‘Oh yes of course,’ I didn’t feel as if I could say no. ‘It’s just an old journal that belonged to one of my old ancestors. But it’s so fantastic, I think it’s more of a story. It reads like fiction. I thought I would bring it today to see if I can get some inspiration from it.’
‘What a brilliant idea! I do love the old leather on the cover. Your ancestor must have had some money to have been able to afford this.’
As Miss Hogg took a look through the book, I went to look at the music CDs that were stacked up on a shelf. I found one that had a recent mixture of songs and inserted it into the player. I listened to the intros of each track until I came across a song that I quite liked. It started off slow then changed to an upbeat tempo.
‘That’s it!’ I said. ‘I love this song! This is what I will be dancing to for the show.’
‘What an excellent choice! But going by the lyrics, is this aimed at anyone in particular?’ she looked at me, curiously.
‘Not at this moment in time,’ I blushed. ‘I’ve never had a boyfriend.’
‘Oh, have you not? I had wondered if something was going to blossom between you and Daniel, the way you danced together. I could feel the chemistry.’ She grinned and winked at me.
‘Well…’ I smiled, shyly, ‘While we’re on the subject… He has asked me out on a date tonight and as I am new to all of this sort of thing, I don’t suppose you could give me any pointers?’
‘I will certainly be happy to help!’ she laughed. ‘When we have finished here today, I will discuss this with you then. Did he give you that lovely rose?’
‘Yes, he did.’ I looked over to the bloom. ‘It’s the first time I’ve ever been given a flower and I am just so besotted with it.’
Just then, Natalie entered the room. There was something a bit different about her. As she approached I saw what it was. A huge, thick cut was on one side of her face, it almost looked like claw marks, as though she’d been scratched by an animal. They looked much bigger than the marks a dog might leave. Could it have been… from a wolf? The wounds seemed to be in the process of healing and she’d tried to cover them up with make-up. But even with the thick coats of foundation, concealer and blusher, and her hair brushed over in an attempt to try cover up half of her face, they were still visible. Poor girl was very pretty and now she looked so fragile.
‘Good morning, Miss Hogg,’ she said, breezily, as if nothing was wrong. ‘Hiya Grace. It’s lovely to see you again, I’m glad you’re better.’
‘Thanks Natalie,’ it is so nice to see you as well.’
‘I hope you don’t mind, Grace, but Natalie is joining us. She has also had quite a bit of time off to recover from a tree branch falling and catching her face.’
‘Oh no, Natalie, bless you hun.’ I felt really sorry for her, but my gut instinct told me that the tree branch story was not true at all. It looked so much more like an animal attack. I decided that if the opportunity came up, I’d try and talk to her about it and see if I could get the truth from her.
She noticed the flower on my bag and attempted a smile.
‘What a lovely rose, Grace! It’s a shame I’m allergic to pollen, as I’d love to sniff it and touch it.’
‘Thanks, Natalie. It was gifted to me this morning by Daniel, along with a little note,’ I said, shyly.
‘Oh, how sweet! Perhaps at lunchtime we can catch up and you can tell me all about it.’
‘What a wonderful idea,’ I said, thinking, then at the same time I can ask you about the scratches. I just had to know for certain if there were any wolves in this area. After all, didn’t I see one when I was with Daniel that time..?
‘Right girls!’ Miss Hogg clapped her hands. ‘Less chatting, more planning as by tomorrow, I would like you to have at least a rough draft of your routines.’
Chapter 9.
I t was gone one by the time we stopped to have our lunch. We’d been working so hard all morning, Miss Hogg was happy for us to have an hour and a half lunch break to give us chance to get plenty of fresh air as well as something nice to eat. Luckily, town was only ten minutes walking distance from the college.
By now the wind had stopped blowing, but there was still a cold chill in the air. I was so glad I had come with my red coat which just barely kept the coolness from me. I looked around to see if we were being followed but there was no one I recognised. With it being a Saturday, the town centre was very busy with crowds of people and traffic trying to get through. Natalie had suggested a little coffee shop, located in quite a secluded alleyway. It was quite dim inside, and the walls were of dark-coloured bricks, so any form of light struggled to illuminate the place. She promised that although it was hidden away, it was a lovely little goldmine as it served a range of delicious sandwiches, snacks and a variety of luxury coffees.
As we entered, the aroma of coffee filled the air, along with sound of a barista machine grinding up fresh coffee beans and frothing up milk. We headed for a table and two comfy chairs, located right at the
