Twirling Tails #7 (2 page)

“Wow! That's cool!” Kirsten said, as excited chatter broke out all around her and even Tracy looked impressed.

It was Kirsten's dream to perform with the Limelight Majorettes, but only the A team marched in public and went to competitions. She and Tracy were still on the B team.

Molly smiled around at all the eager faces. “This is a great chance for us to show everyone what we can do. I want as many as possible of you to take part. So I'm going to move those of you who are ready onto the A team.

“. . . Annie and Rosa. And Jacqui you'll all be moving up. And last but not least . . . Kirsten, you'll be joining the A team.”

“Me? Yay! That's fantastic!” Kirsten cried, delightedly bouncing up and down on the springy gym mats.

Tracy sat there with her arms folded, saying nothing.

Kirsten's high spirits took a dive as she realized that her friend's name hadn't been called.

Molly clapped her hands. “Okay, everyone. Let's have another run-through.”

As the others dispersed, Kirsten stood up and pulled Tracy to her feet.

“Molly, I think you've forgotten someone—Tracy!” she whispered urgently.

Molly shook her head. “I didn't forget. I'm just not sure that Tracy wants to give one hundred percent to the LMs right now. But I'd be happy to be proven wrong,” she said more gently, giving Tracy a meaningful look before she walked away.

Tracy watched her go without speaking.

Kirsten looked at her friend. “Did you hear that? Molly more or less said that if you work really hard at practice now, you'll get onto the A team, too!” she said eagerly.

Tracy shrugged. “Who cares? Maybe Helena's right. Dressing up like a chocolate soldier is pretty stupid—” She stopped suddenly. “I'd better start work before Molly has a fit.” Tracy went to join some girls who were doing warm-ups.

Kirsten frowned. Did Tracy mean Helena Simpson, the new girl in class? Helena was popular with everyone and gave noisy opinions about everything. Kirsten didn't think Tracy even knew her that well.

A suspicion came over her. What if Tracy had just been at Helena's house? But that couldn't be right because Tracy said her classmate had been sick and Helena had been fine at school earlier. Unless Tracy was lying . . .

Kirsten didn't want to believe it. She wandered miserably into the bathroom. There was no one else in there as she splashed her face at a sink. But as she looked back up into the mirrors, a dazzling flash of bright gold light lit up the whole room behind her.

“Oh!” Kirsten took a step backward, rubbing at her eyes. When her sight cleared, she turned to see a tiny puppy standing about a foot away on the tiled floor. It had light brown shaggy fur, a little square muzzle, and enormous midnight blue eyes.

“I need to hide. Can you help me?” it woofed.

Kirsten's jaw dropped and she stared at the puppy in total amazement. She must be more upset by the idea of Tracy and Helena meeting behind her back than she thought. She'd actually just imagined that the puppy had spoken to her!

“Hello. Aren't you a little cutie? Where did you just come from?” she crooned, bending down to talk to it. She'd never seen a puppy with such bright blue eyes before.

The puppy pricked up its ears. It sat down and put its head to one side. “I have come from far away. I am Storm of the Moon-claw pack. What is your name?”

“You really
can
talk!” Kirsten gasped, almost losing her balance and toppling backward onto her behind. She just managed to grab hold of a nearby sink and steady herself before rising to her feet.

Kirsten felt like pinching herself to make sure she wasn't dreaming. Talking puppies didn't just appear out of thin air in gym bathrooms. They only existed in fairy tales.

But Storm still sat there, looking up at her trustingly. The tiny puppy seemed to be waiting for her reply.

“I'm Kirsten. Kirsten Blake,” she found herself saying. “I'm . . . er . . . one of the Limelight Majorettes. We practice here twice a week.”

Storm dipped his head in a formal little bow. “I am honored to meet you, Kirsten.”

“Um . . . me, too,” Kirsten said. Her curiosity was starting to get the better of her shock. Despite its tiny size, the cute puppy didn't seem to be too scared of her.

“What was that you said about a . . . Moon-something?” she asked him.

Storm lifted his little head proudly. “The Moon-claw pack. My mother and father were the leaders. But Shadow, an evil lone wolf, attacked us. Now my father and litter brothers are dead and my mother is wounded. Shadow wants to be leader now, but the other wolves will not follow him. They are waiting for me.”

Kirsten frowned as she took this in. “But how can you lead a wolf pack? You're just a tiny pu-”

He stood up. Bright gold sparks bloomed in his shaggy, light brown fur and there was another dazzling flash of light.

