Bad Day for Ballet Read online

  IT’S BAD, IT’S

  SAD, AND NOW

  EVERYONE’S MAD!

  Nancy and her friends are practicing for the big ballet recital. They’re so excited—and nervous, too. Especially Bess. She loves her beautiful mermaid costume, but she can’t seem to learn the steps. And now the girls may not get to perform at all!

  The tape with the special music is missing, and almost everyone blames Bess. Nancy has just two days to find the tape, help her friend, and save the ballet!

  A Children’s Book-of-the-Month Club Selection

  ALADDIN PAPERBACKS

  A Ready-for-Chapters Book

  Simon & Schuster, New York

  Cover photography by Michel Le Grou at

  Media Photo Group

  Cover photo-illustration copyright © 1998

  by Joanie Schwarz

  Ages 6-9

  Kids.SimonandSchuster.com

  0195

  Bad Day for Ballet

  Darcy ran out onto the stage. “Madame!” she cried. “The tape with the music for the recital is gone!”

  “What?” Madame asked. “That’s impossible! I put the tape into the sound system myself.”

  Darcy shook her head. “It’s not there.”

  No one spoke for a moment. Then Brenda Carlton said, “I bet I know who took the tape.”

  Everyone turned to look at her.

  “Bess Marvin!” she said loudly.

  The Nancy Drew Notebooks

  #1 The Slumber Party Secret

  #2 The Lost Locket

  #3 The Secret Santa

  #4 Bad Day for Ballet

  #5 The Soccer Shoe Clue

  #6 The Ice Cream Scoop

  #7 Trouble at Camp Treehouse

  #8 The Best Detective

  #9 The Thanksgiving Surprise

  #10 Not Nice on Ice

  #11 The Pen Pal Puzzle

  #12 The Puppy Problem

  #13 The Wedding Gift Goof

  #14 The Funny Face Fight

  #15 The Crazy Key Clue

  #16 The Ski Slope Mystery

  #17 Whose Pet Is Best?

  #18 The Stolen Unicorn

  #19 The Lemonade Raid

  #20 Hannah’s Secret

  #21 Princess on Parade

  #22 The Clue in the Glue

  #23 Alien in the Classroom

  #24 The Hidden Treasures

  #25 Dare at the Fair

  #26 The Lucky Horseshoes

  #27 Trouble Takes the Cake

  #28 Thrill on the Hill

  #29 Lights! Camera! Clues!

  #30 It’s No Joke!

  #31 The Fine-Feathered Mystery

  #32 The Black Velvet Mystery

  #33 The Gumdrop Ghost

  #34 Trash or Treasure?

  #35 Third-Grade Reporter

  #36 The Make-Believe Mystery

  #37 Dude Ranch Detective

  #38 Candy Is Dandy

  #39 The Chinese New Year Mystery

  #40 Dinosaur Alert!

  #41 Flower Power

  #42 Circus Act

  #43 The Walkie-talkie Mystery

  #44 The Purple Fingerprint

  #45 The Dashing Dog Mystery

  #46 The Snow Queen’s Surprise

  #47 The Crook Who Took the Book

  #48 The Crazy Carnival Case

  #49 The Sand Castle Mystery

  #50 The Scarytales Sleepover

  #51 The Old-Fashioned Mystery

  #52 Big Worry in Wonderland

  #53 Recipe for Trouble

  #54 The Stinky Cheese Surprise

  #55 The Day Camp Disaster

  #56 Turkey Trouble

  #57 The Carousel Mystery

  #58 The Dollhouse Mystery

  #59 The Bike Race Mystery

  #60 The Lighthouse Mystery

  #61 Space Case

  #62 The Secret in the Spooky Woods

  #63 Snowman Surprise

  #64 Bunny-Hop Hoax

  #65 Strike-Out Scare

  #66 Zoo Clue

  #67 The Singing Suspects

  Available from Simon & Schuster

  This book is a work of fiction. Any references to historical events, real people, or real locales are used fictitiously. Other names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination, and any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  ALADDIN PAPERBACKS

  An imprint of Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing Division

  1230 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10020

  www.SimonandSchuster.com

  Copyright © 1995 by Simon & Schuster, Inc.

