Sparkling Steps Read online

  Table of Contents

  Dedication

  Copyright Page

  Title Page

  Chapter ONE

  Chapter TWO

  Chapter THREE

  Chapter FOUR

  Chapter FIVE

  Chapter SIX

  Chapter SEVEN

  Chapter EIGHT

  Chapter NINE

  Chapter TEN

  Read all of the books in the Magic Kitten series!

  Read all of the books in the Magic Puppy series!

  About the Author

  Biba—our chatty tortie-tabby girl.

  GROSSET & DUNLAP

  Published by the Penguin Group

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  Text copyright © 2007 Sue Bentley. Illustrations copyright © 2007 Angela

  Library of Congress Control Number: 2009017631

  eISBN : 978-1-101-17109-7

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  Prologue

  A terrifying growl sounded close by and Flame, the young, white lion, froze. He had hoped it was safe to return this time. But he was wrong. He knew he needed to act quickly.

  Sparks ignited in Flame’s fur and there was a flash of bright white light. Where he had stood now crouched a tiny kitten with a round face and velvety, blue-gray fur.

  An old, gray lion limped forward from the shadows at the back of the cave. “Prince Flame! You shouldn’t be here. You must hide!”

  “There is no time, Cirrus. Uncle Ebony is coming!” the little kitten meowed, trembling.

  Cirrus reached out a large paw and gently drew the kitten behind a pile of rocks to hide.

  A loud scraping sound pierced the cave. Flame’s heart beat fast in his little chest as he listened to Ebony sharpening his claws on a rock. A flash of anger glittered in the tiny kitten’s emerald eyes. “One day I will take back the throne my uncle stole from me!” he meowed bravely.

  “And I do not doubt that you will be a wise ruler, my prince,” Cirrus said, a smile creasing his wrinkled muzzle. He gave Flame’s tiny head an affectionate lick.

  A menacing shape almost filled the cave’s entrance. Raising its powerful head, the enormous, black lion shook its mane. Ebony growled again. Peering into the cave, he sniffed the air. “Who’s there? Show yourselves!” he roared.

  “Go, Flame!” Cirrus urged through worn teeth. “Go quickly! Use your kitten disguise and hide in the other world. Return again when you have grown strong and powerful!”

  Silver sparks glittered in Flame’s blue-gray fur. The tiny kitten meowed as he felt the power building inside him. He felt himself falling. Falling . . .

  Chapter ONE

  “I’m here! I’m actually at Yew Lodge!” Olivia Goddard whispered excitedly to herself, as she entered the changing rooms.

  Everywhere she looked, there were unfamiliar girls in gray skirts, white blouses, and blue cardigans. Olivia found a space and started taking her things out of her bag. She had just changed into her new, pink leotard when a group of girls walked in, giggling and whispering to each other. They looked about ten years old, the same as Olivia.

  A small girl with silver-blond hair and blue eyes stood nearest to Olivia.

  Olivia smiled. “Hi, I’m new here. I think I’m in your class,” she said.

  “So what?” the blond girl said rudely. She looked up at Olivia and smirked. “What’s the weather like up there?”

  There were more muffled giggles and whispers from the other girls.

  Olivia was used to being teased about her height. “I don’t know. My head’s in the clouds,” she joked. “What’s it like down there?”

  “She told you, Lucy!” one of the other girls said with a chuckle as Lucy scowled and turned away.

  The door banged as a girl with a mop of bright red hair came running into the changing room. She dumped her bag on the bench next to Olivia. “Phew! Just made it. The bus was late,” she puffed. She gave Olivia a big grin. “Serves me right, for not living here like everyone else, I guess! Hi, I’m Tamsin!”

  “Hi, I’m Olivia,” Olivia said, smiling.

  Tamsin was thin with pale skin and freckles. She smelled of fresh air and spearmint chewing gum.

  “Welcome to Yew Lodge!” Tamsin dragged a creased leotard and a pair of wrinkled, white ankle socks out of her bag. “Are you a day girl, like me?”

  “No, I’m boarding,” Olivia replied. “My mom’s just dropped me off. I haven’t even had time to unpack properly, but I didn’t want to miss my first class. It feels a little weird to be starting midterm.”

  “I bet it does,” Tamsin agreed. “Have you met any of the others yet?”

  “Only Lucy, but she wasn’t exactly friendly,” Olivia said quietly.

  Tamsin rolled her eyes. “What a surprise. Not!” she whispered back. “Lucy Castor thinks she’s Miss Perfect. Don’t pay any attention to her.”

  Olivia laughed, happy to see that not everyone was so unfriendly.

  Unfortunately, Lucy chose that moment to walk by on her way to the studio.

  “Ooh, look, Mariko!” she said to the pretty girl with high cheekbones and almond eyes by her side. “Beanpole and Frizz are friends.”

  Olivia’s heart sank as she noticed Tamsin’s face flush before she twisted her mass of curly, red hair into a bun.

  “I think you’ve got amazing hair,” Olivia said, hoping that Lucy’s mean comment hadn’t scared off the only girl to be friendly to her so far.

