Bryony Bell's Star Turn (9 page)

Camera one zoomed in for a close-up of the unwrapping. Everyone jostled for a view. Speechless, Bryony removed the gold tissue paper, held the skates up, then slipped them on.

The Bryony 3000s were a perfect fit. Their leather was whiter and softer and shinier than the snow on the potting shed roof. Their wheels were as gold as the Christmas star. And, very best of all, above the glittering Bryony 3000 logo, Bryony's own face, her favourite rose hair ties picked out in tiny red stones, sparkled out.

Bryony looked round the sea of faces till she came to Big Bob's. He was standing squashed up against the stuffed bear's head and when he met her gaze he reached up, took off the rhinestone-studded Stetson, and hurled it to land right on her head. ‘Come on, princess!' he called. ‘Let's see if you can make the stars come out!'

Head buzzing with happiness, Bryony pushed off and, followed closely by camera two, skated three times round the living room, finishing off
with a triple spin that sent showers of stars onto the carpet.

‘Oh, thank you, Angelina!' she said, hugging her sister. ‘They couldn't be more perfect.'

She took Angelina's hand and pulled her back into the kitchen, where Clarissa was handing out lemonade to the children and Big Bob was carefully balancing a little silver tray of glasses filled with pink champagne.

‘There you are, lass,' he winked. He handed Bryony the smallest champagne glass, and watched as she took her first tentative sip.

‘Thanks, Dad,' she said, feeling a lovely rosy glow. ‘Makes me feel really grown-up.'

As a starburst of champagne bubbles shot up her nose, Bryony looked down at the sea of happy faces. The Bryony 3000s made her feel even taller than before. In fact, she thought with sudden surprise, she was almost as tall as Trish now.

It was a giddy, sparkly feeling, like flying. She did a spin, and the Bryony 3000s sent out another starry spray.

‘What was the wish you wished on the star, Bryony?'Angelina had squeezed in close and was whispering in her ear. ‘Was it for new skates?'

Bryony began to shake her head. Then, catching Big Bob's eye, she stopped.

‘Let's just say,' she said, giving Angelina a hug, ‘that whatever it was,
you
made it come true.'

The kitchen exploded into even more cheers and, above the hubbub, Big Bob banged the table for silence. Then he raised his glass in Bryony's direction.

‘A special Christmas toast,' he announced, as camera one zoomed in for a final, rather wobbly, close-up, ‘to our Bryony – the star who makes
all
our wishes come true.'

I was born in Stranraer, a small town by the sea in Galloway, and I still like to be there as much as I can. I love the sea, the lochs and the rivers.

Most of the time, though, I live in Glasgow with my cats Lily, and Lily's son The Woozle. When I'm not writing, I teach English as an Additional Language at Glendale Primary School. The children I teach are almost always the inspiration for my characters.

I enjoy reading, drawing, making shadow puppets, gardening, and listening to music. I also play treble recorder in the Scottish Recorder Orchestra. I spend a lot of time practising! The Bryony books are fun to write because they give me the chance to write songs.

I have had 14 books published. These include
Speak Up, Spike
!,
Shadowflight
and
The Pen-pal from Outer Space
, all of which were named Guardian Book of the Week. My first picture
book came out this year, it's called
Starting School
.

I've really enjoyed writing the
Bryony Bell
books, and getting to know more and more about the characters. In this book I wanted to give Mrs Quigg a star part, and I hope her ‘glitzy' past will be as nice a surprise for readers as it was for Bryony and Abid.

I wonder what the future will hold for Bryony and the
Broadway Belles
. I'm sure they'll go from strength to strength. What do you think? If you'd like to see a bit more of Bryony, look at my website:

www.alchemywebsite.com/franzeskaewart

Text copyright © 2005 Franzeska G. Ewart
Illustrations copyright © 2005 Kelly Waldek

First published 2005 by A & C Black

Bloomsbury Publishing Plc
50 Bedford Square,
London, WC1B 3DP
www.acblack.com

This electronic edition published in March 2013 by Bloomsbury Publishing

The rights of Franzeska G. Ewart and Kelly Waldek to be identified as the author and illustrator of this work respectively have been asserted by them in accordance with the Copyrights, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

All rights reserved
You may not copy, distribute, transmit, reproduce or otherwise make available this publication (or any part of it) in any form, or by any means (including without limitation electronic, digital, optical, mechanical, photocopying, printing, recording or otherwise), without the prior written permission of the publisher. Any person who does any unauthorised act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages

The excerpt from ‘When You Wish Upon A Star' (Washington/Harline) which appears on
page 62
is used with the kind permission of Bourne Music Ltd

A CIP catalogue for this book is available from the British Library.

eISBN 978-1-4081-6385-6 (e-book)

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