by Lyn Gardner
“Olivia! It’s me, Pablo. Let me in.” She ignored him. She climbed as fast as she could up the stairs. At the top she was met by another policeman, who tried to grab her but she kicked his shins so hard that he doubled over in pain. She squeezed through the window, looking for where Jack had fixed the wire so she could climb to the very pinnacle of the tower and on to the tightrope.
The policeman had recovered and was shouting for help as he grabbed her feet and pulled. But Olivia kicked out as hard as she could and he let go. In that moment she scrambled out on to the tower, clambered up the final couple of metres and stepped out on to the wire.
“Come back!” called the policeman, but it was too late; his words were blown away on the wind as Olivia took another step forward. She shivered. She had never been on a wire in such treacherous conditions; the wind seemed to be delighting in trying to whip her off. She took another careful step and looked up. At the other end of the wire, she saw her father’s face, his eyes wide, his mouth gaping in astonishment and horror. He shook his head as if he couldn’t believe what he was seeing. Then he shook his head again, as if forbidding her to come any closer.
The wind caught her and it felt as if someone had punched her very hard in the small of the back. She steadied herself and tried not to think about the immense drop beneath her and the dark waters below. She took another step forward, gaining confidence, and took several more. She was only ten metres or so from Jack. She took another step towards him, smiled and put out her arms. He broke into a smile and put out his arms. She waved and he waved back. Then Jack began moving nimbly towards her as if he hadn’t a care in the world.
Down below in the gathering darkness, the crowd erupted with excitement. They thought this must all be part of the act. One person on the tightrope had been thrilling enough but two meant double the excitement! They roared their approval. The TV journalist became hyperactive, throwing her arms around madly, and the TV cameras zoomed in as Olivia and Jack hugged in the middle of the wire.
“What on earth do you think you’re doing?” he shouted.
“Trying to help you,” Olivia yelled back.
“Well, as you’re here, you’d better make yourself useful,” her dad grinned. “Hold these,” and he passed her the sack and the cane. Before she could stop him, he had flipped over and was standing on his hands. He tumbled his way along the wire and back in an exhilarating display of acrobatics. The crowd whooped and clapped. He pointed to the sack, and Olivia opened it and pulled out a unicycle.
As she handed it to him, he shouted, “You’ll find an umbrella in there too. Once I’m mounted and away, open it up and give it a twirl.” Olivia watched her father mount the unicycle and find his balance. He began to pedal. Down below, the crowd cheered and thousands of camera phones flashed. Olivia pulled out the umbrella, which was unexpectedly heavy. Taking care so it wasn’t caught by the wind, she opened it. Showers of silver and gold confetti fell from the inside down on to the heads of the crowds below, who went crazy.
Jack dismounted from the unicycle, took his daughter’s hand tightly in his own and they bowed together. The crowd screamed and shouted their approval.
Jack kissed Olivia’s cheek. “I couldn’t have done it without you, chick,” he said
Chapter Forty-Two
The Swan cast stood on the stage of the Palladium, looking tense. They were waiting for the results. The voting was over, the telephone lines had closed and in just a few minutes they would know whether or not they had made it through to perform in front of the Queen. There were five acts left in the competition, but only three would be on the final bill.
Please, please, let it be us, thought Georgia to herself. She knew that, somewhere out in the audience, her mother would be sitting watching and Georgia wanted to make her really proud.
Olivia looked down and smiled at Eel, who was jiggling with excitement beside her, and then looked nervously across to the wings where Miss Swan, Abbie and Sebastian were all waiting expectantly. Abbie grinned and raised both hands with her fingers crossed. Sebastian put his thumbs up. Olivia felt both exhausted and exhilarated.
They almost hadn’t made it to the Palladium in time. When Jack and Olivia had descended from the tower, they had been met by several grim-faced policemen who seemed intent on arresting them, despite the fact that the crowd were cheering and going wild trying to get near enough to congratulate them. Even the TV reporter had become incoherent with excitement.
“How does it feel for the Great Marvello to be back?” she asked Jack flirtatiously.
“It feels great to be back where I belong,” said Jack, “and it’s all down to my daughter Liv, and her love and support.”
