Delphie and the Fairy Godmother. Darcey Bussell

least it was a reply. Delphie felt encouraged. She usually got on with most people so she didn’t like feeling uncomfortable with Rosa. “You’re really good at petit jetés,” she said admiringly. “I was behind you in the last class. I wish I could do them as well as you.”

      Delphie thought Rosa wasn’t going to say anything in return but then the new girl took a deep breath. “Yes. I’ve always found them easy. You find them hard, don’t you? I noticed in class. I… ”

      Delphie was stung. “I don’t find them that difficult!”

      Rosa suddenly jumped up and hurried out of the room.

      Delphie stared after her crossly. The cheek of it! She’d been trying to be friendly! There’d been no need for Rosa to say she wasn’t good at something. Maybe she did find the small jumps springing from one foot to the other quite hard, but she could do lots of other dance steps OK. Rosa could have commented on those things instead!

      Feeling fed up, Delphie finished getting changed. Once she was dressed she tied her long dark hair back and headed out to the ballet studio.

      Rosa was in there practising a pas de chat. Delphie paused by the door. She loved the light sideways leap. You had to keep your knees out to the side, but Rosa was having problems and Delphie could immediately see why.

      She’s springing off her front foot, she thought. Part of Delphie wanted to go straight in and help Rosa but at the back of her mind a small voice was saying, Why should you? She’s really unfriendly.

      So Delphie decided not to help. The other dance studio was still empty; she’d go and warm up in there instead. As she turned away, she started in surprise. Madame Za-Za was watching her from the doorway of her office just down the corridor.

      “Madame Za-Za!” Delphie said.

      Madame Za-Za’s expression cleared. “Hello, Delphie,” she said, walking towards her. “How are you?”

      “Fine, thank you.” Delphie felt a bit embarrassed.

      “Are you going into warm-up with Rosa before class?” her teacher went on.

      Delphie’s cheeks reddened slightly. “I… I thought I might go in the other dance studio.”

      “Oh.” For a moment Madame Za-Za didn’t say anything but then she glanced at Delphie. “Everyone deserves a chance, Delphie,” she said quietly. “I would have thought you would have realised that.”

      Delphie stared. It was as if Madame Za-Za had read her mind, seen her thoughts about Rosa and not wanting to help her. “But… I… ”

      “I’ll see you in class in ten minutes,” Madame Za-Za said as she turned to go back to her office.

      Delphie walked slowly into the other dance studio, thinking about the look on Madame Za-Za’s face. Did she think Delphie was being horrible? She hated the thought that she had disappointed her dance teacher in some way, but she felt too awkward now to go in and talk to Rosa. Trying not to dwell on what had just happened, Delphie went to the barre, moved her feet into second position and began to slowly bend and straighten her knees.

      When her class finally started she kept watching Rosa. She knew her best friends, Poppy and Lola, thought the new girl was just shy.

      She’s not shy though, thought Delphie. She’s just unfriendly.

      But when Delphie went to bed that night she was still thinking about it and she couldn’t get the disappointed expression on Madame Za-Za’s face out of her mind. Maybe she should give Rosa more of a chance.

      I’ll see what she’s like tomorrow, Delphie decided.

      When Delphie arrived at the ballet school the next day, Rosa was already in the studio practising pas de chats, and she was still having problems. Delphie hesitated. What should she do?

      Suddenly her feet began to tingle. She looked down. Her red ballet shoes were glowing! She was about to go to Enchantia!

       2 A Thorny Problem

      A rainbow of swirling colours surrounded Delphie and swept her away. Round and round she spun, up in the air until she was set down on to firm ground and the colours faded.

      As Delphie looked around her she saw she was standing in front of a massive thicket of trees and thorny brambles. There were no houses or people. How strange. The shoes usually brought her to Enchantia when there was a problem to solve but she couldn’t see how she was needed this time.

      “Hello!” she called.

      No one answered so she began to walk into the trees. The thorns caught at her clothes and she tripped over tree roots on the ground. It was strangely quiet in the forest. No birds were singing and there were no animals to be seen.

      Delphie pushed on until she reached a wall of brambles so thick that there was no way through. She sank down on to a tree stump in frustration. What was she going to do now?

      Then, suddenly, there was a tinkling noise behind her. Delphie looked round and saw a beautiful ballerina appear in a shimmering haze. Dressed in a lilac tutu with a sparkling bodice, her brown hair was caught up in a diamond tiara. The ballerina’s arms were held high above her head and she was carrying a wand in her right hand. The wings on her back were almost see-through and glinted with faint rainbow colours. But they weren’t pretend wings like on a costume, Delphie realised. They were real!