by Lyn Gardner
“Katie? Kate Wilkes-Cox?” asked Alicia, sounding very surprised.
“Yes,” replied Aeysha. “It was only because of Katie telling Liv about the plan to cut down the trees and when it was going to happen that we were able to get everyone out this morning.”
“We’d already had a meeting and given out leaflets in the area about the threat to the trees,” said Georgia, “but that would all have been useless if Katie hadn’t provided precise information about when Mr Wilkes-Cox planned to do the deed.”
“I’m astonished,” said Alicia. “This can’t be the same Katie-Wilkes-Cox who pushed Georgia off the stage in order to steal her starring role in the school concert, who tried to frame Livy for theft and get her sent away from the Swan, and who did everything she could to destroy Livy’s friendship with Tom and the others?”
“No,” agreed Aeysha. “I don’t think it’s the same Katie at all. Liv’s convinced that she’s changed. I think rather than admiring her dad, she’s finally seen him for the ruthless weasel he really is.”
“That’s very brave of her. It must take a lot of courage to stand up for what she thinks is right and go against her own dad. He’s always been such a dominant force in her life,” said Alicia thoughtfully. She glanced at her watch. “We must go, Jack. I need to get along to the theatre. I just hope that the first preview of Peter Pan isn’t an awfully big misadventure. I’ll make you another Thermos before I go.”
Chapter Twenty
Jasper was in his dressing room when the text came through on his smartphone. It was from one of Cosi and Cosmo’s ex-minders who he’d packed off back to California. Despite the hefty pay-off Jasper had offered, the man had been furious about the termination of his contract and had warned that the twins would get into all sorts of trouble without him there to keep an eye on them. On the contrary, Jasper thought that the twins had both seemed happier without having somebody constantly on their tail.
Cosmo was turning into a damn fine actor too. He had clearly inherited the family talent. Sometimes when Jasper watched him it made his heart hurt as he was transported back in time to his own childhood when he had sat in the dark of a different auditorium far away in America watching another golden-haired boy play Peter Pan. A boy who never grew up. Cosmo wasn’t as good. But he showed promise.
Jasper was lost in thoughts of the past, thoughts that he seldom allowed himself. He roused himself in preparation for the preview ahead. He was desperate for it to go well, for a Wood family triumph, but in his heart he knew that Cosi was the weak link. That other girl, the flying double, Octavia, had real talent. He could see it although he’d never admit it. Just as he’d never admit that he really knew her name was Olivia. Olivia Marvell. She had been good for Cosi too, but there was something else about her. She had that indefinable spark that makes you shiver as you watch in the dark, just as he had shivered all those years ago watching that boy play Peter Pan with such careless, heartbreaking grace.
What was he going to do about Cosi? He knew he needed to have more patience with her; he knew that he needed to let her go. But what would she do? She was so wan and listless. She seemed to lack courage but maybe that was because he had made her so afraid of him. It was his fault but he didn’t know how to put it right without risking everything that was so precious to him.
Jasper sighed. He supposed he ought to read the goon’s text but he guessed it was trouble. The man probably wanted to sue him. He opened it. It simply said, “This will interest you” and underneath was a hyperlink. Curious, Jasper tapped on the link, which took him to YouTube. For a few seconds he couldn’t work out what it was that he was watching. He could see lots of trees and people and bulldozers. It was chaotic and noisy. Then he realised that he was watching his own daughter standing in front of a bulldozer to prevent it cutting down the trees. He heard her speak with cool and commanding determination.
Jasper’s colour began to rise. He should never have allowed Jon to persuade him to get rid of the minders. Cosi could have been killed. He clenched his fists with fury. He peered more closely at the screen and at Cosi’s brave, defiant face as the bulldozer edged inexorably towards her. She didn’t even flinch, and there in her bright eyes he suddenly saw it – that indefinable spark. His anger melted away, he felt his throat tighten and he suddenly felt a painful mix of love and pride for his brave daughter.
