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The bus shuddered to a halt outside a mysterious gothic church on the other side of the city. Upon entering the building, the children were stunned to find that the pews had been removed, rendering the space empty but for a wall of mirrors down one side. Their lunch was sitting on a table near the front where the altar must have once been.

‘What is this place?’ Ava asked, as they were directed to sit and eat. The sound of bagpipes filled the air.

‘My guess is it’s a dance studio,’ Alice-Miranda replied, ‘if those mirrors are anything to go by.’

Just as the child spoke, a troupe of Highland dancers entered through a set of double doors at the back. There were five men and five women beautifully outfitted in traditional costumes. The ladies performed first while the men held their unsheathed swords upright with the tips pressed gently against the floor. When the women peeled off to the side, the men moved into the centre in formation and laid their swords on the ground, then jigged back and forth over them in various directions before performing a choreographed contest.

When the act concluded, the children leapt to their feet in applause. A man with a scraggly beard and wearing full Highland dress that was even fancier than the others burst into the room and took a slightly awkward bow. He walked with the aid of a timber cane, which had the most intricately carved head of a dragon on it.

Madagascar nudged Millie. ‘There’s something wrong with his leg.’

Millie stared. The man was wearing a kilt and long socks. There was only a small gap near the bottom of his knees, but Maddie was right. There was definitely something odd about his left leg.

‘Good afternoon, laddies and lassies, and welcome to Duncraig’s Academy of Highland Dance, where you will be learnin’ exactly what yer’ve just seen in front of ye,’ the man boomed. ‘My name is Eachann Duncraig and I am the owner of this fine establishment. I am also a former world-champion dancer meself and will be teachin’ ye the finer points of the sport.’ He tapped the cane against his leg. The children were shocked to hear a knocking sound.

‘How does he dance with a wooden leg?’ Millie mused, much louder than she’d intended.

‘Aye, ye noticed, did ye?’ Eachann Duncraig looked at the girl with the flaming-red hair. She reminded him a lot of his granddaughter. ‘I lost it in the loch.’

The children stared at him, wondering what he was talking about.

‘Nessie,’ the man whispered theatrically.

Madagascar rolled her eyes. ‘As if. There’s no such thing, and even if she was real, I’ve never heard any stories about her chewing people’s legs off.’

‘Och aye, it wouldna be good for the tourist trade, would it now? But I warn ye, if ye go up there, keep yer arms and leggies inside the boat,’ the man said ominously. He gazed out at the crowd.

Lucas gulped and felt Jacinta’s grip on his hand tighten. There was something not quite right about the man’s left eye either. It looked to Lucas as if it were made of glass.

This time the children didn’t know whether to laugh or squirm with fear.

‘He’s got to be kidding,’ Madagascar said, although she didn’t sound quite so sure of herself.

‘Ye can make up yer own mind, lassie,’ Mr Duncraig replied.

Caroline Clinch pursed her lips. She was seriously considering telling the man to pull his head in. The last thing she needed was for the children to be having nightmares, especially since they were heading north to Loch Ness the very next day. But there was a small part of her that wondered what if …

Barclay Ferguson slapped his knee and laughed. ‘You almost got us, Eachann!’

He jumped up and walked towards the man with his hand outstretched, beckoning for Miss Cranna and Miss Stuart to join him. Morag quickly explained to the children that they would be learning to dance in their teams for the next half-hour and then Mr  Duncraig would be judging them in a competition.

‘But I’ve got two left feet,’ Neville groaned.

Mr Duncraig winked with his good eye. ‘At least ye’ve got two feet.’

Neville gulped and nodded his head.

‘I’ll have ye dancin’ no matter if yer two feet are left or right or pigeon-toed, or one foot is real and the other a lump of wood,’ the man said with a glint in his glass eye. Or was it the reflection of the crackling fire? ‘My dancers are the best in the land.’

