Jade and the Enchanted Wood. Darcey Bussell

Чтение книги онлайн.

      Jade was half skipping, half jogging down the road, clicking her fingers and flicking her wrists. She hardly ever just walked normally these days. That would be too boring.

      It was a beautiful Saturday morning, sunny and bright. Inside her head music was pulsing, and the strong beat filled every part of her body. It felt great. But then she realised she was getting very near that house with the brass plate on the door: MADAME ZA-ZA’S SCHOOL OF BALLET and her feet began to slow. Why ever had she thought to come here? It just wasn’t her. She tried to imagine herself in the ballet class, wearing a leotard and tights, her hair scraped back in a bun, the red shoes on her feet…

      The red shoes! A little surge of excitement whizzed through Jade’s body. It was the shoes that had set her off on this whole ballet thing. Someone had left them in a parcel on Jade’s doorstep with a note attached. Jade could remember the words exactly, she’d read them so often.

       Dear Jade,

       These shoes are for you. I know you love dancing and I really hope you find out how special they are. Madame Za-Za’s ballet school is just down the road and she is a brilliant teacher. Go and see her – and take the shoes. You won’t regret it. I promise.

      And ever since the afternoon when she’d received the shoes, she’d turned over and over in her mind what had happened earlier that day.

      She had been in her front garden, showing her two little sisters some street dance moves, when suddenly she’d realised that a girl was watching her. The girl had told Jade that she was a brilliant dancer, and asked if she did ballet. Thinking about that now made Jade feel embarrassed. She’d replied very rudely – saying that everyone who did ballet wore silly little tutus.