Olivia was putting the final touches to her make-up. She felt quite nervous, although she knew that she didn’t have very much to be nervous about. She loved the flying during Peter Pan, and she only had a dozen or so lines to deliver when she was pretending to be Cosi during the flying swaps. She delivered them as much like Cosi did as possible. Everyone had agreed that they looked so alike that nobody would notice, except for Tom who had privately told Georgia and Aeysha that the audience might perceive a sudden improvement in the quality of the acting.
Olivia knew the entire script by heart, having gone over and over it with Cosi and Cosmo to help them learn their lines, and she had filled in on several occasions during rehearsals when Cosi had been absent for some reason. There was part of her that wished that she could get a shot at doing the whole thing in front of an audience, although that was never going to happen because even if Cosi missed a performance it would be Petal, Cosi’s understudy, who would go on, not her. She was just the lowly flying double. She didn’t even have her name in the programme or get to take a curtain call because nobody connected with the production wanted the audience to know that Cosi wasn’t doing all her own flying. Jack had been ticked off for even mentioning her in a little interview he had done when he was still working on the production, and Jon had been really apologetic when he explained that she wouldn’t be credited because in a few weeks’ time, once the production had opened, everyone hoped that Cosi would eventually be able to handle the flying herself.
Not that Olivia minded about the lack of a credit. Everything she had to do was over by the end of Act III when Wendy, who is stranded with Peter on Marooner’s Rock, grabs on to a kite tail that carries her away over the rising water to safety. It meant that by the interval Olivia was free to go, and tonight she wanted to get back to the Swan as soon as possible and check how Jack was doing after taking up residence in the tree. She hoped he wouldn’t fall off his perch when he went to sleep.
She finished her make-up, adjusted her blue bow and went off to find Cosi. Poor Cosi had got quieter and quieter as the day had gone on. She was obviously dreading tonight’s performance, even though she had got so much better over the last few days. There were scenes in which she was really quite good now. Cosi and Cosmo seemed to have made their peace and Cosmo was really helping his sister as much as he could. Olivia guessed that Tom had had something to do with that. But she knew it would still be a relief to Cosi when the first preview was over. Earlier she had been in the other girl’s dressing room and had noticed a series of strokes marked on a large sheet of paper pinned to the wall.
“What’s that for?” she’d asked, intrigued.
“Oh, that,” said Cosi. “Each stroke represents a performance. There are a hundred and four of them. Every time I’ve done one I’m going to strike it through.”
“But that’s what prisoners do in jail to count down the days until they’re released,” said Olivia, who was rather shocked.
“Well, that’s what doing this show feels like to me,” said Cosi fiercely. “I feel like I’m imprisoned in a life I don’t want to lead. I can’t wait until I’m eighteen and I can do what I like. I’ll never act again.”
Olivia thought how terrible it must be to feel like that and pitied Cosi. Even when she did eventually manage to break free from her dad, she wouldn’t be able to get her childhood back. It would be lost forever.
She had a little good-luck present for Cosi. It was a badge with a picture of a polar bear on it with a speech bubble coming out of his mouth saying: “Melting ice is a hot topic for me.” Olivia knew that Cosi would love it. She’d been so incredibly
brave the way she had stood in front of the digger to save the trees. She had really stood up for something she believed in.
The announcement came over the tannoy that the theatre was now open. Soon it would be filling up with people buying drinks in the bar and looking at their programmes. There were already lots of photographers hanging around outside and it was only the first preview. Olivia decided to go and give her present to Cosi after she’d seen Pablo to check that there hadn’t been any further problems with the flying equipment.
“Ah, Livy,” he said when he saw her, breaking into a broad grin. “I hear from Tom and Cosmo that the crocodile was a great success and chased the villainous tree-cutters away.”
“Yes, it was a case of fighting reptiles with reptiles,” said Olivia, smiling. “They got the croc back to you OK?”
Pablo nodded. “Nobody at the theatre ever knew it had gone on a walkabout. But I wonder what the people on the bus it travelled home on thought. Maybe some of them thought it was real.”
