And They Danced

Chapter One - Old Molly Oxford

My stomach did a strange clenching thing as I looked out into the 'Grand Chamber'.

We'd danced for bigger audiences than this... we'd even been on telly a couple of times... but we'd never done anything like this before.

I glanced across to Mary who was quietly checking the tuning on her violin by holding it to her ear and running her fingers across the strings. "I think I might have forgotten how to dance," I told her, only half joking.

"Don't worry, Alex!" she replied with a little smile as she brushed her long hair back out of her eyes. "As soon as you get going, you'll be fine. You always are."

I'm not sure but maybe... just maybe... her words did help a bit.

Back in the Grand Chamber, the old mayor was giving a long speech basically saying what a brilliant place 'our magnificent city' was and what a great guy the new mayor was. Dad was standing close to the door and, when he saw me looking, he did his funny eyebrow thing in my direction, basically telling me that he agreed that the speech was totally over-the-top. I had to duck back inside the cloakroom where we were getting ready before I started laughing.

But you could sort of tell that the speech was coming to an end and Abby wandered over with her hands in her pockets. She was foreman of the senior side and had taught us Minors how to dance. "OK, guys," she said. "It sounds like it's time for you to get your heads in gear."

So I went across to the others to form up our 'set'... moving really carefully. Our dance kit - which is all white except for the blue and yellow sashes - has bell pads on your legs... and they make it really tricky to move without jingling!

"Go for it!" Brian whispered. He was fiddling with the straps on his melodeon and I could see his problem - one of them had got twisted. So I straightened it up for him and he gave a sort of lopsided smile of thanks.

I carefully looped my dance hankies round my middle fingers: 'loop them, don't just hold them - less chance of them slipping out', then, after taking a deep breath, I looked down the set to the others.

Denise was just behind me. She was managing to look solid and calm, as usual, with just a flicker of nerves in her eyes. When she saw me looking, she gave me a smile. Behind her, Peter loomed, tall and heavily built. When I warned him his shirt was hanging out, he tucked it in with an embarrassed grin.

Next to me, Daniel was looking nervously out towards the door. "You OK. Dan?" I whispered and this narked look flashed across his eyes before he nodded back to me. Behind Dan, Katherine was nervously straightening her sashes, though they looked fine to me. Then, at the back, was Harry. He looked totally unfazed by the whole thing and gave me a friendly nod.

"Ready now," Abby whispered from the doorway as the speech came to an end and applause rolled round the room. "Have fun!"

The Retiring Mayor added a few words to introduce us and I cringed a bit at the whole, 'fine young performers,' and, 'magnificent ambassadors for our city,' bit. There was another little burst of applause and, as it faded, I nodded to Mary who raised her violin and started to play a simple version of the "Old Molly Oxford' tune - that was going to be our first dance. Then, with Brian at her side, she walked out into the Chamber. We followed them in our set formation, walking in time with the music and casually swinging our hankies at our sides.

By the time we reached the middle of the Hall, my heart was pretty much trying to explode out of my chest and I had to take a couple of deep breaths to calm myself down. Mary must have seen what was going on because, without interrupting her playing, she gave me an encouraging nod.

I managed to smile back and took a deep breath. Then, as the tune came around, I checked back down the set then gave the call of 'this time.'

So we rocked gently on our toes, feeling the rhythm until the music told us it was time. Then, as one, we took half a step backwards and, with a flick of our hankies, we surged into the first figure.