Lily and I looked at each other in horror.
Chris continued to press the send button, but to no avail. Exasperated, he turned off the walkie-talkie and scowled up at us. “Didn’t you tell him?”
“I’m so sorry!” I whispered back.
Lily raised her hands in a helpless gesture. “We tried. We really did. He wouldn’t listen.”
“I hope your headache’s better,” I put in sympathetically.
Chris scowled. “Scene Three’s coming up. Get busy!”
Lily and I fled just in time to avoid running into Terence, who bent over the table to hear Chris’ explanation for the backstage disturbance. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw the two men exchange a look, then both snorted with muffled laughter, which they quickly hid behind their hands.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
Aside from the cricket incident, the play went smoothly until the last scene. Terence was obviously delighted, grinning, darting in and out of the wings, helping move scenery, patting shoulders encouragingly, nodding in agreement at an appropriate reaction from the audience.
After Dierdre came off the stage following her big vocal solo, he hugged her. He remembered the bit players too.
“Very good,” he murmured to me briefly as I came offstage behind Dierdre. “That was excellent reacting.” He winked at me in the dim backstage light.
The show really was magic. I floated on the cloud of music and color, watching enraptured from the wings when I wasn’t in the action. By now I knew every note, every word of this play. The final scene arrived all too soon.
We were watching from the wings when Danny-as-Max mounted the ladder and began to pantomime the painting of the last leaf on the wall. Lighting played a role here by shifting and changing color to indicate the passage of time as Max’s singing became more and more labored, fainter and fainter, until at last he slumped, dying, and began his carefully choreographed half-fall, half-descent from the ladder.
Tears gathered in my eyes. It’s beautiful!
Once he reached the bottom of the ladder, a strolling policeman would discover him and the Greenwich Villagers would gather around the inert body.
Here he comes, I thought.
With each bar of the swelling music, Max descended a little bit more. All at once, there was a cracking sound and a gasp from the wings as a central rung tore loose, causing Danny to tumble much faster than intended. He landed on the floor of the stage with a terrible thud and remained motionless.
Mike Bailey, playing the policeman, rushed onstage in an earlier-than-planned entrance and knelt by Danny’s still form. Frowning, he bent low, putting his face next to Danny’s. Then, he resumed his proper line, a mournful announcement.
“This man is dead.”
It was with paradoxical relief that we came onstage, shaking our heads in sadness, well aware that Mike had consulted with the inert Danny and that everything was all right.
“A tragedy, that’s what it is. A real shame,” I piped up at just the right time. My only line, but I was thrilled and relieved to be saying it.
As we sang the last few notes of “I’m Doing This for You,” the curtain closed slowly, but not before we heard a roar of applause from the auditorium.
Emerging from the wings, Chris clapped his hands once. “Settle down. Everything’s okay. Places for curtain call, everybody.” He extended his hand to Danny and pulled him to his feet, apparently none the worse for his fall.
We townspeople held hands in a line and, as the curtain opened again, advanced to the apron, gave a short bow, then backed up, making way for the secondary players, and, finally, Janey and Danny.
The reaction was gratifying. Elm had to open the curtains four times before the clapping died down and people in the auditorium began shuffling around and heading for the exit.
Once the curtains closed for good, a small crowd gathered around the ladder, examining the broken rung. I was among them.
“It’s splintered,” Elm said, running his finger over the broken section, “I wonder how—”
Terence and Chris interrupted, herding us offstage. “That’s enough, everybody. These accidents happen. We’ll get it fixed right away.”
~~~
“I always thought it was Neil Claussen. He must have done something to the ladder. I remember seeing him hanging around there right before the performance.”
“Really? How can you be sure, Gil? That’s pretty circumstantial. And it was a long time ago.”
“Honey, you witnessed their fight. They obviously hated each other. DiNicco ruined the guy’s career or something.”
“I’m not so sure. Chris Gold didn’t like Danny much either, did you know that?”
