The Twinkling Tutu

by Gwyneth Rees

  Ava slowly approached the front porch, starting to worry about what she was going to say when she got there. The door would probably be opened by a maid who would expect her to have a reason for calling – and to know the names of the people she was calling on! And was it normal for children to pay visits on their own in Victorian times?

  She rang the bell before she had time to lose her courage – and the door was soon opened by a freckle-faced young maid who gave her a warm smile as she looked at her questioningly.

  Ava smiled back and said, ‘I hope I’ve got the right house – but I . . . I think my friends, Tom and Florrie used to live here . . .’

  A very dark expression immediately came over the maid’s face as she looked over Ava’s shoulder. ‘Have you no one accompanying you, miss? No nanny or governess perhaps?’

  ‘Er . . . well . . . no . . .’ Ava stammered. ‘I haven’t come far . . .’

  ‘I don’t think you ought to have come here alone, miss,’ said the maid, frowning. ‘When your parents find out you’re gone, they’ll be worried about you, and whoever’s meant to be in charge of you today will get into trouble.’

  Ava tried to look contrite as she said, ‘Perhaps, but . . . but . . . I’ve just moved back from . . . from away . . . and I wanted to see if . . . if Tom and Florrie’s father had returned for them yet. They said he’d be coming back for them one day you see . . .’ She trailed off self-consciously.

  The maid kept frowning. ‘Haven’t you heard what happened, miss? I don’t rightly know as I should be the one to tell you, but the fact is the children you speak of ran away the winter before last.’

  ‘Ran away?’ Ava was puzzled.

  ‘That’s right, miss. Their father did come back for them six months ago – I happened to be the one who answered the door to him. The look on his face was something terrible, it was, when I showed him out after the master had told him the news.’

  ‘Oh, but their father’s alive!’ Ava exclaimed in relief.

  The maid was the one who looked puzzled now. ‘Well, yes! Why shouldn’t he be? It’s them that are likely dead by now – the poor foolish little things! That’s what the master told their father anyway. They ran away at the start of a very cold winter and no trace could be found of them afterwards. The master and mistress was certain they’d either frozen to death on the streets or that some other harm had befallen them.’

  ‘But . . .’ Ava broke off as she tried to make sense of this confusing information. Clearly the children’s uncle had lied because he didn’t want to admit he had sold his niece and nephew to a chimney sweep. But how was she going to find the children’s father now?

  ‘I don’t suppose Tom and Florrie’s father said where he was staying, did he?’ she asked the maid hopefully.

  ‘Well, it’s funny you should ask that, miss,’ the maid replied. ‘On his way out, the poor man asked the master to get in touch with him if he ever heard any news of his children and I saw him hand over a scrap of paper with his address on it. But only this morning I overheard the mistress asking about that scrap of paper and the master told her he’d lost it. It was after a chimney sweep came to the house to speak to her and she got all upset for some reason.’

  Ava remembered Tom telling her the sweep had been to visit his aunt and uncle, to offer his services, and had been turned away.

  Suddenly a sharp voice sounded from within the house. ‘Effie, who are you talking to?’

  The maid looked nervous. ‘That’s the mistress. I’m always getting into trouble for talking too much, miss. Did you want to come in? The mistress might speak to you, though I suppose she’d more likely prefer it if you came back later with your mama.’

  Ava quickly tried to think what to do. ‘Is your master in just now?’ she asked. She really didn’t want to encounter Tom and Florrie’s uncle if she could possibly help it – it would be hard enough just to face their aunt.

  ‘Oh no, miss – the master is out at his club,’ Effie replied.

  ‘Then I would like to come in, please, Effie,’ Ava decided. After all, what did she have to lose?

  ‘Certainly, miss. Who shall I say is calling?’

  Ava told the maid her name as she followed her into the hall to wait.

  But when Effie returned just a few minutes later she looked upset. ‘The mistress was angry with me for talking to you!’ she told Ava. ‘She says her niece and nephew never mixed with any of the local children when they were here and she doesn’t know who you are or why you’ve come looking for them! She says she wants you to leave the house at once! You’d better go, miss, for I’ve never seen her this worked up!’ Effie was already opening the front door for her.

