Let the Dance Begin (3 page)

‘Galloping sea spiders!’ Rubus rubbed his chin. ‘Maybe we’re actually on to something!’

‘So I need your help with this.’ They found a smooth rock to sit against and Cassie showed him the battered exercises book.

‘There are seven pages, one for each dance step. And there are lots of drawings of how to do each step,’ Cassie said as Rubus leaned over her shoulder. She chewed her lip and
continued. ‘I’ve never really been taught to dance and there will be some sand sprites who know the steps really well!’

Rubus shook his head and tapped his ears as if he had water in them. ‘That doesn’t sound like the Cassie I know who wants to find out about her mother – the Cassie who is not afraid
of anything!’

‘I
am
afraid of sea slugs and of making a fool of myself,’ Cassie said. ‘But you’re right – I
will
give this a try. I have to.’

‘You can pick up most of these steps no problem,’ Rubus said as he pointed to the pictures. ‘You read out the words.’

Cassie turned to the first page.
‘Step one – the Sand Stretch. A dancer must perform this step every day. You must always try to increase your stretch. It is important to stretch fully
and to feel all emotions fully. A stretch must be followed by a plié
.’

And so they got up and stretched, trying to imitate the faded picture.

Cassie turned the page.
‘Step two – the Sand Plié. A deep bending of the knees. Bending helps you control how you take off, how high and how fast you can jump and the speed of
your turns. The slightest bend of the body can convey a feeling.’

Rubus bent over, clutching his tummy. ‘I am conveying to you how hungry I am.’

Cassie rolled her eyes. ‘Be serious! I don’t have time to waste.’

Rubus said, ‘Seriously bending is important for sand boarding too. All that sand boarding you’ve done with me will give you a good start. What comes next?’

Cassie continued.
‘Step three – the Sunrise. Rising on the toes gives the dancer a light, floaty quality. It can also be used to give you strength. The rise and flow of the
dancer’s body is an essential part of dune dances.’

And so they floated . . . Cassie thought she felt her spirits lift slightly as she practised.

‘Step four – the Dune Bug Jump. This can be performed in lots of different ways. Jump from two feet to two feet, from two feet to one foot, from one foot to two feet, from one foot to
the other. The finest dancers can jump the highest.’

‘This is fun!’ Rubus yelled as he and Cassie jumped up and down. ‘I can jump higher than you!’

‘But not on one leg. I’m the champion of that!’ Cassie yelled back. ‘You read the next one out.’ Cassie held the book out.

Rubus took a step back and shook his head.

‘Oh, I forgot – Rubus can’t read!’ Cassie joked.

A red-cheeked Rubus shouted back at her, ‘I can read the direction of the wind. I can read the tides and the weather and the patterns of the stars. I can even read moods. I just
can’t read words!’

‘No problem. I’ll teach you one day, but only after you’ve taught me how to sand surf Cassie picked up the exercises book and read on.
‘Step five – the Sand Glide. The
dancer must never lose contact with the ground as she glides over it. Depending on the mood you can glide slowly or quickly.
’

‘This is like sand boarding without a board.’ Rubus slid down the edge of a small sand hill.

‘Two more steps to go.’ Cassie turned the page. ‘Oh no! Some bits of this are missing. The edge of the page has been ripped.
Step six – the Dart and T—
. I
can’t read that bit. I can only make out part of the rest:
To dart is to move above the surface of the sand with legs stretched and toes pointed —
’

‘We’ll just have to fill in the gaps. How hard could that be! The Dart and . . . Top? Tip?’ Rubus replied.

‘Tap? It could be the Dart and Tap.’ Cassie tapped her toes. ‘Like before a Rage Stomp.’

‘Why don’t you ask your aunt? She knows a lot about everything,’ Rubus suggested.

‘She hates dancing and would forbid me from going to the auditions if she knew. I don’t want her to get suspicious.’

‘You sneaky sand sprite!’ Rubus grinned.

