Holly and the Rose Garden

First published in Great Britain by HarperCollins Children’s Books 2009 HarperCollins Children’s Books A division of HarperCollins Publishers Ltd, 77–85 Fulham Palace Road Hammersmith London W6 8JB

www.harpercollins.co.uk

Text copyright © HarperCollins Children’s Books 2009 Illustrations copyright © HarperCollins Children’s Books 2009

MAGIC BALLERINA™ and the ‘Magic Ballerina’ logo are trademarks of HarperCollins Publishers Ltd.

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Source ISBN: 9780007323227

Ebook Edition © DECEMBER 2014 ISBN: 9780007509287

Version: 2014-11-20

Welcome to the world of Enchantia!

I have always loved to dance. The captivating music and wonderful stories of ballet are so inspiring. So come with me and let’s follow Holly on her magical adventures in Enchantia, where the stories of dance will take you on a very special journey.

p.s. Turn to the back to learn a special dance step from me…

To Phoebe and Zoe, as they are the inspirationbehind Magic Ballerina.

Map

Holly Wilde skipped down the steps of her ballet school. Twirling around, she thought about the class she had just finished. Her teacher, Madame Za-Za, had been teaching them to dance like baby swans. They were holding an open day for parents and that was the dance Holly’s class were going to be performing.

Feeling happy, Holly danced a few of the steps. As she moved forward, stepping first on to one leg and then the other, a picture of her mum doing the same dance up on her pointes a few years ago came into her mind. Holly’s happiness ebbed away slightly. Her parents, who were divorced, both worked for different ballet companies, which meant they were away travelling a lot. Holly had come to live with her aunt and uncle.

It had been hard at first, but it had helped that an amazing thing had happened to her. She’d been given a pair of red ballet shoes that were magic! They had the power to whisk her away to Enchantia – a land where characters from all the different ballets lived.

It was wonderful to have magic in her life, but it didn’t stop Holly missing her mum and dad. Before she had come to live with her aunt and uncle, she and her mum had travelled everywhere together.

Holly sighed as she walked through the ballet-school gates. She couldn’t help wishing that she was going home to show her mum the steps she was learning for the open day.

A car drew up. It was Holly’s aunt.

“Hi, Holly!” she said and smiled.

“Hi,” Holly replied, opening the door.

“There’s a nice surprise waiting for you at home,” her aunt said. “Your costume for the open day has arrived.”

Holly brightened up. “Oh, wow!” She couldn’t wait to get back!

As soon as they got home, Holly hurried inside. On the kitchen table was a white tutu and a white headdress made of gorgeous feathers. She picked it up and ran upstairs. After changing into the costume, she got her red ballet shoes out of her bag and put them on. Walking over to the mirror, a sigh of delight escaped her. The costume was so beautiful! Holly touched the net of the tutu. Her arms crossed in front of her, she did an experimental plié and then moved with small light steps to the side.

Catching sight of herself in the mirror, she paused. Oh, Mum, she thought, if you were here with me, we could dance together and practise like we used to.

A wave of loneliness swept over her, but then Holly was distracted by a tingling in her feet. Glancing down she saw that her shoes were glowing.

The magic’s working! she realised feeling a thrill of excitement. I must be going to Enchantia again!

She started to spin round and round, and the next second she was whirled away in a cloud of glittering colours.

Holly’s feet touched down on solid ground and as the magical haze cleared, she saw that she was standing in a beautiful garden. There were roses everywhere – white ones, red ones, pink ones. Holly looked about her. Where was she? And where was her friend the White Cat? He was usually there to meet her whenever she arrived in Enchantia.

But just at that moment, Holly heard a loud shrieking cry.

“H-hello?” Holly called warily.

There was another loud shriek and out from behind a bush strode a peacock. His body was bright blue and he had golden eyes. On his head was a crest that looked almost like a little crown. His long tail of feathers trailed on the ground after him. Seeing Holly, he stared.

Holly stepped backwards uncertainly. The bird’s beak looked very sharp and he had sharp claws on his feet too.

He looked her up and down intently and then his eyes seemed suddenly to glitter with approval. “Well, hellllllo there!”

His tail feathers rose and snapped open, like an enormous fan. “And who might you be, my pretty little one?”

“I’m Holly,” she stammered.

The peacock stalked towards her. “Do you come here often?”

“Um…” Holly said. “Well…”

“No tail, but what fabulous feathers you have,” the peacock interrupted, examining her feathery headdress. “I like them!”

“Feathers!”

Holly’s hand flew to her head, as she realised that they must be confusing him into thinking she was a bird! “Oh, but they’re not real. I’m a girl you see, not a—”

The peacock cawed with delight. “And I am a boy! We shall be married!”

“Married!” Holly exclaimed. “But we can’t be! No!”

“No?” The peacock chuckled. “Of course we must, my sweetest swan-ling!” He lifted a claw and wagged it at her. “No one, but no one, would ever say no to Peregrine the peacock.”

Pulling a golden hand mirror out from under his wing, he admired himself. “Am I not the most handsome, most sophisticated, and most perfectly perfect peacock you have ever seen in the whole of Enchantia?”

Looking at himself smugly, he blew himself a small kiss before tucking the mirror away and turning back to Holly.

“You and I are the perfect match, even if you don’t have a tail. We shall live here, strolling through the roses, pecking at the insects, sharing the juicy worms. Together forever.”

He ran a claw through his crest and fixed her with an expectant look. “Well, what do you say?”

Holly backed away. “Look, I’m really very sorry, but you’ve got it wrong, I can’t marry you. I’m not a—”

A massive roar from behind her drowned out her words. “Beauty! You’re back!”

Peregrine screeched in alarm and Holly swung round. Behind her there was a huge man, with the head and shoulders of a giant beast!

The beast’s monstrous face was full of hope, but as she looked at him, his expression changed to one of anguish.

“No!” he growled despairingly. “You are not my Beauty!”

Holly stood, petrified with fear.

“Trespasser!” the beast roared. He marched down the slope and, picking her up as easily as if she was a doll, threw her over his shoulder.

Holly heard the peacock screech again. “My love! Peregrine will save you!”

He flew at the beast, but as he did so, the beast muttered a word.

For a moment, Holly thought she saw a flash of white fur behind the peacock, but then, in a swirl of light, she and the beast were whisked away…

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