Twirling Tails #7

Kirsten Blake twirled her baton high into the air as she marched around the gym. She caught the baton perfectly without missing a beat of her routine.

“Yes,” she whispered to herself, delighted that all her practice was beginning to pay off.

Swinging her arms, Kirsten kept perfect time with the other Limelight Majorettes as they wheeled and interwove in time to the music.

“Shoulders back, heads up. Looking good!” Molly the trainer cried. Kirsten’s blond hair was tied back and she wore shorts and a blue T-shirt with “LM” in glittery letters on the front.

“Good job, everyone,” Molly praised. “Take a break now. After you get yourselves a drink, can we all gather together, please? I want to talk to you.”

Kirsten wiped her face on a towel and then went to get a drink from the machine.

Kirsten felt a glow of pride. “Thanks. I love baton twirling. I even march all around the house doing it. Dad says it’s a wonder I’m not twirling in my sleep!”

Molly laughed. “That would be one way to get more practice in. But I can’t say I recommend it!”

The gym door opened and a girl wearing jeans and a fleece sauntered in carrying a sports bag. She went over to a corner and dumped her bag.

Kirsten and Tracy were in the same class at school and usually walked to majorette practice together. But tonight, Tracy had told Kirsten that she’d meet her there.

Kirsten noticed Molly looking across at Tracy. The trainer was shaking her head with annoyance.

Kirsten quickly got a second can from the machine and hurried straight over to Tracy. “Here you are. I got you this. Molly’s on the warpath about you being late,” she warned her. “Where have you been, anyway?”

“Thanks.” Tracy took the drink and popped the tab. “Nowhere,” she said in answer to Kirsten’s question. “I don’t know why Molly’s in such a huff. There’s not exactly much going on here.”

“That’s only because we’re having a break, silly,” Kirsten said, giving her a friendly dig. “We’ve all been practicing like maniacs. You should have seen me. I just did the most mega-high twirl and I managed to catch the baton!”

Kirsten’s high spirits wavered a bit. Tracy seemed to be in a strange mood. She saw that Molly was coming over.

“Hello, Tracy,” Molly said. “I expected you to come straight over to me. Don’t you have something you want to say?”

“You’re over an hour late! And it’s not the first time. I think you owe me an explanation,” Molly said.

Tracy shuffled her feet and looked at the floor. “I went to see one of my classmates. She’s . . . er . . . really sick. We got talking and I didn’t notice the time.”

Kirsten was puzzled. Why hadn’t Tracy told her that? And she couldn’t think of any girls in their class who were out sick. She threw Tracy a questioning look, but her friend didn’t meet her eye.

Molly sighed. “We’ll say no more about it. But will you make sure that you get here on time from now on?”

“Good. Finish getting changed and then come and sit with the others. I’m about to make an announcement,” Molly said as she walked away.

“She’s really bossy,” Tracy grumbled, pulling on her sneakers. “I’m fed up with her ordering us all around like we’re little kids.”

“Well, she is the trainer. That’s what they do,” Kirsten said reasonably.

Tracy rolled her eyes. “Yeah, well. She should lighten up. So I was late. It’s not a crime, is it?” She stomped moodily over to a pile of gym mats.

Kirsten followed her and they sat down to listen to Molly, who was already speaking.

“. . . and as you know, the new shopping mall on Main Street is almost finished. In two weeks, it’s going to be officially opened by the mayor. There’ll be street performers, jugglers, and a fair in the market square. And we’ve been asked to lead the Grand Parade. The Limelight Majorettes will be marching along to the music of a brass band!” Molly said with a smile.

“Wow! That’s cool!” Kirsten said, as excited chatter broke out all around her and even Tracy looked impressed.

It was Kirsten’s dream to perform with the Limelight Majorettes, but only the A team marched in public and went to competitions. She and Tracy were still on the B team.

Molly smiled around at all the eager faces. “This is a great chance for us to show everyone what we can do. I want as many as possible of you to take part. So I’m going to move those of you who are ready onto the A team.

“. . . Annie and Rosa. And Jacqui you’ll all be moving up. And last but not least . . . Kirsten, you’ll be joining the A team.”

“Me? Yay! That’s fantastic!” Kirsten cried, delightedly bouncing up and down on the springy gym mats.

Kirsten’s high spirits took a dive as she realized that her friend’s name hadn’t been called.

Molly clapped her hands. “Okay, everyone. Let’s have another run-through.”

“Molly, I think you’ve forgotten someone—Tracy!” she whispered urgently.

Molly shook her head. “I didn’t forget. I’m just not sure that Tracy wants to give one hundred percent to the LMs right now. But I’d be happy to be proven wrong,” she said more gently, giving Tracy a meaningful look before she walked away.

Kirsten looked at her friend. “Did you hear that? Molly more or less said that if you work really hard at practice now, you’ll get onto the A team, too!” she said eagerly.

Tracy shrugged. “Who cares? Maybe Helena’s right. Dressing up like a chocolate soldier is pretty stupid—” She stopped suddenly. “I’d better start work before Molly has a fit.” Tracy went to join some girls who were doing warm-ups.

Kirsten frowned. Did Tracy mean Helena Simpson, the new girl in class? Helena was popular with everyone and gave noisy opinions about everything. Kirsten didn’t think Tracy even knew her that well.

A suspicion came over her. What if Tracy had just been at Helena’s house? But that couldn’t be right because Tracy said her classmate had been sick and Helena had been fine at school earlier. Unless Tracy was lying . . .

Kirsten didn’t want to believe it. She wandered miserably into the bathroom. There was no one else in there as she splashed her face at a sink. But as she looked back up into the mirrors, a dazzling flash of bright gold light lit up the whole room behind her.

“Oh!” Kirsten took a step backward, rubbing at her eyes. When her sight cleared, she turned to see a tiny puppy standing about a foot away on the tiled floor. It had light brown shaggy fur, a little square muzzle, and enormous midnight blue eyes.