Eachann Duncraig organised the children into their groups to learn the first dance. The professional troupe spread themselves among the teams and assisted the youngsters to get the hang of it while the teachers formed their own group. Barclay Ferguson was tapping along to the pipes and drums and itching to take a twirl. He glanced over at Morag, who was swishing her skirt about and feeling secretly pleased with her choice of outfit, which had dancing kitties around the hemline. He was about to ask if she wanted to dance, but the woman was soon distracted by her phone and promptly disappeared. Davina was already spinning around with Dashiel Arnaud, the teacher from France, and giggling like a schoolgirl.

By the end of the first set, the children were completely done in and begging for mercy. Highland dancing took a lot of energy, that was for sure. But Mr Duncraig was a hard taskmaster and had them learning another a modified version of the Reel of Tulloch before it was time for the competition, which involved the teams performing one dance that everyone would watch before they would all dance the Reel of Tulloch together. He would select places first to fifth for the team dance, and the most outstanding male and female dancer in the Reel.

The first team up were The Highland Flingers, who did an outstanding job. The Tartan Warriors were okay except for Philippe who was devoid of coordination and kept treading on Britt’s toes. You wouldn’t have known it, though, as she gave the lad all the encouragement in the world, but the look of  relief on both of their faces when it was over was palpable.

The Pipers were third and seemed to have everything under control. Miss Wall cheered them on and clapped her hands loudly.

Clan Mac were next, and Lucas and Jacinta were mesmerising. They both seemed to have the dance down pat and spent the entire time gazing into each other’s eyes with smiles as wide as their faces. Caprice trod on Neville’s toes about ten times then tried to blame him for it, which didn’t go down too well with Mr Duncraig.

Finally, it was time for Nessie’s Monsters. They were almost perfect except for Madagascar, who definitely had two left feet. When everyone else went right, she went left, and in the end she sent Sloane sprawling, tripping her over with the sword.

When they were all finished, Mr Duncraig asked the children to sit on the floor. ‘Well, that was somethin’ else,’ the man declared. ‘Some of it, I’m still not sure exactly what, but ye were entertainin’ nonetheless. Now, I want ye in position for the Reel. Ye don’ need to stay in yer groups, so find a partner and marry up.’

The children laughed at the man’s turn of phrase and sought each other out all over the room. Neville took two quick puffs of his inhaler and made a beeline for Alice-Miranda, beating Sep by a whisker. The music started and half the children couldn’t remember the first move, but the professional dancers helped them out and soon enough they were leaping and loping and flailing and flopping all over the place. Hansie Pienaar had asked Benitha to join him and the two were making quite the impression.

Mr Duncraig applauded loudly when the song finished. ‘Well done, ye canny kids! In order from fifth to first, we have The Tartan Warriors, Nessie’s Monsters, The Pipers, Clan Mac and – I don’t know if they gave themselves this name because they had some experience – The Highland Flingers have come in at first place!’

There were claps and cheers all round.

Barclay beamed with pride. ‘That was impactful work, kids!’ he shouted above the din.

‘What’s he talking about now?’ Sloane said, shaking her head.

Sep shrugged. ‘Beats me.’

Barclay turned to Mr Duncraig. ‘What about our individual dancers?’

‘Well, I dunno the bairns’ names, so I will have to point them out,’ the man replied. He shuffled closer to Barclay and whispered in his ear.

‘Aha, very good!’ Barclay nodded. ‘Ten points each to these dancers’ teams. Congratulations, Sep Sykes.’ The children went wild clapping and cheering. ‘And well done to Madagascar Slewt.’

The girl jumped to her feet and was leaping like a lunatic. Everyone else looked about in confusion. The girl had no talent for dancing at all.

Eachann Duncraig was horrified. ‘No, no, no, not her!’ he cried. He pointed to the child cowering behind the leaping girl. ‘Her.’

‘Oh, I see,’ Mr Ferguson said, the smile returning to his face. ‘Please put your hands together for Miss Compton-Halls.’

‘What?!’ Madagascar screeched.

Chessie reeled in terror. She was going to cop it now – there was no doubting that.

‘I’m going to tell my father about this, and he won’t be happy!’ Madagascar seethed. She turned on  her heel and stormed off, pushing stunned bystanders out of her way.