“He is the greatest,” said Pablo, who had appeared with several magazine photographers in tow and was busy trying to negotiate exclusive deals.
Abbie and the others fought their way over to them.
“Olivia, we’ve got to go!” said Abbie desperately. Olivia raised her arms helplessly. A more senior policeman pushed his way towards them.
“Where have you got to go?” asked Jack.
“To the Palladium – we’re in the final to perform at the Children’s Royal Spectacular.”
“You too, Liv?” asked Jack wonderingly.
“She’s the STAR,” said Tom.
Jack looked thoughtfully at his daughter. “You’re full of surprises, chick. Some of them nice and some of them nasty. I almost died when I saw you up there on the wire.” He took her hand and squeezed it. “You shouldn’t have done it. You could have been killed. But I’m glad you did. I’m very proud of you.” He looked around at the cheering crowds and TV cameras. “They seem to have liked it.”
“It was a triumph,” said Pablo happily. “Your dad, Olivia, he is the best tightrope-walker in the world, and you are a chip off the old block.”
“Right then,” said the police inspector. “I need your full names and addresses.”
“She hasn’t got time to give you her name and address, she’s got to come with us,” said Eel.
“She won’t be going anywhere for quite some time,” replied the inspector ominously.
“But it’s a matter of life and death; we’ll be disqualified if she doesn’t come now!” said Eel impatiently.
“Disqualified from what?” asked the inspector.
“The finals of the Children’s Royal Spectacular,” explained Abbie. She looked at her watch. “It starts in just under an hour. If we don’t go now we’ll be disqualified.”
“You’re having me on,” laughed the inspector, but then he looked at Eel, Georgia and Aeysha and a flash of recognition crossed his face.
“I know you, I saw you on TV in the last round. You’re from the Swan, aren’t you? You were fantastic. We voted for you, the wife and kids and me. We all want you to win.”
He looked at Olivia as if trying to make up his mind and then he said, “Strictly speaking, I’m not sure you’ve broken any law, apart from damaging the shins of one of my policemen. Go on, get on your way. We’ll give you a police escort to get you to the Palladium. It’s your dad I really need to speak to anyway. Good luck.”
Which was how they had arrived at the Palladium in two police cars with their sirens wailing and just ten minutes to spare. They were met by Alicia and Sebastian, who had hurried them into their costumes and on to the stage.
Olivia didn’t even have a second to feel nervous. She just remembered standing on the wire and seeing Georgia giving her an encouraging smile. Then she was entirely swept up by the performance. She was Juliet. She was fourteen and living in Verona. She was experiencing all the excitement of her very first ball. She saw her Romeo and it was love at first sight. She was head over heels. Her life would never be the same. Her heart soared. Time stood still. Her fate was sealed.
The judges had looked sceptical when they had spotted the tightrope, but by the end they were on their feet with everyone else, declaring the performance the unexpected triumph of the series.
Now the moment of truth had arrived. Olivia stood on the stage between Tom and Georgia, who were both squeezing her hands so tightly it hurt. She grinned at Georgia, who grinned back at her. Georgia had spotted her mum in the audience, who had given her the biggest grin of all, to let her know Georgia had made her the proudest mum in the whole world.
“This is the moment you’ve all been waiting for,” said the presenter. “The lines are closed, the votes have all been counted and I can tell you that the first of the three acts going through to perform at this year’s Children’s Royal Spectacular is…” He paused for dramatic effect. “The Treetops School of Dance and Drama!” The children leapt around and hugged each other.
“The second act through is … Pearl, the youth breakdance group from Manchester.” There were more screams and cheers.
“And the final act through, topping the bill at the Palladium, is…” There was another long pause and then he said two words: “The Swan.”
The stage and auditorium erupted, and in the mayhem Olivia looked across into the wings and saw that Jack was there. He was standing right next to Alicia, and they were hugging each other and crying.
*
Later that evening, Olivia, Eel and Jack were all sitting in Alicia’s flat. They had just finished watching a recording of the televised show and were demolishing the final scraps of takeaway pizza. Jack’s phone went off and he went into a bedroom to talk to Pablo. Eel had been on YouTube and announced that the clip of their performance had already had 200,000 hits, and the one of Olivia and Jack on the high-wire over Tower Bridge even more.
