so I guess she’ll be going into Development Squad, one below you guys,’ said Tam. ‘She’s meant to be incredible on floor and beam, but she’s never done the bars in her life!’
‘Ooh, I can’t wait to see this!’ said Nancy. ‘A girl who’s been swinging on the trapeze and walking the tightrope making a splash at the Academy! Scarlett is going to be up in arms about it.’
Ellie sighed at the mention of Scarlett Atkins. Scarlett resented anyone she thought showed talent and might be a threat to her Queen of the Beam status (or Queen of Mean, if you asked Nancy). She had made life really difficult for Ellie last year. Luckily Nancy and the other girls had made her feel welcome – Ellie made a silent promise to herself to do the same for the younger circus girl.
Ellie turned and glanced out of the window. The train was on the outskirts of London now and the green fields had been replaced by rows of terraces. She felt a flutter of excitement as they neared the city. The summer had been magical and it was so tough saying goodbye to her family – especially Lucy – but it was brilliant to be back in London, about to start a new year at the Academy.
‘I’m missing the beach already!’ said Nancy glumly, staring at the London houses. ‘I mean, I can’t wait to see Mum and all the girls, but remind me again why we want to spend twenty-five hours a week in a stuffy gym being tortured by slave-driver coaches?’
‘Twenty-seven and a half hours,’ Tam reminded her. ‘Pre-Elite squad train for longer!’
‘What joy!’ said Nancy, pulling a face.
‘Isn’t it!’ asked Ellie, who would happily spend every hour of every day in the gym.
‘Um – I was being sarcastic,’ said Nancy.
‘I know you were,’ said Ellie. ‘But this is going to be the best term ever. Just you wait and see.’
It was great to be back at Head-Over-Heels House, the large, tumbledown building that was home to all of the out-of-towners, the Academy students who boarded during term time. Ellie and the twins were dying to see all their old friends, but when they walked through the front door they found the house practically deserted.
‘What’s going on, Mum?’ asked Nancy, giving her mother Mandy Moffat a massive hug before flinging her luggage down in the hallway. ‘Where is everyone?’
Mandy wasn’t just the twins’ mum; she was also Head-Over-Heels housemother, which meant she looked after all the gymnasts who boarded there. She made sure they were fed and clothed, and she also helped them through all the ups and downs of gymnastic life. Ellie wasn’t sure what they’d do without her.
‘You’d better go out to the garden and take a look at what’s going on!’ said Mandy with a smile. ‘I must admit, I’ve never seen anything like it.’
‘Sounds exciting!’ said Tam, giving his mum a quick peck on the cheek before dumping his stuff on top of Nancy’s and heading for the patio doors. ‘Cheers, Mum! Come on, girls. Let’s check it out.’
‘Oh, how I’ve missed clearing up after you two!’ laughed Mandy as the twins sped outside, leaving bags scattered everywhere. Ellie followed them.
They made their way out into the back garden to find lots of the other Academy students scattered over the grass on an assortment of rugs and deckchairs. There was copper-headed Robbie from the boys’ squad, and Kashvi, Camille and Bella from the girls’. Even Sian Edwards – the most Senior gymnast at the Academy who’d won a medal at the last Olympics – was there. And there was Scarlett, lying in a sun-lounger wearing a giant pair of shades and a scowl and glaring hard at something on the other side of the garden. They looked to see what had caught her attention. ‘What on earth . . . oh!’ said Nancy.
A washing line was strung across the garden. It ran from the low kitchen roof over to the red brick wall at the end of the garden, fixed carefully at each end. And walking along it – as if it were the most natural thing to do in the world – was a girl that Ellie had never seen before. A tiny pixie-like creature with white blonde flyaway hair and a face that twinkled like a cheeky little elf. And she was gliding like an ice skater along the thin strip of rope without the teeniest hint of a wobble.
‘Whoa!’ breathed Tam.
‘How is that even possible?’ said Ellie. ‘It’s just a flimsy bit of rope!’
‘She must be some kind of fairy,’ said Nancy. ‘With invisible wings or magic space dust or something!’
‘Amazing, isn’t it?’ said Bella, a tiny dark-haired girl with a wise face and two little buns which looked like monkey ears.
‘Yeah, an’ she’s been up there all morning,’ said Robbie. ‘Walking along the fence post too – and the ridge pole of the kitchen roof. She’s a nutter if you ask me!’
‘Seriously?’ said Tam, looking at the younger girl in admiration. ‘And Mum let her?’
‘She made her get off the roof,’ said Scarlett loudly from her sun-lounger. ‘And she did tell her not to walk the washing line either, but Katya seems determined to ignore instructions.’
‘Katya?’ said Ellie.
‘Katya Popolova,’ said Kashvi, an Indian girl as pretty as a princess who dressed like a tomboy and talked like a cockney street urchin. ‘She’s Russian.’
‘Ah – so she’s the girl Toni found?’ said Tam. ‘Well, I can see what he saw in her. She’s amazing.’
‘Talented but totally undisciplined,’ sniffed Scarlett.
Ellie glanced at Scarlett, who was looking as glamorous and groomed as always. She should have been beautiful with her creamy complexion, sheet of long blonde hair and startling green eyes, but there was something about the permanently dissatisfied expression that she wore, and the condescending spark in her eyes, that spoilt her otherwise perfect looks.
‘She’ll never make a gymnast,’ Scarlett went on. ‘She’s all showy moves with no polish.’
‘Then the Academy will give her polish,’ said Nancy.
‘Really? It never worked for you, Nancy Moffat,’ said Scarlett with a silky smile.
Robbie sniggered and Tam glared at him.
‘You need to polish up your people skills, Scarlett,’ said Tam. He might spend most of the time teasing Nancy, but there was no way he was letting anyone else do it.
‘I’m just saying that Katya Popup, or whatever her name is, won’t last five minutes at the Academy,’ said Scarlett with a shrug. ‘Gymnastics is about discipline, precision, focus – not about silly circus tricks and showing off.’
‘Camille – wow – I love your new hair,’ said Nancy, rolling her eyes and deliberately changing the subject. ‘Did you get it done in Paris?’
Camille Bertinet was sporting a very stylish new hairstyle – cut in a gamine bob that would have looked boyish on somebody else but which seemed chic and super cool on the young French gymnast.
‘Oui – no more buns for me!’ she said with a very elegant French shrug.
‘Lucky you!’ said Nancy. ‘Mum scrapes my hair back so tight for competitions, I feel like I’ve had a facelift.’
‘I swear you’ve grown again, Nancy!’ said Kashvi
‘Don’t remind me!’ said Nancy. ‘I’ve been drinking gallons of dandelion tea because I read somewhere that it stunts your growth, but