‘Only because I have to be. Now let’s get on.’ Cassie waved the book under his nose.

‘So we have the Sand Stretch, the Sand Plié, the Sunrise, the Dune Bug Jump, the Sand Glide, the Dart and T–T–Tap. One more step to go! What is it?’ Rubus asked.

Cassie screwed up her face and looked at the page. ‘I’m not sure. This page is badly damaged too.
Step seven – the
Dune Arabe— The dancer must stand on one leg while
—
.’ She sighed. ‘It’s no good – I can’t make it out at all.’

Rubus stroked his chin. ‘That is a bit trickier. There are so many things you can do whilst standing on one leg.’

‘You could waggle the other leg,’ Cassie suggested.

‘Or waggle your arm, keeping your other leg bent.’

Together they tried out lots of different moves to fill in the gaps until Cassie flopped down on the sand.

‘Thanks for helping me,’ Cassie said to Rubus, who was now busy practising his sand boarding moves. ‘I’ll ask Lena Sealovage if she can help me with the missing
instructions. And I’m sorry for teasing you about the reading. That sounded mean.’

‘It’s OK – you’ve promised to teach me, now!’ Rubus said.

‘I suppose I’m not really used to being friends with anyone my own age – apart from you,’ admitted Cassie. There are no other sprites my age at Mite Cove and there’s no
time to get to know anyone at Silica School as I have to leave early to catch the dune bug back to Mite Cove. Not that sprites are queuing up to be friends with a Marramgrass these days! Oh, they
say they are impressed by Marina’s skills but some of the things they say when they think I’m not listening . . .’ Cassie’s voice trailed off.

‘What do they say?’ Rubus jumped off the board.

‘They mainly whisper about how selfish my mother was to run off during the storm and how it’s her fault that the dance school has been closed for so long. They say such a famous
dancer should have stayed and helped out. I try to ignore it because Aunt Euphorbia hates it when I get into trouble for being rude or stomping at anyone!’ A tear of frustration slid down her
cheek, and Cassie quickly wiped it away. ‘I won’t let them get to me. I will prove them wrong when I find out the truth.’

‘How are you going to get to Silica City in time for the audition?’ Rubus asked. ‘Didn’t you say you had to be there by nine o’clock?’

‘I’m going to sneak out and catch the early dune bug.’

‘Those old beetles are a bit slow. Won’t your aunt be suspicious too, if you leave the kutch so early?’

‘I have to take the chance.’ Cassie nibbled the edge of her fingernail.

Why don’t I give you a lift? The sand surfer can hold two sprites. I could drop you off on the edge of the city close to the palace.’

‘Brilliant idea! It’ll give me a chance to practise my driving!’ Cassie looked over at the sand surfer.

Rubus groaned.

Chapter Four

‘A sand dancer should behave with decorum
at all times, remain in the background
and wait to be given her due.’
The Sands of Time

‘Next!’ the loud voice
called out from the doorway. It echoed down the empty corridor to where the last four sand sprites were waiting on
a hard wooden bench for their auditions. One of them got up and disappeared through the door. Cassie gripped the box she was holding tighter. Her heart was beating wildly. She had almost bumped
into her aunt that morning as she was sneaking out. Then Rubus had been late. Fortunately there had been a strong sea breeze to carry them along but all the time Cassie had been afraid that she
would miss the auditions. Here she was, though, finally. She had tied her hair back in preparation for the auditions and was trying to control her nerves.

‘I can’t believe that the dance school is reopening!’ gushed a voice beside her, interrupting her thoughts. Cassie turned to see a tall, thin sand sprite excitedly gripping the
edges of her patched-up skirt.

‘About time, if you ask me.’The third sand sprite rolled her eyes. She was smaller and dressed smartly. Her azureblue eyes sparkled with mischief. ‘Let’s introduce
ourselves,’ she suggested as she stood and curtseyed. ‘My name is Shell.’

