, each painted a different colour. Iris squared her shoulders and walked a bit faster to catch up with Amber. As she walked, she talked sternly to herself. So what if you’re the only new one? You’ll only be new for today. By tomorrow, everyone will be the same. All you have to do is smile …

  She was still encouraging herself when Amber swung open the door to the red cabin. As the sunlight spilled inside, Iris saw three girls sitting on one of the top bunks. They all jumped with surprise. They looked like they had been interrupted in the middle of a secret meeting.

  Iris’s smile slipped a fraction. She didn’t want her first meeting with her new bunk-mates to be spoiled by bad timing. Or by an embarrassing dad!

  Just as she thought that, her dad pushed past her into the cabin and looked around brightly. ‘Hello! This is cosy!’ he boomed. ‘Where shall I put your bags, chook?’

  Iris grimaced. Chook! ‘Just put them anywhere,’ she muttered. ‘I’ll work it out later.’

  But she needn’t have worried. The three girls on the bunk were as great as Amber had promised. Instead of carrying on whispering, or giving her nasty looks for barging in, they were all smiling, waiting to meet her.

  ‘Girls,’ said Amber. ‘This is Iris. Why don’t you come down and help her unpack?’

  Two of the girls climbed down the ladder, but the third jumped over the side of the bunk and landed with a thud at Iris’s feet.

  ‘Hi,’ she said, smiling broadly as she pushed her long fringe off her face. ‘I’m Siri. I play viola.’

  The other two came and stood beside Siri. One was tall, pale and shy-looking. The other girl had short dark-brown hair, and somehow Iris could tell that she was very kind.

  ‘I’m Annabelle,’ said the kind-looking one. ‘I play violin. And this is Freya,’ she said, pointing to the shy girl.

  ‘Hi,’ Freya said quietly. ‘I play cello.’

  Iris almost laughed with relief. It was just like school! Siri was the loud, cheeky one, Freya was the shy and gentle one, and Annabelle was much like her best friend Zoe.

  ‘I play sax,’ said Iris, grinning.

  ‘Oh, oh! Can I have a go, please?’ begged Siri. ‘I’ve always wanted to play sax!’

  Iris did laugh then. She was going to fit in perfectly.

  ‘Well, Iris,’ said her dad. ‘It’s time Mum and Kick and I got going. Will you come and say goodbye?’

  Iris had almost forgotten her dad was standing there. She had been too busy checking out her bunk and letting Anna-belle show her which shelves in the cupboard were hers.

  ‘I’ll come with you,’ said Annabelle. ‘Then I can show you the music rooms on the way back.’

  Iris was pleased. It wouldn’t feel like such a big deal watching her family drive off if she had someone with her.

  Her mum and Kick were waiting by the car. Kick was practising his handstands, but kept tumbling over onto the grass.

  Annabelle stood aside to let Iris hug her mum and dad. Annabelle pretended not to notice when Iris wiped away a tear while hugging her mum.

  And then the car was pulling away and Kick was waving out the open window. Iris wouldn’t see them again until the night of the concert.

  ‘Come on,’ said Annabelle, when the car had disappeared. ‘I’ll show you around.’

  They walked together across the lawn towards the hall and the music rooms. A bell rang in the distance, and Iris saw kids running out of the cabins and towards the hall.

  ‘Morning meeting!’ said Annabelle. ‘Let’s go!’

  Iris ran after her, leaping over the grass and feeling light and free.

  At morning meeting, Iris had
her first chance to meet all the camp leaders and kids. It was a massive group and, as she sat down in the circle of chairs, Iris began to feel shy again. She looked across the room and saw Amber give her a wink.

  A grey-haired lady stood up. ‘Hello, and welcome to Camp Melody,’ she said. ‘My name, for all you newbies, is Libby. For all you old hands, welcome back! It’s good to see you again. As usual, we are going to start off with a run-through of the camp rules and our schedule. Then we’ll have morning tea. This is a chance for you to start working out who you would like to perform with at the concert.’

  Iris felt jumping beans of excitement in her stomach.

  ‘Remember,’ Libby went on, ‘your cabin leaders are also here as music tutors, so if you have any trouble finding a group, make sure you ask for help. Now, here are our leaders!’

