Part 4 (2/2)

”Oh, just a feeling I got from watching her,” said Claudia. ”You know how they say 'If looks could kill'? Well - she was giving you some looks that could stop an elephant in its tracks, if you know what I mean.” I thought that over for a minute. ”So who else do you guys suspect?” I asked.

”What about Lisa Jones?” asked Mallory. ”She just seems so sweet and good all the time. n.o.body's that nice.” ”You know something?” I said. ”She really is that nice. She was worried about me when I hurt my ankle. She was the only one who called me at home that night to see how I was.” ”Maybe she just wanted to find out early if you were going to be dropping out,” said Kristy.

”No,” I said. ”I'm positive she isn't a suspect. We'll have to rule her out. I like Lisa too much to be suspicious of her.” ”Okay, forget Lisa,” said Claudia. ”What about that old Carrie Steinfeld? What's her story?” ”Well,” I said, giggling, ”you hit the nail on the head by calling her 'old.' Carrie's the oldest one in our cla.s.s, and this is the last performance she'll be in.” I told them a little about why she needed good roles on her resume. ”I know that getting the lead would have meant a lot to her,” I went on. ”But she did get a pretty big role. I think the Lilac Fairy will help her out. Anyway, she's a good dancer. I'm sure she won't have trouble getting into another school.” ”You might be sure, but maybe she's not,” said Claud. ”Personally, I think she's a suspect.” ”I agree,” said Mallory. ”And I think Hilary Morgan is one, too - just based on those dirty looks she was giving you.” ”Hmmm ...” I said. ”Just the two of them?” ”No,” said Kristy. ”I've got to vote for Katie Beth, too. Remember, you guys were enemies way back when - ” ”But we made up!” I said, interrupting.

”I know,” said Kristy. ”But I think she's still got it in for you. And she wants that role so badly she can almost taste it.” ”I don't agree,” said Dawn. ”I mean, if she was going to get it automatically, fine. But she'll have to audition just like everybody else, and even I can tell that there are plenty of better dancers in the cla.s.s.” We argued back and forth for awhile, but by the time we had reached Stoneybrook we'd narrowed it down to three suspects: Katie Beth, Carrie, and Hilary. Now all I had to do was to keep a close eye on all of them. My friends were sure it'd be a snap to catch the guilty party.

Charlie dropped me off at my house, and as I waved good-bye, I felt grateful to my friends. I also felt relieved. I wasn't positive that we were any nearer to identifying the 'phantom of the dance school/ as Claudia had begun to call her. But I felt a little more in control of the situation. At least we'd begun to work on the mystery. And I knew that with everyone's help, I could solve it eventually.

Ill

Chapter 11.

I watched the three suspects as closely as I could during the next few rehearsals, but things went pretty smoothly. Our practice was starting to pay off. The performance was coming together, and I was feeling more and more confident as I danced the part of Princess Aurora.

I began to think that maybe the phantom really had been just in my mind. Then, mysterious things began to happen again.

First, I reached into my dance bag after one rehearsal, and I found my old leotard - the one that had been stolen. But there was no way I could wear it again. It had been cut to shreds. Somebody had gone after that leotard with a sharp pair of scissors. That was creepy.

Then, during another rehearsal, I got shoved - by .someone I didn't see - into some scenery that was being painted. My leotard was covered with red paint, and Mme Noelle wasn't pleased. Neither was I. I had spent all my savings to replace my dance outfit when it was stolen, so I had to borrow money from my parents to replace it again.

This role was getting expensive.

Sometimes I wondered if it was worthwhile - if I should just give up playing Princess Aurora. But then I would spend two hours working with Mme Noelle on a segment of the ballet, and I would realize that there was no way I could give up that kind of experience.

My favorite part of the ballet was the dance I had to do when I first came on stage - the Rose Adagio. Some dancers have said that it's this dance that makes the role of Princess Aurora such a challenge, because you have to do it ”cold” - without warming up on some easier dancing first.

But I loved that dance. It was full of slow, graceful movements. According to the fairy tale, this dance shows the princess being presented to the court on her sixteenth birthday. She is meeting four princes. They all want to marry her, even though she's so young.

Each prince gives her a beautiful rose, and she dances with them. But after dancing, she gives the flowers to her mother. She's having too much fun to think about serious things like marriage.

The dance that she does (or rather, that I did) with the princes is very difficult. Mme Noelle worked with us for a long time before we could do it well. The way it went was this: As I finished dancing with each prince, he helped me to balance on the point of one toe - and then he took away his hand and left me balancing there until the next prince came to dance with me.

”Do not wobble, Mademoiselle Romsey!” cried Mme Noelle as I did my best to balance on one toe. ”Smile!” I tried to smile.

”Remember, you are a joyous young princess. You must show us zee excitement and hoppiness of youth!” I tried to act ”hoppy.” It wasn't easy, especially with Hilary Morgan glaring at me from the sidelines. Sometimes I felt bad about how much time Mme Noelle was spending with me, but the fact was that my role was very demanding. Still, I could tell that the other girls were jealous, and I really couldn't blame them. I would have been jealous, too.

But my phantom took jealousy a little too far. When I went into the dressing room on the day I'd been working on the Rose Adagio, I saw it right away. A note - in that same red ink - with a red rose attached. WATCH OUT FOR THE THORNS, it said.