  All rights reserved, including the right of reproduction in whole or

  in part in any form.

  NANCY DREW and THE NANCY DREW NOTEBOOKS are

  registered trademarks of Simon & Schuster, Inc.

  ALADDIN PAPERBACKS and colophon are trademarks of

  Simon & Schuster, Inc.

  Produced by Mega-Books of New York, Inc.

  The text of this book was set in Excelsior.

  First Aladdin Paperbacks edition September 2001

  First Minstrel Books edition January 1995

  ISBN-13: 978-0-671-87948-8

  ISBN-13: 978-1-4424-6761-3 (eBook)

  ISBN-10: 0-671-87948-0

  Contents

  Chapter 1: Mermaids, Pirates, and Fairies

  Chapter 2: The Music Is Missing

  Chapter 3: Friends Stick Together

  Chapter 4: Pancakes and Ice Cream

  Chapter 5: The Silver Clue

  Chapter 6: Who Did It?

  Chapter 7: A New Clue

  Chapter 8: Let the Ballet Begin!

  1

  Mermaids, Pirates, and Fairies

  Look at me!” said Nancy Drew. “I’m a mermaid!”

  Nancy stood on tiptoe. She stretched out her arms. Then she moved them as if she were swimming.

  “I’m a mermaid, too,” George Fayne said.

  She pretended to dive and then pop out of the water.

  The two girls were standing in front of a huge mirror. The mirror covered one wall of the dance studio. They were warming up before their Friday ballet class at Madame Dugrand’s Dance Academy.

  George reached down and hiked up her pink tights. “Boy, I hate these things,” she muttered. “They never stay up!”

  Nancy grinned. She knew that George liked to wear jeans whenever she could. But Madame Dugrand had a rule. Her dance students had to wear black leotards, pink tights, and pink leather ballet slippers.

  Girls with long hair had to wear it in a bun when they danced. Nancy had pinned her reddish blond hair into a bun. George had pulled her dark, curly hair into a bun, too.

  Nancy pirouetted away from the mirror and glanced around the studio. More than a dozen girls were stretching and practicing dance steps. A girl with rosy cheeks and blond hair in a bun rushed in the door.

  “Bess!” Nancy called to her, waving both hands. “We’re over here!”

  Bess Marvin waved back and hurried across the room. Bess and George were cousins. They were also Nancy’s best friends.

  “Oooh,” Bess moaned as soon as she reached Nancy and George. “I’m so nervous. I think two million butterflies are having a ballet class in my stomach.”

  Nancy nodded. “They’re playing soccer in mine! I guess we’re nervous about the dance recital on Sunday night.”

  “The recital.” Bess gasped. “I can’t even think about that. I’m nervous about tonight’s dress rehearsal!”

  Every year the dance academy gave a performance. This year Madame Dugrand’s students were putting on “Scenes from Peter Pan.” Madame had created special dances for each class. The a
dvanced students were doing a pirates’ jig. The beginners were doing Tinker Bell and the fairies. Nancy’s class was dancing a mermaids’ waltz.

  Madame had also created solo dances. They were for the most important characters in the story—Peter Pan, Wendy, and Captain Hook.

  “If you ask me, it’s pretty dumb getting so nervous about a stupid recital.” Someone was talking just behind Nancy’s back.

  Nancy whirled around. Now she was facing Brenda Carlton. Nancy knew how nasty Brenda could be.

  “I don’t think the recital is stupid,” Nancy said. “It’s fun.”

  Several other girls gathered around.

  “Brenda’s just angry,” Rebecca Ramirez said.

  “That’s right,” Jessie Shapiro added. “She’s angry because she didn’t get to be Wendy and dance a solo.”

  “That’s not true!” Brenda answered. Her face turned red. “I wouldn’t want that silly solo. I think it’s a really stupid dance!”

  “Why are you being so mean?” someone asked in a soft voice. A tall, slim girl stepped forward. She had sandy brown hair and gray eyes.

  Uh-oh! Nancy thought. It’s Alison Wegman.

  Alison was staring at Brenda. She looked surprised and hurt.

  “I thought you were my best friend,” Alison went on. “But ever since Madame picked me for the Wendy solo, you won’t even talk to me.”

