Jade and the Surprise Party Read online

  To Phoebe and Zoe, as they are the inspiration behind Magic Ballerina.

  Contents

  Cover

  Title Page

  Dedication

  Author’s Note

  Map of Enchantia

  Prologue

  1. Working Together

  2. The Lilac Fairy

  3. The Meeting

  4. Imprisoned

  5. The Land of Sweets

  6. Wands at Work

  7. The Surprise

  Darcey’s Magical Masterclass

  Acknowledgements

  Copyright

  About the Publisher

  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…

  Map

  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 could hear the music in her head. She did a skip kick, a lunge and two quick turns, then she sprung up high, landing in second position. “Yes!” she said, punching the air. “Did you follow what I did? Let’s try it together!”

  Her partner, Chloe frowned. “Er… can you show me again, Jade?”

  Jade looked puzzled. She glanced across at her ballet teacher to see if she was looking in their direction. Madame Za-Za’s eyes were on the rest of the class, watching as they made up their own short dances in pairs.

  “OK, I’ll go back to the beginning. It goes flick, kick, flick, kick, arms up, turn to the right, arms down…” Jade gabbled.

  Chloe tried to copy the moves, but she forgot what came after the first arm movements. “Sorry,” she said, biting her lip.

  Jade tried to hide her disappointment. “Is it that there’s too much street dancing in the routine?” she asked. But she didn’t wait for Chloe to answer. “I can easily change it. Look, how about pas de bourrée instead of the flick, kicks, like this.”

  Jade felt excited as she went on making up new steps. Eventually she stopped and turned to Chloe. “Try that.”

  Chloe took a deep breath, but she’d only just managed the very first bit when Madame Za-Za said it was time for the end of the lesson. “You can finish off your dances next time, girls, and then perform them to the rest of the class.”

  Jade didn’t even try to hide her disappointment this time. She knew it wasn’t Chloe’s fault, but dancing in pairs was frustrating. As soon as class was finished, she left the studio, quickly changed out of her red ballet shoes and grabbed her things. Everyone else was chatting away, but Jade didn’t feel like talking. “Bye,” she said quietly, then slipped out of the building and set off for home, feeling a little guilty that she hadn’t said goodbye properly to Chloe.

  In her bedroom later that day, Jade put on her red ballet shoes. She hugged her knees and stared at the shoes remembering how they’d come to be hers. She’d found a parcel posted through her letterbox with the shoes inside. At first Jade hadn’t been sure about ballet dancing and she was still surprised to find that she, Jade Winters, now loved ballet!

  And as for the shoes – well they had turned out to be the most special thing of all – not just because they’d brought her to ballet, but because they were magic too. They could whisk her away to the land of Enchantia where all the characters from the ballets lived. There she’d met the White Cat and had such an incredible adventure.

  Jade stood up and began to go over the dance she’d made up in the class, but somehow it wasn’t working. She tried to hear the music in her head, but it was impossible with her twin brothers and two little sisters making so much noise around the house. There wasn’t much room to move in her tiny bedroom either. But in her heart Jade knew that those things weren’t the problem. The real problem was with the dance itself. It was just too frantic. Perhaps that was what had made it so hard for Chloe. The steps didn’t… flow.

  Immediately, Jade set to work, trying to improve the dance. But she’d no sooner got started than her mum called out to ask her if she’d mind reading her sisters a bedtime story. “While I bathe the twins, love.”

  Jade rolled her eyes, but then felt a leap of excitement as she grabbed a book of fairy tales. She would read them Sleeping Beauty and that would remind her of Enchantia.

  Her sisters, Lottie and Hannah snuggled up in their beds and listened as Jade began the story. Their eyes grew big and round when she came to the bit about the Wicked Fairy storming into the Princess’s christening party in a boiling rage.

  “Show us the picture, Jade!” said Lottie.

  “Sorry?” Jade blinked a few times, realising that she hadn’t been concentrating on the story at all. She’d just been reading the words mechanically while the rest of her brain had been miles away, thinking about Madame Za-Za’s.

  “Jade! Show us the picture!” This time it was Hannah.

  “Sorry.” Jade turned the book round so they could see the Wicked Fairy, then went on to read about the Lilac Fairy. She didn’t lose concentration now because she loved this part of the story so much. But she didn’t get very far.

  “Phone, Jade!” came her mum’s voice, calling up the stairs. “It’s for you!”

  Lottie and Hannah frowned.

  “I’ll be back in a moment,” Jade told them as she hurried out of the room.

  However, she didn’t get downstairs because as she stepped on to the landing her red shoes began to glow. In no time at all the glow turned to a sparkle, and Jade’s heart began to race. Was this really happening again? she asked herself excitedly as she was lifted up in a blur of swirling, whirling colours and twinkling sparkles.

  As Jade was set down in a village square the magical haze cleared and she stared around her.

  “I’m back!” she breathed happily. “This is Enchantia!”

  “Jade! Jade!” called a familiar voice.

  The White Cat was running up to her. “Lovely day!”

