‘How exactly does someone look American?’ I asked her.
‘I don’t know … sort of healthy-looking and tanned. He’s got dark hair.’
I remembered the photo I’d seen on Sadie’s phone. ‘I think Meg’s dad has dark hair.’
‘There you go then!’ Laura exclaimed, as if this proved everything. ‘Oh! He’s getting out of the car. He’s ringing the doorbell. He’s talking to Meg’s granny.’
I waited.
‘He’s going inside now! Why is she letting him in?’
‘Maybe she wants to buy a house alarm,’ I suggested.
‘Hannah, I don’t think you’re taking this seriously enough! What should I do?’
‘I don’t know.’ I was a bit more concerned about Maisie’s party decorations than the fact that Laura had seen a dark-haired man who might have been Meg’s father or might in fact just have been a house alarm salesman. ‘Just keep an eye on things, I guess. Sorry Laura, I have to go.’
‘OK, but watch out in case he heads over to Meg’s house next!’ Laura said. ‘It’s a silver car.’
I promised that I would keep an eye out. I put down the phone and went back to helping Dad.
Not long afterwards the phone rang again – this time it was Ruby. ‘Are you watching Meg’s house?’ she wanted to know.
‘I’m a bit busy here,’ I told her. ‘Don’t tell me Laura has you spying on Meg too.’
‘We’re not spying.’ Ruby sounded hurt. ‘We’re just looking out for our friend. Anyway, guess what just happened?’
‘What?’
‘I saw Meg and her mum come running out of the house and get into the car and drive off really quickly.’
‘Is that all?’
‘What do you mean, is that all? They were running! Why would they be running?’
‘Maybe they needed something before the shops closed.’
Ruby sighed dramatically into the phone. ‘You’re no good. I’m going to ring Laura.’
I hung up. Despite what I’d said to the girls, I did find myself wondering if it could be Meg’s dad who’d turned up at Sadie’s house. Maybe Meg and Cordelia had rushed over to see him? Or – if Laura’s kidnap theory was right – maybe they’d decided to run away?
I shook my head. I was starting to sound as crazy as Laura now. Nevertheless, I found myself going to the front window every now and again that evening, checking to see if Cordelia’s car had come back. But there was still no sign of it by the time I went to bed. I started feeling a teeny tiny bit worried.
When I woke the next morning the first thing I did was rush to the window. There was Cordelia’s car, parked in front of their house as usual. I heaved a sigh of relief. I still felt like I wanted to rush over to make sure Meg was all right, but I told myself that was crazy. I’d be seeing her in a few hours anyway, when she came over to get ready for the show.
Oh my God! The show! My stomach did a somersault. We were going on stage in just a couple of hours!
‘Raindrops on bones and scaring kittens …’ The words were slightly muffled – Maisie’s head was still under her duvet, where she often ends up at night, upside down in her bed. A head emerged from the wrong end of her bed. ‘Morning, Hannah! It’s my birthday – YAY!’
‘Happy birthday, Maisie,’ I said, giving her a kiss. ‘I hope you have a fantastic day!’
‘Let’s go downstairs and find my presents!’ Maisie said.
‘Let me go first and see if Mum is awake,’ I told her.
The stairs were too difficult for Mum so she had been sleeping on the couch. Emma slept beside her in her pram, so Mum could reach her easily if she needed feeding during the night. I slipped quietly downstairs, but I needn’t have worried – Mum was wide awake, and Dad was up too, and already busy changing Emma’s nappy.
‘I couldn’t sleep properly,’ he told me. ‘Must be the jetlag. No doubt the tiredness will hit me later!’
‘As long as you can keep going until after Maisie’s party,’ Mum said with a laugh. ‘Where’s my little birthday girl?’
‘I’ll get her,’ I said. I went out to the hall and called her. ‘Maisie, you can come down!’
Maisie came tumbling down the stairs, closely followed by Zach and Bobby. After a flurry of present-opening and singing happy birthday, Dad made a huge stack of his speciality birthday pancakes – lovely big thick ones stuffed with blueberries. I looked around the table at my family, all together again, and felt a warm glow that wasn’t just being full of pancakes.
