Musical Mystery Read online

  For our songbird, Renée. And for the real Arianwen.

  Chapter 1

  ‘It looks wonky,’ Zoe complained.

  ‘Just keep still,’ Grace said, as she leaned in closer to Zoe’s face.

  Violet covered her eyes. ‘I can’t watch!’

  ‘Just one more snip,’ Grace said. ‘There!’

  Zoe stood up and looked in the mirror. ‘It’s still wonky! And every time you fix one side, it gets shorter and shorter!’

  Zoe turned around to face us. I smothered a laugh. Her fringe was now halfway up her forehead.

  ‘Does it look bad?’ she asked nervously.

  ‘No, it looks fine,’ I smiled, jumping up and giving her a quick hug.

  ‘That’s the last time I let you trim my fringe,’ she scolded Grace.

  Grace put the scissors on her desk and threw her hands up in the air. ‘You customers are too fussy!’

  Zoe broke into a smile and gently pushed Grace so she fell onto Violet, who was sitting on my bed.

  ‘Oh, no you don’t!’ Grace laughed, as she pulled Zoe on top of her too, tickling her at the same time. Violet let out a huff in protest.

  I grabbed my instant camera and took a photo of the pile of girls giggling on my bed. The instant film printed out quickly and I shook it in the air to make it dry faster. Slowly, it turned from white into a cloudy image. Violet was at the bottom of the pile—her glasses askew. Grace was sitting on her with her arms wrapped around Zoe’s middle. Zoe’s mouth was open, mid-screech, as she tried to pull away from Grace’s tickling fingers.

  As my friends’ faces gained clarity, a feeling of warmth filled my chest. These were not just my roommates, these were my three best friends in the whole world (well, not including my sister, Olivia). Grace could turn any situation into something funny. Violet was the most caring person I’d ever met. And Zoe has been my loyal BFF since we were five years old.

  I jumped up onto my bed and stuck the instant photo on my noticeboard of pictures. There were photos of my parents, my sister, Olivia, my brother, Max, and, of course, my dog, Bob. I had a few photos of my friends and soccer team from primary school, but as the weeks and months rolled on at Eden College, my photo board was filling up more and more with my friends here at high school. Being in boarding school means that your friends are more than just friends; they’re like your sisters.

  I looked over to the other girls’ photo boards. They also contained photos of their friends and families from back home. Zoe had lots of pictures of her horse, Gypsy, which she was lucky enough to be able to stable at Eden College. I wished I was allowed to bring Bob to school!

  Violet had photos of all her younger sisters on hers. She was the eldest of four girls, each one of them with identical round glasses, just like Violet’s.

  And Grace had lots of selfies with her brother, Alec. He posed as if he was looking off into the distance, whereas Grace was always laughing directly into the camera. I realised that we’d never met her brother.

  ‘Are you video-calling your family this arvo?’ I asked Grace. She always called them on a Monday night. She nodded.

  ‘Can we come down and meet Alec?’ I asked. We often jumped in on each other’s calls home. The girls had all met Olivia and Max, and even Bob. I’d seen all of Violet’s sisters and I already knew Zoe’s older brother, Liam. Alec was the only sibling we hadn’t met yet.

  ‘Oh, not today,’ Grace said, waving her hand vaguely in the air. ‘I think Alec is at a friend’s house tonight. Sleeping over or something.’

  ‘On a Monday?’ Violet asked.

  ‘Yeah, or maybe at my grandma’s. I can’t remember,’ Grace said quickly. ‘Anyway, we’d better hurry. Assembly starts in ten minutes.’

  We grabbed our shoes and put them on, then neatened ourselves up. I brushed my long chestnut hair and pulled it into a high ponytail. Then I quickly plaited the ponytail and secured the bottom with an elastic.

  ‘Ribbon!’ Violet reminded me.

  I fossicked through my box of hair ties and found two white ribbons, which I tied to the top and bottom elastics of my plait.

  ‘Socks up,’ I said to Grace as she finished tying her shoes. She pulled her socks up and gently folded them below the knee.

  ‘Hats!’ Zoe said as she spun each panama hat towards its owner. We all plonked our hats on and stood in front of the mirror.

