Music Mad Read online

  There was no time for nerves now!

  On the way to the hall, Iris caught a glimpse of her parents and Kick getting out of their car, but then Jess and Caleb whisked her away backstage.

  The dining hall had been cleared and filled with rows of chairs. A curtain was strung up at one end to hide all the performers between acts. Libby was making sure all the stage lights were working, and Amber and some of the other tutors were handing out programs at the door.

  Behind the curtain, the older kids kept hissing, ‘Shh! Shh! The audience will hear you if you’re too noisy!’

  But they didn’t have a hope. Half the kids were busy tuning up, and the other half were trying to talk loudly enough and fast enough to chase away their nerves.

  Iris clenched her teeth and jiggled her legs. Jess and Caleb were going through the program to double-check where they were. As if they could forget — lucky last!

  Annabelle, Siri, Freya and Mia were on first. They were standing closest to the curtain, ready to go on as soon as Libby gave them the signal. Iris wasn’t sure what the signal was, but the hall suddenly went quiet.

  The concert had begun!

  Annabelle and the gang waited for their names to be announced and then walked out on stage. Iris saw them disappear through the curtain, and held her breath.

  There was a long pause, and then Siri began to sing. A soft, skipping sort of tune. The others joined in, one by one, until all four of them were singing in a round. Then one by one, the instruments joined in, too.

  Iris had never heard anything so beautiful. It was kind of sad and hopeful at the same time, with no beginning or end. Just one lovely circle of sound. Iris couldn’t believe she’d been sleeping in the same room as these amazing girls!

  When they finished, Iris clapped so hard her hands stung.

  ‘Careful,’ said Caleb. ‘Don’t want you to bruise your fingers until we’ve done our bit.’

  Iris and Jess rolled their eyes at him and went on clapping.

  Iris was standing backstage listening to a trumpet solo when Jess tugged on her sleeve. ‘That was the second to last performance. We’re next!’

  They looked at each other and started jumping up and down, flapping their arms and wobbling their heads.

  ‘What are you crazy girls up to now?’ asked Caleb.

  ‘Shaking out the nerves, of course,’ Iris whispered back at him.

  ‘Well, you can stop it right now. They’re clapping, which means we’ll be on stage in ten seconds.’

  Iris and Jess stopped jumping and picked up their instruments.

  ‘Our last act is a three-piece band, featuring saxophone, African drum and classical guitar,’ they heard Libby announce. ‘May I introduce … The Left-overs!’

  Here goes, thought Iris.

  The moment Iris stepped out from behind the curtain and into the light, her nerves vanished. She could hear the audience shuffling in their seats, but the bright stage lights meant she could only see Jess and Caleb. There were two chairs — one for Jess and one for Caleb. She would stand.

  ‘Ready?’ whispered Jess, setting her drum between her knees. She began tapping out a lolloping beat, like a rabbit hip-hopping across the lawn.

  Iris tapped her foot along with it, and then Caleb started plucking out the melody on his guitar. There was a little pause, and then some laughter as the audience recognised the tune.

  It was Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star. But it was nothing like what anyone had heard before.

  Jess hit her drum faster, and Caleb’s delicate picking became a rock and roll strum, and then Iris closed her eyes and let her saxophone sing out over the top. The sax swooped and soared, and as it sang, Iris heard herself telling the audience about how three left-over kids had learned to fit together in a totally new way.

  As they played, Iris wished it could last forever, but all too soon, it was over.

  After the concert, there was a supper before everyone went home.

  Iris’s mum and dad pushed their way through the crowd, beaming and waving. ‘Darling! You were incredible! I never knew you could play like that!’ Iris’s mum had tears in her eyes.

  ‘I didn’t either,’ grinned Iris.

  ‘Well done,’ said her dad, giving her a crushing hug. ‘I’m so proud of you.’

  ‘Where’s Kick?’ Iris asked, looking around.

  ‘Oh, he ran off to find your friend and try her drum.’

  ‘Iris!’

  Iris turned to see who had called her, and saw Amber edging sideways between groups of people. She had both hands high over her head, holding plates above the crowd.

  ‘I brought you some cake,’ she said, before she noticed Iris’s parents. ‘Hey, wasn’t Iris something?’

  ‘She sure was!’

  ‘What sort of thing?’ teased Iris.

  ‘Well, what would the word be?’ her dad teased back.

  ‘Look, here’s Kick. Let’s ask him. Hey, Kick — how was your sister with her sax?’

  Kick gave one of his hugest smiles and two thumbs up.

  ‘Cool!’ he yelled. ‘Iris is totally cool!’

  Iris laughed and laughed.

  So much for worrying they’d look silly at the concert! Maybe music wasn’t about winning or losing, or even being cool or not cool, but right now, Iris felt on top of the world!

  Music Mad

  published in 2012 by

  Hardie Grant Egmont

  Ground Floor, Building 1, 658 Church Street

  Richmond, Victoria 3121, Australia

  www.hardiegrantegmont.com.au

  eISBN 9781742739595

  This ebook is also available as a print edition in all good bookstores.

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form by any means without the prior permission of the publishers and copyright owner.

  A CiP record for this title is available from the National Library of Australia

  Text copyright © 2007 Rowan McAuley

  Illustration and design copyright © 2012 Hardie Grant Egmont

  Illustration by Aki Fukuoka

  Design by Michelle Mackintosh

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