“Tom and Cosmo bought it back on the bus?”
“Yes. Tom was most unhappy because the driver made him buy a ticket for it. I hear Cosi was very brave this morning, Livy.”
“She was amazing,” said Olivia. “Everyone was, but particularly Cosi and Jack.”
“Jack should be here tonight doing the flying. I’m sorry it is me. He did not deserve what happened to him. His system is perfect.”
“Has there been any more sabotage?” whispered Olivia.
Pablo shook his head. “I have not let the rig out of my sight. And now my stomach is growling. Livy, could you watch the equipment for me for a few minutes while I buy a sandwich?”
“Of course, Pablo. No hurry.” Pablo went off whistling and Olivia crouched down behind one of the curtains where she’d be hidden from view from anyone who came near. She liked listening to the sounds of the stagehands calling to each other as they made their preparations for the performance. She saw Jon and Jasper Wood, who was dressed as Mr Darling, talking earnestly to each other on top of the pirate ship. Jasper was pointing something out to Jon.
The pirate ship reminded Olivia of a nativity play put on by the Reception class in a school in Cornwall she’d attended. It had been just for a few months while they over-wintered with the circus. Olivia was only little and Eel had just been born. She’d been too shy to take part, but she had helped make the costumes, sticking fruit gums on to the crowns of the three wise men, and trying not to eat too many of them so that there were enough for all three crowns. She had thought that the fruit gums didn’t look anything like precious jewels at all. But when she had watched the nativity play from a distance, the crowns looked as if they were studded with rubies and emeralds, and during the performance Olivia had kept tugging Jack’s arm and loudly telling baby Eel, who was lying asleep in Toni’s arms, “I made them!”
The pirate ship brought the memory back vividly, because it too was a fake constructed largely from wood and gold paint. It didn’t even have a deck, and was quite hollow inside with just a few platforms and ladders. But when the Jolly Roger sailed into view at the start of Act V, proudly flying the skull and crossbones, it would look just like a real ship to the audience. Even during rehearsal, everyone in the auditorium had clapped when it had first sailed on to the stage, and they all knew it was being operated by a computer and needed an extra shove from behind to get it moving. Suspension of disbelief, wasn’t that what it was called? thought Olivia. How amazing that you could sit in a darkened theatre for a few hours and believe the impossible: that children could fly, fairies existed and that Never Land was a real place on the map.
Olivia was snapped out of her thoughts by the sound of someone coming softly towards the flying rig. She guessed it was one of the stagehands just passing by and kept herself hidden. But the footsteps stopped. Olivia peered out from her hiding place, her heart thumping. She was relieved to see that it was only Cosi looking like a little ghost in her white Edwardian night dress. Olivia was about to step out of hiding but something in Cosi’s manner made her hesitate. The American girl looked furtively around. Then she reached for one of the ropes, raised her arm and Olivia saw something glinting in her hand.
“Cosi!” cried Olivia, shocked. Cosima swung around, startled to see Olivia appearing from her hiding place.
“I saw Pablo leave … I thought … I thought nobody would see me…” The small, sharp knife in Cosi’s hand clattered to the ground between the two of them. For a second both girls looked at it and didn’t move. Then Olivia shook her head as if she couldn’t believe her eyes and whispered, “It was you! You’ve been sabotaging the flying rig. Oh, Cosi, how could you?”
Cosi opened her mouth as if to say something but all that came out was a little desperate cry and then she fled, fluttering away like a small, white, wounded bird.
Pablo passed her as he arrived back clutching a coffee and a cheese and tomato panini.
“Is Cosi all right? She looks upset,” he asked. He saw the distress on Olivia’s face, and then he noticed the small knife on the ground.
“Livy, what’s going on?”
“I can’t explain now, Pablo. But you don’t need to worry about the rig being sabotaged any more. I know exactly who is responsible.” She raced off after Cosi, leaving Pablo staring after her in bewilderment.