  ‘Oh, but, Effie, I have to find Tom and Florrie’s father!’ Ava burst out.

  ‘But why, miss?’ asked the maid. ‘What concern can that be of yours?’

  And that’s when Ava decided to tell Effie the truth.

  ‘The thing is, Tom and Florrie aren’t dead!’ she blurted out. ‘They didn’t run away either! Their uncle sold them to that chimney sweep who was here this morning! That’s probably why their aunt keeps getting upset too – she’s obviously feeling guilty.’

  Effie’s mouth dropped open and she looked utterly horrified, as if Ava was some sort of devil-child who had only just revealed her forked tail and horns. Then her face turned red with indignation as she pointed Ava firmly in the direction of the street. ‘You wicked child! How dare you say such things! The mistress was right – I should never have talked to you!’

  And before Ava had time to say anything else, Effie had slammed the door shut with an enormous bang behind her.

  8

  Ava arrived back at Madame Varty’s house just as all the girls who had been at the audition were leaving with their mothers. When she saw Ava, the girl called Victoria asked, ‘Wherever did you disappear to?’

  Ava smiled and said that it was a long story but that she had come back to explain everything to Madame Varty.

  ‘Well, I doubt if she’ll have time to see you now,’ Victoria told her cheerfully. ‘There’s been a terrible fuss about a girl who came to audition after you left. And you’ll never believe it but she had a sparkling tutu just like yours! Very strange and grubby she looked, but Madame let her dance anyway, and you should have seen how wonderful she was! Madame Varty said it was like watching herself at that age, and she got very excited and wanted to know who her mother was, because apparently she was a ballerina too before she died. Anyway, Madame said she would certainly offer her a place in her school, even if she couldn’t afford to pay any fees, and she wanted to know where the little girl lived and who took care of her. And then the little girl burst into tears and said she couldn’t tell Madame Varty that, and Madame Varty said she must! So the girl ran off down the stairs and, when she came back, who do you think she brought with her but the chimney sweep?’

  ‘What happened then?’ Ava asked anxiously, but at that point Victoria’s mother took her by the hand and urged her to stop chattering and to come along at once.

  ‘I got a place at Madame Varty’s school as well!’ Victoria called back to Ava as she accompanied her mother down the drive. ‘And what do you think? I was the only other girl who did!’

  ‘That’s great!’ Ava shouted after her enthusiastically. Victoria would be a nice person for Florrie to have as a fellow pupil, she thought – unlike some of the other girls, who hadn’t seemed nearly as friendly.

  But before Ava could feel too pleased she had to check what was going to happen now that Madame Varty had discovered who Florrie really was.

  Ava stepped into the hall and found herself alone with the sour-faced young maid who clearly recognized her at once. ‘You left your cape here, didn’t you, miss? I’m afraid one of the sweep’s boys stole it, but Madame says she’ll buy you another to replace it if you’ll let us know where to send it. If you’d just like to wait in the drawing room, miss . . .’

  But Ava didn’t want to wait in the drawin
g room. She could hear raised voices on the floor above and without waiting for the maid’s approval she ran off up the stairs, heading for the room where the auditions had been held.

  Inside the room Madame Varty was engaged in an angry conversation with the master sweep, who seemed to be demanding money for something other than the sweeping of chimneys. Tom was also there, standing beside Florrie, who was still dressed in the ballet outfit Ava had lent her. Mrs Potter was in the room too, glaring and shouting intermittently at the sweep.

  Florrie was the first to notice Ava standing in the doorway. She said something to Tom and he immediately turned to look at Ava, frowning as if he couldn’t quite believe what his sister was whispering to him – that Ava was the girl she had swapped clothes with in order to come to the audition.

  Ava quickly went over to them, longing to tell them the good news about their father.

  ‘Congratulations, Florrie!’ she said at once. ‘I hear you did really well in the audition!’