Millie jumped up and ran after her cousin. With a bit of a nudge, the memory that had been niggling away at her began to come into focus.

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Alice-Miranda cast around for somewhere to sit. Millie was looking after Madagascar, who was still teary, and everyone else seemed to have paired up. She spotted an empty seat beside Miss Stuart and hurried towards it.

‘May I sit down?’ she asked.

The woman glanced up and smiled. ‘Of course you can, pet.’

Alice-Miranda settled onto the seat and sighed happily. ‘The program has been absolutely marvellous so far. I have loved every single minute.’ The girl felt a sneeze tickling her nostrils and tried to hold it in, but despite her best efforts it came anyway. She squeezed her eyes shut to stem the tears that had sprung.

‘Perhaps not every minute,’ Davina said with a wink.

Alice-Miranda giggled. ‘Yes, I suppose everything but that,’ she admitted. Her nose had started hurting a little with all of the vigorous activity, and she was quite glad that they would be sitting still for a while. She looked at the young woman beside her. ‘May I ask how you became involved in the Queen’s Colours, Miss Stuart?’

Davina thought for a moment. ‘Oh, from the second I learned about the organisation, I wanted to be part of it. It’s been a dream come true, really.’

Morag Cranna leaned around from the seat in front of them. ‘I thought it was a pure accident. I clearly remember Mr Ferguson saying something about walking smack-bang into you with his coffee one day and that’s how you got talking and ended up  with the job. It was just good luck, wasn’t it? A bit like the way I got my position.’

Davina smiled tightly. ‘Yes, Morag. Lots of good luck. No planning at all.’

‘Oh, how serendipitous!’ Alice-Miranda enthused, swinging her legs. ‘I don’t think you could go wrong working for Aunty Gee and Mr Ferguson. They’re both incredibly inspiring. Are you two origin ally from Edinburgh?’

Morag nodded then slunk back around to face forward. She didn’t like talking about her childhood.

Davina shook her head. ‘I grew up further south,’ she said, and dropped her eyes to the floor. She picked up her handbag and dug about inside it.

‘How lovely. Uncle Morogh and Aunt Audrina live on the outskirts of the prettiest village south of Edinburgh. It’s idyllic, with fields and animals gambolling about and rivers perfect for skimming stones. It must have been wonderful growing up there. Mummy says that I should make the most of every day of my childhood because one day you blink and it’s all over.’

‘It’s not like that for everyone, I can assure you,’ Davina snapped. Softening, she added, ‘My childhood seemed to drag on forever.’

Alice-Miranda bit her lip. ‘Oh dear, I didn’t mean to upset you, Miss Stuart. Would you like to talk about it? I’ve always found that talking about things helps to make more sense of them. My daddy had a horrible time when he was a boy. His mother died when he was very young, and his brother too – except that he didn’t really, but that’s a whole other story. Grandpa didn’t cope well, leaving Daddy to be raised by his nanny and housemistresses. I only found that out a little while ago. I felt so badly for him, but it’s amazing what a happy and positive person he grew up to be in spite of it all.’

‘But your father’s family was rich beyond what most people can even imagine,’ Davina said, to Alice-Miranda’s surprise.

The girl frowned. ‘It’s true that Grandpa had a very successful business, but money can’t make up for losing your family, no matter how much you have,’ she reasoned with a wisdom beyond her years. ‘It was still hard for Daddy – and for Grandpa too.’

‘Try being raised by an aunt who treated you as her personal slave. Perhaps then you can lecture me on hardship.’ Davina opened her folder. ‘Excuse me,  I need to check the schedule,’ she said, and turned to face the window.

Even at her age, Alice-Miranda was well aware how unfair life could be. It really was a lottery which family you were born into. It sounded as though Miss Stuart had had a tough time indeed. No one can change their past, but hopefully the woman could see a brighter future ahead of her. As Alice-Miranda thought about what Miss Stuart had just said, her mind wandered to Mr Onslow. Clearly, he was having a tough time too. She hoped he was somewhere warm on this cold winter’s day.