  We had to make sure we looked neat and tidy before assembly, otherwise we might get a pick-up slip from one of the prefects. A pick-up slip was a punishment that meant you had to go around the school picking up rubbish during lunch break. I’d never had one, but forgetful Grace had been given quite a few already.

  We walked out of our dorm room and down the cascading stairs. Girls bustled about all around us, stampeding down the stairs like a herd of wildebeest. We piled out the front doors and into the morning sunshine. I pulled my panama down slightly, shielding my eyes from the light. We walked along the snaky path through the school campus. The dorms were in the back part of the school and the auditorium, where we held assembly, was on the other side of the central courtyard, past the flowing fountain and up towards the main gates.

  Two senior prefects stood at the entrance to the auditorium, checking everybody’s uniforms as they walked in. Lauren, the School Captain, was one of the prefects on inspection that morning. She smiled, greeting each girl by name. Every now and then she would pull someone aside and ask them to pull up their socks or question where their white ribbon was.

  I nervously touched my hair, checking for the ribbons, and glanced down at my socks.

  ‘Hi, Ella!’ Lauren called as I passed, startling me.

  ‘I’ve checked three times!’ I yelled in alarm.

  Lauren and my friends all burst out laughing. ‘Oh, sorry,’ I said, my cheeks burning bright red. ‘I thought I was in trouble.’

  We walked up the aisle of the auditorium and took our seats. The school anthem played, then the Headmistress, Mrs Sinclair, took to the podium. She ran through her morning message and moved onto announcements.

  ‘I have something very exciting to share with you all today,’ Mrs Sinclair said, smiling.

  Grace shuffled in her seat. Zoe raised an eyebrow at me. Violet sat up straighter.

  ‘As many of know, this year is a musical year,’ Mrs Sinclair said, clapping her hands together.

  There was an instant murmur among the girls as excited whispers began. Ms Montgomery, the Vice Headmistress, frowned from her seat on the stage and made a shooshing motion with her hands, palms facing down, trying to calm the excitement and noise. Mrs Sinclair simply stood, smiling, waiting for a hush to fall upon the room again.

  ‘Our new Year 7 girls might not know, but we only do a school musical every other year. It’s a big production, with costumes, make-up, backdrops and sets, many rehearsals and final performances in front of a real audience,’ Mrs Sinclair said.

  My heart began to flutter. I’d been in school plays before, but an Eden musical was going to be unlike anything I’d ever done. When I applied for Eden College, I had seen photos of previous years’ musicals on the school website. They looked like something from a professional musical on Broadway! They used proper lighting and microphones and stunning costumes. This wasn’t going to be some kind of little-kid nativity play, oh, no it wasn’t. This was going to be big.

  ‘I’m pleased to announce this year’s musical is . . .’

  I could feel the room inhale as one and hold its breath.

  ‘Enchantment the Musical.’

  The entire auditorium erupted into squeals and chatter.

  ‘I saw that with my Nanna Kate when it was touring last year!’ I whispered to Grace, who was sitting next to me. ‘It’s the most fantabulously fabulous
musical EVER!’

  Grace nodded excitedly.

  ‘Calm down, calm down,’ Mrs Sinclair laughed. ‘Now, this musical is definitely not compulsory. Nobody will be forced to take part. If you do wish to participate, please know that you will be required to really commit to it. You will need to be at all rehearsals and learn your part. I’m also excited to tell you that this year we have a brand-new musical director. I think you will be pleasantly surprised when you meet her at the auditions. She’s very experienced in musical theatre.’

  Everybody slowly stopped whispering and jiggling in their seats.

  ‘Auditions,’ Mrs Sinclair continued, ‘will take place this Thursday. Sign-up sheets are on the noticeboard. You will not be auditioning for a specific role; you simply need to fill out whether you want to try out for a main part or the chorus. There are also sign-up sheets for the tech crew, costume department and set design team.’

  Auditions this Thursday? I had to get practicing.

  ‘For your audition,’ Mrs Sinclair said, ‘you will need to sing a song of your choice by yourself or in pairs. More information will be on the noticeboard this afternoon. Now, before you head off to class, we are going to sing the national anthem.’