Chapter Twenty-One
“How could you?” shouted Olivia. “I can hardly bear to look at you, let alone speak to you. You should be so ashamed of yourself.”
“I am,” sobbed Cosima. “I hate myself and what I’ve done.”
“You claimed to be my friend but you could have got me killed, and you forced Jack, who has been so kind to you and tried to help you so much, to resign from Peter Pan in disgrace. You’re despicable. You’ve betrayed us all. I don’t know how I ever thought that you were a real friend.”
The two girls were locked in Cosima’s dressing room. Olivia had chased up the stairs after Cosi, who had reached her dressing room and tried to slam the door shut in her face. But Olivia had been too quick for her and had pushed the door open, and once she was through, turned the key in the lock and pocketed it. Cosi had flung herself on to the little bed in the corner and wept uncontrollably. The stage manager’s voice came through the tannoy announcing the half and that “The house is now open”.
“I don’t understand you,” said Olivia coldly. “This morning you were so brave, and then I discover that you’ve been doing something that only a coward would do. It’s awful. You’re awful. I admired you because you really seemed to believe in something and were prepared to stand up and fight for your beliefs. You were amazing when you talked to the school at that meeting and persuaded everybody how important it was to save the trees. We all believed in you because you seemed to believe in something bigger than yourself. But all the time you were just a fake. You may say brave things, do brave things when we’re all watching, but when we’re not looking you’re sneaking around sabotaging other people’s hard work and putting their lives in danger.”
“I never meant to put anyone’s life in danger. If you believe nothing else, please believe that, Livy. I never wanted anyone to get hurt. Not ever,” sobbed Cosi.
“So what did you think you were doing?” demanded Olivia.
“I thought the only person risking getting hurt was me,” said Cosi in a tiny voice.
“You wanted to fall? So that’s why you loosened the wires and cut the rope? That’s sick,” said Olivia, shaking her head.
“No, I didn’t want to fall; I was really scared of falling. You know I’m not brave like you and I haven’t got a head for heights,” said Cosi tearfully. “I just thought that if I got swung around a little bit like that actress did when she played Peter Pan, I’d be able to have a few days off and then either you or Petal could take over and everyone would see how useless I am as Wendy, and I wouldn’t have to play her in front of an audience. I swear on my life I never intended for anyone else to get hurt. I specifically got J
ack to show me the wires and ropes that worked my harness, so I thought whatever I did it would only be me who could possibly be affected. I never dreamed you’d get hurt or Jack would lose his job because of me. You don’t know how much I’ve wanted to confess and make everything all right again. It’s been eating me up inside. I’m so sorry. I really am.”
“It’s easy to say sorry after the event, when you’ve been found out,” said Olivia scornfully. “But I still don’t understand why you’d go to such extreme lengths.” The tannoy announced the quarter and Olivia could hear the buzz of the audience as the auditorium began to fill up.
“Because nobody listens to me!” shouted Cosi. “I keep telling everyone that I can’t do this. I can just about manage the rehearsals but I can’t go out there in front of an audience and be Wendy. But nobody believes me. I’ve even told you, Livy, but you just tell me that I’m getting better and that it will be all right on the night. Well, the night has come and it’s not all right, is it? That’s why I tried to cut the rope just now. I’m desperate, Livy. I’ve been trying to do it all afternoon but Pablo was always there. Then I saw my chance. I was going to cut one of the main ropes so that the entire flying system had to be rerigged and the performance would be cancelled. But you caught me and now you know just how despicable I am.”
Olivia said nothing.
Cosi carried on. “I’d would do anything you asked me to at this minute, even walk into the jaws of a crocodile, apart from one thing. I just can’t walk out there on to that stage in a few minutes’ time. I just can’t do it! Everybody – Dad, Jon, your gran, even Cosmo – they think that I just don’t want to do it. That I’m just being a bit flaky. Or that I’m not trying hard enough. They don’t understand. I. Can’t. Do. It. I’ll just freeze.”