  But before Florrie could respond, Tom cut in angrily. ‘Yes – thanks to your meddling! I can see now that you was the girl sweep I met outside. No wonder you couldn’t go up that chimney! You’re not a climbing boy! You’re a fancy young lady!’

  ‘Well, I wouldn’t say I was that exactly—’ Ava began, but Tom broke in again.

  ‘I don’t care who you are – you’ve no right to take away my sister!’

  ‘But I’m not taking her away!’ Ava protested. ‘I’ve helped her get a place at Madame Varty’s school so she can become a ballet dancer like your mother! I thought you’d be pleased!’

  ‘But I’m not taking her away!’ Ava protested. ‘I’ve helped her get a place at Madame Varty’s school so she can become a ballet dancer like your mother! I thought you’d be pleased!’

  ‘A ballet dancer like our mother!’ Tom spat out furiously, raising his voice so that everyone in the room could hear him. ‘That’s exactly what I don’t want her to be! I don’t want her to end up falling to her death like our mother!’

  Immediately the whole room fell silent.

  ‘Falling to her death?’ Florrie repeated, staring at her brother as if he was talking nonsense. ‘No she didn’t. She got sick with a fever and the angels came and took her to heaven.’

  ‘Pa only told you that cos he thought you were too young to know what really happened to her,’ Tom continued hoarsely. ‘She were at a rehearsal when a faulty cable snapped while she was being hoisted through the air. She fell on to the stage from a great height and died instantly.’ Tom’s face crumpled and he started to sob. ‘Pa made me promise never to tell you because he thought you’d have nightmares about it. He had nightmares about it and so did I! He was watchin’ from the wings when it happened an’ he said he couldn’t stop thinkin’ about it afterwards an’ seein’ it over an’ over in his mind. That’s why he got so ill and couldn’t look after us any more. That’s why he lost his job and we got kicked out of our house and he took us to stay with our aunt and uncle. He said he’d come back for us when he was better, but I think he never got better. I think he died of a broken heart.’ He sniffed. ‘So you’re all I’ve got left, Florrie, and I ain’t goin’ to lose you an’ all. You’re not goin’ to become a ballet dancer, do you hear? I won’t let you! Pa told me afterwards of all the other terrible accidents that can happen to ballerinas – of their dresses catching fire in the stage gas-lights, or their feet getting crushed in the trap doors . . . Believe me, it’s safer going up chimneys than being a dancer – than risking what happened to our ma!’

  All the adults in the room had been listening in silence, even the sweep master. Florrie, whose cheeks had become red and blotchy on her pale little face, started to cry.

  Ava stared at Tom in horror, murmuring, ‘I’m so sorry, Tom. I didn’t know. But Tom . . . about your father . . .’

  Before she could continue, however, the sweep master started speaking in a cajoling sort of a voice. ‘Now stop yer snivelling, the pair o’ you! Especially you, missy, for it seems your chimney sweepin’ days are over!’ (He had clearly been aware all along that the child he knew as Fred was a girl, Ava thought.) The man grinned at Florrie as he went on, ‘It seems you’re worth more on the stage than you are as a sweep, and if this lady won’t pay me what I want for you I’ll soon find someone who will! I’m sure there are plenty of theatres looking for talented little girls like you! Now that’s a reason for celebratin’, ain’t it?’

  ‘Oh, you . . . you odious man!’ Madame Varty burst out angrily. ‘Don’t worry, you’ll get your money, for of course I shan’t let this child return to live with you – or let you sell her to anyone else!’ She limped over to stand protectively beside Florrie. ‘And Tom, you mustn’t worry about anything bad happening to your sister while she is at my ballet school. She won’t be lent out to any theatres that I do not approve of, or be put in any danger whatsoever. She will have a very good home here with me and I shall ensure that she is properly looked after and educated. But she must be allowed to dance! She is very talented!’

  Tom was staring at his sister now – his sooty face streaked with tears. ‘Is this what you want, Florrie?’ he asked her. ‘To stay ’ere, I mean?’

