Free Sparkling Steps by Sue Bentley Page A

double barre ran around them. In one corner, a woman was seated at a piano.
    â€œHere’s Miss Frances,” Tamsin whispered as the teacher came in.
    Olivia stared at the tiny, straight-backed woman. Frances Edwards had been a principal dancer with a famous ballet company. There was a photo of her dancing in Giselle in Olivia’s ballet book, which had been a present for her tenth birthday.
    â€œGood morning, class. Let’s begin,” said Miss Frances, giving a signal to the pianist. Olivia and Tamsin faced the barre and, along with everyone else, began doing pliés in time to the music.
    Olivia felt herself relaxing as she concentrated on the familiar exercises. She had been doing these movements since she was four years old. She knew that even the greatest dancers did them, too, every single day.
    Miss Frances walked around, adjusting the placement of a dancer’s arm or leg. When she reached Olivia, she frowned. She made a chopping motion in the air and the piano stopped abruptly. “You!

    Come out here,” she said sharply.
    Olivia swallowed as she walked into the center of the studio.
    â€œYou’re new, right? What’s your name?” Miss Frances asked.
    â€œOlivia Goddard,” Olivia answered. “It . . . it’s my first day.”
    â€œThen why didn’t you come and introduce yourself?” The teacher’s stern eyes raked Olivia’s face. “It’s very bad manners to just slip into my class without a word.”
    â€œSlip into class? Gallop like a giraffe is more like it!” Lucy Castor snickered from where she was standing.
    Olivia tried to pretend she hadn’t heard. “I’m sorry, Miss Frances. I . . . I just didn’t think,” she stammered, her face scarlet.
    â€œOkay. Let’s forget about it. Where did you take ballet lessons?” asked Miss Frances more gently.
    Olivia told her and explained that she had been taking ballet lessons twice a week.
    Miss Frances nodded slowly. “Well, you’re going to have two classes a day now. So be prepared to work hard. You’ll find ballet school to be very challenging.”
    â€œI hope so, Miss Frances. That’s why I came here,” Olivia said spiritedly.
    Miss Frances’s sharp eyes flashed with approval. “Okay. Go back to the barre. I want to see you dance.”
    Olivia went to the barre and took up a basic position. It felt like everybody was watching her, especially Lucy and Mariko. Tamsin caught her eye and gave her a thumbs-up sign.
    As Miss Frances gave her instructions, Olivia took a deep breath and began. After a few minutes, she felt the love of dancing sweep through her and she forgot to be self-conscious. By the time Miss Frances told her to stop, she was hot and sweaty and her muscles were tingling.
    â€œYou have style, but your technique could be improved,” Miss Frances said seriously. “Take a rest now. Get a towel to wipe your face.”
    â€œYes, Miss Frances,” Olivia said numbly, as she went back into the changing room. She had tried her best, but it seemed she had a long way to go before she impressed Miss Frances.
    Olivia went to the sinks and splashed her face with cold water as she thought about what a difficult morning it had been all around. Yew Lodge seemed really different from the exciting place she had always dreamed about.
    Olivia sighed, drying her face on a towel. Suddenly a bright silver flash from out of the corner of her eye stopped her in her tracks.

    Olivia whirled around. “Oh,” she gasped, blinking hard.
    At the far end of the room crouched a tiny, fluffy, blue-gray kitten with a round face and the most enormous emerald green eyes Olivia had ever seen. Its fur and whiskers seemed to glitter with thousands of tiny stars.
    Olivia rubbed her face with the towel again—she’d obviously danced too hard and was seeing things now! She looked up from the towel. The sparkles had