‘Look at the time!’ Mum exclaimed. ‘We’d better get dressed. Your friends will be here in half an hour to get ready for the show, Hannah.’
My stomach did that crazy flip-flop thing again. ‘Are you feeling nervous, Maisie?’ I asked her, wondering if it was just me.
‘About what?’
‘About the show.’
Maisie opened her eyes wide. ‘No. Why would I feel nervous? I’m going to be the most fantastic singing dog ever.’
I laughed, wishing I had some of her confidence. ‘Of course you are. OK, let’s go get into our costumes!’
Fifteen minutes later we were back downstairs, me dressed in Pauline’s kilt and brown jumper and Maisie in her dog costume. Mum had made her a tail by cutting up an old pair of tights and stuffing one leg with more old tights, before sewing it onto her black leggings. She had been glad to find a job she could help with from her couch.
Mum helped me fix my hair in the Alice in Wonderland style Pauline wears it in the illustrations – held back with a wide ribbon. I got out the face paints and painted Maisie’s face like a little black and white puppy. She looked really cute.
Zach and Bobby were already outside practising their lightsaber battle, and Dad was hanging up Maisie’s birthday banner along the trellis at the back of the garden. Mum, still stuck on the couch but determined to help as much as she could, was blowing up one balloon after another. I tied them together in bunches and Maisie brought them out to the garden so Dad could hang them up too.
The doorbell rang – Ruby and Laura were here.
‘Oh my God, oh my God, I’m so nervous!’ Ruby gasped as soon as she saw me. She did look a bit pale. ‘I keep thinking I’m going to forget my lines.’
I tried to reassure her. ‘You’ll be fine. We’ll all help you out if you get stuck.’
The girls had brought everything they needed – Ruby had the character shoes and skirt she was going to wear for her solo dance, and Laura had her different costumes. She went up to my room to change into the first one while Ruby measured out the space on the patio for the fifteenth time, wanting to make sure she was finishing her solo in the centre. I looked at my watch, wondering where Meg was – it wasn’t like her to be late.
I put out a row of cushions in front of the chairs, so the smaller children could sit there and get a good view. I also laid down a rug at one side of our ‘stage’ where cast members could sit when they weren’t performing. I thought wistfully how great it would be to have a proper stage with curtains and lighting and backdrops, but when I stood back and took a look at how everything was coming together it actually looked pretty good.
Laura leaned out my bedroom window and called to me. ‘Hannah, can you give me a hand with my hair? It keeps going wrong.’
I raced up the stairs to help. Laura’s bun was slightly lopsided and small pieces were escaping on either side. ‘We need more hair grips – millions of them – and tons of hairspray,’ I told her.
I brought her into Mum and Dad’s room so we could raid Mum’s hair supplies. I was glad to have a bad hairdo to distract me from my nerves.
I didn’t realise how long we had spent on Laura’s hair until I heard a car pulling up outside and saw Maisie’s friend Cormac get out, clutching a birthday present.
‘Eeeek! It’s party time!’ I told Laura, shoving the last hair grip into place. ‘We’d better go downstairs!’
The plan was to let the kids have a game of Pass the Parcel and a snack as soon as
they arrived, then we’d bring them out to the garden and get the show underway. Dad would pass around some popcorn about halfway through in case they were getting restless. They were only five or six and even though we’d kept the show pretty short we didn’t want it to get too much for their little attention spans.
More and more kids started arriving, and I was kept busy for a few minutes helping Dad to take their coats and bring them into the kitchen.
‘That’s right Ruth, sit down there beside Cormac – no Sally, we’re going to have a snack in a few minutes – Bobby, can you show John where the toilet is?’
Ruby came into the kitchen, looking worried. ‘Hannah, Meg’s not here yet.’
‘That’s weird,’ I said. ‘Maybe she’s forgotten the time – I’ll pop over and get her.’
But just then the doorbell rang again, and I had to answer it. This time it was some of the neighbours Dad had invited to watch the show. I started feeling nervous all over again – it was bad enough making a fool out of myself in front of Maisie’s friends, but all these grown-ups watching too was just too scary!
I was about to close the door behind them when I spotted the silver car outside Meg’s house.
‘Laura!’ I hissed. ‘Is that the car you were talking about?’
Laura and Ruby both came to the door.