  As the national anthem backing track played over the loud speaker, my mind began to race. What was I going to sing for the audition? Could I really try out for a main part? Was I good enough to be in this musical? My mind swirled, bouncing between thoughts of excitement and nerves. My very first Eden musical! I couldn’t wait to get started.

  Chapter 2

  × −

  From:

  Ella

  Sent:

  Tuesday, 8:10 AM

  To:

  Olivia

  Subject:

  Musical!

  Dear Olivia,

  Guess what?? You’ll never guess, so I’ll just tell you.

  We are doing an Eden musical! This isn’t a little school play like we did in primary. This is a proper, super-duper professional, real musical with lights and microphones and an orchestra! It’s for the whole school, so there won’t be that many parts for Year 7 girls. But I’m going to audition anyway. And you’ll NEVER guess which musical it is . . . Enchantment the Musical! The same one we saw last year. I emailed Nanna Kate and told her and she is so excited.

  I have to think of a song to sing for the audition. I’m so nervous. Even though I love, love, LOVE drama, I’m a bit worried that my singing isn’t strong enough to get a part. I’m going to try to practice in one of the music rooms later today.

  Gotta go—classes start soon.

  Love, Ella

  xx

  The drama studio was like a miniature version of a theatre, but without the chairs. It had a very small stage, which was surrounded by black walls and had a black curtain running across it. In front of the stage was another lower-level stage, and then there was a floor area. The drama studio was used for really small and intimate performances, or for practicing drama productions that would eventually be performed in the auditorium. We also had our weekly Drama classes in here.

  Grace, Zoe and Violet were already sitting on the polished wooden floorboards, cross-legged and chatting. Our Drama teacher hadn’t arrived yet.

  ‘Ella, come!’ Violet said, waving me over and patting the floor next to her.

  I sat down and tucked my feet under myself as I smoothed my dress over my thighs.

  ‘So, are you going to audition or not, Grace?’ Zoe asked.

  ‘I’ve decided not to,’ Grace said airily.

  ‘But you love drama,’ Violet frowned. ‘You are in the drama and musical society!’

  ‘I do love drama, but I sing like a toad,’ Grace laughed. ‘I much prefer plays that don’t require me to sing. And anyway, you know that I love art, too. So I’m going to sign up for the set design committee. Just imagine the backdrops we’ll get to paint!’

  ‘Tell me more about this musical, Ella,’ Violet said.

  ‘I know a bit about the story, but I haven’t seen it like you have.’

  ‘Well,’ I said, leaning in closer. Ruby and Annabelle joined us and listened in, too. ‘It’s about five siblings who live alone in the woods.’

  ‘How many are girls and how many are boys?’ Violet interrupted.

  ‘Three girls and two boys,’ I answered. ‘One day, the youngest sister is captured by the wicked Snow Queen and is taken to live in her ice castle. The four remaining siblings must travel through the enchanted forest to get to the ice realm to rescue their youngest sister. That’s where they meet the forest spirits, called the dryads. There’s two of them and, along with a songbird, they show the children the way through the forest to the Snow Queen’s castle.’

  Other girls had crawled into our circle now. Everyone sat quietly, listening to my story.

  ‘Then,’ I whispered dramatically, ‘they find the Snow Queen’s ice castle is riddled with traps, and the children, with the dryads and songbird, have to get past each of the traps to reach the top of the castle, where their sister is being held.’

  Everyone’s eyes were wide.

  ‘But when they finally find their youngest sibling—her name is Arianwen—and go to her . . . she doesn’t recognise them.’

  ‘Oh, is that where Arianwen’s Song comes from?’ Violet asked. It was one of the most famous songs in the whole musical and everyone knew it, even if they hadn’t seen the show.

  I nodded. ‘Yes, she sings that by herself before her siblings arrive. Arianwen is a big part.’

  ‘What happens next?’ Ruby asked.

  ‘The Snow Queen comes out and they have an epic battle. The Snow Queen has to sing a super-hard song in that part. The children fight the Snow Queen and her evil wolves, and eventually kill her. But not before the oldest brother is struck in battle and falls down dead.’