Kirsten blinked hard as the light gradually faded. The tiny puppy was gone and in its place stood a majestic, young, silver-gray wolf with glowing midnight blue eyes. Its thick neck-ruff shimmered, as if it had been sprinkled all over with gold dust.

“Storm?” As Kirsten eyed the wolf's strong muscles, powerful, oversized paws, and long, sharp teeth, she started to back away.

“Yes, it is me, Kirsten. Do not be afraid. I will not harm you,” Storm said in a deep, velvety growl.

Kirsten hardly had time to get used to seeing Storm as his amazing real self before there was a final burst of bright light and a fountain of gold sparks sprinkled down around her and fizzed out as they hit the floor tiles. Storm stood there once again as a tiny, helpless puppy.

“Wow!” she breathed in wonder. “That was incredible. No one would know that you're really a wolf in disguise.”

“Shadow will know if he finds me,” Storm woofed nervously. “Can you help me? I need to find somewhere safe to hide.”

Kirsten could see that the puppy was beginning to tremble all over. She felt her heart melt. As his real self, Storm was stunning, but as a cute, dewy-eyed, little puppy he was the most adorable thing Kirsten had ever seen.

She bent down and picked him up. As she stroked the fur on Storm's deep little chest, he reached up and licked her. His whiskery little muzzle brushed her chin.

“That really tickles!” Kirsten said, giggling and pulling back out of reach. “I've decided that you're coming home with me. Mom and Dad won't mind. We belong to Paws, an animal charity, and we're always taking care of cats and dogs until they can be adopted.”

“I would like to live with you very much!” Storm yapped eagerly. His little mouth opened in a doggy grin, revealing his sharp, white teeth.

“I can't wait to show you to Tracy,” Kirsten said, hoping that maybe this news would shake Tracy out of her odd mood and then their friendship could get back to normal. “She's my best friend. She's going to be so—” Kirsten began.

“No, Kirsten!” Storm reared up to look into her face, his sparkling blue eyes suddenly serious. “I am sorry, but you cannot tell anyone about me. Promise me that you will keep my secret.”

Kirsten felt disappointed that she couldn't tell her friend the exciting news about Storm, but if it meant keeping Storm safe she decided she wouldn't say anything. Besides, Tracy didn't seem to be in the mood for sharing secrets right now.

“Okay, I promise. Cross my heart,” she said.

As Storm relaxed against her again, Kirsten had a sudden thought. “There are tons of people in the gym. How am I going to smuggle you out of here without anyone noticing?”

Storm's teeth showed in another doggy grin. “Do not worry. I will use my magic, so that only you will be able to see and hear me.”

“You can make yourself invisible? That's
so
cool!” Kirsten said. “Maybe you'd better do it now, before someone else comes in here.”

Storm's midnight blue eyes glinted and a few tiny sparks flared in his light brown fur. “It is done.”

“Really? Wow! Well, I'd better get back to practice now. Let's go.” Kirsten put Storm down on the tiled floor and he trotted at her heels as she went to rejoin the others.

Kirsten felt really tense. Even though Storm had told her that he was invisible, she couldn't quite make herself believe it and kept expecting someone to notice him. But when no one did, Kirsten relaxed and took her place in line.

As she began twirling her baton, Kirsten's heart lifted at the thought of the magical little friend who was sitting watching and her worries about whether Helena was trying to get friendly with Tracy faded for the time being.

“What an absolutely gorgeous puppy!” Kirsten's mom said. She bent down to stroke the tiny puppy's low-set ears. “I think he's a Border terrier. Imagine you just finding him wandering down the main road all by himself like that.”

“Mmm. Weird, wasn't it?” Kirsten said vaguely.

“What did Tracy say? Didn't she want to take Storm home with her?” her mom asked.

“I didn't walk home with Tracy. She rushed off the minute practice ended. I guess she had to meet her mom from work or something,” Kirsten told her.

Mrs. Blake raised her eyebrows, but didn't comment.

“Anyway, Storm's one lucky pup to have found us, isn't he? He told me that he—” Kirsten stopped quickly as she realized that she would have to be a lot more careful about keeping Storm's secret. “I . . . um . . . mean, he obviously needed a home. And I thought he could stay with us,” she finished quickly.

“Well, we're certainly used to looking after strays.” Her mom smiled and bent down to pick Storm up. The little puppy whined and began licking her all over her face.