Jade and the Enchanted Wood Read online

  To Phoebe and Zoe, as they are the inspiration

  behind Magic Ballerina.

  Contents

  Cover

  Title Page

  Dedication

  Author’s Note

  Map

  Prologue

  1. The First Ballet Class

  2. The Enchanted Wood

  3. King Rat

  4. The Sylphs

  5. The Sylph-Child

  6. The Promise

  7. The Magic of Ballet

  Darcey’s Magical Masterclass

  The Story of Giselle

  Holly

  Acknowledgements

  Copyright

  About the Publisher

  Map

  Welcome to the world of Enchantia!

  I have always loved to dance. The captivating music and wonderful stories of ballet are so inspiring. So come with me and let’s follow Jade on her magical adventures in Enchantia, where the stories of dance will take you on a very special journey.

  p.s. Turn to the back to learn a special dance step from me…

  Prologue

  In the soft, pale light, the girl stood with her head bent and her hands held lightly in front of her. There was a moment’s silence and then the first notes of the music began. For as long as the girl could remember music had seemed to tell her of another world – a magical, exciting world – that lay far, far away. She always felt if she could just close her eyes and lose herself, then she would get there. Maybe this time. As the music swirled inside her, she swept her arms above her head, rose on to her toes and began to dance…

  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.

  Jade knew she shouldn’t have said that, but she’d felt annoyed at the time. Why would she like ballet just because she loved street dancing? Ballet looked so stiff and awkward.

  You couldn’t just let the music carry you along.

  That’s why it had been such a surprise to find the shoes. If they were so special why would someone give them to her when she didn’t even like ballet?

  Anyway, there wasn’t time to think about that now. She’d decided to give it a chance and her mother had phoned ahead and booked her into a trial lesson. As she stood at the bottom of the steps that led up to the big front door, she breathed in deeply.

  Just after ten o’clock. She was a little bit late. Still, she patted her bag with the red shoes in it and told herself for the hundredth time that she was only staying for one lesson to see what was so special about it. Then she leaped up the steps, two at a time, and peered in through the big front window.

  The class had already begun. Fourteen girls, wearing identical leotards, stood holding a wooden rail that ran around the walls of the room.

  All of them were making exactly the same slow careful movements. Jade rolled her eyes as she came away from the window and pushed open the heavy front door.

  Once inside, she caught sight of the changing rooms immediately. The door was ajar. She changed into her red shoes and pulled her hair into a bun. She already had her leotard on under her clothes so at least she wouldn’t make herself even later by getting changed. Then, whispering under her breath, “Right, let’s get it over with,” she made her way to the ballet studio and pushed open the door.

  Madame Za-Za broke off her counting when Jade walked in, but the girls kept on doing their exercises in time to the music. They seemed to be pointing their feet to the front, then the side, to the back, then the side again. A puzzled look passed over the teacher’s face, but then, as her eyes flickered down to Jade’s ballet shoes, she broke into a smile of recognition.

  “You must be Jade! Welcome. I was expecting you. We’ve already started, but come on in.”

  “Sorry I’m late,” Jade muttered under her breath as she quickly took her place at a space on the wooden rail.

  “Place your hand lightly on the barre – so.”

  Jade did as she was told, feeling the darting glances from all over the class. “Follow Chloe…”

  “Er… I’ve never actually done ballet before, Madame…”

  “Not to worry,” Madame Za-Za spoke quickly. “I have a feeling you’ll soon pick it up. Straighten the legs. Heels together—” Madame Za-Za was correcting Jade as she spoke, lifting her arm, lowering her shoulder and tilting her chin up. “And soften the wrists… Yes, that’s it…”

  This feels ridiculous, Jade thought. But the music was playing and everyone had started the exercise, so she followed as best she could, feeling herself growing more and more tense as Madame Za-Za kept correcting her. “Relax the arms, Jade!”

  How could she relax her arms when every other part of her body was tense? She looked across at the other girls to see if they had noticed, but luckily they were too busy concentrating on their own positions. And they were all so good at it. Much better than me, thought Jade. Then it crossed her mind that if they tried street dancing for the first time like she was trying ballet, they might not find it so easy.

  “Eyes to the front, Jade, and turn out the supporting foot!”

  Feeling frustration flood through her, Jade suddenly snapped. “Why do you have to follow all these rules? That’s not dancing! Look! This is dancing…”

  And she did a moon walk, followed by a leap in the air, then some quick footwork she’d only learned that week, her wrists flicking in front of her as her body rocked from side to side. She could hear gasps coming from all around. Everyone looked across to Madame Za-Za to see what she’d say…

  There was a silence for at least ten seconds, then Madame Za-Za nodded slowly, a thoughtful look in her eyes. “You have dance in your soul, Jade,” she said quietly. “And somewhere in that soul of yours there is a place for ballet too. We just have to find it.”

