by Judy May
‘Lemony, dear girl, is everything all right?’
‘Yes, thank you. I just wanted to show you this. Would I be right in thinking it’s not from the time The Grange was built.’
On seeing the roll of fabric he jumped up with glee and said, ‘Oh, you found it did you?’ and giggled away to himself for a while. He then cleared a mountain of sweaters and exam papers from a nearby chair and invited me to sit down while he explained something to me.
Apparently we were right in finding where the necklace had been hidden, a spot that had been known to the Professor since he had done the detective work himself as a boy. However, before the film crew arrived the Professor fetched the necklace from its hiding place in a small wooden box under the flagstone. He replaced it with the drawing, which he copied from the original onto a very old piece of paper, before wrapping it in a length of fabric which had just been lying around. He’d thought that any thieves might find the drawing and think that it was all there was to be had.
‘So where is the necklace now?’ I hoped he’d be able to produce it from a safe lurking beneath the stuffed armadillo or something.
‘Do you know, my dear, I put it down somewhere and now can’t for the life of me remember where that was. I’m sure it will turn up safely, thieves rarely see things that are unhidden. You will let me know if you come across it won’t you? I’m presuming it’s still around as the old place is still standing!’
And with that he laughed his cute little laugh and went back to what he’d been working on when I came in.
I was amazed! My own folks can be a bit dusty in the head especially when they are writing an academic paper or when it’s near exam time, but Stephen’s dad is a real-life, proper eccentric. I ran and told Ro that we had to have a meeting at midnight in the library and to make sure Paul and Stephen were there.
LATER STILL
I’m in the girls’ bathroom now, having just got back from the meeting. I was the last to get to the library and found Stephen, Ro and Paul all sitting in the armchairs, laughing about something that had happened where a props guy was found asleep in one of the luxury cars for the actors, but not until the actor almost sat on him.
I noticed that Stephen went completely silent when I walked in and wouldn’t look at me. I suppose he’s had time to get angry about how I caused the accident, because I can’t think of anything else I might have said or done wrong since. It’s strange how we were getting on so well until yesterday. Maybe he’s just moody like Lorna can be.
After I told them about my conversation with the Professor, they couldn’t take it in and asked me to say it again. Stephen put his head in his hands.
‘I’m so sorry,’ he said. ‘My father is a strange one. It’s just that he’s so brilliant that he doesn’t connect well with the real world somehow. My mother used to be his go-between and interpreter, but in the six years since she died he’s got more and more withdrawn.’
We reassured Stephen that we thought it was a stroke of genius on his dad’s part to move the necklace and that we’d find it as soon as possible. He still wouldn’t look at me, though, in fact, he almost seemed to flinch when I spoke to him.
Paul then had an idea. ‘Look, we don’t have the necklace, right?’
‘Right,’ we agreed to the glaringly obvious.
‘So what if we pretend we have it, put word out on set that it’s in a box in here or something and then we lie in wait and trap the people who are looking to steal it.’
It sounded too simple, but after letting it sink in for a minute or two we all agreed that we had nothing to lose. The best way to make sure everyone knows is to tell Amber, who must have been a parrot or a newspaper in a former life.
The plan is that we are going to let the news filter through and then leave it until the night after next before lying in wait. There’s no way they could plan a break-in with only a few hours notice. Just in case, Paul is going to sleep in the library tomorrow night. Stephen wanted to take first watch, but the rest of us agreed that it would be best if he got himself fully mended first. We decided not to let any of the others know what’s been going on, especially not Alex as he’d tell his dad and then we wouldn’t be able to lay the trap.
I must start bringing a pillow in here as the tiled floor is really cold.
DAY TWENTY-SIX
They were shooting with just the actors this morning and afternoon and Miss Higgins said they didn’t need us until the evening. After a great deal of aimless wandering, I found Paul and Stephen outside sitting on the large rock near the orchard. When Stephen jumped up to leave, as he’s been doing of late, Paul said to stay in case I might have news. I feel really sad that he’s avoiding me, but I know I deserve it for what I’ve done to him over the past couple of weeks. But I do wonder why he was so nice to me for a while, was that just so I’d feel worse now? If so, then it’s working.
Anyway, I’d had what I thought was a stroke of mini-genius. If the film is partly based on the story of the necklace then what if the necklace that Antonia is wearing in the early scenes has been switched for the original? None of us could remember what the one she’d been wearing looked like, but it was obvious who’s connected enough with the props department to find out.
‘I’ll ask her!’ Paul was up like a shot and ran off to find Ro.
That left me and Stephen alone together and I took a deep breath before asking,
‘Stephen have I done anything wrong? It seems as if you’ve been avoiding me for the past few days.’
He looked at me as if he couldn’t work out what I was saying and eventually replied, ‘Lemony, you have loads of friends, you don’t need me pretending to be one of them.’
And off he walked again. I am completely miserable. I know I wasn’t nice to him but I don’t feel I deserve this, I really don’t.