  ‘Oh, no!’ Annabelle cried.

  ‘The other three children gather around him and weep, and Arianwen, who is still under the Snow Queen’s spell, sees them crying for their brother. She feels their sadness and begins to weep, too. As she cries, a shard of ice falls from her eye and the spell is broken. Her tears land on her brother and he comes back to life.’

  ‘Oooh!’ my friends all said at once.

  ‘Which part has that song, Fly Free?’ Zoe asked. It was another well-known song from the musical.

  ‘That’s sung by the two dryads in the forest,’ I answered. ‘It’s really pretty. But most of the dryads’ parts are spoken in poems. I reckon those would be pretty hard parts to play, too.’

  Everyone went quiet. It was like each person was imagining the story I had told, and were perhaps fantasising about which part they might be given. I pondered myself. The big Snow Queen part was likely to go to a senior student. Arianwen was probably going to be a part for a Year 7 or 8 girl, as she was the smallest and youngest sibling in the show, but it was a massive singing part and I didn’t think I had a strong enough voice.

  I glanced down at my watch—it felt like the bell went ages ago.

  ‘Where’s Mr Withers?’ I asked my friends.

  ‘Oh, you know him,’ Grace said, giggling. ‘He’s probably going to come riding in on a dragon or dropping down from the ceiling like he’s a spy on a mission.’

  Grace wasn’t wrong. Mr Withers is . . . how should I describe him? Eccentric. That means unusual and quirky. Sometimes Nanna Kate thinks Olivia is eccentric, because she always like to do things in her own quirky way. But that’s nothing compared to Mr Withers. Mr Withers is—

  ‘SURPRISE!’

  We all jumped in shock as Mr Withers burst through the back doors of the drama studio.

  ‘In drama,’ he said in a whispering theatrical voice, ‘you need to remember the importance of the element of SURPRISE!’

  We all jumped again as he clapped his hands in excitement. His thick square-framed glasses bounced slightly on his nose. He was wearing tight black jeans, which was weird because no other teacher in the whole of Eden would ever
wear jeans, and a bright yellow t-shirt.

  ‘Right, thespians,’ he said, eyes wide. Everyone frowned quizzically.

  ‘It means actors,’ I said flatly.

  ‘Oh, right!’ everyone chorused.

  ‘Today we are going to be doing some impromptu acting!’ He wiggled his fingers in the air, like magical glittery stars were floating around his beaming face. ‘So, what is impromptu?’ he said in a sing-song voice.

  I put up my hand and Mr Withers nodded at me. ‘It means not practiced. It’s just thinking up things on the spot.’

  Mr Withers shut his eyes and breathed in, nodding.

  ‘So, if I can have Violet here,’ he said, waving Violet over to stand in the middle of the circle of girls. She stood like a statue, clearly feeling awkward.

  ‘Now . . .’ he closed his eyes. We all waited.

  Suddenly, he jumped down on his hands and knees and barked twice. We all stared in complete confusion. Grace burst out laughing. He crawled up to Violet, who just stood there with wide eyes.

  ‘Ruff!’ he barked.

  Violet stared.

  We stared.

  Mr Withers stared.

  After what seemed like a century of awkward silence, Mr Withers stood up, shaking his head in disappointment.

  ‘Violet, I wanted you to improvise. That means you need to just run with the scenario that’s going on around you,’ he said.

  Violet nodded, still clearly confused, and sat back down.

  ‘Let’s try again. Annabelle, come here,’ he said.

  Annabelle stood up cautiously and walked slowly over to Mr Withers. He whispered something in her ear and she nodded.

  ‘Right,’ he said, excitedly clapping his hands. ‘Off you go!’

  ‘You have to come now!’ Annabelle yelled, running over and grabbing Zoe’s hand. ‘The enemy is attacking!’

  I could see Zoe trying to think quickly. ‘What will we use to defend ourselves?’ Zoe asked, with an expression of alarm.

  ‘How about this magic wand?’ Annabelle said, running to the side of the room and picking up a ruler that sat on the small desk in the corner. Annabelle waved the ‘wand’ in the air. ‘It’s not working! Who will save us?’