  Around the circle, each cabin leader stood up and said their name and which instruments they tutored. When it was Amber’s turn, she said she’d have a go at almost anything except bagpipes. Everyone laughed, and Iris wondered what instrument Amber really played.

  Then Libby posted up the camp program.

  ‘Obviously, today is a bit different,’ said Libby. ‘To find the right people to perform with for the concert, you have to get to know each other. So, everybody up! Push your chairs back against the wall.’

  There was a terrible screeching of chair legs on the wooden floor as the space was cleared.

  ‘OK, everybody at this end of the hall — run! Now, run to the other end of the hall, but — wait for it! — only if you play flute!’

  All the flute kids raced, pounding to the far end of the hall while the rest of the camp cheered.

  ‘That’s my group!’ yelled Adam, the woodwind tutor. ‘Go, flutes! Go, flutes!’

  ‘All right, let’s see,’ said Libby. ‘Get ready to run and join them if you play violin!’

  And so it went on, kids running and screaming from one end to the other, backwards and forwards. Kids who’d been playing for two years or less, then kids who played more than one instrument, then kids who’d been given their instrument by their brother or sister, then kids who were at camp for the first time …

  Iris ran and ran, the group splitting and re-splitting in a hundred different ways until everyone was puffing and mixed together.

  ‘OK!’ said Libby at last. ‘Well done! It’s time for morning tea. I want you all to talk to someone new and start working out who you are going to play with at the concert.’

  Next to Iris, Annabelle danced with excitement. ‘Come on, Iris!’ she said. ‘Let’s find Siri and Freya. Siri’s got a plan for the concert already.’

  Iris figured that would be OK. After all, it was her first time at camp, so everyone was new to her, really. It wouldn’t matter if she didn’t make another new friend straight away, would it?

  Iris and Annabelle found Siri and Freya under the fig tree by their cabin. Freya was sitting on one of the swings, while Siri swung so high on hers the chain went slack at the top of each swoop. When she saw Iris and Annabelle, she leapt out of her seat and sailed through the air, landing on the grass in front of them.

  ‘There you are,’ she said. ‘Guess what?’

  ‘What?’ asked Annabelle.

  ‘Tell them, Freya.’

  Freya got up off her swing. ‘I met another new girl at morning tea. Her name’s Mia. She plays first violin and she sings and she said she’d like to play with us.’

  ‘That’s great!’ said Annabelle.

  Iris stood awkwardly while the other three talked. What about her? Did they have room for her to play, too?

  Iris wasn’t sure what to say. Would it be rude to ask straight out if she could join in with the concert piece Siri had organised?

  ‘Um, so what are you guys playing, anyway?’ she asked.

  Siri grinned and lowered her voice, checking over her shoulders as though someone might be hiding nearby, waiting to steal her idea.

  ‘We’re doing this folksong I learnt at school,’ she said. ‘It’s great, because it’s all for strings and voices, and that’s exactly what we’ve got.’

  Iris realised she was right. Siri played viola, Freya played cello, and Annabelle played second violin. And now they had Mia and her first violin. Perfect.

  A perfect string quartet with no room for a big, noisy, brassy saxophone.

  Annabelle saw her face and quickly said to Siri, ‘What about Iris? Can we fit her in somehow?’

  Siri glanced at Freya, and Freya bit her lip. They both looked uncomfortable. There was a long and horrible silence.

  ‘Er, well …’ Siri was trying to talk, but she didn’t seem to know what to say. ‘The thing is, Iris,’ she blurted out at last, ‘we didn’t know you when we started planning this. We really, really like you, but I don’t think a sax will work.’

  ‘But we’re singing, too,’ said Freya. ‘Do you want to do the singing bit with us?’

  ‘Yeah!’ said Annabelle, turning to Iris. ‘Can you sing?’

  Iris pulled a face. ‘Not really. Not properly. Only in the shower.’

  ‘Oh, too bad,’ said Annabelle sadly.

  ‘Yeah, too bad,’ Iris agreed.

  She would have to find someone else to perform with. How would she do that?