  Brenda’s dark brown eyes flashed. “I don’t have to talk to you if I don’t feel like it, Alison. And I don’t feel like it!”

  Brenda tossed her head. Then she marched past Alison to the far end of the studio.

  Nancy glanced at Bess and George. She imagined how terrible she would feel if one of her best friends suddenly became an enemy. She tried to think of something to say to make Alison feel better.

  “The Wendy solo is really beautiful,” Nancy said. “Everyone thinks so. I guess Brenda’s just jealous.”

  Alison sighed. “I wish Madame had let her dance Peter Pan or Captain Hook. But girls in the advanced classes got those solos.”

  “Well, I think best friends should stick together no matter what,” Bess said.

  Just then Darcy Blair walked into the studio. She was Madame Dugrand’s assistant. Darcy clapped her hands twice. Everyone stopped talking.

  “To the barre!” Darcy called out.

  The girls hurried to the wall opposite the big mirror. They lined up along the barre. It was a wood railing attached to the wall. The girls gripped the barre with their right hands. They stretched out their left arms, shoulder high.

  Nancy stood at one end of the barre, next to the door. Bess stood just behind her, and George stood behind Bess.

  Bess leaned forward and whispered to Nancy, “I really am scared. I missed class last week when I was sick. I don’t know how to do all the steps.”

  “Don’t worry,” Nancy whispered. “We’ll go over the new steps again today. You’ll catch on.”

  Nancy felt a shiver run up her spine. She didn’t know whether she was nervous or just excited. She always loved being in the dance studio. Everything about it made her feel like a real ballerina—the huge mirror, the barre, the wood floor, the piano under the tall window.

  Nancy heard voices just outside the studio door. Madame Dugrand opened the door, but she didn’t step inside. Nancy could see that she was talking to Jerry Cutter. Jerry was the dance academy’s janitor.

  “I need you Sunday night for the recital,” Madame said to Jerry. “The man who was supposed to work the theater lights has the flu. You’re the only other person who knows those lights.”

  “But it’s my girlfriend’s birthday.” Jerry said. “I bought tickets for the Screeching Creeps concert.”

  “I’m sorry.” Madame sighed. “I really am. I’ll pay for your tickets if you can’t sell them to someone else. But you must come on Sunday night.”

  “That stinks!” Jerry said. “I’ve already worked overtime for two weeks because of the recital.” He folded his arms. After a few seconds he went on. “Okay, I’ll be there on Sunday. But I just want you to know one thing. I’m really sick of this recital!”

  Then Jerry Cutter stomped away.

  Madame Dugrand stepped inside the studio and shut the door. She took a deep breath and walked briskly to the middle of the room.

  Madame held her head high and her back straight. She wore her dark hair in a bun. She had been a ballerina onstage for many years. Then she became a ballet teacher.

  Madame smiled at her students. Her blue eyes twinkled. “Remember, everyone,” she said. “Dress rehearsal is here tonight at seven o’clock in the dance academy theater. We will wear costumes and makeup.”

  “Makeup, too,” Bess whispered. “Super!”

  “Super yuck!” George muttered.

  Madame nodded to Darcy, who was sitting at the piano. Darcy began to play.

  “Plié,” Madame called out.

  The girls did slow, deep knee bends. They kept their legs turned out and their backs straight. Down and up. Down and up.

  Bess leaned forward again and whispered to Nancy, “I can’t wait to put on our mermaid costumes. They’re so beautiful!”

  Madame coughed and gave Bess a stern look. Bess jumped back into position.

  Madame led the class through the stretching exercises. Then the girls did low and high kicks. They held on to the barre. Their ballet slippers made swishing sounds on the wood floor.

  When the music ended, Madame said, “Now we’ll practice the mermaids’ waltz. You must all be perfect mermaids by tonight’s rehearsal.”

  The girls quickly took their places in the center of the floor. Madame put a cassette into a tape player. A friend of Madame’s in Paris, France, had composed special music just for “Scenes from Peter Pan.”

  “Uh-oh,” Bess said softly to her friends. “Just looking at that tape gives me giant goose bumps. I hope I can do all the steps.”