  “Thanks, Olivia,” Tamsin said with a wry chuckle. “I guess it is a bit of a frizz—I have to use tons of this gel stuff to stop bits of it from popping out and hanging in my eyes.”

  Olivia, relieved to see that Tamsin hadn’t been too bothered by Lucy, groaned in sympathy. “My hair does that, too.”

  Tamsin held out the tube of hair gel. “Try some of this.”

  “Thanks.” Olivia squeezed some out and smoothed it on to her thick brown hair. In no time at all, she had coiled it around and pinned it into a neat bun. She sat down to tie her shoelaces.

  Tamsin was tying hers, too. “Don’t forget to tuck in the ends. Miss Frances hates flapping laces. She calls them pig’s ears!” she said. A few minutes later, she jumped up. “I’m done. Ready?”

  Olivia nodded.

  As she followed Tamsin into the large, light studio with its shiny, wooden floor, Olivia felt her stom
ach clench with nerves. Three entire walls were mirrored and a double barre ran around them. In one corner, a woman was seated at a piano.

  “Here’s Miss Frances,” Tamsin whispered as the teacher came in.

  Olivia stared at the tiny, straight-backed woman. Frances Edwards had been a principal dancer with a famous ballet company. There was a photo of her dancing in Giselle in Olivia’s ballet book, which had been a present for her tenth birthday.

  “Good morning, class. Let’s begin,” said Miss Frances, giving a signal to the pianist. Olivia and Tamsin faced the barre and, along with everyone else, began doing pliés in time to the music.

  Olivia felt herself relaxing as she concentrated on the familiar exercises. She had been doing these movements since she was four years old. She knew that even the greatest dancers did them, too, every single day.

  Miss Frances walked around, adjusting the placement of a dancer’s arm or leg. When she reached Olivia, she frowned. She made a chopping motion in the air and the piano stopped abruptly. “You!

  Come out here,” she said sharply.

  Olivia swallowed as she walked into the center of the studio.

  “You’re new, right? What’s your name?” Miss Frances asked.

  “Olivia Goddard,” Olivia answered. “It . . . it’s my first day.”

  “Then why didn’t you come and introduce yourself?” The teacher’s stern eyes raked Olivia’s face. “It’s very bad manners to just slip into my class without a word.”

  “Slip into class? Gallop like a giraffe is more like it!” Lucy Castor snickered from where she was standing.

  Olivia tried to pretend she hadn’t heard. “I’m sorry, Miss Frances. I . . . I just didn’t think,” she stammered, her face scarlet.

  “Okay. Let’s forget about it. Where did you take ballet lessons?” asked Miss Frances more gently.

  Olivia told her and explained that she had been taking ballet lessons twice a week.

  Miss Frances nodded slowly. “Well, you’re going to have two classes a day now. So be prepared to work hard. You’ll find ballet school to be very challenging.”

  “I hope so, Miss Frances. That’s why I came here,” Olivia said spiritedly.

  Miss Frances’s sharp eyes flashed with approval. “Okay. Go back to the barre. I want to see you dance.”

  Olivia went to the barre and took up a basic position. It felt like everybody was watching her, especially Lucy and Mariko. Tamsin caught her eye and gave her a thumbs-up sign.

  As Miss Frances gave her instructions, Olivia took a deep breath and began. After a few minutes, she felt the love of dancing sweep through her and she forgot to be self-conscious. By the time Miss Frances told her to stop, she was hot and sweaty and her muscles were tingling.

  “You have style, but your technique could be improved,” Miss Frances said seriously. “Take a rest now. Get a towel to wipe your face.”

  “Yes, Miss Frances,” Olivia said numbly, as she went back into the changing room. She had tried her best, but it seemed she had a long way to go before she impressed Miss Frances.

  Olivia went to the sinks and splashed her face with cold water as she thought about what a difficult morning it had been all around. Yew Lodge seemed really different from the exciting place she had always dreamed about.

  Olivia sighed, drying her face on a towel. Suddenly a bright silver flash from out of the corner of her eye stopped her in her tracks.

  Olivia whirled around. “Oh,” she gasped, blinking hard.

  At the far end of the room crouched a tiny, fluffy, blue-gray kitten with a round face and the most enormous emerald green eyes Olivia had ever seen. Its fur and whiskers seemed to glitter with thousands of tiny stars.

  Olivia rubbed her face with the towel again—she’d obviously danced too hard and was seeing things now! She looked up from the towel. The sparkles had disappeared, but the kitten was still there. Perhaps it belonged to the lodge.

  She bent down. “Hello, aren’t you gorgeous? Don’t be scared. I won’t hurt you,” she crooned gently, reaching out her hand. “What’s your name, then?”

  “My name is Prince Flame,” the kitten meowed. “Can you help me, please?”

  Chapter TWO

  Olivia almost toppled over. She jerked her hand back and stared at the kitten in complete shock.

  “Did . . . did you really just speak?” she gasped, looking around wildly to see if anyone was hiding nearby. She wouldn’t put it past Lucy to play a trick on her.

