by Lou Kuenzler
Even though Grace longed to see Huffle and his mother again, she knew this advice was right and that they should be left in peace.
“Dragons are wild animals, not pets,” she said a little sadly to Scarlet and Izumi, as the three girls walked arm in arm across the courtyard.
“Sometimes it’s difficult to tell the difference,” laughed Scarlet, as Flump came bounding out of the Sewing Tower and nearly knocked them off their feet.
Hetty followed, looking sleepy and wearing a pair of snuggly unicorn pyjamas, which Fairy Godmother Pom must have found in the lost property cupboard and shortened to fit the little girl.
“She’s going to make me unicorn curtains too,” said Hetty with a big yawn.
“I bet she’s already been sewing half the night,” whispered Izumi. “You know how kind Old Pom always is.”
“Oh, she has been up all night,” Hetty yawned again, overhearing. “We both have. But we weren’t making curtains. We were sewing on hundreds and hundreds of those little shiny things…”
“Sequins?” said Scarlet.
“That’s right,” nodded Hetty, as she wandered sleepily away to find some breakfast. “We had to make a new costume for Precious. She said hers was completely ruined on the cliffs.”
“Typical Precious!” sighed Izumi. “She won’t care a jot that the poor fairy godmother – and little Hetty – didn’t get a wink of sleep.”
Grace looked thoughtful.
She hadn’t slept very well either. She’d been awake most of the night, tossing and turning and thinking about her dragon’s heart dance. At last, just before dawn, it had all become clear in her mind.
“I know what I want to do for the Ballet of the Flowers,” she explained to her friends. “But I need to make a new costume too – a special one.”
“That sounds exciting,” said Scarlet.
“I was going to ask Fairy Godmother Pom to help me,” said Grace. “But she must be exhausted after working on Precious’s costume without a wink of sleep.”
“Then we’ll help you!” said Scarlet.
“Really?” asked Grace.
“I love sewing,” said Izumi.
“I’m hopeless at it,” laughed Grace. “I can’t even thread a needle.”
“True!” agreed Izumi. “But I’ll teach you. After all, you taught us how to ride a dragon!”
“We’d love to help,” said Scarlet. “That’s what friends are for.”
The Ballet of the Flowers was due to start in the evening.
The girls worked all day.
In the end it wasn’t just Scarlet and Izumi’s help that Grace needed, it was everyone’s – even Hetty’s. Only Precious refused to join in.
The First Year princesses bent over the long red silk cloth which had hung above the stage in the Gemstone Glade.
It had been brought back through the woods and dumped at the foot of the Sewing Tower stairs.
“It’s no good as a curtain for the show anymore,” Flintheart had sighed. “The dragon’s claws ripped it when she flew so low.”
Flintheart scowled at Grace as she spoke, almost as if she thought it was her fault for not riding the dragon with more care.
“If nobody else needs the silk it will be perfect for my plan,” grinned Grace. “It’s the exact colour I’m looking for.”
“I heard you wanted to make a costume from it,” said Precious staring at the bright red silk. “That can’t be right. Your flower is yellowy-brown … like mud.”
“Yes. But you have to use your imagination when you’re creating a dance,” said Grace. “Isn’t that right, Madame Lightfeather?”
“Of course,” said the ballet teacher, fluttering by in a fluffy boa of bright scarlet feathers which exactly matched the silk. “Take your imagination and fly with it, Young Majesty.”
“I’ll do my best,” promised Grace. “With a little help from all my friends in the class…”
Fairy Godmother Pom helped too. When she woke from her nap, she made Hetty a shimmering waistcoat with sequins left over from Precious’s frock. It was embroidered with crimson dragons, stitched with gold and silver thread on the tips of their wings.
“It’s the most beautiful thing I have ever owned,” beamed Hetty.
“You’re going to look perfect. I definitely need you for my plan,” grinned Grace.
It was a clear spring evening and the garden made a stunning setting for the Ballet of the Flowers. The grand school governors gathered on the rows of golden chairs. Many of them were emperors or kings and queens, their crowns flashing in the sinking sunlight, their white silk gloves shining like snowdrop petals against the green grass of the lawn.
Grace peeped round the edge of the thick velvet curtain that had been found to replace the silk one which had been ripped. She could feel flushes of fear leaping up the back of her neck like a dragon’s flames.
Soon, every other princess had danced her piece. Izumi flowed like a river to represent a water lily, Precious was magnificent – and evil – as her poisonous plant, the twins were jolly as tulips and Visalotta shone like gold as a yellow crocus. The school governors clapped and smiled. They even gave Scarlet a standing ovation, rising to their feet and applauding for five whole minutes at the end of her beautiful poppy solo.
Scarlet blushed as red as the petals, but she was grinning from ear to ear.
Now it was only Grace who was left.
She strode out boldly on to the stag … and tripped over the edge of the thick curtain.
THUMP!
She staggered to her feet.
“I see Grace is still wearing that awful brown smock,” sneered Precious, peeping out from behind the scenery.
