The kids sat in the assembly hall, wishing that Mrs Beauchamp would hurry up and come in. They were dying to know the storyline, which had been worked on by Mrs Beauchamp, Miss Freeman and Ms Chao together, and which of the kids would get a main part.

Then Mrs Beauchamp, looking a little flushed, followed by Miss Freeman, who looked excited, despite the fact that her left hand was still bandaged up, came on to the platform.

"Okay, kids… here's the storyline. We're going to do Sleeping Beauty."

Mrs Beauchamp didn't reprimand the kids for the groan. She'd expected it with some amusement.

"But!" she continued, "It's not the story as we know it. We're going to call it 'Thorns'."

The storyline unfolded. Corisande, a glamorous enchantress, had been in love with King Tarquin, but he'd thrown her over for another woman. In a jealous rage, Corisande had put a deadly sleeping curse on the King's newborn daughter, Lisa. She would prick her finger on a spindle and sleep a death-like sleep for a hundred years.

Later, Corisande was stricken by remorse, and knew she couldn't stop the spell altogether… but she needed a new spell to reverse the first one. A handsome Prince was needed to cut down the forest of thorns that surrounded the castle, kiss the Princess, and awaken her.

The only trouble was that Prince Sebastian, handsome though he was, was lazy and selfish and a big coward.

Cal beamed with pleasure when he was given the role of Prince Sebastian. He loved acting 'being a bad person'. Noel and Louise snagged the roles of King Tarquin and Queen Dawn. Zoe would play Princess Lisa. She was sad that it wouldn't be Max who was the Prince, but it was nice to be in the play. Robyn was stunned to hear that she would be the exotic Corisande.

Me next, thought Ethan, almost jiggling with excitement, please, me next.

So the plan was to find a poor but brave young man who would cut down the thorny wood so that Prince Sebastian could step in, kiss Lisa, and take the credit.

Corisande found a kind, attractive young man called Daniel – Danny for short – whose mother was very sick. She offered to save the old lady if Danny would cut down the trees in the wood.

I can be brave. Me, please pick me, begged Ethan inside his head.

But Max was cast as Danny and Ethan wanted to spit. He didn't because spitting was rude and bad. But he wanted to.

Corisande decided to put her two trainees, Ben and Jen, to work to help Danny on his quest. Mrs Beauchamp suggested there might even be a bit of romance between Ben and Jen. When she cast Lofty and a pretty little girl called Jess as Ben and Jen, Robyn was eaten up by jealousy. But not as much as poor Ethan.

Danny was introduced to another character, the Merry Woodman, who would have a very catchy little song to sing that would be sung at the end of the play as well. He would give Danny a special axe that would cut down trees in double time.

I can sing, thought Ethan, me, pleeeeassse, me.

A good-natured boy called Jeff was cast as the Merry Woodman. All the parts have gone, thought Ethan, and he found it hard not to cry. He would even play Danny's mother and wear a frilly hat and a shawl… but then Mrs Beauchamp said Danny's mother wasn't seen in the show.

The kids were left literally open -mouthed at the ending to the story, except Ethan, who had his head down, trying not to cry.

Corisande warns Danny that, when he comes into Princess Lisa's room to await his reward, he must not attempt to touch the Princess. But the young peasant falls in love with Lisa at first sight and, forgetting the warning, kisses her. It costs him his life; the kiss poisons him and he falls dead. Corinsande enters in tears, and covers Danny with a cloak. Sebastian enters, hardly notices poor Danny, and goes swaggering over to kiss Lisa. She awakens, very confused and upset. The story ends with her saying unhappily to herself: "But it was another man who kissed me.."

Zoe couldn't help it:

"Oh Mrs Beauchamp, that's horrid, you can't kill half of Zax!"

Max, personally, was quite chuffed. A chance to drop dead on stage, bring it on! It would be better if he'd been stabbed so he could have fake blood, but this was good. He tried to look miserable so he didn't upset Zoe, but Mrs Beauchamp had already seen him and was wagging her finger at him behind Zoe's back.

Then Mrs Beauchamp laughed.

"Absolutely right, Zoe, and that's where the most important character comes in… the Director. And as he's so important, he can only be played by one person… Our Ethan!"

Ethan's head shot up as if he'd been re-animated, and he beamed round.

"Now I'll want everybody who hasn't got a main part to boo loudly when the curtain comes down and the Director comes strutting on. The Director asks what's wrong and you'll all shout about it being a rotten ending. The Director will go 'Don't be silly, that's what always happens in tragedy' and the people will shout 'But this is a fun story!' The Director will look amazed and go 'It isn't, is it?' and everybody will go 'Oh yes it is!' They threaten the Director with never working again and he growls that he'll alter the ending at once. The curtain goes back up. Ben and Jen run on and do some magic to save Danny, then they tell Lisa about how Sebastian cheated and didn't cut down the thorny wood. Sebastian is sent packing in disgrace, and King Tarquin says only Danny can marry Lisa, and he makes him a Grand Duke. The Director comes on one more time and growls 'Was that a blooming happy enough ending for you then?' and everybody agrees that it was, and everybody will sing Jeff's Merry Woodman song to end the play."

The kids couldn't wait to get started, especially Ethan.