  The fluffy kitten was trembling all over, but it sat up straight and pricked up its ears. Despite its tiny size it didn’t seem to be afraid of her. “Yes, I did. I am Flame, heir to the Lion Throne. Who are you?”

  “I’m . . . um, Olivia Goddard,” Olivia stammered, her curiosity beginning to get the better of her shock. “Where did you come from?”

  “I am in disguise,” Flame meowed softly. “I come from another world, far from here.”

  “What? Like from outer space? But if . . . if you’re disguised as a kitten, what are you re—” Olivia began and then stopped as a scary thought occurred to her. Maybe Flame was really an alien, with warty skin and millions of octopus arms! “Wait! Maybe I don’t want to know . . . !” she gabbled.

  But it was too late. There was another flash, so bright this time that for a moment Olivia couldn’t see a thing. She rubbed her eyes. When she looked again, she saw that where the tiny kitten had crouched now stood a regal, young lion with glittering white fur.

  Olivia backed away in amazement. “Flame?”

  The lion looked at Olivia with its emerald eyes and nodded slowly. But before she could say anything else, he vanished in a shower of sparkles and appeared once more as a tiny, fluffy, blue-gray kitten.

  “Wow! You really are a lion prince!” Olivia gasped, relieved and impressed at the same time. “But why would you need my help?”

  Flame gave a small, shaky meow. “My uncle Ebony. He is very powerful and has stolen my throne. He rules in my place and sends his spies to search for me and kill me.”

  “Kill you?” Olivia asked, horrified.

  “Yes. I must hide. Will you help me, Olivia?”

  Olivia’s heart went out to the tiny kitten—she knew exactly what it was like to feel all alone. “I’d love to help you, Flame, but pets aren’t allowed in ballet school,” she said, biting her lip. “I don’t even have my own room. There’re eight of us in the dormitory. It would be impossible to hide you.”

  Flame tilted his little, round head. “Not if I made myself invisible. Then no one will see me, except you.”

  “Really? Well—if you can do that . . .” Olivia came to a decision. She picked Flame up gently and stroked his silky ears. “Okay. You’re living with me. I won’t let anybody hurt you! The only thing is, I have to go back out soon. My teacher will be wondering where I am, so you’ll have to become invisible right away. Is that okay?”

  Flame didn’t reply, but his whiskers crackled with electricity and his fluffy blue-gray fur glittered all over with silver sparkles that fizzed against Olivia’s hands. She felt a warm tingling sensation down her back. It felt very strange, but not unpleasant.

  “It is done. Only you can see me now,” Flame purred happily, as the sparks slowly faded away. “Thank you, Olivia.”

  “You’re welcome.” Olivia smiled. “I wonder what Tamsin will say when I tell her about you.”

  Flame stiffened. He stretched up one tiny, blue-gray paw and touched her face.

  “No! You must not tell anyone about me.”

  “Really? I’m sure Tamsin’s not like the other girls I’ve met here. She seems really nice.”

  “I am sorry.” Flame looked up at her, his big, green eyes serious. “You cannot tell anyone about me. Promise, Olivia.”

  Olivia thought about it. She felt a bit bad for keeping something so amazing from the friendly girl she had met that morning. But if it was the only way that Flame could stay with her, she knew what she must do.

  “All ri
ght. I promise,” Olivia said. “You’ll be my secret. My secret magic kitten!”

  Chapter THREE

  As Olivia went back to the studio, Flame padded along beside her. He spotted the piano and scampered straight over and curled up beneath it. Although Flame was invisible, Olivia couldn’t help thinking that someone would notice the tiny, blue-gray kitten. But, after a while, when no one did, she gradually relaxed.

  Olivia saw that Miss Frances was coaching Tamsin. “Concentrate! Keep your legs tight and don’t sway backward, Tamsin. Think of an imaginary line from the top of your head down to your toe.”

  Olivia stood and watched as Tamsin lifted one arm and leg in the melting, flowing movements of battement fondu. She was impressed. Tamsin was poised and elegant and could lift her pointed toe above the second barre.

  “What are you staring at? Didn’t they do real dancing where you come from, Beanpole?” Lucy hissed in Olivia’s ear.

  Mariko snickered. “They probably still wear clogs!”

  Feeling much braver, now that she had Flame for a friend, Olivia gave the mean girls a fierce look. “I’ve never worn clogs. But I wish I was wearing them right now!”

  Mariko and Lucy moved away warily.

  Miss Frances finished coaching Tamsin. “Everyone choose partners,” she said.

  “You’ll work together for the rest of the class. Olivia, you will work with Tamsin.”

  Olivia glanced over at Flame. He was watching her every move with alert, green eyes. She couldn’t help wondering what Miss Frances would say if she knew that there was a magic kitten in her class!

  At eleven AM, when class was over, all the girls faced Miss Frances and bowed in a graceful révérence.

  There was a buzz of noise as everyone filed out. “Are you coming?” Tamsin called to Olivia.