‘That’s a good idea!’ Maisie exclaimed. ‘Thanks, Hannah. My own favourite things …’
I wondered what she would come up with. At least it would be easier than starting from scratch to try to teach her something new. There really wasn’t enough time.
‘I’m going to go and practise now,’ she announced, scrambling down from the table.
‘OK, but can you not tell the boys what you’re doing?’ I asked her. ‘I want to talk to them about it myself.’
‘Are THEY going to be in the show?’ Maisie didn’t look too impressed at the idea.
‘We’ll see,’ I said.
The boys were in the garden playing Star Wars yet again. It seemed like a good opportunity to bring up the subject.
‘Wow, you two really look the part,’ I said. ‘It’s so cool to watch you. I feel like I’m on another planet or something.’
Zach looked at me suspiciously. ‘I thought you hated Star Wars.’
Oops. Maybe I’d laid it on a bit too thick.
‘No, of course not!’ I said. ‘I mean, maybe I don’t like you being too noisy when I’m trying to talk to my friends or something, but it’s great to watch you! Can you show me what you were doing?’
Bobby immediately launched himself at Zach, who, caught off guard, ended up sprawling on the lawn.
‘Ha! Got you!’ Bobby said.
‘That’s not fair, I wasn’t ready!’ Zach protested. ‘Hannah, tell him!’
‘Why don’t you start again?’ I said, helping Zach to his feet. ‘When I count to three, OK?’
I counted to three, and this time both boys charged at each other with their lightsabers. I watched them battle it out for about five minutes, chasing each other around the garden and even jumping on top of the garden table to continue the fight there.
‘Brilliant!’ I said. ‘Really, you’re so convincing. I bet you’d love to be able to show people how much you can do.’
‘What do you mean?’ Zach asked.
I decided it was time to come clean. ‘Here’s the thing. How would you like to be in the show I’m doing with my friends?’
‘That ballet thing?’ Bobby looked disgusted.
I rushed to explain. ‘It’s not just ballet any more. We’re making it into a variety show. We’re going to have lots of different things in it, and you could do a Star Wars scene if you like.’
‘Yeah! Can I do this?’ Bobby showed me an overhead kick that looked like it was designed to knock my teeth out. I ducked just in time.
‘Yes, just not in my face!’ I told him. ‘Be careful!’ I looked at Zach. ‘What do you think, Zach?’
‘I’m not sure,’ Zach said. He was looking down at the ground.
‘Oh pleeeeeease!’ said Bobby. ‘I can’t do it on my own.’
Zach had always been a lot shyer than Bobby. I knew he would be feeling nervous about people watching him.
‘We could keep it pretty short,’ I said. ‘Just the moves you feel you know really well, maybe? And you have all week to practise – I’m sure you’ll be able to give a great demonstration!’
‘Maybe,’ Zach said.
‘I can help you with it too, watch you practising and all that,’ I said.
‘Oh pleeeeease!’ Bobby said again.
Zach still wasn’t giving in.
‘Oh well.’ I got up from my seat on the edge of the patio. ‘Maybe Maisie will do it with you, Bobby. I could give you another job to do, Zach. Like cleaning up or something? Because everyone has to help out at the party, it’s going to be a really busy day. Maybe you could be in charge of picking up all the cups and things that get left lying around? You know what Maisie’s friends are like.’
‘No! I’m not cleaning up!’ Zach said. ‘I’ll be in the show, OK? Just as long as we keep it short.’
I smiled. ‘No problem.’
Maisie came running out to the garden. ‘Hannah, Mum wants you to take Emma.’
I sighed. No chance of a bit of time to myself then.
Mum was sitting on the floor building a tower block for Emma, but Emma seemed to have lost all interest in knocking it over and was just whining.
‘Oh, Hannah, there you are, I’m glad you’re back,’ Mum said. ‘I’ve run out of things I can do with Emma sitting on the floor. I never thought she’d get bored of having my undivided attention, but looks like it’s finally happened!’
‘I’ll take her out to the garden,’ I said. ‘Do you need anything first? Cup of tea?’
‘A cup of tea would be wonderful,’ Mum said, leaning back against the couch. ‘Thank you, honey. It’s so frustrating not being able to do anything for myself – or for you lot.’