  Jade hugged her friend. “It’s great to see you again. You look happy, Cat!”

  “Well, thank you!” her friend replied with a chuckle, sweeping off his hat in a grand gesture and bowing low. Then he straightened up smartly, leaned forwards and spoke in a low voice. “I think there’s er… something rather… odd going on, though, Jade.”

  “Odd?” said Jade, feeling curious.

  “Yes, very odd!” replied the White Cat, looking a bit embarrassed. “You see, I keep coming across people standing in huddles and talking in whispers. But the moment I ask what’s going on, they just say, ‘Oh nothing!’ and leave me none the wiser!”

  Jade wrinkled her nose. “That does sound a bit weird,” she agreed. And straight after she spoke, as if from nowhere, there was a tiny flash. “Oh! What was that?”

  “Exactly!” her friend replied, sweeping the air with his paw. “I knew I hadn’t been imagining those little flashes I keep seeing! And yet whenever I mention them to anyone, they look at me as though I’ve gone mad!”

  The White Cat shook his head, baffled, and Jade laughed.

  A moment later her laughter stopped and her hand flew to her mouth. F
rom out of a hazy mist, before her very eyes, appeared the most beautiful ballerina. And not just any ballerina – it was the one Jade had just been reading about, the Lilac Fairy from Sleeping Beauty.

  “Hello,” said the fairy in a tinkly voice. “I’m Lila.”

  “Hello… Lila.” Jade couldn’t help staring at the fairy’s sparkling lilac tutu and her beautiful wings that fluttered and shimmered with the palest shades of the rainbow. On her head a diamond tiara sparkled, and in her hand she held a delicate wand.

  “Lila, meet Jade!” the White Cat introduced her. Then he turned with concern to the fairy. “What is it, Lila? You look worried.”

  “We need your help, White Cat. One of the gingerbread children has climbed too high in the tree beside the green, and now she’s completely stuck and getting upset.”

  “Don’t worry! I’m on my way!” said the White Cat and he bounded off lightly and quickly.

  Jade felt a bit tongue-tied in the presence of the Lilac Fairy, but she didn’t need to say anything. Lila had already taken a small step closer and was talking urgently.

  “It’s true there is a gingerbread child up a tree, but she’s a very good climber and is only pretending to be stuck so I could talk to you alone.”

  Jade’s eyes widened. “Oh!”

  “You see, it’s the White Cat’s birthday today…”

  “The White Cat’s birthday! That explains why he looks so happy!”

  The date popped into Jade’s head. “Oh, but it’s the twenty-ninth of February!” She felt a little pang of sadness for her friend. “Poor old cat only gets a birthday once every four years – whenever it’s a leap year.”

  “Exactly,” said Lila. “And because it is a leap year this year, we decided we should celebrate it properly. We’re going to give him a lovely big party!”

  “Cool!” said Jade.

  “But,” said Lila, looking behind her to check he hadn’t returned, “it’s a surprise. He has no idea!”

  Jade smiled. So that was what was going on! “He told me that people keep whispering in little groups and then breaking up as soon as he appears,” she said.

  Lila’s eyes twinkled. “I do hope he doesn’t suspect anything because it’s going to be wonderful. Practically the whole of Enchantia will be there. And there’ll be live music and every kind of dancing, as well as delicious things to eat and drink. At the moment he just thinks he’s meeting a few close friends for tea at five o’clock at Little Red Riding Hood’s cottage, but when he gets there he’ll find a carriage that will whisk him away to the Marshmallow Palace in the Land of Sweets.”

  Jade felt excitement building up inside her at the thought of such a brilliant plan.

  “I’m so glad the shoes brought you here to Enchantia,” went on Lila, “because it’s practically impossible to get everything prepared for a five o’clock start, without the White Cat finding out. I was wondering whether you could help us.”

  “Of course!” said Jade. “What can I do?”

  “Well, could you distract the White Cat somehow?” Lila frowned in concentration, then broke into a smile. “I know! Ask him to show you his favourite old haunts. That’ll take him well out of the way!”

  Jade nodded. “No problem!”

  “Try not to get back until just before five!” added the Lilac Fairy, her face suddenly taking on an anxious look.

  “Don’t worry, I’ll keep him busy!” said Jade, brightly. But she noticed that Lila still seemed very anxious. “Is… anything the matter?”

  Lila sighed. “It’s silly, but I just keep worrying that something might go wrong.”

  “Like what?” asked Jade, puzzled.

  “Like King Rat or one of the other wicked characters of Enchantia trying to ruin the party.”

  Jade shivered. She’d met King Rat before and knew just how horrid he could be. “He hates dancing, doesn’t he?” she said quietly.

  Lila nodded, looking upset. So Jade tried to cheer her up. “Look, I’m sure everything will be just fine. And the White Cat is going to be over the moon.” Then suddenly she remembered something. “You know, I saw a tiny little flash earlier on. And the White Cat says he’s seen loads, but no one else seems to know anything about them!”