“It’s just for the announcement,” said Izumi. “Shhh!”
Grace cleared her throat.
“My Lords, Ladies, Gentlemen and Most Royal Majesties,” she began, curtsying with a wobble to Lady DuLac who was smiling encouragingly from the front row. “I know your programmes say that this evening’s show will be a ballet, but I want to bring you something different … a dance which I have invited all my friends to join.”
Pom! Pom! Pom!
Hetty, dressed in her sparkling waistcoat and a pair of flowing silk trousers, blew loudly on her dragon horn. At last, the bright, bouncy music perfectly suited the occasion.
A masked head of a dragon appeared between the velvet curtains. Izumi had hand-painted it and it looked beautiful: exactly like a magical, mythical, ancient, fire-breathing beast.
Grace smiled so that Scarlet, who was hidden inside the dragon’s head, would know it was time to lead off with the rhythmic steps that all the other dancers would follow.
Now came the rest of the body as the first year princesses copied Scarlet’s lead, snaking and twisting their way out on to the stage. Only their feet could be seen, in a long line, moving in unison like one mighty creature, below the billowing red silk costume they had all helped to make out of the curtain from the glade.
Only Precious stood alone, arms folded. She could be seen at the edge of the stage now that the thick velvet curtains had been flung back.
Pom! Pom! tooted Hetty. Grace held up her hand for a moment to make a last announcement over the music.
“My flower was called dragon’s heart,” she said. “I got stuck. I couldn’t think of any way to make a dance … until I asked for the help of my friends.”
Lady DuLac stood up and clapped. The audience joined her.
Grace turned and slipped behind her classmates into the very end of the long red costume.
“Here goes!” she chuckled and she thumped and stamped her feet to make the perfect heavy dragon’s tail!
The royal crowd roared and cheered and stamped their own feet.
“Bravo!” they cried as the First Years performed a wild dragon dance on the stage.
Grace thumped the tail louder than ever. It felt so wonderful to be back amongst her friends again. To be part of Tall Towers life, where she knew she belonged and sti
ll had so much more to learn.
The dragon dance got three encores, which meant they had to do it all over again.
Madame Featherlight made a speech. “We have seen the hard work and imagination of a whole class come together here this evening,” she fluttered.
Grace felt a warm glow of pride. With the help of her friends she had, at last, made a wonderful piece for the show. It wasn’t a ballet – it wasn’t very elegant either. But it was full of energy and joy – the perfect dance for spring.
It was only as the performance was finally over and the princesses lifted the costume to take a last bow that Grace looked up at the sky.
Flying in a silhouette against the sinking sun she saw the shape of two dragons, one big and one small.
“Look, Hetty,” she cried. “It’s Huffle. He’s learned how to use his wings. He’s flying…”
Hetty cheered and blew a wild celebration on her horn, Pom! Pom! Pom!
The crowd gasped. Some of the governors jumped to their feet in panic.
“Don’t worry, the dragons will not hurt us,” said Grace. “They are leaving the island now. This is only their nesting ground. They are flying off for new adventures.”
Grace had expected to feel sad when she saw the dragons go. But instead she felt a rush of hope a sort of bubbling excitement that was a bit like the feeling she’d had when she first heard she was coming to Tall Towers.
The mother and her baby looked so beautiful – so free – against the fiery red and orange of the setting sun.
The crowd watched in silence until the dragons disappeared.
“Goodbye. Don’t get into too much mischief, Huffle,” Grace called. She rushed towards the front of the stage to wave one last time, forgetting that her feet were still wrapped up in the dragon costume.
Thud!
Every princesses in the class was pulled to the floor along with Grace. All except Precious, of course.
“What a disgrace,” she said, turning to the audience.
But the royal crowd was laughing far too loudly to hear.
The First Years were giggling too, as they scrambled to their feet.
“We all look a total disgrace,” they said, with tears of laughter streaming down their faces.
Grace beamed with joy as she untangled her feet from the costume.
“Let’s have a round of applause for the dragons,” she said, pointing up at the sky.
Scholastic Children’s Books
An imprint of Scholastic Ltd
Euston House, 24 Eversholt Street
London, NW1 1DB, UK
Registered office: Westfield Road, Southam, Warwickshire, CV47 0RA
SCHOLASTIC and associated logos are trademarks and or registered trademarks of Scholastic Inc.
First published in the UK by Scholastic Ltd, 2014
This electronic edition published by Scholastic Ltd, 2014
Text copyright © Lou Kuenzler, 2014
Illustration copyright © Kimberley Scott, 2014
The rights of Lou Kuenzler and Kimberley Scott to be identified as the author and illustrator of this work have been asserted by them.
eISBN 978 1407 14527 3
A CIP catalogue record for this work is available from the British Library.
All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of Scholastic Limited.
Produced in India by Quadrum
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, incidents and dialogues are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual people, living or dead, events or locales is entirely coincidental.
www.scholastic.co.uk