Skating at Last!
The ice rink was down a long corridor and through some heavy double doors. Issy looked round in amazement. It was beautiful. Above the sparkling ice was a domed glass ceiling through which they could see the sky. Frost fairies darted through the air and hovered round the silver barriers at the edge. To one side of the rink there was a large purple box covered with silver buttons and nearby was the changing area with wooden benches and lockers.
The girls from the other dorms were all arriving too. Sophy came in with a very pretty girl with straight, shoulder-length chestnut hair and a girl with wild red curls.
The girl with the straight hair looked worried. ‘Oh, I wish you two had waited a few more minutes so I could have changed out of this dress. I look awful in yellow. And I haven’t even had time to brush my hair.’ She smoothed her hair down anxiously. ‘Do I look OK?’
‘You look fine,’ Sophy reassured her. ‘I like your yellow dress.’
‘And I don’t know why you’re worrying about your hair, Cecilia,’ said the Irish curly-haired girl. ‘Look at mine. My dad always says that it looks like I’ve got birds nesting in it!’
Just then, Madame Letsworth came through the doors. ‘Your skates are in your lockers, girls. You can go on to the ice as soon as you like.’
Within five minutes, everyone had changed into their skates. Issy skated round the edge of the rink, moving from one foot to the other, arms slightly out. Some girls were going backwards, some forwards; some were doing spins, while others practised steps.
After a few warm-up laps, Issy began to go faster and soon the urge to jump overwhelmed her. Stepping back on to the right outside edge of her skate, she propelled herself upwards off her right foot. Crossing her ankles, she spun round before landing on her left foot. A double toe loop! Yes! thought Issy as she glided round.
Speeding up again, she tried a double lutz. She fell over three times, but each time she just laughed and scrambled to her feet. Issy never minded how often she hit the ice. The feeling of getting a jump right – spinning weightlessly and landing perfectly – always made up for it.
Issy finally landed the double lutz just as Jo came over. ‘Cool jump, Issy,’ she said admiringly and Issy glowed. ‘Do you want to play tag?’
‘Yeah!’
‘Got you!’ said Jo, tagging her.
‘Not for long!’ Issy raced after her, laughing as they dodged in and out of the others.
After five minutes, Madame Letsworth came on to the ice with Madame Li and a tall male sylph with dark skin and hair. She blew a whistle and gathered the girls together. ‘For your skating lessons you will be taught in three groups. The beginners will be taught by Monsieur Carvallio, the intermediate group by Madame Li and the advanced group by myself.’
I’ll probably be in the intermediate group, Issy decided. But a bit of her couldn’t help hoping that she would be chosen for the advanced one. That would be so cool!
Madame Letsworth read out a list of names. ‘In the beginners’ group there will be Cecilia, Niamh and Abigail; in the intermediate group are Sophy, Vanessa…’
A girl with shoulder-length, dark-blonde hair gasped in indignation. ‘But I can’t be in the intermediate group! There must be some mistake. I’m an advanced skater!’
Madame Letsworth looked surprised. ‘I’m sorry, Vanessa, but the teachers make the decisions about which group you will skate in.’
‘I won’t be in the intermediate! I won’t!’ Vanessa said, putting her hands on her hips.
‘Who’s a spoilt brat then?’ Jo muttered to Issy, looking at Vanessa with dislike.
‘Shh!’ said Issy quickly.
Madame Letsworth’s voice was firm. ‘You will be in the group we have chosen for you, Vanessa. If you do not like it then you will have to return home. Do you understand?’
Vanessa frowned. ‘Yes,’ she muttered sulkily.
Madame Letsworth looked round. ‘The other intermediate skaters will be Lou, Narinder and Jo; and the advanced group will be Maisie, Milly, Issy and Jessica.’
Issy beamed. So she was in the advanced group. Brilliant! She couldn’t wait for the lesson to start.
‘There is one other thing I need to tell you about,’ Madame Letsworth continued. ‘At the end of each week here there will be a competition. These will help us decide who should be our Ice Princess. The winner of each competition will be awarded a pair of jewelled skates.’
Jewelled skates! Issy swapped excited looks with Jo.
‘You will find out what the competition will be tomorrow,’ Madame Letsworth continued. ‘But we will expect you to practise hard for it all week. You may skate any time you like apart from when you have other lessons to go to. Now let’s not waste any more time. Into your groups, girls, and let’s begin!’