  Lila laughed her light, tinkly laugh. “They’re camera flashes. We’ve hired a photographer called Bettina. I only met her a few days ago, but she’s kindly offered to build up a collection of photos so we can show a photo collage to music on a big screen at the White Cat’s party.” Lila waved to someone behind Jade.

  “Ah, here she is now!”

  As the lady came closer Lila said, “Bettina, this is Jade. She’s going to help distract the White Cat, whilst the preparations for his party are going on.”

  Bettina nodded at Jade. “Pleased to meet you.” She turned to Lila. “And where is the White Cat right now?”

  “Rescuing a gingerbread child stuck up a tree!” answered Lila. “At least…”

  She was going to explain how this was a bit of a trick, but Bettina was already hurrying off, mumbling about a photo opportunity.

  Jade smiled to herself. What a fun visit to Enchantia this was turning out to be. She’d thought at first she’d have to help solve a problem, but all she had to do was explore the place with her friend. Bliss!

  “Oh, my shimmering whiskers! It’s a while since I’ve been this way.” The White Cat was leaping and bounding along the little path that led to Buttercup Valley.

  Jade was hurrying behind trying her best to keep up with him.

  “You’re going to love the valley, Jade!” he said, jumping effortlessly on to a boulder at the side and dancing on its smooth surface. “I can’t wait to show you the exact spot where I was born!”

  Jade secretly felt relieved that her friend had stopped for a moment. It gave her chance to catch up. In his excitement he’d been rushing along so quickly.

  He jumped down a moment later, and after a couple of pas de chats, he set off again. Jade broke into a jog, so as not to get left behind, and almost crashed into the White Cat. He’d stopped abruptly in front of a large sign that blocked the whole lane.

  “What’s this?” he said, scratching his head. “Road closed! I don’t believe it!”

  “Oh dear, does this mean we can’t get through to Buttercup Valley?”

  The White Cat sighed. “No, it just means we’ll have to take a longer route.” He shook his head and spoke in a puzzled voice. “It’s most odd that this road should be closed, though!”

  Together they walked along in silence for a few moments. Jade guessed that her friend was still puzzling over the road being closed, but she was smiling to herself inside. It was obvious why the sign was there. It was all part of the Lilac Fairy’s plan to keep the White Cat out of the way for the longest possible time.

  “Oh, my glittering eyes!” he said a moment later. “I’d quite forgotten that we have to be back for five o’clock!” He stopped and looked a bit embarrassed. “I haven’t said anything, but it’s actually my birthday today…”

  “Wow!” Jade pretended to be surprised. “Happy Birthday, White Cat!” Then she tipped her head on one side. “I knew there was something different about you today!”

  “Really?” Her friend smiled then spoke quickly. “Well, Red Riding Hood is holding a small tea party for me at five o’clock. If we’re still going to see Buttercup Valley we’ll need to hurry. It’ll take much longer going this way.”

  And off they went again. In no time at all, Jade felt herself lagging behind as the White Cat padded along quickly. “One good thing — you’ll get to see Swan Lake on this route!” he called over his shoulder.

  A bounce came into Jade’s step at those words. This was truly amazing. She couldn’t believe she’d actually see the real Swan Lake from the ballet. But the bounce didn’t help her catch up with the White Cat. He was already way ahead, even though he’d been putting in a few high jumps and twirls as he leaped along.

  Jade’s legs were starting to fe
el shaky and she was getting puffed out. “Will I… meet the swans?” she managed to ask.

  The White Cat didn’t hear her at first, he was so far ahead, and Jade had to force her legs to go even faster as she repeated her question.

  “Absolutely!” came the cheerful reply. Then a serious note came into his voice. “I hope we don’t meet the Wicked Fairy, though. She lives close to the lake.”

  “The Wicked Fairy?” A gasp of alarm came out between Jade’s puffs and she stopped so she could catch her breath.

  The White Cat must have heard the gasp because he turned round. “Oh, my glimmering eyes!” he said rushing back to her. “You look exhausted. It’s my fault! I’m so sorry. I keep forgetting you’re only human!”

  Jade thought that was quite funny, but she didn’t have the strength to laugh. “We won’t… actually meet the Wicked Fairy, will we?” she asked a little shakily.

  The White Cat laid a soft paw on Jade’s shoulder. “No, she’s not been seen for ages. We’ll just pass quite near to her castle, that’s all.”

  Jade nodded. Her friend didn’t look bothered, so there was no need for her to worry.

  They set off again, at a gentler pace, and the White Cat pointed out the sights – the Enchanted Wood, Beauty and the Beast’s castle, and way over in the distance, the tips of the fir trees in the Land of Snow.

  The colour of the sky was subtly changing from blue to a soft silvery green colour, when someone approached them from a little side road.

  “Oh, it’s Bettina!” said Jade, as the lady drew closer.

  “Bettina?” The White Cat looked baffled. “I thought I knew everyone in Enchantia, and yet here’s someone I’ve never met before!” He threw a questioning glance at Jade. “When did you meet her?”