The Dance in the Dark. Sophie Cleverly

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СКАЧАТЬ little. The realisation that I was going to stumble hit me the minutest moment before it happened. I fell forwards, my foot landing heavily on the wooden floor with a thunk.

      My nightmare came flashing back. Tumbling from the stage into the darkness.

      Penny laughed.

      I stood up straight, fists clenched. I didn’t know who I was more furious with, myself or the freckled witch cackling next to me.

      “Penny,” Miss Finch chastised, “we don’t laugh at others. Concentrate on yourself, please.”

      “Oh, but Miss,” Penny giggled. “Scarlet’s definitely the best ballerina here. She told me so herself!”

      And just to rub it in, Penny demonstrated a perfect pirouette right there and then.

      Miss Finch still looked cross. “Ballet is about elegance and respect as much as it is about dancing. You’re showing neither.”

      Penny bit her lip.

      “Sorry, Miss,” said Penny. “I’ll stop it, I promise.”

      Ha. I gave her my stealthiest death glare. I knew she was thinking exactly the same as me: trouble in front of teachers would mean no lead role.

      Things went from bad to worse. The mistake had completely thrown me off, and I just couldn’t seem to get any of the steps. Ivy kept asking me if I was okay, and I wished she would shut up. I needed to be perfect, and I wasn’t even close.

      My turnout wasn’t right. My toes weren’t pointing as much as I wanted them to. My spins were wonky.

      And all the while, Penny was smirking silently.

      By the time we were curtseying to Miss Finch in reverence, I felt like screaming. What was wrong with me? I knew these moves off by heart. Why wasn’t my body cooperating?

      I must really be out of practice, I thought, feeling deeply, horribly embarrassed. The thought of getting it wrong on stage, of all those blank faces hissing at me …

      That was when I had the idea.

      “Ivy,” I said, as we sat and unlaced our shoes. “Can you go on without me? I want to talk to Miss Finch.”

      Ivy looked a little baffled. “Why?”

      “Oh well … I’m worried about her, and her leg, and all that.” Which was the truth, just not the whole truth. “I thought I’d stay behind and see if she needs any help.”

      “I can help too,” my twin said.

      Drat.

      “Well, I just … I’d just like to do something for her myself. You know, I still haven’t made it up to her after the piano-smashing thing.”

      Ivy twisted her mouth, and I wasn’t sure whether she was seeing through my excuses, or just thinking how stupid I’d been. In the first form, I’d taken a mallet to Miss Finch’s grand piano, then framed Penny for it. It hadn’t been my finest hour.

      “All right,” said Ivy eventually, though she still looked unsure. “I’ll see you later.” I watched as she followed the rest of the girls out of the studio, and then wandered over to our teacher.

      “Need any help, Miss?” I asked.

      Miss Finch smiled at me. “I’ll be all right, Scarlet, but thank you.”

      “Oh.” I shuffled my feet.

      “Did you want something, perhaps?” There was a twinkle in her eye. Hmmph. She’d seen right through me. I leant back against her new piano and folded my arms.

      “I …” I swallowed. The words didn’t want to come out. “I think I need extra help.” I felt my face heating up.

      “You’re just a little out of practice, that’s all,” she replied brightly. “You’ll get it back again soon enough. It’s just an off day. We all have those.”

      “But you could help me, couldn’t you, Miss? Maybe just … some extra tuition, in the evenings?”

      Her brow knitted. “I’m not sure about that. Wouldn’t it be unfair to the other students? If this is about the recital … I’m one of the judges, you know. I can’t be seen to be favouring anyone.”

      I racked my brains for a way to convince her. And then it hit me. “But … the reason I’m out of practice … is because of what happened, isn’t it? Miss Fox – your mother – she had me locked up. That’s got to be special circumstances. I’ve not had the same chance to learn as everyone else.”

      Miss Finch’s face crumpled a little.

      “Scarlet, I’m … I’m so sorry. I would have got you out sooner, if only I’d had any idea. You know that, don’t you?”

      I nodded, and chewed the corner of my lip.

      She sighed. “Come back on Monday evening, after dinner. We’ll see what I can do.”

      

       Chapter Five

       IVY

      I felt sure that Scarlet was up to something, but I couldn’t say what. Perhaps she was just helping Miss Finch out of the goodness of her heart, but that didn’t seem like a very Scarlet thing to do.

      I didn’t like being on my own. I walked down the corridor towards our room, and it felt strangely like my very first walk there – where I’d trailed along behind Miss Fox, believing my twin to be dead, not yet knowing Ariadne. The feeling left me hollow.

      But worse was to come. Penny was leaning against our door, examining her fingernails.

      “What are you doing?” I demanded. Suddenly, the fire I’d picked up from pretending to be Scarlet was back.

      She looked up at me. “Alone again, are we? I’m beginning to think your twin doesn’t like you.”

      “Penny.” I glared at her. “Why are you leaning on our door?”

      “Waiting for you,” she said.

      “You told me to stay away from you,” I pointed out. “That’s not easy if you’re blocking the door to my room.”

      She ignored me. “Don’t you wonder what she’s up to without you? Getting herself in more trouble, do you think?”

      “You wish,” I said. “You just want to stop her getting that part in the ballet, don’t you?”

      “Oh, СКАЧАТЬ