  Phew, at least she hadn’t been told off, but it didn’t help her to enjoy the rest of the class any better. It was “point this, straighten that”. In fact her whole body was itching to forget ballet with all its rules, and just dance freely. How much longer was this lesson going to go on for?

  Jade glanced at the clock. Ten twenty-e
ight. Over half an hour left. If only she could have a break. Just for a few minutes to shake all the tension out of her body. Well, perhaps she could…

  “May I go to the loo?” she asked politely.

  Madame Za-Za nodded and Jade hurried into the corridor. Stretching her arms up, she flopped them over, laughing quietly to herself. But her amusement stopped abruptly. Something strange seemed to be happening to her feet. Was it her imagination or were her little red shoes glowing? No, it definitely wasn’t her imagination. Now they were sending a tingle through her whole body too.

  Suddenly, she was surrounded by swirling, whirling colours. Could this be what the note had meant when it said the shoes were special? Jade felt her heart race with excitement as she rose up off the floor, spinning and whirling in a blur of rainbow colours…

  Suddenly everything stopped swirling and Jade found herself in the middle of a quaint-looking village square.

  She looked around her. “Where am I?” she whispered. Her immediate thought was that it all felt like a dream, so she pinched herself. No, it was definitely real.

  “Hello! Hello!”

  Jade looked round and saw a white cat, in a golden waistcoat and a top hat, leaping up to her. Stranger and stranger!

  “Welcome to Enchantia!” the cat said. His kindly eyes twinkled as he looked at Jade’s shoes, then at her face. “You’re the new owner of the magic shoes!”

  Enchantia? Magic shoes? Jade looked down at her feet. What was he talking about? But before she had a chance to ask any questions, the white cat had jumped high into the air and crisscrossed his feet at the ankles a few times before landing lightly and holding out a soft white paw to shake hands. “I am the White Cat, at your service.”

  “I… I’m Jade.”

  “Pleased to meet you, Jade. I guess you know why you’re here in Enchantia.”

  Enchantia? There was that funny word again. Jade’s eyes widened. “Well, not really…” she said.

  “Aha!” The White Cat reached for his tail and whirled it round, which made Jade giggle in spite of herself.

  “Well, whoever owns the magic shoes in the real world is brought to the land of Enchantia when we need help,” he explained. “It’s where all the characters from the ballets live.”

  “Ballets? But I don’t know anything about ballets!” Jade said.

  The White Cat grinned. “I don’t believe that for a moment,” he said. “Come on, let’s walk and talk.”

  “OK…” Jade said hesitantly, still unsure of what exactly was going on, but excited all the same. “So, where are we walking to?” she asked.

  “The Enchanted Wood,” said the White Cat.

  Jade liked the sound of that.

  “Enchantia is a wonderful place to live,” the White Cat said. “We all love to dance, well, with the exception of King Rat.” The cat pursed his lips disapprovingly and continued in an anxious tone, “Actually, it’s because of King Rat that you’re here. He wants to build a funfair in the Enchanted Wood, you see!”

  “A funfair!” Jade grinned at the White Cat. “Sounds great!”

  “Well no, it’s not so great, I’m afraid.” The cat was looking very serious now. “The Enchanted Wood is a place for everyone at the moment, a peaceful place we can all go to dance. King Rat’s funfair would be just for him, so where would we all go? And it’s not only that – a group of sylphs live in the wood. They would have to find themselves another home too.”

  Jade didn’t know what the White Cat was talking about. “Er… what exactly are sylphs?” she asked politely.

  “You don’t know?” A distant look came into the White Cat’s eyes. “Sylphs are the most beautiful ballet dancers ever,” he replied. “Shy creatures who keep themselves to themselves.” He turned to Jade. “When they dance, they light up the whole place with their magical white light which is what makes the Enchanted Wood so special for the rest of us.”

  Jade actually thought the bright lights of the funfair sounded a lot more exciting than some kind of light from a group of dancers, but she didn’t suppose that was quite the thing to say to the White Cat. She clearly wasn’t the right person to be the owner of these magic shoes. But now the White Cat was looking at her again.

  “Can you help us?” he asked.

  Jade gulped. She had no idea what on earth she could do, but the poor White Cat looked so forlorn, she nodded. “Maybe I can talk to King Rat?” she suggested hesitantly.

  But again she must have said the wrong thing, because the White Cat shook his head violently. “Oh, my shimmering whiskers and glittering tail!” he exclaimed. “Jade, you must understand, King Rat is really dangerous!”