I felt bad for complaining. I knew Mum had it so much worse than me. ‘Don’t worry, it’s no problem. We’re managing fine.’
‘But you’re having to do so much – it’s not fair. It’s taking over your summer holidays. What about Star Club?’
‘Actually, Meg came up with a great idea.’
‘Did she? Oh, that reminds me, I didn’t get a chance to talk to Cordelia yesterday. Everything was so crazy. But she’s so nice – she was wonderful, wasn’t she? I’m sure everything will be fine if Meg tells her about the show. What was the idea, anyway?’
I told her all about how Maisie’s birthday entertainment was now going to be a variety show, complete with acting, dancing, singing and of course Star Wars.
‘I’m being a dog,’ Maisie informed Mum, crawling into the room and pretending to bite Emma, which made her laugh. ‘A dog that sings about its favourite things.’
I rolled my eyes at Mum. It sounded like Maisie’s act was going to need a bit of work.
Chapter Nineteen
‘Hannah, can you tell Bobby to stop lunging at me like that? He’s ruining my kicks!’
‘Hannah, have you seen my costume?’
‘Hannah, which do you think sounds better – “Raindrops on bones and chasing kittens”, or “raindrops on kennels and scaring kittens”?’
‘Hannah, Mum says can you take Emma?’
Ever get sick of the sound of your own name?
I’d been practising with the kids all week, and now I was trying to get them organised for the dress rehearsal. It was the first time we’d be running through the whole show in the order we’d be performing it in. The rest of Star Club would be arriving any minute, and we were still running around like headless chickens.
Maisie was singing first one version of the line and then the other, over and over again, and slightly out of tune.
‘Your costume is on Mum’s bed,’ I told Bobby. ‘They’re all up there – I told you that already. And stop lunging at Zach. Maisie, please stop singing!’
‘I’m just trying to work out which one is better!’ Maisie told me in a hurt voice. ‘You said I should practise!’
‘I know. We’ll all practise together in a minute, OK?’
‘HANNAH!’ This time it was Mum.
‘She wants you to take Emma,’ Zach reminded me.
‘I know! I can’t do everything at once! We’ll have to bring her out to the garden with us, but I don’t know what I’m going to do with her while we’re rehearsing.’
‘We could put her in the travel cot,’ Zach suggested. ‘She likes that – for about five minutes anyway.’
‘Good idea,’ I said. ‘Can you and Bobby bring it outside?’
‘HANNAH!’
‘Coming, Mum!’
I rushed into the sitting room to find Mum attempting to struggle to her feet. ‘Oh, don’t get up, Mum!’ I said. ‘What do you need?’
‘Look at Emma!’ she told me.
I turned around. Emma was standing up holding on to the TV unit, a big grin on her chubby little face.
‘Oh wow, Emma! You’re standing!’
It was the first time Emma had stood up on her own, and she looked delighted with herself.
‘She sure knows how to pick her moments,’ Mum said with a laugh. ‘None of the rest of you were stan
ding up until you were ten months at least. We’re going to need another whole level of babyproofing!’
I looked around the room. Mum and Dad had baby-proofed everything that Emma could reach by crawling around the room. The DVDs had all been moved to higher shelves (after Emma had wrecked a couple of the cardboard covers by chewing on the corners) and Dad had put a protective sponge cover on the edges of the hearth so Emma wouldn’t bang her head. But now that she was standing she could reach the ornaments on the bookshelves, the candles on the little table and the plant on the TV unit. Which she was currently trying to eat.
‘Emma!’ I exclaimed. ‘That’s not for eating!’ I picked her up and she immediately started to howl. ‘I know, I’m so cruel not letting you eat an orchid,’ I told her.
I turned to Mum. ‘I can take her out to the garden for a while if you like.’
‘But what about your rehearsal?’ Mum asked.
‘I’ll put her in the travel cot, and we can take it in turns to mind her if she gets fed up of that,’ I said.
‘Well, if you don’t mind, I could do with a rest,’ Mum admitted. ‘My ankle is really hurting, and the painkillers are making me feel sleepy.’