‘Yes, that’s it!’ Laura said. ‘Now do you think it’s just someone selling house alarms?’
‘No,’ I admitted. ‘I think you’re right – there’s something going on.’
‘Should I call the police?’
‘And say what, exactly?’
‘I don’t know,’ Laura said.
‘Let’s go over there and see what’s going on,’ I said. ‘Come on, we’ll go around the back way.’
In the kitchen Dad had all the children playing Pass the Parcel and was sneakily stopping the music at a different child each time, so that each one got a chance to unwrap a layer. Zach was busy showing the neighbours to their seats, and Bobby was passing around cups of orange squash. Dad had helped Mum out to the garden so she could sit in a garden chair with her foot up on a stool, and she was making small talk with the grown-ups while jiggling Emma on her knee.
‘Won’t be a sec, Mum,’ I told her. ‘We’re just seeing what’s keeping Meg.’
Just then, over the noise of the party guests, I heard raised voices coming from next door.
Chapter Twenty-One
I glanced anxiously at my friends, but Laura walked on purposefully. ‘Come on, we have to see what’s going on.’
Peeping in at the kitchen window, Laura stopped and clutched my arm. ‘That’s him!’
‘The house alarm guy?’ I asked.
‘Yes. I mean, no! Meg’s dad, or whoever he is.’
I sneaked a look. There was a tall dark-haired man sitting at the kitchen table. Cordelia was walking around the kitchen waving her arms in the air, Meg was standing nearby with her arms folded and all three of them were talking over each other.
‘Should we knock?’ Ruby whispered.
Laura suddenly looked nervous too. ‘I feel like we’re interfering in a family row. If that’s what it is.’
Next thing the door opened and we heard Meg say, ‘Look, I’m going now! My friends are depending on me.’
‘Meg, wait …’
‘No, Dad! We can talk about this later, OK?’
Meg came storming out the door, then stopped dead when she saw us.
‘Hi,’ I said nervously, feeling like we’d been caught spying. ‘We thought we’d better come and find you – it’s time for the show.’
‘Is everything OK?’ Laura asked.
‘Not really,’ Meg said. ‘My dad just showed up, and now my parents are fighting again.’
Cordelia appeared behind Meg at the door. ‘Meg, darling … Oh.’ She too stopped dead when she saw us.
‘We were just looking for Meg,’ I started to explain again.
‘Of course, darlings! Your show! Can we come and watch?’
‘Yes, of course,’ I said, though Meg looked pretty cross. ‘Do you want to come through the hedge?’
‘Thanks, Hannah darling. Doug, these are Meg’s friends.’
We finally got a proper look at the mysterious dark-haired stranger as Cordelia ushered him out into the garden.
‘Hello,’ he said. ‘I’ve been hearing all about this show and I can’t wait to see it. Meg just can’t keep away from performing!’ He beamed all round at us, not looking at all like someone who was going to try to kidnap Meg in broad daylight. And Cordelia definitely wasn’t scared – just pretty irritated.
Meg showed them the way and pointed out some empty seats at the back. She was about to follow them through the hedge, but I stopped her.
‘Meg, what’s going on?’ I asked. ‘Is that really your dad?’
‘Yes.’ Meg looked embarrassed. ‘I know you guys were wondering about why I didn’t talk about him, but it’s just that my parents have this kind of … tempestuous relationship, I guess you’d call it.’
‘Oh, Meg, you should have just told us,’ Laura said. ‘I mean, that’s pretty common for separated couples.’
‘Well, that’s the thing. They’re not technically separated,’ Meg said. ‘They’re just sort of – living in different countries at the moment. Mum wanted me to have a break from – um – Dad’s work stuff, so she decided we’d move here for a while, and of course Dad had to stay behind.’
I was trying to get my head around it. It sounded pretty complicated.
‘What does your dad do, exactly?’ Laura asked.
Meg checked to see that her parents had moved out of hearing. ‘I’m not really supposed to say.’
My imagination started to run wild, but Laura was two steps ahead of me. ‘Is he in the secret service? Or is he on the run from a criminal gang?’
Meg started laughing. ‘No, nothing like that. He, um, works in films. They both do actually.’