~~~
Lily and were among the first to arrive back in the women’s dressing room. It was almost empty. and to my relief there was no fishy smell.
“Well, what did you think? Aren’t you glad I made you try out?” Lily wiped her wrist across her perspiring forehead, causing her eyebrow to smudge. “Was it wonderful, or what?”
“Yes,” I admitted with a sigh. “It was great!”
I glanced at myself one of the mirrors. I looked about twenty years old. Cool!
Lily reached for the jar of cream, scooped out a generous portion, and started smearing it on her face. “Told you so!”
There it was. She really did love saying it.
More members of the cast burst into the room, all talking at once. I stood uncertainly, wondering how I could get changed with all these men here. I turned quickly and bumped into a solid figure.
“I’m sorry, Danny. Are you all right?”
“Oh, sure.” He stepped back and rubbed his neck with a towel. “By the way, you did a fine job, Amelia Earhart.”
I looked up into his deep, dark eyes. He was still wearing the aging Max makeup, with long wrinkles penciled down his cheeks and his hair streaked with spray-on silver, but all I saw was the dashing, handsome leading man I’d met on the first day.
He’d used my pet name! All time stood still.
“Thank you,” I breathed and continued looking up at him, rapt. “So did you!”
Wait, is that a knot on his forehead, turning purple? Maybe he was really hurt, after all. Poor baby! I could put ice on it and nurse him back to health.
“You sure did!” my dad’s voice chimed in, and my romantic mirage faded in an instant. “It was wonderful, Peanut! We’re so proud of you!”
My mother and sister smiled at the various milling cast members.
Peanut? I was mortified. My father shook hands with Danny, who shortly disappeared into the crowd.
The room was filling up with my family members, and it was going to be almost impossible to herd them out of this place before they did something further to embarrass me.
Terence stood on a chair and called for attention. “Well done, everyone!” All business, he continued, “All you cast members on the building crew, meet me in my office as soon as you get cleaned up. Don’t forget, we start rehearsing for The Merry Marinade tomorrow morning. All you Last Leaf people, check the call board for when to get here tomorrow afternoon. We’ll be preparing for our field trip. As for tonight, celebrate your fine job for just a little while, then get some rest. You’ll need it.”
He looked around the crowd. “We appreciate all this wonderful enthusiasm, but our people have to change their clothes, and this is our ladies’ dressing room, so if you don’t mind, please wait for your friends out in the lobby.” The various audience members cheerily complied and the dressing room door closed.
When my turn came behind the changing screen, I got back into my street clothes and carefully hung up my costume on a rolling rack placed there for this purpose. I noticed with dismay that the collar of my dress had makeup smudges, but took some comfort in noticing that the other costumes hanging there had the same thing. It was an occupational hazard.
Lily was right behind me. “What was going on with that ladder tonight?” she asked as she hung up h
er costume.
“I don’t know. Part of it broke all of a sudden and I saw Danny fall.” I lowered my voice. “Do you think somebody could really be after him?”
“I don’t know. Maybe. Just don’t forget what I said about violin cases.”
I finished buckling my sandal, gathered my things and joined her at the door. “As you probably saw, my folks are here. Want a ride home?”
“Nope,” Lily said, wrinkling her nose. “I’m riding home with my parents.”
She threw a longing glance up the steps at the knot of cast members making plans to celebrate at Clancy’s Tavern. Neil was in the center of them.
“Ah, well, whatever,” she muttered as she left.
When I emerged from below the stage, Barbara was laughing and nodding at our father. “Amelia,” he said, reaching out his hand and patting my cheek, “Mother and I are going on home. We’ll expect you girls within the hour.”
Barbara watched them go, then came over to me with a smug look on her face. “Aren’t you going to thank me?”
“Thank you?”
“I got them to let you walk home with me.”
“I guess. Thanks. But the damage has already been done. I am officially established as the baby of the company.”
She helped me gather up my things. “And that’s bad, how?”
