The three girls headed up the hall. Nancy gave Bess and George directions as fast as she could. “I don’t like to trick anyone,” Nancy said. “But it’s our only chance.”
When they reached the corner, Nancy stopped. She moved close to the wall so that she could listen. Bess and George walked around the corner.
“Hi, Paul,” Nancy heard George say. “Are you coming to the practice studio?”
“What for?” Paul asked.
“Your mom is going to make a big announcement,” Bess said. “She’s found the tape. Why don’t you come and hear?”
A few seconds later Bess and George walked back around the corner. They hurried toward the practice studio. As they passed Nancy, George gave her a thumbs-up sign.
Nancy slowly peeked around the corner. She saw Paul grab his toy box and yank off the lid. He looked worried. He dug down into the box and pulled something out.
Nancy stepped around the corner. She spoke in a soft but clear voice.
“Paul, that’s the missing tape!”
8
Let the Ballet Begin!
George and Bess reached the studio door. Madame was just about to go in. She held the door open for them. Then she stepped inside.
A hush fell over the studio. For once Madame didn’t smile at her students. Her eyes weren’t twinkling. She glanced at her watch.
“It’s three o’clock,” she said. “I’m afraid I have a sad announcement to make. Our recital is can—”
The door swung open. Nancy rushed in. “Madame!” she said. Every pair of eyes turned to Nancy. “I found the tape!”
“You found it!” Madame repeated. “Where?”
“You have to come into the hallway,” Nancy said. “Alone.”
Madame followed Nancy into the hallway. She shut the studio door. Paul was leaning against the wall. When he saw his mother, his eyes filled with tears. He held out the tape.
“Paul!” Madame gasped. “What happened?”
Paul jabbed the toe of his sneaker against the floor a few times. When he finally spoke, his voice was very low.
“I hate the stupid recital! I hate the rehearsals!” A tear rolled down each cheek.
Madame knelt next to Paul. She put her arm around his shoulders. “So you took the tape,” she said quietly.
Paul nodded.
“You shouldn’t have done that,” Madame said. “And I think you know it. But I made a mistake, too. I didn’t see how upset you were after your babysitter quit.”
Paul put his arms around his mother’s neck. “I’m sorry I took the tape,” he said softly.
Madame gave him a kiss. “We will talk more later. And we won’t let anything like this happen again,” she said. “I promise.”
Then she stood up and spoke to Nancy. “Thank you for solving the mystery.” Madame laughed and gave Nancy a hug. “You’re quite a detective. You did just what you said you wanted to do. You saved the recital!”
Nancy looked at herself in the backstage mirror. In just fifteen minutes the recital would begin. Under the lights her silvery green leotard and tights glittered. She straightened the elastic on her ballet slippers.
Bess stood on Nancy’s right. She retied a green ribbon in her hair. George stood on Nancy’s left. She was bouncing up and down on her toes. All their eyes met in the mirror. The three friends burst into giggles.
“Now I have two zillion butterflies in my stomach,” Bess moaned. “I’m so nervous!”
“I can’t stand still!” said George.
“Me, either,” Nancy said. “But we shouldn’t be nervous. We all did okay in the dress rehearsal this afternoon. The recital is just like the dress rehearsal, right?”
“Wrong!” Bess said. “All those people will be watching us.” She pretended to shiver.
“Hey, you three are hogging the mirror,” someone behind them complained.
Nancy turned around. It was Brenda Carlton. But she didn’t look angry.
“It’s all yours,” Nancy said. Then she noticed Alison standing next to Brenda. “Good luck with your solo,” Nancy added.
“Thanks,” Alison said. “I’m so scared. I think I’ll need some luck.”
“Me, too,” Rebecca Ramirez said. She and Jessie Shapiro were standing behind Alison.
“Feel my hands,” Jessie said, pressing Bess’s hands in her own. “They’re freezing.”
“Eeeek!” Bess screamed. “They’re ice!”
Nancy, Bess, and George ducked through the crowd of girls around the mirror.
“Let’s find a quiet place to wait,” Nancy suggested.
She glanced around backstage. There were mermaids, fairies, and pirates everywhere. All the dancers were whispering and giggling. Madame Dugrand and Darcy were checking costumes and makeup for the last time.
“Over there,” Nancy said. She pointed to the curtain.
