A pretty girl with long dark hair and a red dress was standing by the entrance to the rink stretching one leg up on the bench and talking loudly to anyone who would listen.
‘I did a triple toe loop followed by a Flying Camel this morning. Madame Letsworth was here and she said it was the best she’d seen since we all started.’ Amanda smiled smugly as she talked about the ice-skating jumps she’d done. ‘But then that’s not surprising; after all, I have been skating for longer than nearly everyone else here…’
‘I wish a Flying Camel would land on Amanda’s head,’ Molly muttered to Emily, who giggled. Amanda was one of the most annoying girls at the school! She was always boasting and bossing people about.
Emily got on well with most of the other girls. There was only one person she didn’t like at all – Camilla.
When they had first arrived, Emily and Camilla had both been in the Snow Foxes dorm. But when Emily had started going round with Hannah and Molly, who were in one of the other dorms, Camilla had declared that Emily wasn’t allowed to be friends with them too and had started being mean to her. It hadn’t helped that Emily had then won the competition at the end of the week, after Camilla had told everyone she was bound to win.
Emily glanced at the rink. Camilla was skating in the centre of the ice, gliding round on one leg. Emily started some warm-up stretches. She did a lot of ballet at home and so she was very flexible, which really helped with her skating.
First she stretched down to touch her toes, the palms of her hands easily reaching the ice. Then she straightened up and put her foot on the barrier around the rink, her leg straight.
Camilla skated past. ‘Pity you can’t skate as well as you can warm up, Emily,’ she said snidely before skating off.
Emily took a deep breath and tried not to let Camilla’s comment upset her. She could skate well. She’d proved it by winning the competition. She might not be as experienced as all the others, but she was trying hard and she knew she was improving every single day.
Emily set off round the rink, her arms out, her head held high. She went faster and faster and then added in some turns and jumps until the skating teachers arrived. Monsieur Carvallio was dark-skinned and tall. He taught the beginners’ group that Emily and Tilda were in with a sweet but very shy girl called Heather. The intermediate skaters were taught by Madame Li and the advanced skaters had Madame Letsworth. Molly and Hannah, who were both in the advanced group, said she was the best skating coach they had ever had.
The three teachers skated on to the ice. Madame Letsworth, who was wearing a dark-maroon dress as usual, blew her whistle. ‘Gather round, girls. Before we start, I’m going to tell you about this week’s competition.’
‘Cool!’ said Molly, skating up at full speed to join Emily and stopping in a spray of ice crystals.
‘However, first,’ continued Madame Letsworth, ‘I have an important safety announcement. If you are skating outside on the lake behind the school, please don’t go down the small river that goes into the woods to the east. The ice is weak and there is a big crack in it. The other rivers are all fine. Now, for the competition…’
Madame Letsworth looked round at the girls’ eager faces. ‘This week we would like to see how well you skate together with another person and so your challenge will be to produce a two-minute routine in pairs that tells a story. You must choose the music and story in your pairs. We want to see how well you all get on, working as a team.’
Wow! That sounded fun! Emily exchanged excited looks with Molly.
Zoe, who was in the Ice Owls dorm, put up her hand. ‘Do we get to choose our own partners, Madame?’
To Emily’s disappointment, Madame Letsworth shook her head. ‘We have drawn your names out of a hat and put you in pairs. I will tell you who you will be skating with after this lesson.’
‘What colour skates will the winners get this week?’ asked Tilda.
‘The winning pair will each be presented with their own special pair of violet skates. Now, time to get started,’ Madame Letsworth said. ‘Let’s not waste any more ice time.’
And the lesson began.
Emily had been practising lots. She could now do jumps and spins, although nothing like as complicated as the ones that the girls in the advanced group did, but it was wonderful to be able to whizz round on the spot and fly over the surface of the ice.
She glided on one foot in a spiral, one leg in the air, her arms and head arched back.
‘Well done, Emily,’ Monsieur Carvallio praised her.
Emily lowered her leg and skated on, glowing with happiness. She wondered who would be her partner in the competition and if they would be good enough to win. She loved the thought of having violet skates as well as her special white ones.
As Monsieur Carvallio turned his attention to Tilda, Emily looked round at the others. Everyone on the rink was concentrating hard, working on their own or with a teacher.
It’s funny how everyone’s skating is so different, Emily reflected as she watched them all. Tilda was really daring on the ice and ended up falling over all the time because she was forever trying jumps and spins, almost seeming to forget she was on the ice. Alice, who was in the intermediate group, was laid-back and never seemed to get upset about anything. She skated effortlessly and didn’t try too hard or worry too much. Hannah was the opposite. She took ice-skating very seriously indeed. She always looked so elegant and she practised extremely hard. Amanda always skated as if she expected the whole world to be watching her, throwing her arms wide and skating dramatically, and Molly…
Emily grinned as she saw Molly skating really fast and throwing herself into a double salchow jump followed by a double toe loop, wobbling on the landing, but just about managing to stay on her feet. Molly did everything super-quickly on the ice, just like in real life. She was a ball of energy and was really exciting to watch.
I wonder what I’m like as a skater, Emily wondered. She had been told that she was very expressive. She hoped she was. She loved dancing on ice, feeling the music carrying her and being able to lose herself in it. Ballet was wonderful, but ice-skating was even better because she could go so fast and when she jumped she really felt like she was flying. Emily sighed happily. There was nothing better than skating!
‘Come along, Emily,’ called Monsieur Carvallio. ‘Another spiral, please.’
Emily focused her attention on what she was supposed to be doing and glided off across the rink.
After the lesson, the girls changed out of their skating boots.
‘Time to find out who we’re going to be skating with in the competition,’ Molly said excitedly as Madame Letsworth waited for them to gather round.
Emily felt a flicker of nerves. Who would she be with? Hannah or Molly, she hoped. But Alice or Tilda would be great too.
Madame Letsworth waited until they were all changed and then looked down at her list. ‘Here are the skating pairs for the competition. Hannah, you will be dancing with Alice.’ Hannah and Alice exchanged delighted looks. ‘Zoe, you will be with Heather. Molly, you will be dancing with Tilda.’
‘Yes!’ both Molly and Tilda said.
So who am I going to be with? Emily thought.
‘Camilla with Olivia, Helena with Tess, Tasha with Clare…’
Emily tried to work out who hadn’t had their name read out yet. She looked round, pairing them off. Oh, no, surely not…
Madame Letsworth smiled at her. ‘And, Emily, you’ll be with Amanda.’