‘In FILMS?’ we all exclaimed at once.
‘Shhhh!’ Meg said. ‘I told you I’m not supposed to talk about it.’
Suddenly everything started to fall into place. Everything Meg knew about acting – all her little sayings about bad dress rehearsals and the show must go on. Cordelia’s dramatic personality. Sadie’s amazing Aladdin’s Cave attic.
Another thought struck me. ‘Has this got something to do with why you didn’t want to tell your mum about the show?’
‘Sort of.’ She hesitated. ‘There’s a bit more to it, but I can’t tell you everything yet. Sorry. I’m not even supposed to have told you this much!’
‘We won’t tell anyone,’ I promised.
‘I’m kind of relieved, actually,’ Ruby said. ‘Laura thought your dad was trying to kidnap you. She was all set to call the police.’
‘RUBY!’ Laura had turned scarlet. ‘I wasn’t really going to call the police.’ She glanced sideways at Meg. ‘Sorry, Meg. I guess I let my imagination run wild.’
Luckily Meg saw the funny side. ‘Oh my God – that’s just like you, Laura! No, it’s just all been a bit crazy. Mum was fed up of Hollywood, and …’
‘HOLLYWOOD!’ All three of us were staring at her, open-mouthed.
‘Yes, well, that’s where we were last anyway …’ Meg trailed off.
‘Are you four stars nearly ready?’ Dad was standing at the hedge shading his eyes from the sun. ‘I’ve got a fairly demanding audience here who aren’t going to stay quiet for much longer.’
‘Aaaaaagh. This is it, guys!’ I said to my friends. ‘Time to go on stage – we can’t keep them waiting. You’ll have to tell us the rest later, Meg. OK, everyone got everything they need? Laura, I left your Nana stuff on the chair in the kitchen so you can change quickly.’
Ruby looked almost sick with nerves. ‘Don’t worry, Ruby, you’ll be fine,’ I said. ‘Remember if you get stuck and forget your lines just make something up, OK?’
One by one we slipped through the hedge. My mind whirling, I st
epped on to the patio, facing our audience. All Maisie’s little friends were sitting on rugs at the front, while the adults sat behind them on chairs. Meg’s parents were sitting beside Mum. I spotted Rebecca from the library at the back, and she gave me a friendly smile. I took a deep breath.
‘Thank you so much for coming, everyone, and welcome to Maisie’s party.’ I smiled at my little sister, sitting expectantly with the rest of the cast as she waited for her turn to come on. ‘I’m very proud to welcome you to the very first show by Star Club – and guests. Our first act will be a scene from Ballet Shoes by Noel Streatfeild, starring Laura Ryan as Madame Fidolia, Meg Howard as Petrova, Ruby Callaghan as Posy, and me, Hannah Kiely, as Pauline. We hope you enjoy the show.’
I happened to glance up just then and saw Tracey watching us from her bedroom window. My stomach lurched, thinking she’d be getting ready to mock us, but I told myself to ignore her.
All of us were in the first scene from Ballet Shoes. We had decided that I would do a little introduction to each scene. I explained to the audience that in this scene the Fossil sisters were going to their new stage school for the first time and were waiting to meet Madame Fidolia. I knew even as I was speaking that I was going too fast. Then I spotted Sadie in the back row of the audience. Dad must have let her in while we were at Meg’s. She was smiling and nodding at me in encouragement. I took a deep breath and tried to settle my nerves as we began the scene.
‘Look at all these photos!’ I said, as Ruby, Meg and I walked around the stage, pretending to examine photos on the walls. Suddenly I started to relax a little bit. I wasn’t me at all – I was Pauline, and what I was nervous about wasn’t the audience watching, it was the fact that I was going to meet Madame Fidolia.
‘Being on stage wouldn’t be so bad if I could dress up as a cat like these children,’ Meg, as Petrova, said. ‘Doesn’t it look like fun?’
‘I’d rather be a dancer,’ Ruby said. ‘I’d like to have flowers in my hair.’
Posy’s big sisters immediately scoffed at this, and it gave me a thrill to hear lots of laughter from the audience as I said the line ‘Imagine being so vain – how could anyone want to be one of those girls when you could be a cat!’
Hannah in the Spotlight Page 12