The girls found some space in the wings just to the side of the stage.
“Now tell us,” George said to Nancy.
Nancy grinned. “Tell you what?”
Bess rolled her eyes. “The mystery! How did you know Paul Dugrand took the tape?”
Nancy’s eyes sparkled. “I saw Jerry Cutter sweep up some cinnamon candies near the sound system. Then I remembered that Paul was eating cinnamon candy Hot Shots on Friday night—right before we knew the tape was missing.”
“And what about the Eiffel Tower charm?” Bess asked.
“Paul told me he had an Eiffel Tower,” Nancy explained. “Then I guessed that he could have dropped the candy and the charm when he took the tape.”
“Pretty smart!” George said. “But how did you guess where he hid the tape?”
“I tried to touch his toy box,” Nancy said. “He grabbed it away from me. It seemed like he was hiding something.”
“You really are a detective,” Bess said. “You saved me from total doom.”
“Sh-sh-sh!” Darcy Blair hurried over to the girls. She held a finger to her lips. “The audience will hear you,” she whispered. “Now, let’s see how you look.”
Darcy checked their costumes and makeup. “George needs blush and lipstick,” she said.
“No way!” George muttered. Then she whispered to Nancy, “Save me from total doom.”
“I need more blush, too,” Bess said.
Darcy looked at Bess’s face. “You’re a mermaid, not a tomato. Remember?”
“Please,” Bess begged.
Darcy laughed. “Just a tiny bit.”
As Darcy put more blush on Bess’s cheeks, George tried to slip behind the deep folds of the curtain.
“George Fayne!” Darcy said in a loud whisper. “Come back here!”
Darcy dabbed some makeup on George’s face. George stood with her hands clenched, shoulders scrunched up, and eyes closed. Nancy and Bess couldn’t help laughing.
“You look like you’re swallowing rotten fish medicine,” Nancy said.
“Total doom!” George muttered.
Madame clapped her hands. Everyone knew what that meant. The recital was about to start! Nancy, George, and Bess ran to get in line with the other mermaids.
Madame and Darcy bustled all the dancers onstage. When they were in position, Darcy went back to the sound system. Madame stood in the wings.
Nancy faced the curtain. She could hear the loud hum of the audience talking. She could hear their programs rustling.
“Dim the house lights,” Madame said.
The theater grew still. The butterflies in Nancy’s stomach fluttered faster than ever. She took a deep breath. She, Bess, and George squeezed hands for a second.
“Good luck!” Nancy whispered.
Madame tapped her foot and then counted. “One. Two. Three!”
The music began. It was the opening song for “Scenes from Peter Pan.”
The curtain rose.
An hour later the students of Madame Dugrand’s Dance Academy took their final bow. The audience was clapping. Some people shouted “Bravo!”
&n
bsp; Nancy bowed just the way Madame had taught them. She held out her right leg, toe pointed. She bent her left knee.
The curtain dropped.
“We did it!” Bess cheered.
Nancy, Bess, and George hugged one another. They couldn’t stop laughing.
“That was fun!” George said.
“Fun and scary!” Bess added. “I almost fainted when I saw my parents in the audience.”
“Everyone, backstage!” Madame called. She looked just as happy as her dancers. She noticed Bess. “You did very well, dear.”
Bess nodded. “I made only one mistake. A really little one.”
Madame patted Nancy’s shoulder. “Thank you again,” she said.
When Nancy got backstage, her father was already there.
“Signorina Ballerina!” he sang out. Then he handed Nancy a bunch of pink roses. They were tied with a big pink bow.
“Wow! Roses!” Nancy said. She hugged her father.
“And now, how about some ice cream?” Carson Drew asked. “Change out of your costume. We can meet Bess, George, and their families at Sugar ’n’ Spice.”
Nancy nodded happily. “But I have to do one thing first,” she said. “It won’t take long.”
Nancy hurried to a corner near the sound system. She’d left her dance bag there. She got out her blue notebook and turned to a clean page. Then she wrote:
Friends can solve sticky problems if they stick together. I found the missing tape. Now no one thinks Bess took it. We helped her practice the dance, and she learned the steps.
Being a ballerina has been lots of fun—almost as much fun as being a detective!
Case closed.
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Carolyn Keene, Bad Day for Ballet
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