  Madame clapped her hands. The girls stood on tiptoe and lifted their arms. Nancy whispered the words “good luck” to Bess. Madame turned on the tape player. The music began.

  “Very nice, girls,” Madame said after a few seconds. She tapped her foot to the music. “Slide, two, three. Slide, two, three. Keep those arms curved. Remember, you are mermaids! You are swimming!”

  The girls moved their arms as if they were cutting smoothly through water. They took long, even steps across the room.

  “Now glissé—glide,” Madame called out in time to the music. “Half turn and glide. Half turn and glide.”

  Suddenly Madame switched off the tape player. Everyone stopped dancing.

  “Bess, dear,” Madame said gently, “You’re not keeping time. Listen to the music and move with it. I think you’re adding an extra step.”

  Bess nodded. Madame rewound the tape, and the girls repeated the steps.

  “Half turn and glide. Half turn and—”

  Madame switched off the tape player again. She walked over to Bess and put an arm around her. “I know you can do this, Bess,” she said. “Let’s try it once more.”

  Bess’s cheeks turned deep pink—pinker than her ballet tights. Her eyes met Nancy’s. Nancy understood the look on her friend’s face. It said, “Help!”

  “Madame,” Nancy said quickly, “I could do the steps in front of Bess. She could follow me.”

  “Good idea,” Madame agreed. “Let’s try it.” She turned on the tape player.

  Bess watched Nancy’s feet. She tried to get her own feet to imitate each movement.

  “Half turn and glide,” Bess whispered. “Half turn and glide.”

  Bess did the steps correctly twice, but the third time she tripped. She stumbled backward and crashed into Brenda Carlton. Brenda crashed into Rebecca Ramirez.

  “Bess!” Brenda snapped. “You are so clumsy!”

  Bess’s eyes filled with tears. “I just can’t do it,” she sobbed. “I hate this dance! I’d like to throw that stupid tape out the window!”

  2

  The
Music Is Missing

  Nancy turned and put a hand on Bess’s arm.

  “You are not clumsy. I’ll help you,” she said.

  “Me, too,” George said. She glared at Brenda.

  “You don’t have to be so mean about everything,” Rebecca told Brenda.

  Madame hurried over. “Let’s go on to the next part of the dance. Okay?”

  “George and I can teach Bess the turns and glides,” Nancy said. “We can practice with her tomorrow.”

  “What do you think?” Madame asked Bess.

  Bess kept her eyes down, but she nodded.

  Madame put the music on again. The class practiced the rest of the mermaid dance. Bess was too upset to dance her best. But she didn’t make any big mistakes.

  As soon as class ended, the girls raced to the dressing room to change clothes. Nancy, George, and Bess crowded into one corner.

  “Do you really think you can teach me those steps?” Bess asked. She pulled on a lavender sweatshirt and matching skirt.

  “I know we can,” Nancy said as she finished tying her sneakers. “Even if we have to practice all day.”

  “All day?” Bess said. “Ick!”

  “Just keep thinking about those mermaid costumes,” George said. She looked down at her jeans. “Of course, I’d rather dance in these.”

  George’s father drove the girls home from the dance academy. Right after dinner Bess’s mother drove them back for the dress rehearsal.

  They hurried through the backstage door. Voices filled the air. Nancy felt another shiver of excitement. Many of the dancers had already arrived. They were getting ready for the dress rehearsal.

  Fairies lined up to have gold glitter sprinkled on their hair. Pirates tried out their cardboard swords. Darcy Blair looked over each costume. Jerry Cutter tested the stage lights.

  “I love being a mermaid!” Bess said for the fourth time as Mrs. Marvin helped the girls with their makeup. “I love it!”

  “Well, you’d better hold still, sweetie,” Mrs. Marvin said. “Or you’ll be the only mermaid with blue eye shadow on her nose.”

  Mrs. Marvin put blue eye shadow on Bess’s eyelids. She brushed pink blush over her cheeks. Then she dabbed rose-colored lipstick onto Bess’s lips.

  “Done,” she said. “Next mermaid?”

  Nancy watched George duck behind some scenery. “George is not next,” Nancy said with a laugh. “So I guess I am.”