happy belated birthday Helen! said the women at the door after we knocked are you our granny? Castor asked she replied in a very strange accent which could not have been from anywhere except very old English slang; no my ducky i am old jenny the one taken care of you're ole granny, though she does'nt want to see you until you had you’re rosy and honey. Lydia asked; “where dose that funny dialect come from it is certainly unlike anything I ever heard?” “thou never ‘o London bow bells before?, the forgotten slang you’re granny calls it.” She seemed proud to be the only one on earth who knew what she was talking about. “Come now my ducky come now into our front parlor.” She chided. We went into the parlor. The only way we could describe it was dull, drab, and bare there were two pieces of furniture an old velvet couch in one corner. in the other a low, glass table with cakes and tea laid out for four people- three of the places each had two parcels, & three were boxes of chocolates, the other three contained different things Castor’s script of HMS Pinafore mine was a script of “Alice in Wonderland” with all of the lines highlighted for “Alice” Lydia’s was a gorgeous pair ballet slippers the sort dancers wear when they go up on their toes
 after we had our tea or rosy as Jenny called it. Jenny declared in a loud sort of grand acting voice; “Miss Rogers is ready to receive her grandchildren come right this way" she led us in a room crammed with furniture and it smelled like old books there on a purple velvet chaise was grandmother

Let me take a moment to describe my grandmother. To begin with, Granny did not look old. She wore a purple velvet dressing gown under a spanish shawl. Her dark curls were piled atop Her elegant collar bones. Her face was heart shaped. Under her delicately etched eye brows, and under the thick lashes her blue eyes glittered like stars in a light blue sky surrounded by a sea of dark curls. For a moment I lost my manners and gasped.
was certainly what they’d call a “classic beauty.”
We stared at each other for some time, then grandmother spoke. “tomorrow you will go to the finest teacher the world has ever produced.” I asked;”What does she teach?” grandmother replied. “everything; dance, diction, acting, poise, and a certain quality of fire and ice needed to be a great actress. “and math, grammar, latin and history?” I asked “those too I believe.”
Granny replied, flinging her hand across the room, as if math, grammar, Latin, and history were’nt in the least important. “is it a school?” Castor asked “certainly it is a school the best, i would not dream sending my grandchildren to any other.” grandmother replied. “what about Castor?”I asked “boys don’t learn dancing and diction will he be different? "Castor most of all, may Lord joshua live again," grandmother . I tried to sound desperate “What is the school called?” Grandmother drew a long breath And said the words with great care “you are going to Lilac Hill school, in Keene New Hampshire.”

Castor scowled at the fact that he had to learn ballet, singing and acting. I for one could hardly wait to go. The fact I’d be training with a professional dancer was a dream come true! I wanted to wear our best frocks for dancing and Castor A velvet suit that now fit awfully on Castor and the velvet had “that awful Going- grey look,” as Jenny called it. She explained that velvet gets that look when it gets old. “Terrible.” Theo. said. “Well, he’ll wear the suit and tie,” Theo. declared.” “You two will wear cotton frocks and shorts.” “Why can’t we wear our best?” I growled. "The decision was made by granny, Plain cotton frocks”. Jenny said “We had to rent a car to drive to New Hampshire, To fit all five of us. In the end we rented two cars, one driven by Theo. and Jenny. The other Madame was odd looking lady. with glittering dark brown eyes. Like the dying embers of fire.her hair was black. streaked with gray,like shooting stars in a midnight sky. She wore a black gown, like one from a history book. She topped this peculiar outfit with ballet pink pointe shoes, the last thing you’d expect old lady to wear. My pupils? Madame, asked in a pretty and broken accent. I held out my hand as to shake hands Madame said: “no, all my female pupils say: madame,”She swept a gorgeous curtsy “and curtsy.” I instinctively swept a curtsy it was exactly like Madame's, breathtaking. Lydia held her shorts and did a curtsy that was more a bob than a curtsy. her cheeks were scarlet. Castor swept a grand bow and only dame out of madame could be heard and that in a low growl
I said:”I am wearing light blue dress with little white stars all over it.” Madame replied;”I could easily picture you in something very grand, and she said to castor: and what were you wearing when you bowed “I was amour bear who’d been traveling miles north to the Arctic to call on the queen named lyra there.” castor replied.
“Really, Castor that’s quite a way to talk.” Theo. said sounding thouragly ashamed. “Very nice things to be too.“ madame commented

We left the room. And came into a class room filled with six or seven year old tap dancers I looked desperately for some one whom was older than Lydia{who was seven and half) A tall ugly girl (whom we supposed was the teacher} madame introduced her as Winifred she taught us an easy polka to bring us up to elementary standard then she taught us the five positions. though the moment classical music started I went up on what i thought was semi-point Winifred stared at me as if I had sprouted wings. all the kindergartners were staring at me. if their mouths could open any farther they’d be cartoons. I looked down, my feet had gone on full pointe. Elementary? Madame asked as she came in all but that one winifred said pointing to me she needs the senior class.