  Florrie was still crying as she silently nodded at him, before turning to look at Madame Varty. ‘But if I does stay here, what will become of Tom?’ she asked in a choked voice.

  ‘Why . . . I don’t know . . .’ the ballet mistress began hesitantly. ‘I suppose . . .’ She trailed off, clearly not at all sure what to suggest.

  Everyone turned to look at Tom then, who was still staring at his sister with a dazed expression in his eyes.

  ‘Oh, don’t you worry about me!’ he suddenly exclaimed. ‘I can take care of meself!’ And before anyone could stop him he had turned on his heels and run from the room.

  Nobody followed him at first, not even the sweep master, who was far more interested in the money he was about to get in exchange for Florrie than in stopping Tom from getting away.

  ‘TOM!’ Florrie called out, but she made no attempt to go after him either – maybe because she knew she wouldn’t be fast enough, or maybe because deep down she desperately wanted to stay exactly where she was.

  Ava suddenly came to her senses, realizing that she hadn’t yet told Tom about his father. ‘Wait!’ she yelled, running out of the room behind him. ‘Wait, Tom! There’s something important I have to tell you!’

  She could see him at the bottom of the stairs, heading straight for the door to the servants’ corridor. As it banged shut behind him Ava hurried down the stairs, thinking she could catch him by going out the front way and meeting him as he came round the side of the house. She let herself out the front door and raced down the steps and along the side path, imagining that Tom would soon run headlong into her. But there was no sign of him and when she reached the back garden she saw why. Tom had somehow climbed up on to the high back fence and she was just in time to see him jumping down into the alleyway behind it.

  ‘TOM – COME BACK!’ she yelled at the top of her lungs.

  But it was no good. He was gone and she knew she wouldn’t be able to follow him.

  I should have told him about his father as soon as I saw him, she thought tearfully, feeling furious with herself as she slowly headed back round to the front of the house.

  Mrs Potter was standing in the doorway awaiting her return. ‘Madame Varty wishes to speak with you immediately,’ she said, scarcely looking at Ava and obviously not recognizing her as the same child she had tried to force up a chimney earlier that day.

  Wearily Ava followed the housekeeper back up to the audition room, where she passed the sweep master who was just leaving. He was grinning and clutching a large pouch – presumably full of coins. Madame Varty was alone inside the room and when Ava asked her about Florrie she was told that the little girl had been taken away by one of the maids to have a bath.

  ‘The child are yours,’ Madame Varty said after she had dismissed the housekee
per. ‘She says you just told me that the ballet clothes she is wearing lent them to her. Is that true?’

  Ava nodded, adding, ‘Please can I have them back before I go?’

  ‘Of course . . .’ Madame Varty paused, looking searchingly at Ava. ‘And my maid told me earlier that your cape was stolen by one of the climbing boys . . .’

  ‘Oh, it wasn’t really,’ Ava told her quickly. ‘I was the one who ran off with it. I didn’t have anything else to wear when I lent Florrie my clothes, you see, so I had to change into hers. And then I remembered I’d left my cape in your house so I came back to fetch it before I . . . . well . . . before I went home and got changed into some normal clothes again.’

  Madame Varty was looking confused. ‘I must say I can’t quite believe this. You actually swapped clothes with a chimney sweep?’

  ‘Yes – because I really wanted Florrie to have the chance to audition!’

  ‘But how could you possibly know that a common climbing boy . . . or girl even . . . would be such a good dancer?’

  ‘Because she told me so herself when I spoke to her outside,’ Ava said simply.

  Madame Varty looked even more perplexed. ‘A girl like you actually stopped to speak with a sweep’s child?’

  ‘Well . . . yes . . .’

  ‘You are a very strange child, to be sure . . . though it’s a miracle for Florrie that she met you. She will certainly have a much better life from now on. I have no children of my own and I must admit that I am quite taken with the idea of having a little protégée.’ She sighed. ‘It is very sad about their mother. It must have happened a few years ago when I was living abroad or I’m sure I would have heard about it. I feel a little sorry that I didn’t offer to help the boy too, but I really don’t see what role he could have here.’