from Pre-Elite who told lots of funny stories about her squad coach, Oleg Petrescu. There was no sign of Sian Edwards or Sophia Mitford, and Nancy told Ellie they had been off at a Team GB training weekend and would be back tomorrow.
Ellie tried to imagine that one day she might be picked for Team GB, but right now it was enough to be here, an Academy girl – or very nearly anyway.
‘I thought Oleg was going to explode today,’ Bree was saying, ‘when Lily kept sneezing and couldn’t stop.’
The other girls all giggled and Nancy turned to Ellie to explain. ‘Oleg Petrescu is Romanian, and basically a living legend! One of the seven ancient wonders of the gymnastics world.’
‘He looks like a tiny little weightlifter and he’s got this giant moustache – all curly like a circus ringmaster or something,’ added Mia with a giggle.
‘And he’s got a thing about germs and people being ill,’ Bella explained. ‘Remember when Pearl had mumps and he acted like she had the plague?’
‘Yeah, and I basically spent the whole year I was in Pre-Elite terrified of even getting a headache,’ Isobel said with a frown.
‘Anyway, when Lily sneezed for the tenth time, Oleg started screaming like a bomb had gone off and kicked her out of the gym,’ Bree went on.
‘No – he sent her out?’
‘Right away,’ said Bree. ‘Then he started spraying the vault with anti-bacterial spray. And you should have seen the masks he got out of his bag. Like nurses wear. He wanted all of us in Pre-Elite to wear them so we didn’t catch anything.’
‘What did Emma say?’ asked Nancy.
‘Oh, Emma knows Oleg’s funny ways, but she also knows he’s the best vault coach in the world,’ said Bree with a shrug. ‘Oleg was going on about the English weather and going to California where it was sunny all day, so Emma said she’d arrange for everyone in the gym to have multi-vitamins and loads of oranges to make sure we get don’t get colds.’
‘What did he say to that?’ said Mia.
‘He went off into a flurry of Romanian and flung his arms around a bit – you know how he does,’ said Bree, doing an impression of Oleg, which made everyone laugh again. ‘But he let Lily come back into training – and he was so sweet and apologetic. He made her a lemon-and-honey drink and everything.’
‘He really is a total sweetie, isn’t he?’ said Bella.
‘He’s lovely!’ said Bree. ‘He gets so upset with himself for losing his temper, and then he fusses over you like anything. Lily will get the royal treatment for at least a week.’
‘Not like Toni,’ said Nancy, rolling her eyes. ‘When Toni’s annoyed, he goes totally silent. The quieter he is the more you know you’re doing it wrong.’
‘Toni Nimakov, you know,’ Bella explained, turning to Ellie who was tucking into her second helping of shepherd’s pie.
‘Don’t be stupid!’ said Scarlett, who hadn’t said much up to this point. ‘Of course Ellie’s heard of Toni Nimakov. He’s won four Olympic gold medals, he coached Emma Bannerdown and Lizzie Trengilly. Even girls from tiny gym clubs in Devon must know that.’
‘Cornwall,’ said Ellie quietly.
‘What?’
‘My gym club is in Cornwall,’ Ellie repeated. ‘And, yes, I have heard of Toni Nimakov, but I thought he only coached the Elite squads.’
‘Oh, he does, but sometimes he comes and helps us with our bar work,’ said Nancy, shooting Scarlett a look. ‘Which is terrifying because he picks up on the teensiest faults.’
‘And if you actually do it right, he might manage two words of praise,’ said Mia with a rueful grin.
‘Yes, but two words from Toni can put you on top of the world,’ said Bella, and all the other girls nodded in agreement.
‘And he always knows exactly what to say to help you get a move right too,’ Isobel said. ‘I struggled with the double pike tuck for months and then he came along and in two days he had me getting it every time. I don’t even fully remember what he said or did. It’s like he’s the magic man of the bar.’
‘What’s Sasha like?’ Ellie asked. Nancy had told her earlier that Sasha Darling coached the Development squad.
‘Oh, Sasha’s hilarious,’ said Tam, emerging from the kitchen with a tray of apple crumble and a steaming jug of creamy custard. He might be the only boy in Head-Over-Heels House, but he certainly didn’t seem intimidated by all the girls. ‘Did you know she won Junior British Champs when she was fourteen, and Senior the following year, then she gave it all up to go to Hollywood and work in the movies?’
‘Really?’ said Ellie.
‘Oh, yes. She played Nadia Comăneci in a film,’ said Nancy. ‘Then she worked in Las Vegas in an acrobatics circus show and she was in an American TV series, and all sorts.’
‘When Emma took over at the Academy she begged Sasha to come and coach,’ Tam added, plonking the crumble and custard down on the table and stepping back as all the gymnasts dived in at once.
‘Emma reckoned Sasha was born to be a coach, and she was right,’ said Bella. ‘She’s awesome. But don’t be fooled by all her pink sparkle and fun, cos she can be really strict if she thinks you’re messing around.’
‘I reckon she’s the strictest coach of them all,’ said Nancy, helping herself to a giant plate of dessert. ‘She’ll make you work over and over and over on a move until you get it right.’
‘But when you do she gives you a hug,’ said Bella with a grin. ‘And I can’t imagine any of the other coaches doing that, can you?’
‘If Oleg tried to hug you, he’d probably crush you to death!’ laughed Bree. ‘And Toni looks like he’s never given anyone a cuddle in his life.’
‘As for Emma, she’ll only give you a hug when you win Olympic gold,’ added Nancy. The table fell silent for a moment, as every gymnast there imagined standing on the podium at the Olympics with a gold medal round their necks. Then Nancy laughed and added, ‘Which means never in my case!’
Ellie didn’t think she’d be able to sleep with the sound of the city humming around her. She was so used to the silence and pitch black of the creek nights, and couldn’t get used to the traffic and sirens, and even once the thrum of a helicopter flying low overhead. But she drifted off far more quickly than she expected to, and dreamed of doing round-off flicks along the tube platform and vaulting over Albert Bridge.
She woke up the next morning feeling surprisingly refreshed, although by the time she got down for breakfast the butterflies in her stomach felt as if they were doing an energetic floor routine. She found it almost impossible to force anything down, even though Mandy’s pancakes and scrambled eggs were every bit as delicious as last night’s dinner had been.
‘So, did you manage to sleep through Nancy’s bulldozer snoring?’ was the first thing Tam asked when he appeared for breakfast.
‘I do not snore!’ said Nancy.
‘Yeah, right! And I suppose you reckon you don’t talk