“Which one is my cousin Helen?” said a girl with dark hair and eyes like grandmother’s. “Me”, I said. “Hi, I am your cousin Miranda. I am a good deal older than you and won’t be ten till August .” said cousin Miranda. This insulted me,so I snapped back:”If you don’t mind me saying so, I am a good deal older than you. I am eleven. We started the exercises...
After we finished the exercises, Miranda ’s eyes widened at what I just said earlier. “You’re 11”, Miranda said. “You’re so lucky! In one more year, you’ll be able to join the ballet company. I’m not likely to join the ballet company any ways. I’m going to get a film agent and start acting in movies, films & commercials, & then maybe stage. I blushed at her compliment, & then I said, “I’m exactly 11 years old.

Perhaps it was because we worked so hard our Christmas was loveliest Christmas We’d known. It wasn't much like the others, it was just good day for Christmas morning to happen. When we woke our stocking bulged with sweets and candies and small toys though we each found extra gift i got slippers like the ones lydia had. castor got a tree ornament of toe-shoes. lydia got an alice script like mine! Then there was the tree we all went to Grandmother’s dressing room in which was the tree! It was frosted with glittery, iridescent, dust. Underneath the tree were fifteen parcels five for each of us. one from madame,one from cousin miranda, two from Theo. and Jenny one from someone called Aunt Emily. I got two books from Jenny and Theo., a white tarlatan ballet frock from madame, pink, velvet, ribbons from miranda. Aunt Emily gave me a copy of the nutcracker ballet story . Castor got a new velvet suit and hat from jenny , two books from Theo., a frog from miranda, and a toy boat from Emily. Lydia got three Shirley temple style frocks and tap shoes and a Shirley temple doll which she named Tansy.

Madame said to me one morning in november;”tomorrow morning come the tarlatan frock and pointe shoes I gave your for christmas , I am going take you to a manager to see about you playing aurora in sleeping beauty in new york he wants you to join the company the fact the i was to see manager for a ballet

I gasped at the shocking news And we carefully packed dancing things everyday clothes and most of all my precious slippers Theo. was to come With me as we got on the train Grandmother quoted;” dance is joy. joy is dance, so a dancer is a giver of joy to the audience. make sure you give joy and life to the production and to the audience Farewell my child and good luck.” After we saw our dorm and met the roommate lizzie, i spent hour after tedious hour practicing fortes en pointe

I gasped at the shocking news And we carefully packed dancing things everyday clothes and most of all my precious slippers Theo. was to come With me as we got on the train Grandmother quoted;” dance is joy. joy is dance, so a dancer is a giver of joy to the audience. make sure you give joy and life to the production and to the audience Farewell my child and good luck.” After we saw our dorm and met the roommate lizzie, i spent hour after tedious hour practicing fortes en pointe

The ballet was tremendous success I Was proud to be the lead of such a fantastic ballet! But it made for hard work finding extra work to pay for room and board food and water then two hundred dollars came in the mail from” an anonymous patron of the arts”The ballet was tremendous success I Was proud to be the lead of such a fantastic ballet! But it made for hard work finding extra work to pay for room and board food and water then two hundred dollars came in the mail from” an anonymous patron of the arts”My work in New York went until August By that time i had done five ballets. then i started for boston and decided to try out for princess elena in ‘the fire bird’

in which i wore my tarlatan And i got the part And after hours of practice the ballet finally came on
After the ballet{which was a huge success) i was in for a surprise...

Castor, Lydia, and grandmother were there along with cousin Miranda and her mother whom said to call her aunt Emily. she introduced Mirada's dad a Shakespeare actor named Morris Brompton (who insisted that we call him Uncle Morris) lydia declared;"I am getting a film test next month" "really, what will you be acting in ? I asked. "oh just a big budget film from Hollywood i will live with grandmother." lydia declared "and what will you be doing castor?" i asked "i will join the navy." castor said. “and Miranda?,”i asked. "i will start sining on broadway... what will you be doing helen?" miranda asked. i will go and see if the bolshoi needs another ballerina. i replied. “we're doing such different things.. in such different places.” miranda said "i wonder if a another girl was choose to be one of us which one would she be?" i said