Cloudberry Castle by Janey Louise Jones

Author:Janey Louise Jones [Janey Louise Jones]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780863158513
Publisher: Floris Books
Published: 2011-01-15T00:00:00+00:00

14. The Ballet-school Book

Our life at Holly Cottage changed dramatically after that Tuesday. Mum and Dad were constantly talking about the castle and there was a sort of buzz of excitement and expectation in the air. We had gone from a completely predictable way of life to a state of constant change. But the one thing that didn’t change for me was my obsession with ballet. The auditions for Swan Lake could not come quickly enough.

I still desperately wanted to dance Odette, but school life trudged along in between ballet classes. One Monday morning in class, just three days before the Swan Lake auditions, Mr Matthews allowed Mallie and me to go to the library to research our project on the American War of Independence.

We browsed through the shelves marked “American History”.

“Here’s a book on the Boston Tea Party,” I said. “Mr Matthews mentioned that. Wasn’t that when the people of Boston rebelled against the British government by tossing all the tea into the harbour? My Granny Berry told me all about it once. She comes from Boston, so does Mum.”

“Great. You have insider info,” said Mallie. “Let’s take it over to the beanbags and have a flick.”

We looked through the book and started to understand it more.

“They probably call it a ‘tea party’ to make it sound more fun,” said Mallie.

“Yeah, exactly. How childish were they, wasting all that tea in a tantrum?” I added.

Gradually we lost interest in tea, and our thoughts turned back to ballet.

“Been practising in the ballroom lately?” asked Mallie.

“Yeah. I just hope all my extra work pays off,” I said.

“Katie, you are by far the best dancer in the class. I’m sure that Mrs Miller will pick you as the Swan Princess,” she replied.

“I’m not so sure,” I said. “I wish I could discuss it with Mum, and have her watch me over at the ballroom and give me advice, but I can’t tell her about the secret studio. If she bans me from going, I’d have nowhere to practise the big dance moves.”

“She might understand,” said Mallie. “After all, she adores ballet too, and they do own the castle. My mum says it’s definite now.”

“Yeah, but my parents haven’t exactly accepted it,” I explained. “She and Dad are going to sell the castle as soon as they possibly can. To be honest, I think it’s mainly Dad who wants rid of it. We don’t act as if we own it.”

Mallie shook her head sadly. “Who would sell a castle like that?” she said. I agreed with her. It was crazy.

“Hopefully no one will want to buy it,” I said.

The librarian shooshed us, so we checked out our books, heading back to class as slowly as possible.

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