  After morning tea, it was time to meet up with the tutors. Some of the kids, like Siri, Freya and Annabelle, had already decided what they were going to work on for the concert. It was easy for them. They went off to find their tutors and pick out practice rooms.

  Iris looked around for any other kids like her, who didn’t know where to go or who to be with. She couldn’t see any.

  Why did I have to play the stupid sax? she grumbled to herself. If only I played the flute or clarinet. Something normal …

  She sat down on the grass next to her saxophone case. Inside, her sax was polished and shining, but what difference did it make how nicely it was tuned if she had no-one to play with?

  She’d been so worried about getting stuck in a cabin with girls who didn’t want to be friends, she hadn’t thought to worry about the concert. Boy, had she got it backwards!

  Sitting on the ground, picking seed heads off the grass and flicking them at her sax, Iris sulked.

  She wasn’t usually a sulker, but today she thought she deserved some time-out to feel sorry for herself. She’d come to camp all by herself. She’d been brave and friendly and done her best to make friends. So why had she still ended up with no-one to play with?

  ‘Iris?’ said Amber, walking over from one of the practice rooms. ‘What are you doing out here by yourself?’

  Iris shrugged. She didn’t want to make a big deal out of it, but she was sure Amber would feel bad for her when she knew that Iris had been left out.

  ‘Why didn’t you come and find me?’ asked Amber. ‘If you were having trouble you should have come to me at once. Now you’ve missed out on heaps of your first tutorial! Up you get.’

  ‘But there’s no-one for me to play with,’ Iris protested. She was surprised that Amber didn’t seem to understand that this wasn’t her fault. She picked up her sax.

  ‘No-one in your cabin, you mean. Or no-one you’ve met yet. There are heaps of other kids to play with, though.’

  ‘Aren’t they all already in groups?’

  Amber gave her a lopsided smile. ‘Luckily for you, no. In fact, I was on my way to find you because I have two kids still left over and trying to work out what they’re going to do. I think you might be able to help each other out.’

  Help out the left-overs? thought Iris. I want to be in a proper group, not just stuck with a bunch of left-overs.

  But it was too late. Iris had wasted morning tea feeling disappointed and sulky, and now she was a left-over, too.

  ‘After you,’ said Amber, standing to one side of the practice room door so Iris could go in first.

  Iris took a deep breath. Sitting inside, looking glum, were two kids. Iris was surprised to see that they were both older. One w
as a girl with long hair, and the other was a boy with a pimple on the very end of his nose. They sat up straighter when they saw Amber.

  ‘Here she is,’ said Amber. ‘This is Iris, here with her sax. Iris, this is Jess, who plays drum. And Caleb, who plays guitar.’

  ‘Hi, Iris,’ said Jess. She still looked unhappy, but at least she was trying to be nice. Unlike Caleb, who just scowled.

  Iris swallowed hard. This didn’t look good at all …

  ‘OK,’ said Amber. ‘I’ll leave you to it for now. You guys talk about ideas for the concert. Tomorrow is our first proper tutorial where we’ll start preparing the piece you’ve chosen. For now, have some fun getting to know each other and finding out what sort of music you’d like to play.’

  They all nodded obediently, and then Amber was gone.

  Have fun? thought Iris. Not likely.

  She ought to make an effort, though. She was about to sit down next to Jess when Caleb started complaining.

  ‘A sax?’ he said. ‘How’s that going to work?’ Without waiting for a reply, he went on. ‘It’s not going to work at all. Forget what Amber said. We might as well skip the concert altogether. No-one will notice if we don’t play, and we can just spend the rest of the week practising by ourselves.’

  ‘What?’ gasped Iris.

  It was bad enough being stuck with left-overs, but even the left-overs didn’t want her! How dare they? There was no way she’d come to Camp Melody to miss out on the concert!

  Before Iris could tell Caleb just exactly what she thought of his suggestion, Jess spoke up.

  ‘Shut up, Caleb. Just because you’re in a bad mood, there’s no reason to take it out on Iris.’

  ‘What?’ Caleb looked surprised. ‘I wasn’t taking anything out on anyone! Sorry, Iris. Sax is cool and all, but let’s face it, what can the three of us play together?’

  Iris and Jess looked at each other.