‘We’ll be fine,’ I said. ‘I can bring her back in if it gets too much.’
‘Please do.’ Mum was already leaning her head back against the couch, her eyes closed.
I glanced out the window and saw Ruby coming up the drive. Laura was just behind her on her bike. I went to let them in, balancing Emma on my hip.
‘Hello, Emma! Are you going to be in the show too?’ Ruby asked, stroking Emma’s cheek.
Emma laughed.
‘Don’t even joke about it!’ I said. ‘She’d love the attention! She’ll have to come to the rehearsal, though. Mum needs a rest.’
‘We’ll help mind her,’ Ruby promised.
‘I’ve brought the paper for the programmes,’ Laura said. ‘I thought we could make them after the rehearsal.’
‘Oh, the programmes! I’d forgotten all about those!’ I said. ‘Are we going to have enough time?’
‘I thought we could rope in some child labour to help out,’ Laura said with a grin. ‘Maisie loves art, doesn’t she?’
‘Great idea,’ I said. ‘Might even get the boys involved too, keep them out of Mum’s way a bit longer.’
‘Hannah!’ It was Zach shouting from the garden.
‘Oh my God!’ I said through gritted teeth.
Ruby looked at me in surprise.
‘Sorry,’ I said. ‘I’m just so sick of people shouting for me all the time! It hasn’t stopped all morning!’
Laura was understanding. ‘Come on, I’ll sort Zach out. And we’ll get the rehearsal set up, and you can put on your director’s visor and shout at us instead!’
I couldn’t help laughing. ‘Thanks, you guys. I’m so lucky to have such great friends.’
Meg was already in the garden, having squeezed through the hedge as usual. She was busy setting up some of the garden chairs in a row in front of the patio. Ruby’s parents had lent us all of theirs, and a few of the other neighbours had promised some too.
‘Hi, guys! I thought we could sit here when we’re not performing and be a proper audience.’
‘Oh my goodness, it’s starting to look like a real show,’ Ruby said, clutching her hair dramatically.
‘Well, it should, it’s the dress rehearsal,’ Laura pointed out. ‘We’ve got to have everything perfect now.’
It was a long way from perfect.
Maisie kept changing the words of her song. Zach was trying to put a somersault into his routine, but he couldn’t quite pull it off. Then he started complaining that Bobby wasn’t sticking to the right moves. Ruby still didn’t have some of her lines right, and Laura forgot to change costumes and came out wearing Madame Fidolia’s shawl when she was meant to be Nana.
I sat in my director’s chair and put my head in my hands. ‘Are we really going on stage tomorrow?’ I moaned. ‘Like, in front of people?’
‘Don’t worry, Hannah – you know what they say – a bad dress rehearsal means a good first performance!’ Meg said soothingly.
‘Well then this should be the best first performance in the history of the earth!’ I said.
‘We’ve only got one performance. We have to get it right first time!’ Ruby pointed out.
‘Oh that’s really helpful,’ I snapped.
‘No need to be so grouchy!’ Ruby said. ‘We’re all nervous.’
‘Sorry,’ I muttered, but I wasn’t really. I felt like no one else could possibly understand how I felt. They only had to worry about their own parts, but I had to pull the whole show together.
‘What’s going on here?’ boomed a deep voice. I turned around.
‘Dad!’ I’d never been so glad to see him in my life. Maisie, Bobby and Zach all started screaming in delight and running towards him, but I got there first and was enveloped in one of his big bear hugs.
‘Oh Dad, I’m so glad you’re home,’ I told him. ‘We weren’t expecting you until tomorrow.’
‘I managed to get an earlier flight,’ Dad said. ‘I thought you might need some help getting ready for this fantastic show I’ve been hearing about.’
‘We need all the help we can get,’ I told him, moving aside to let the boys and Maisie have their turn.
‘Oh Hannah, it’s not as bad as all that,’ Laura said reassuringly. ‘We’re getting there. Maybe we just need to take a little break.’
‘Good idea,’ Dad said. ‘I propose ice creams all round.’