I jerked my head toward Celia and Elm who walked hand in hand ahead of us.
“Oh.” She nodded sagely. “Male attention. I see. But you’re too young to be dating, baby sister.”
“Don’t baby sister me! Virtually everybody in my class is dating!” Okay, maybe it was a slight exaggeration. Maybe half or a third.
Barbara didn’t reply. We walked in companionable silence for half a block. A thought occurred to me. I opened my mouth.
“What I meant—”
“Shh,” Barbara said, grabbing my elbow. “We’ve got company.”
A shadowy male figure stepped out onto the sidewalk in front of us and stood in our way. Was he carrying a violin case? For a split second, I considered dropping my burdens and running.
“I’m not speaking to you right now,” the shadow said.
“Could’a fooled me,” Barbara murmured under her breath. “Hi, Gilly,” she said a little louder. “Why aren’t you speaking to us?”
“I know what he’s talking about.” I stepped forward. “Gilly, I’m really sorry about the cricket thing. We tried to tell you, but you wouldn’t listen to us!”
He seemed to slump a little. “You didn’t insist. You could have insisted. You should have.”
Barbara put a hand on my elbow. “I see you guys have something to discuss. I’ll just go on ahead.”
She indicated our house, only half a block away. With her back to Gilly, she gave me a broad wink, turned, and started jogging up the sidewalk.
When I spoke of male attention, this isn’t what I meant! I wanted to shout at her. Instead, I decided to sympathize with the guy.
“Did you get in trouble?” I fell into step beside him.
He shrugged and put his hands in his pockets. “I lucked out with Terence. He and Chris just thought it was funny. He said not to lose my cool on the walkie-talkie anymore.”
“That was nice of him.”
“Yes, it was.”
Coins jingled in his pockets. He pulled out a dollar bill and some change.
“Look, would you give this back to Lily McIndrick? I really was kidding about the candy bar thing.”
We’d reached my front yard. I put out my palm and received the money.
“Sure.”
“Thanks. Well . . . see ya.”
He turned and sauntered away. The sole of one of his sneakers flapped a little at the back. There was something kind of sad about Gilly.
“Bye.” I watched him stroll back down the street.
I dropped the money in my makeup box. Reluctant to go inside, I took a seat on the porch steps and looked wistfully up into the sky.
There was an almost-full moon shining down. Romance was in the air. Everybody else had paired off. Why not me?
In the new Broadway musical Ivanhoe, I remembered from my original cast album, Rowena looks up at the moon and sings to her future love. Maybe my own future love was out there, looking up at the sky at this very same moment. I hummed to myself wistfully:
My knight in shining armor, he sees the same bright moon . . .
The front door opened. “Peanut! The mosquitoes will carry you off! Get in here! We’re making ice cream sundaes!”
I jumped up and ran inside. For now, my Knight could wait. There was an ice cream sundae in my future, and I intended to have chocolate syrup and chopped walnuts on it.
~~~
“Oh!” I said suddenly.
“Amelia? What’s wrong? Are you hurt?”
I shook my head. There was a catch in my throat.
“No. I was just remembering that night after you left. I was sitting on the porch and staring up at the moon and dreaming about my Knight in Shining Armor. I even sang a little bit.”
I hummed the melody under my breath.
Tears began to pour down my cheeks.
Gil gave me a skeptical look. “Your what? Come on, honey.”
I slapped his chest. “Gil! You were him all along, and I didn’t even know it!”
I laughed and hiccoughed. Then I sobbed a little more. It was just so sweet!
“Oh, boy.” He handed me his handkerchief.
I blew my nose. “Never mind; it’s a young girl thing.”
He shook his head. “Amelia, I thought you were a little weird then, but you’re even weirder now. Come here.”
He extended his arms and I snuggled into them.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
The next afternoon, as I took my seat in the auditorium, I felt a tap on my shoulder. “Look at his head,” Adele Foster murmured in my ear from her seat behind me. “He musta got hurt in that fall after all.” She nodded in the direction of Danny DiNicco, who had a bandage on his forehead.