The tall sand sprite smiled and bowed her head. ‘I’m Alexsandra, but everyone calls me Lexie.’ She looked quizzically at Shell. ‘Shell is an unusual name for a sand
sprite. Everyone I know is named after sand or the flowers that grow in dunes.’

‘I am not like everyone else!’ Shell beamed. ‘I was rescued from a conch shell as a baby and sent to live here. I am now one of Sandrine’s serving sprites.’

‘At the palace? Wow!’ Lexie said.

‘I know – I’m lucky to live in a palace,’ Shell agreed. ‘For one thing, I didn’t have to travel far to get here. I did have to do all my chores in record time,
though. What about you?’ she asked Cassie.

‘I’m Cassandra, but everyone calls me Cassie.’

Lexie wrung her hands dramatically and sighed. Well, isn’t it wonderful that we’re all here? It has always been my dream to be a sand dancer.’

Shell ducked below Lexie’s arms. ‘Quit gushing, kid. Isn’t there a Rule in
The Sands of Time
about that?’

The three sprites sat up straight and chanted,
‘A sand dancer should behave with decorum at all times, remain in the background and wait to be given her due.
’

‘As if that ever got her anything!’ Shell added.

They all burst out laughing and Cassie instantly felt less tense. The door of the audition room opened and a voice gave a loud, ‘Shh!’. The girls struggled to suppress further
laughter.

‘What’s taking so long? A one-eyed jellyfish could see that that girl who just went in can’t dance. Likes fish cakes too much,’ Shell hissed when the door had closed.

Lexie giggled but Cassie said, ‘Body shape has nothing to do with it. It’s all about interpretation of feelings. Isn’t that the most important thing?’

She certainly hoped so. She swallowed and held the box containing her precious dancing slippers even tighter.

‘You have to master the technique as well and that takes years of training,’ Lexie added. ‘My mother, Viola Seacouch, danced at the Harvest Moon Festival and was hoping to be
become a dune dancer. Only the finest sand dancers were taught the secret dune dance routines. Then came the Night of the Great Sandstorm.’

Shell stomped her foot. ‘Please don’t go on about that! I’m so tired of hearing about it and how everyone has to work harder, be vigilant and never have any fun any
more.’

‘But things did get tougher after the devastation of the storm. A lot of sprites have struggled to make ends meet,’ Lexie continued.

Shell’s eyes flashed. ‘When I get to the dance school I’m going to enjoy myself. Maybe hook up with a surf boy’

‘No way!’ Lexie’s eyes widened in horror. ‘Surf boys are wild. They can ruin your reputation. I saw a surf boy once and he wasn’t even wearing a shirt!’

Shell giggled. ‘They might have something interesting to say. They get to travel all over the place.’

Cassie kept quiet about her friendship with Rubus. She knew that most female sand sprites were wary of surf boys – but that was only because they did not know any.

‘Dance school would be a bit of freedom after being stuck at the palace, and I’m going to grab it if I get the chance,’ Shell insisted.

‘I just want to learn how to dance,’ Lexie replied solemnly.

‘What do
you
want?’ Shell turned to Cassie.

Answers,’ Cassie said without thinking, and then she blushed. ‘I mean, I want to learn how to do all the dance steps.’

‘Me too.’ Lexie grinned. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if we all got into the dance school. My dream is to be chosen to perform the dune dances and become the prima dune
dancer.’

‘Dream on,’ Shell laughed.

‘Let’s promise that if we get in we’ll look out for each other,’ Cassie said. She had always longed to have some friends of her own age. She beamed with happiness at the
thought that these two sprites could be her friends.

The three girls stood up, held hands, formed a circle and squeezed hands three times. Then they took five steps anti-clockwise, spread their
fingers wide and touched the person on the right with each finger, performing the Friendship Promise.

When they’d finished they all sat down together on the bench.

‘This is a great chance for us,’ Shell said. ‘And now that we are friends, can I suggest that
when
we get into Sandringham we don’t keep harping on about the past.
We won’t talk about our past or where we come from or about our homes. Let’s concentrate on each other and the future.’