  Jade’s eyes flew open. Why did the White Cat sound so panicky?

  “Shall we carry on walking to the Enchanted Wood then?” she suggested tentatively, trying to change the subject.

  The White Cat tipped his head to one side. “Or better still, let’s get there super fast!”

  And with that, he drew a circle with his tail on the road and told Jade to step inside the magic ring.

  A moment later, they were surrounded by spinning silver sparkles that lifted them high up in the air…

  “That was so cool!” gasped Jade as her feet touched the ground. Then she looked up at the mass of tall dark trees that stretched as far as she could see. “So this is the Enchanted Wood!” she breathed.

  The palest creamy light seemed to be drawing her into the wood and she hurried forwards, then stopped. “Oh!”

  A large sign had been suspended from one of the trees:

  PRIVATE PROPERTY. KEEP OUT! TRESPASSERS WILL BE IMPRISONED! Jade shivered. Surely signs like this usually said trespassers will be prosecuted. And that just meant paying a fine, didn’t it?

  “There! You see what I mean!” said the White Cat. “King Rat is a nasty piece of work!”

  “He certainly sounds it, but—” Jade broke off as the most horrible rat she had ever seen suddenly came stalking out from the wood. He was wearing a purple cloak and golden crown and had black greasy fur. Seeing them, he pulled out his sword. It had to be King Rat!

  “Are you blind?” King Rat snarled, two beady eyes staring out at them. His breath stank and Jade took a step back. “Or is it just that you are so stupid you can’t read?” he went on. A long hooked claw on the end of a thin paw was stabbing the air in the direction of the sign. “Keep out! it says.”

  “I was only looking!” Jade replied, sounding braver than she felt.

  The White Cat bowed, his eyes on the ground. “I’m so sorry, Your Majesty. This is my young friend’s first visit to the Wood and she… er… didn’t notice the sign.”

  Jade watched King Rat, sneering down his snout at poor White Cat, and felt cross. This might be a king standing before them. But only a Rat King, and a very rude one at that!

  A second later, his beady eyes were back on her again. “You look like one of those wretched sylphs!” he said accusingly. “If I ever catch any of them, I’ll have them locked up in my dungeons. I’m not having a band of silly creatures getting in the way of my funfair!” He was spitting a bit so Jade edged gingerly to one side.

  “Time for us to go now, Jade,” the White Cat said, tugging on her hand with his silky paw.

  But King Rat clearly had other ideas. He looked suspiciously at Jade, his neck jutting out, his red eyes in slits. “Perhaps you are a sylph yourself! I’ve never seen you around. You’re obviously in disguise, but that tied up hair and your silly way of standing like a ballet dancer are a bit of a give away!” The snarl turned to a screech. “Guards! Capture them!”

  “Get down Jade! It’s a lasso!” yelled the White Cat.

  A loop of rope was flying through the air, fast approaching. Jade dropped to the ground just in time.

  “Watch out!” she yelled. But it was too late. The White Cat was caught in the tightening rope.

  “Run before he gets you, too!” he shouted fearfully. “Just run!”

  “No, I won’t,” cried Jad
e. There was no way she was going to abandon the White Cat.

  “You must or he’ll catch you. Go, please go!”

  Jade heard the desperation in his voice. King Rat moved towards her. She wanted to rescue the White Cat, but she needed time to come up with a plan.

  “I’ll be back!” she cried, and then she turned and sprinted away as fast as her feet would carry her.

  Jade ran as hard as she could through the Enchanted Wood. She could still hear the urgency in the White Cat’s voice, calling after her.

  “No, don’t go into the wood! Run away!”

  But all the same, Jade thought it would be safer to stay amongst the trees, rather than be an open target for the horrid King Rat. She knew he had a sword, and his guards had lassos.

  “Guards, lock that cat in the deepest dungeon! I’m going to deal with this sylph-in-disguise. I’ll sniff her out!” bellowed King Rat.

  Jade stumbled along, tripping over tree roots, her hair falling out of its bun, her heart thudding as she heard King Rat running after her. The poor White Cat was in terrible danger and all because of her big mouth. She shouldn’t have gone rushing in saying whatever she wanted. She should have listened to him. But what was it that King Rat had said? Something about how she stood like a ballet dancer? Jade was surprised, but also found herself taking what he said as a compliment.

  The trees grew denser and denser as Jade ran and yet it wasn’t getting any darker. In fact, it seemed to be lighter. That must be the magic powers of the sylphs. So they really did light up the wood like the White Cat said. And what was that lovely smell? Honeysuckle? Yes, there must be a honeysuckle bush just nearby.