It was amazing how much better everything seemed after a break for ice cream. Feeling refreshed, we started the dress rehearsal all over again. This time it went much more smoothly. Laura remembered to change her clothes between scenes, Ruby remembered her lines, and Zach and Bobby managed to keep the fighting on a pretend level. Maisie’s song was still pretty weird, but Dad whispered to me that her friends would probably love it, which was true.
‘Well done, everyone,’ I said at last, remembering that as director I was supposed to be encouraging them and not just criticising. ‘That was great. I think it’s going to be a really fantastic show!’
As we tidied up Meg took me aside and said quietly, ‘Hannah, can you do me a favour? Can you come over later and help me tell Mum about the show?’
‘You still haven’t told her?’ I exclaimed.
‘I kind of kept putting it off,’ Meg said. ‘But I’m going to have to tell her now or she’ll find out tomorrow! She should be home from work about 5.30 – can you come over then?’
‘OK,’ I agreed. I really hoped Cordelia wasn’t going to make a fuss. The show couldn’t go ahead without Meg!
Cordelia had kindly brought us over a pasta bake the day before. I used the excuse of returning the dish to pop over. Cordelia arrived just minutes after me, looking flustered.
‘Thank goodness it’s Friday! That computer program is simply ghastly – I’m going to have to swot up on it all over again over the weekend! What a bore!’ She threw her handbag into the corner and went to switch on the coffee machine.
I wondered if it was the best time to bring up the show, but Meg plunged right in. ‘Mum, I’ve got something to tell you.’
‘Oh?’ Cordelia had her back to us, taking a mug out of the cupboard.
‘Hannah and Laura and Ruby and I and Hannah’s brothers and sister have been practising for a show and we’re going to put it on tomorrow in Hannah’s garden.’ Meg spoke the words quickly, as if determined to get it over and done with.
Cordelia closed the cupboard door with a bang. I was relieved to see that she looked more surprised than cross. ‘Good heavens. How long has this been going on, may I ask?’
‘A few weeks,’ Meg said. ‘I’d have told you, but I didn’t want you getting upset.’
‘Getting upset?’ Cordelia’s eyebrows were sky-high. ‘I’m not upset, darling, but you know what we agreed when we moved here.’
‘I didn’t a
gree!’ Meg said. ‘Anyway, this is just a small little family show, isn’t it Hannah?’ Meg’s eyes were begging me to back her up.
‘That’s right,’ I said. ‘It’s for my sister Maisie’s birthday party, and it’s just Maisie’s friends and a few of the neighbours who are going to be coming to see it. We’d love you to come too, of course.’
‘Good heavens,’ Cordelia said again. ‘Well, of course I’ll come, darlings. I do wish you’d told me, Meg.’
‘Sorry, Mum,’ Meg said. ‘I know I should have told you.’
Cordelia sighed. ‘You really can’t keep away from it all, can you? You’re just like your father!’
‘You’re one to talk,’ Meg said, but she was grinning.
I looked from one to the other, not quite sure what was going on.
Cordelia suddenly remembered I was there. ‘I suppose you’re the witness for the defence, Hannah, in case I went ballistic!’
‘Uh … I just wanted to return your dish,’ I said.
Cordelia laughed. ‘I’m only teasing, darling. Now, hadn’t you better run along home? Your mum will be looking for you.’
‘Dad got back today, so things aren’t quite so crazy,’ I told her. ‘But I’d better go, I’ll see you tomorrow Meg. Thanks for saying you’ll come to the show, Cordelia.’
‘I wouldn’t miss it,’ Cordelia assured me.
Chapter Twenty
After dinner (which in celebration of Dad’s early return was pizza again) Dad and I started to set things up for Maisie’s party. I was just helping him hang up Mum’s original birthday banner (Maisie’s one was going to take pride of place in the garden) when the phone rang.
‘Hannah, you won’t believe it.’ It was Laura, sounding breathless with excitement. ‘I’ve just seen a strange car pulling up outside Meg’s granny’s house, and there’s a man in it talking on the phone.’
Laura has a tendency to overreact.
‘It’s probably someone trying to sell her a house alarm,’ I said.
‘What if it’s Meg’s dad?’ Laura said. ‘He looks about the right age, and he looks American.’
Hannah in the Spotlight Page 11