I stood looking at it for a moment. It gave me a creepy feeling in the pit of my stomach. Then I folded the note and tucked it into my bag. I looked at the rose, thinking that I'd take it home to my mom - at least it was pretty, and it probably smelled good. But when I picked it up, a thorn p.r.i.c.ked my finger. ”Ouch!” I said out loud. I squeezed my finger and a drop of blood oozed out.

I looked around the dressing room to see who was there. Sure enough, all three suspects were among the dancers who were busy changing. Hilary was at the mirror, checking her hair. Katie Beth was by her locker - she was packing her dance clothes into her bag. And Carrie was just about to leave, but when she heard my little cry of pain, she turned around.

”Are you okay, Jessi?” she asked, coming over to me. Then she saw the rose. ”Hey, that's pretty. Who's sending you flowers?” I shrugged.

”A secret admirer, huh? Hey, everybody, Jessi's got a boyfriend!” she yelled.

I was totally embarra.s.sed. I tossed the rose into the garbage and got out of the dressing room as soon as I could, trying not to listen to the teasing that was going on. Dancing the Rose Adagio was never quite as much fun after that day. I was always thinking of that thorn p.r.i.c.king my finger, like a bee sting - and of that drop of red blood appearing afterward.

But unlike Princess Aurora, I didn't fall asleep for a hundred years after I p.r.i.c.ked my finger. Instead, I became more alert. I was dying to catch the phantom in the act.

I thought of hiding in the dressing room so that I could be there when she stuck a note into my bag. But that wouldn't work. Mme Noelle would notice my absence from rehearsal right away, since I was in almost every act. All I could do was wait - and watch, I watched very closely. I tried to pay attention to where each of the three suspects was at all times. But it wasn't easy. Mme Noelle kept me busy throughout almost every rehearsal.

One day, Carrie b.u.mped into me about three times during rehearsal. That day, I was sure that she was the phantom.

At another rehearsal, I overheard Hilary whispering mean things about me to Lisa Jones. I was convinced that Hilary was the one who was out to get me.

Then Katie Beth started to give me funny looks. I'd catch her watching me as I put on my toe shoes, or staring at me during exercises at the barre. I certainly couldn't rule her out, either.

I was getting more and more confused, and to make it worse, the notes kept coming.

GIVE UP THE ROLE BEFORE IT'S TOO LATE, said one. I shook my head and tucked it into my bag with the rest.

After the next rehearsal, there was another. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED, it said.

But you know what? Instead of scaring me, those notes started to make me angrier and angrier. I became more determined to solve this mystery and find out who the phantom was. Then I'd tell everything to Mme Noelle, and the performance - with me as Princess Aurora - would go off without a hitch.

One day, Carrie was absent from rehearsal. She was home with the flu, according to Madame. That day we worked extra hard on one of the most difficult parts of the dance.

When we're learning a dance, Mme Noelle makes us do the movements over and over again, until it finally looks right. Even once we've learned the basic steps, we keep repeating them. If we do even one little thing wrong, she makes us do it over again. If we do it right, we still have to do it again - ”for luck.” Rehearsals can be so exhausting.

That day, I was ready to drop as I headed into the dressing room. The last thing I needed was to find another note. But there it was, in that creepy red ink. TAKE A REST, SLEEPING BEAUTY! I rolled my eyes as I put the note away. When was this going to end?

Then I realized something. Carrie was absent And I'd still received a note. Finally, I was getting somewhere with this mystery. I could rule out Carrie, which would leave me with only two suspects.

Unless . . . had Carrie only been pretending to be sick - and gotten someone to leave the note for her? I shook my head. That was pretty unlikely. She wouldn't miss a rehearsal unless she really had to.

So it was down to Katie Beth and Hilary. How was I going to figure out which one of them it was? I decided just to wait and see what would happen. If I could rule one of them out, I'd have my phantom.

Carrie was still sick at the next rehearsal. I felt bad for her, missing all that practice time. Now that I knew she wasn't the phantom, I kind of missed having her around.

But it was a relief to have to watch only two suspects instead of three. I found that I could concentrate better - and it showed in my dancing. Mme Noelle told me that I was magnifique that day. That's ”magnificent” in French.

It always feels great to have Mme Noelle compliment you. She doesn't say nice things unless she really means them. So that after- noon I was feeling terrific. I danced the Rose Adagio without missing a step. My pas de deux with the Bluebird of Happiness was nearly perfect. And I got through the scene where the prince kisses me without giggling once. It was a great rehearsal.

It was great, that is, until I almost got beaned by some scenery.

In that theater, most of the scenery is painted on huge flats that can be raised and lowered on ropes. When they're in the raised position, the ropes are securely tied so they can't fall. And when it's time for the scene to change, the flat is slowly let down to the floor. Each flat must weigh about a ton - they're so big! There were a lot of different flats for the Sleeping Beauty scenery. There was the grand ballroom, the magic forest, and the sleeping castle, where Princess Aurora lies awaiting her prince. I'd gotten used to the flats moving up and down during rehearsals, while the stage managers practiced their cues just like we practiced ours.

Anyway, that day I had just finished my final dance with the prince, and I was walking to the rear of the stage so that I could collapse quietly while Mme Noelle went over her notes on who - and what - needed improvement.

I didn't even see the flat falling. Before I knew what was happening, someone had pushed me out of the way. The flat hit the stage with a loud crash, right where I had been standing only seconds before.

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