Ben Patchke was sitting next to her. “I saw that rung on the ladder. It broke right off.”
“It might have been cut. Y’think somebody’s got it in for him? Maybe it’s those Mafia relatives of his,” Brenda Bernard speculated with a delighted frisson. “That fish could have been, you know, a warning or something.”
She must have been talking to Lily, I surmised.
“Nah,” Ben said, “it was just a freak accident with an old ladder. Terence chewed out the building crew, and then had Elm and me fix it last night. We used extra wood and nails; reinforced all the rungs. That kinda thing won’t happen again.”
“That’s good,” I said.
The memory of Danny’s fall gave me the same sick feeling I had had while watching him fight with Neil. He’s so brave to keep going despite his misfortune.
Lily plopped down next to me, clearly unhappy.
“What’s the matter?” I whispered.
“I’m through with Mr. Neil Claussen forever!” she hissed in my ear.
“Why?”
“Not now. Tell you later.”
Terence spent the next several hours with us, re-blocking the play to accommodate the unusual surroundings we’d encounter in Lake Placid using masking tape on the stage floor. “No, no, no—you just pirouetted right into the swimming pool!” he warned. “And remember, you’ll be performing practically in the laps of the audience. They’ll be that close, so be careful!”
After all this, I was beginning to dread Lake Placid. If I had really known what was going to happen, dread would have been the mildest of my emotions.
Finally we were given a half-hour break. Lily and I laid claim to two places in the back row of the auditorium and opened the bag of peanut butter sandwiches I’d brought from home.
I took the opportunity to ask quietly, “Why are you finished with Neil? I saw you talking to him when we first got here.”
“The rat. He refused to tell me what was going on with Danny ou
t in the alley. Me! He wouldn’t trust me! If a relationship isn’t based on trust, what good is it?” She took a violent bite of sandwich.
The sick feeling returned. “Oh, Lily! You told him that we saw? Did you tell him I was there too?” I was embarrassed and a little scared, although I couldn’t have told you why.
She had the grace to look embarrassed. “Sorry. It slipped out when I was telling him why he owed me an explanation. And when I refused to—as he put it—keep my trap shut, he just walked away. Ignored me! The nerve! Ordering me around like a child, and then just leaving!”
“Who’s a child?” It was Gilly Dickensen, draped over the back of the seat next to me.
“Here.” Lily stood, handed me the remains of her sandwich, and snapped at Gilly, “Mind your own business!” She departed with as much dignity as she could manage, working her way sideways down the long row of seats.
Gilly came around and sat one seat away from me. “Who put a burr under her saddle?”
“Oh, she and Neil broke up, that’s all.”
He propped his feet on seat in front of him. “Well, good for her. She’s better off.” He pointed to Lily’s abandoned half-eaten sandwich that I was re-wrapping. “D’you think she’s gonna want that?”
“No, here. But why is Lily better off? They really seemed to like each other. I think it’s kind of sad.”
He took a huge bite and shook his head mournfully as he chewed. “You young girls. So naïve. You know, guys talk different to each other than in front of you.”
“Different-ly. Don’t chew with your mouth full.”
“Yeah, whatever. What I mean is let’s just say Neil Claussen had a kind of bet with some of the other guys about . . . well, about Lily. I’m glad to see she messed it up for him.” He popped the last morsel of the sandwich in his mouth and wiped his hands on his jeans.
“A bet?”
“A bet, a wager, a gamble. That’s all I’m going to say on the subject. If you don’t understand it, I’m definitely not going to be the one to tell you.” He stood abruptly. “Whew! You are a baby, you know that?” He ambled off down the aisle, leaving me angry and outraged at the entire male sex. I’d understood exactly what Gilly was talking about.
Murder in the Past Tense (Miss Prentice Cozy Mystery Series Book 3) Page 11