Madame Letsworth spent ages working through different exercises to improve their footwork. Issy found that rather boring. But she loved it when they got on to doing jumps. She flung herself around fearlessly and was delighted when Madame Letsworth told her that she had lots of ability. ‘You just need to control it, but well done, Issy. You’ve worked hard today. I hope you’ll get a lot out of being here.’
Issy was sure she would! In the moments she had been resting while Madame Letsworth worked with someone else, she had watched the other girls. They were all very different, not just in how experienced they were, but also in how they skated. Maisie skated very dramatically whereas Milly was more subdued, but very graceful. Jo didn’t seem to concentrate much; she was naturally talented, but Issy saw that she made quite a lot of mistakes and didn’t seem to really listen to her teacher, Madame Li, when she was corrected.
Sophy was the complete opposite. She couldn’t do as much as some of the other skaters in the intermediate group, but she concentrated hard. By the end of the session, she was managing to do a double loop jump that she had been having problems with and Madame Li seemed very pleased with her.
And then there were the beginners. Cecilia had obviously not skated much before, but, to Issy’s surprise, once she stopped worrying about her outfit and hair, she seemed to have a lot of natural talent and she listened closely to what her teacher was saying. Niamh, the curly-haired Irish girl, who seemed to be always giggling and talking, was also a beginner. She was very flexible and fearless and Issy overheard her saying she did a lot of gymnastics at home.
There were so many different girls! Issy felt very excited at the thought of the next six weeks. What would they get up to and who would she be friends with? Most importantly of all, who would get to be the Ice Princess? I hope it’s me! she thought.
Supper was in the hall. Frost fairies flew around, wings fluttering as they poured out juice and brought plates to the table. Issy wondered if she would see Cobweb, but she wasn’t there.
Issy, Jo, Milly and Maisie all sat together as Ice Owls. Vanessa headed over to their table.
‘Oh, no,’ Jo hissed.
‘Hi, guys,’ said Vanessa brightly as if they were all the best of friends. ‘Can I sit with you?’
‘Don’t feel you have to,’ muttered Jo.
Vanessa laughed as if she thought Jo was joking.
‘You three are all in the advanced group, aren’t you?’ she said to the twins and Issy. ‘I should be too. Those ice sylphs are completely mad. I’ve been skating since I was three. My coach says I’ll be in the Olympics one day.’
Issy and the others exchanged looks. Did Vanessa have any idea how boastful she sounded?
‘I have private lessons every day,’ Vanessa went on, sitting down. ‘My dad’s a millionaire.’ She looked around as if expecting them to be impressed. ‘We’ve got a really big house – it’s got ten bedrooms.’
‘Great,’ muttered Jo.
Issy felt herself tense. Jo’s sarcastic tone made her feel uncomfortable.
‘We’ve got four cars and in my room I’ve got a TV and a PlayStation,’ continued Vanessa.
Issy saw Jo start to open her mouth and chipped in instead. ‘So, everyone, who’s your favourite skater?’
‘Sasha Cohen,’ said Maisie immediately.
‘Me too,’ said Issy. ‘Did you see her at the Olympics?’
‘I actually went to the Olympics,’ Vanessa said smugly. ‘Mummy and I stayed at a five-star hotel, but we always stay in hotels like that.’
Jo looked at her with dislike. ‘Do you think we care about your holidays and how big your house is?’
Vanessa looked taken aback.
‘If you’re going to sit with us, you’ll have to shut up a bit,’ Jo declared.
Vanessa scowled. ‘Do you think I’d want to sit here if you’re going to speak to me like that?’ Picking up her tray, she marched off.
There was a moment’s silence. Issy felt bad that Vanessa’s feelings had been hurt. Milly looked a bit upset too, but Jo didn’t.
‘Thank goodness she’s gone,’ Jo said. ‘Ooh, I’m going to be Olympic champion!’ She mimicked Vanessa’s voice perfectly and Issy found herself smiling. Vanessa had been annoying!
‘I’m very glad it’s just us again,’ said Maisie.
‘Me too,’ agreed Milly with relief.
* * *
After supper, they went up to their dorm and had a pillow fight. They shrieked and laughed as they thumped each other with the pillows. The frost fairies who were in the dorm, including Cobweb, perched on the curtain rail and watched, giggling.
At nine o’clock, Madame Li came round to tell them all to get ready for bed and then fifteen minutes later the lights were turned off.
‘I hope we find out more tomorrow about the competition Madame Letsworth was talking about,’ Maisie said as they snuggled down under their duvets.
‘I love competitions,’ said Jo.
‘So do I,’ said Maisie. ‘I wonder what we’ll have to do.’
Issy hugged herself. She couldn’t wait until the next morning to find out!