The next time I saw him was after dinner when we were back in costume in the ballroom. In this scene I was sitting with Hanna and Sophie and he was with Alex and Gussy so we didn’t get to talk. We kept going for take after take and at midnight catering brought in Chinese food and pizzas to the ballroom for everyone. To ensure we didn’t spill anything while eating off our laps Wendy made us all wear black garbage bags over our costumes with holes cut for head and arms. We looked hilarious.
Everyone’s energy sagged massively after midnight and I was praying for someone to start handing out the call sheets (bits of paper with the details about who is doing what and when for the next day) as that usually meant we were about to finish. I was exhausted. Mid-yawn Julian came over to me and I presumed he was going to tell me I was doing something wrong or to sit up straighter. Instead he asked me if I had ever acted before! The question was so unexpected and what little focus I could muster had been absorbed into the pizza, so I didn’t think and just went, ‘Not unless you count the time I pretended I actually liked my Dad’s new orange car.’
He laughed and said, ‘Well, there’s a scene coming up tomorrow with two very short lines and I have it on good authority that you are something of an actress. Would you like to give it a go?’
‘Love to,’ I said, almost passing out with the shock.
I figured Ro must have had a sneaky hand in it, but she was as surprised and delighted with the news as Paul and the others were. Ro reckons that Danny and Driggers from the props department will be able to show her the necklace in two days time as it’s being worn by Antonia until then and she’s in costume first thing every day.
I didn’t tell her about what Stephen said. It feels bad not to be able to share my good news with him.
Way, way, way, way, waaaayyyy past bedtime now.
DAY TWENTY-SEVEN
We had the morning off and I mostly slept, then first thing this afternoon Miss Higgins sent me over to Lizzy. She then packed me off to meet Mr Flynn, the dialogue and accent coach, who is one of only a handful of people on set I haven’t talked to before, to ‘run my lines’. They’re not really full lines, just ‘No Sir, I did not’, a
nd ‘That way, my Lord’, but you’d be amazed how many thousands of ways there are to say them. After ten minutes working with Mr Flynn I asked him would they not just get someone else to do it, like Alice who’s a natural at being dramatic, but he said I’ll be wonderful. My stomach doesn’t feel so wonderful and I’m sitting alone in a trailer (which I get for the day seeing as I’m classed as an actor not an extra) and wishing Ro or Stephen were here to say things to make me feel like less of a fake.
Earlier this afternoon Ro brought me over a form I needed to sign to get paid for today and get a credit, and she then had to cycle over to our house to get Mum or Dad to sign it too, which is why she’s been gone for a while.
Paul went with her to show her the way although she has only been there nearly every day since nursery school! He is so obvious that it hurts to see him.
Wendy and Dipti keep dropping round and are all proud of me and making sure I keep looking my best. All I can think of is that Antonia will be wearing the necklace and I’ll get to see it close up.
It’s funny how sometimes you end up living a reality before you even know it. Like the time Mum and Dad made me learn the violin for eight years longer than necessary. In the beginning I thought it would simply involve a lifetime of painful scratching and scraping, sounding like tuneless kittens, but suddenly without any effort bigger than showing up I suddenly found I could play quite well. I’ve just this minute realised that only a few weeks ago Ro and I were doing the thing from that Game of Life book and I decided to test it and ask to be a film star. And now, without even trying or doing anything except reacting to whatever came my way, and here I am: script in hand, Dipti from hair and make-up fussing over me, about to walk out on set to deliver my lines. This is incredible!!!
Right! I’m now going to ask for what I really want. That chinchilla would still be good, the ability to speak another language, to have Stephen be my friend again, to do a good job with this scene in about ten minutes …
Ten minutes? Did Lizzie just say ten minutes? NERVES! Nerves are kicking in like mad old mules, I want this to be OVER and done with!
LATER
Did it!
I got through the scene and found it far easier to say the lines when the actors were there speaking too. We had to do it about ten times, and each time that something didn’t go exactly right it had NOTHING to do with me. Either someone else fluffed their line or a plane flew overhead, or the boom got in shot, or Julian changed his mind about something. With all the commotion I almost forgot to check out the necklace around Antonia’s neck, but it was obvious from first glance that it was a fake and only slightly like the drawing in the book. All the same I asked her if it was heavy and she showed me that is was made of plastic and quite light. So much for that big idea.
I did make use of the moment to ask if she’d heard that the original was kept in the Grange library. She was interested to hear that, but one of the other actors seemed overly-interested, almost twitchy at the subject. He asked me loads of questions such as how I knew about the necklace, and where exactly was it kept, and had I seen it. I don’t know the actor’s name but his character is called Mr Rollins and Ro will be able to find out his real name from the call sheet.
Lorna, Alice, Hanna, Sophie, Amber, Bonnie, Gussy, Owen and Alex as well as loads of the other regular extras and my crew friends like Bob and Wendy, were all waiting for me at the side and rushed over to tell me what a great job I did. Julian even let me watch the playback and I did look good, or at least I didn’t stick out like a piece of green at a red fest. In fact I totally blended in as if I belonged just as much as the others. I also noticed that Antonia and the other lead actress are both taller than I am.
Nick passed by and said, ‘Famous now are we, taller twin?’
I just sighed. How can I have wasted such creative daydreams on a person so small inside?
