Darcey Bussell - Holly and the Magic Tiara

The music started and her eyes darted to the right as she tried to copy Chloe, but it was no good. She was falling behind the beat and her face was getting hotter and hotter under Madame Za-Za’s intense gaze. Her row didn’t even finish the exercise before Madame Za-Za clapped her hands and told them to stop.

“Holly, I won’t tell you again about daydreaming in class.” For a moment, Holly felt a flash of irritation, but she fought it off. Madame Za-Za was right to tell her off. She should have been concentrating more.

As the other rows each took a turn at the steps, Madame Za-Za’s corrections seemed to ring out more and more. Then she took a deep breath and said, “Take a short break, girls. We will try again in a few moments.”

Some of the students went off to the toilets and others to the changing rooms. Holly hung back a bit because she wanted to try out the steps again, but Chloe took her hand and the two girls went outside into the corridor.

“I’ll catch up with you in a sec,” Holly told her friend, as she bent down to rub a dirty mark off her pale pink tights.

As Chloe hurried off lightly, Holly suddenly noticed her ballet shoes. Was it her imagination or were they a brighter red than usual? They were sparkling! And now her feet had begun to tingle too. That could only mean one thing – it was happening again. Right here. Right in the middle of class! She was on her way to Enchantia …

A rainbow of colours began to swirl around Holly’s feet and rose higher, lifting her up till she was spinning. She felt as though she was swirling through the air, until quite suddenly, she landed. The rainbow dissolved into sparkling silver and gold and she found herself inside a palace, at the edge of a grand hall.

It wasn’t the Royal Palace belonging to King Tristan and Queen Isabella, that she had visited before. This one was quite different.

The hall was buzzing with activity and there seemed to be all sorts of preparations going on. Servants were rushing back and forth from the kitchen to the hall carrying china dishes, silver cutlery, lacy napkins, elegant mats and sparkling glasses.

Holly’s eyes flickered to the wide archway that led through to the white and gold ballroom. The floor looked so shiny and the crystal chandeliers were glistening and twinkling. Flowers were being arranged in enormous vases fixed to the walls. What was going on?

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