Somersaults and Dreams: Going for Gold. Cate Shearwater

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СКАЧАТЬ how long do you girls take in the bathroom?’ said Tam when she emerged a few minutes later. He was lounging in a chair in the neat little double room that Katya and Ellie were sharing for the week.

      ‘How did you even get in here?’ she asked, trying to change the subject. ‘I thought boys weren’t allowed in the girls’ dorms.’

      ‘Oh, I just told the coaches you were Skyping my sister and they said it was cool.’ Tam grinned. ‘And now I’ve discovered that you girls have a secret stash of cake I’ll be over every day to help you eat it!’ He waved a slice of home-made flapjack in the air.

      ‘Um, what happened to the food Mandy packed for you?’ asked Ellie. Mandy was the housemother who looked after the Academy gymnasts back in Head-Over-Heels House, their boarding house in London. She was also Tam and Nancy’s mum – and an amazing cook.

      ‘Oh, I got peckish on the journey up!’ said Tam, his mouth full of syrup and oats. ‘What took you so long in there anyway?’

      ‘I was just – doing a . . . face pack,’ Ellie lied, unconvincingly. Tam raised his eyebrow, but fortunately just then Katya yelped and pointed at the laptop propped up on her bed. Nancy and Lucy were waving at them on the screen from the bedroom they shared in Trengilly Cottage.

      Since Nancy had given up gym for good less than a year ago, she lived in Cornwall with Ellie’s family and shared a bedroom with Ellie’s gym-mad little sister, Lucy. Nancy was crazy about anything to do with boats and now that she had swapped somersaults for rowing, she seemed happier than she’d ever been.

      ‘Vivian Ponting – you’re kidding. She was a real laugh as a competitor, wasn’t she?’ asked Nancy, when Tam had filled her in on the day’s events.

      ‘Not these days she isn’t,’ said Ellie, curling up on the bed next to Katya, tucking her strapped ankle out of sight. ‘The only jokes she cracks are about how bad everything I do is! Trust me, you’re missing nothing.’

      ‘Oh – I’m not missing gymnastics at all,’ said Nancy cheerfully. ‘I’m so totally over all that. It’s all about the pilot gig championships. That’s where it’s happening. Trust me!’

      ‘Pilot gig?’ asked Tam, pulling a face.

      ‘Bro, you never listen to anything I tell you!’ said Nancy. ‘Pilot gigs are six-man rowing boats. They were originally designed to ferry pilots out to sailing ships to help them navigate around the Cornish coastline.’

      ‘Sometimes they were used as lifeboats too,’ added Lucy, helpfully. Ellie’s little sister was like a smaller, red-haired version of Ellie herself. Ellie had missed her like mad when she first went to the Academy – she still did, although she was happier leaving Lucy now that Nancy was there, like a second big sister.

      ‘Yup, but now they just race for fun,’ Nancy went on. ‘There are loads of events coming up.’

      ‘I wonder if we’ll get to come and watch you,’ said Ellie. She hadn’t been back to Cornwall since Christmas and she was more homesick than she could admit.

      ‘Ooh, yes – this will be good!’ said Katya. She had struck up a firm friendship with Lucy last time they’d all been to stay, over Christmas. Her own family were far away in the Russian circus, so she’d been half-adopted by Ellie’s family too.

      ‘Ok, so after you guys win your golds at Euros you can chill by the seaside and watch me do the same,’ said Nancy.

      ‘Sounds perfect!’ said Ellie, with a sigh. ‘Only I’m not sure I’ll be making it to Euros if Vivian has any say in the matter.’

CHAPTER

       Five

      The next morning’s warm-up went a lot like the previous one, with Vivian finding fault with almost everything Ellie did.

      ‘Your arms are too wide, Trengilly . . . tuck your bum under – you look like a duck there . . . lift your feet up – are you wearing a pair of welly boots, Trengilly?’

      Ellie found it hard to concentrate. She was constantly being reminded what she was getting wrong. It didn’t help that her foot was in more pain than ever this morning. Even walking on it made her wince, but she still hadn’t mentioned it to anyone.

      Luckily, the others were all too immersed in their own training to notice. Only Scarlett picked up on the strained look on Ellie’s face. ‘Can’t take the pace?’ she enquired nastily.

      ‘No, I’m fine,’ said Ellie. ‘Never been better!’

      ‘A week at National squad camp is a test of endurance,’ said Scarlett with a silky smile. ‘Only the fittest survive!’

      ‘Bring it on!’ said Ellie. She tried to sound brave, but Scarlett had a curious expression on her face as she turned away.

      After warm-up, Ellie was on tumble track, working on new tumble combinations. Even the thought of landing hard on her ankle made her feel sick, but when Barbara Steele wandered over to where the Juniors were working, Ellie pushed the pain to the back of her mind, determined to impress the head national coach.

      She delivered a round-off double back straight, landing easily on the safety mat, ignoring the screaming pain that shot through her ankle on impact.

      ‘What else are you working on?’

      Ellie turned and saw that Barbara Steele was talking to her.

      ‘Oh – um – I’m trying to master a double back straight into front punch,’ said Ellie, hoping her eyes did not betray the pain that was still making it hard to think straight. ‘I’m nearly there.’

      ‘Let’s see it, then.’

      Ellie took a deep breath and tried not to hobble as she made her way back to the far end of the tumble track. Vivian had come to join Barbara and was saying something to the head coach. She waited for the signal to go, rotating her ankle to try and shake off the throbbing pain.

      ‘Is that foot bothering you, Trengilly?’ asked Vivian, looking up sharply.

      ‘No . . . it’s just . . . I bashed it earlier. On the bars.’

      ‘You need it checked out in the medical centre?’

      ‘It’s fine. I just need an ice pack.’

      ‘After you finish here you get it looked at, OK?’ said Vivian curtly. ‘Now, show us what you’ve got.’

      Ellie powered into the tumble – more self-conscious now that Vivian was watching. She rotated neatly through the air and landed it with only a slight stumble, feeling her ankle jar agonisingly but planting it firmly and refusing to wobble.

      ‘Good effort,’ said Barbara with a nod.

      ‘Your arms are still too wide on take-off,’ said СКАЧАТЬ