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Chapter Two

The Competition

The girls got changed. Most days they wore simple skating dresses, tights and wrap-over cardigans, but for the competitions at the end of each week they often had special outfits that the frost fairies made. The frost fairies were tiny creatures who helped look after everything in the Magic Ice-skating Academy. Emily loved them. Their voices were too high for her to understand, but she would often go down to the rink and sit quietly, letting them perch on her shoulders and arms, their delicate wings fluttering.

When everyone was ready, Madame Letsworth held up her hand for silence. ‘It’s time to tell you about this week’s competition, girls,’ she announced.

There was a buzz of excited chatter. Madame Letsworth waited for it to die down. ‘This week,’ she said, when everyone was giving her their full attention, ‘the winners will each receive a pair of scarlet skates with silver laces.’ She pulled a pair of skates out of a bag beside her. They were a glowing red with glittering silver laces and fastenings.

Emily gazed at them. They were beautiful.

‘This competition will be a test of your resourcefulness and courage. We want to see how well you cope in the land outside,’ Madame Letsworth went on. ‘And so you will be going on a two-day scavenger hunt. This will involve skating and cross-country skiing, using a map to get through the woods and the foothills of the mountains as you try and find five special things. You will work together in teams of three or four.’

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Emily caught her breath. What an amazing competition!

Amanda, a pretty girl with long dark hair, didn’t seem to think so. She was staring at Madame Letsworth in horror. ‘We’re going to be outside for two whole days! But it’ll be cold and –’

‘Will we be able to choose our own teams?’ interrupted Camilla.

‘Yes, you will,’ Madame Letsworth replied.

‘We’re a team!’ Molly whispered immediately. Emily and Hannah nodded. All around them, people started to talk to their best friends.

Amanda kept on. ‘Do we have to go? Can’t we stay here?’

‘You’ll enjoy it, Amanda,’ Madame Letsworth told her briskly. ‘And yes, everyone has to go. Quiet now, please, girls. You can sort out your teams in a minute. First, a few more details. The scavenger hunt will take place on Thursday and Friday. You will carry rucksacks with changes of clothes, maps and food.’

‘Will we be camping out in tents?’ asked Zoe, who was in the Ice Owls dorm.

‘No, each team will have their own shelter in the woods with sleeping bags, food, a stove and a heater.’

Hannah put her hand up. ‘What things will we have to find, Madame?’

‘A feather from an ice owl, an unmeltable icicle from the Starlight Caves, a reed from the Rainbow Pools and a leaf from a burning bush,’ replied Madame Letsworth. ‘And finally you must also find out one new fact about the land that you have not been told about in a lesson.’ She smiled round at them all. ‘Now you may decide on your teams.’

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Tilda and Alice immediately pounced on Emily. ‘Will you come in a team with us, Em?’ Tilda asked.

‘I can’t,’ Emily said quickly. ‘I’m with Molly and Hannah. Why don’t you ask Heather or Zoe? They’re really nice.’

‘Good idea,’ said Tilda. ‘We’ll ask both of them!’

Two of the other Ice Owls had made a pair – Olivia and Tasha. Emily saw them hesitate and then reluctantly include Amanda, who was in their dorm too. Camilla had made a team with her three friends: Helena, Clare and Tess. They were all in the Snow Foxes dorm.

‘We’ve got the best team,’ Molly declared gleefully to Emily and Hannah. ‘We are so going to win.’

‘In your dreams, Molly!’ Camilla snorted. She held up her hand and the others in her team high-fived with her. ‘Snow Foxes rule OK!’

Molly raised her eyebrows. ‘Snow Foxes lose OK,’ she muttered to Emily.

Emily giggled. Looking round, she realized that Hannah wasn’t looking as excited as her and Molly. ‘You’re very quiet. What’s up?’ she asked.

Hannah bit her lip. ‘It all sounds a bit dangerous, doesn’t it? Being out on our own with no teachers and no one in charge. What if something goes wrong?’

Madame Letsworth overheard. ‘This challenge is supposed to test your resourcefulness and courage, but don’t worry, Hannah. You will be given a way to contact us if you’re in real need.’

‘It’s going to be really cool,’ Molly reassured her. ‘Ice cool!’

Hannah took a deep breath and smiled. ‘Yeah,’ she replied. But she didn’t look convinced.

At the Magic Ice-skating Academy, the girls had regular lessons about the Land of Ice and Winter, where they learnt all about the land they were staying in.

Emily knew that some of the girls like Camilla and Tess thought these lessons were boring, but she loved them. Madame Longley, their teacher, often brought in creatures for them to see – they had met tiny ice dragons and a snow fox. Madame Longley had also told them about some of the bigger creatures, like ice monsters, mountain lions and fire dragons – huge dragons with fiery breath who skirted the land on their way to other places.

Later that day, Madame Longley unfolded a large map in the bright, airy classroom and pinned it to the wall behind her. ‘Today we will be thinking about the geography of the land. Look at this section of the map,’ she said, circling a large area to the north of the school that included a forest and a mountain range. ‘This is where you’ll be going for your scavenger hunt.’

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Emily leant forward eagerly. She didn’t want to miss a single thing in case it might help in the competition.

Madame Longley started to tell them about the Starlight Caves – icicle-filled caves lit by glowing crystals in their roofs, about burning bushes that leapt with strange golden flames, and about how ice owls were moody birds and had to be approached with caution. Then she pointed out the various places on the map.

‘These are the Starlight Caves and these are the Rainbow Pools,’ she said, indicating two areas in the foothills of the mountains. ‘As you can see, the woods between the school and the mountains are thick. There are three main rivers that run down from the mountains through the woods and into the lake at the back of the school. There are also many smaller rivers that branch off. The maps you will be given are marked to show any rivers that you can skate along and any areas where it is safe to ski across country. You will have to make sure you stick to the marked areas. There are ravines and cliffs in the woods – steep drops that you can come across suddenly if you go off the paths. You must be careful.’

‘Oh, we will be,’ Hannah muttered to Emily.