Stephen was standing near the catering truck beside the salad buffet table, which hadn’t yet been cleared away. Feeling braver now that I had done the scene I walked right over. He congratulated me on the scene, but looked so uncomfortable that I couldn’t stand it a moment longer. I knew I was making a complete idiot of myself but I didn’t care.
‘Stephen, I, um … OK! I really miss you. I miss our talks together, our adventures, the letters … and I just … I’d like us to be friends again. Or friends in the first place if you believe we weren’t before. I would very much like that. If it’s possible that you might want to be my friend …’
Then I amazed myself by adding, ‘… or more’.
Just then Gussy and Alex arrived at the table, being loudly disappointed that it was salad and not dessert. So instead of answering me with even a simple ‘yes’ or ‘we’ll see’ or ‘no way’, Stephen just picked up a bowl of stuffed olives and said, ‘Olive?’ and then out of nowhere loads of people came over and crowded around the food, and before I knew it he was gone. RECAP: I offered him myself and he offered me an olive. Typical me, typical me!
Then, like a rain storm right after your picnic has been eaten by ants, Ro walked right over and said, ‘Seeing as you are in such a good mood after your brilliant acting…’ (although by then I was way down thanks to the olives) ‘… I just thought you should know that me and your brother … Paul …’
‘Yes, I know his name.’
‘Er, we sort of kissed.’
‘What’s a “sort of” kiss?’
‘OK, we kissed.’
I couldn’t be angry with her so I smiled and said, ‘There’s a three-litre bottle of industrial-strength disinfectant in the utility room, gargle with that and you’ll be fine.’
Then she surprised me by saying, ‘I’ve had a thing for him for as long as you liked Nick. I just never said because I didn’t think he’d ever see me as anything other than his little sister’s friend.’
‘Is that why you never went out with anyone for longer than a fortnight?’
‘I tried, but none of them were a patch on him. Are you OK with this? After all, first-and-foremost I’m your best friend and that will never change. Except you probably won’t be so pushy for details on this one.’
That made me laugh.
‘Strange girl. Now run along and tell him that I didn’t faint or scream at the news.’
And she did. And I think I’m fine with it.
The word for the day is ‘resigned’. I refuse to get upset, after all, no doubt more things will be along for me to worry over and I have to pace myself.
DAY TWENTY-EIGHT
We were right about the thieves not making a move last night. Paul slept right across the doorway just in case, and was nearly knocked out by Miss Higgins when she came to find out where he’d got to in the morning. Paul concocted a story about Gussy snoring and Alex singing in his sleep to explain his presence there.
Julian has drafted me into another scene. For this one I’m what’s called a ‘special extra’, there’s only me sitting with Antonia and the Mr Rollins actor, whose name I neglected to find out from Ro. The upshot of this sudden promotion is that I’ve been on set in the rose garden all day. I have no idea why anyone would want to be an actor unless every other job in the universe was taken, except for maybe jobs like having to clip someone’s toenails for a living or carry pianos and kitchen sinks up desolate mountains on your back. It seems that everyone else on set is having a better time than the actors. Dipti gets to be creative and chat with people all day, Julian is constantly having to think up new ideas, the first and second ADs are like generals in the military, Ro is making an art out of being a personal assistant, the catering staff get to feel good about getting everyone fed with good food on time, and even as an ordinary extra you can chill out more as no one really notices you unless you are goofing around like Nick used to.
Which reminds me, I saw Nick and Stephen around the place both picking up rubbish and moving parking bollards. I know that’s part of Nick’s job, but it doesn’t make sense why Stephen would be helping him. Am I living i
n some weird alternate universe where a geek would choose to be friends with a loud-mouth jock instead of with another geek like me? Strange and spooky stuff.
Dipti just told me that this green ribbon in my hair makes my eyes look really green, and that I must wear this colour more often. Wendy told me I can keep the hair-ornament from the lilac costume as a souvenir, but not to tell anyone as it really should go back at the end of shooting. I’m all fancied up in yet another stunning dress, this one a deep peacock blue with black silk shoes (teamed with the old anorak and woolly hat between takes). I was moaning about the fact that the weather had been so bad, but Antonia told me stories about bubbling away under the Saharan sun during one movie she starred in and I now feel quite grateful for the chill. I can’t believe that by this time next week it will all be over.
Part of me feels happy that Julian has given me this opportunity and part of me envies the fun I can see Amber and Alice and the girls having on the bus, and the conversations between Ro and Paul, which are probably about our next plan of action. I have even lost my grip on the biscuit traffic as I was on set when Caro brought them out to the table. Unless things improve I might find myself having to beg for a simple digestive.
LATER
I was inside my trailer writing when the funniest thing happened. A lighting man who I have seen quite often, but haven’t ever spoken to, knocked on the door and told me he had a message. He said I was to ‘meet Sir Stephen at the Augean Stables as soon as possible’, and added that he hoped it made sense to me because it didn’t to him. There are no actual stables at The Grange, so I guessed – because in Greek mythology the Augean Stables were full of cattle manure that Hercules had to clear out – that it must mean the cottage (which is also kind of bunged up with all other kinds of untidiness).