“Bet it will be up to half a million by tomorrow,” she said with a satisfied smile. “We’ll all be famous!”
“Stage-school brat,” said Olivia, but her eyes were laughing. Jack came back into the room. He and Pablo had to report to the police station tomorrow, but the inspector had made it clear that charges were unlikely to be brought.
“Actually, they ought to give you a medal for cheering up London,” he had said.
Offers of work had also been flooding in since the stunt, with one big North American circus asking Jack to name his price and a Las Vegas hotel offering him a residency with double the money if Olivia came too. Newspapers wanted exclusive interviews and a TV company wanted to fund his next stunt and make a documentary about it.
Jack smiled at Alicia and sat down on the sofa. Both Olivia and Eel snuggled up to him.
“Girls,” he said seriously, “we need to talk about our future.”
Eel looked at him anxiously and started wriggling around on the sofa with nerves. She opened her mouth to speak.
“Listen to what your father has to say,” said Alicia, silencing her with a single look.
“I’ve had lots of offers,” said Jack, “and there are some that are very tempting, although I’m not sure Las Vegas is really me. But I’ve had one offer that I’m minded to accept, but I want to run it past you two first, because if I do say yes then it will affect you both.”
“What is it?” asked Olivia, her heart thumping.
Jack smiled at Alicia.
“Your grandmother intends to make circus training part of the curriculum from next term and she’s invited me to become the Swan’s Head of Circus. I love teaching and it would give us a steady income and somewhere to live. But,” he paused, “it would also mean that you two could stay here at the Swan to continue your education and training.”
Eel gave a whoop of joy and threw herself at Alicia.
“I knew it would make you happy, Eel,” said Jack with a smile. “But what about you, Liv? I know you didn’t want to come to the Swan in the first place, and your grandmother and I will quite understand if, after everything that’s happened, you don’t want to stay beyond the end of this term and the Children’s Royal Spectacular performance over Christmas. Alicia has promised that Eel can stay on even if you decide against continuing, and we’ll find somewhere else for you. Maybe you and I will even go back to Italy, and Eel can join us in the holidays. I promise to do whatever will make you happy, Liv. You don’t have to say now. Please think about it.”
“I don’t need to think about it,” said Olivia. “I know what will make me happy.”
Everyone looked at her expectantly. Olivia took a deep breath.
“I never thought I’d hear myself saying this, but the Swan feels like home. It’s where I belong, and what would make me happy is being here with Eel and with Gran. And being with friends like Tom and Georgia and Aeysha and Abbie. I’ve never really had friends before because we never stopped anywhere long enough to make them. I want to stay on at the Swan next term.”
“Well, that’s all settled then,” said Eel happily, throwing herself into a mighty jiggle.
“Actually,” said Olivia, “I don’t think it is.” Everyone looked at her, surprised. Her face was serious. She turned to Jack.
“I know you’re a great teacher, Dad. You’re the best. But do you really want to be one? Term in, term out. You have a circus soul, Dad, just like Eel has a dancing soul and Mum had an acting soul. You’d get restless here, and after a while you’d feel as if we’d tied you down. You’d be like a caged bird always dreaming of flying away. I couldn’t bear that to happen to you.”
“But we could all be together here,” said Alicia. “Surely you’re not proposing that your father abandons you again and sets out on another of his wild adventures.” There was an edge in her voice.
“That’s exactly what I am proposing,” said Olivia quietly. “But Dad isn’t abandoning us, we’re setting him free. He’d shrivel and die here at the Swan; he needs to be constantly on the wing. Like that spirit, Ariel, in The Tempest. I’ve been reading it.”
Jack was looking at his elder daughter and his whole face was suffused with love. “My Liv, chick,” he whispered.
“It would be totally irresponsible behaviour,” huffed Alicia.
“No, it wouldn’t,” said Eel, hugging Olivia and Jack. “It’s the rightest thing to do in the whole world.” Olivia looked at Jack and he gave an imperceptible nod, and all the tension went out of his face. He looked like a boy again.
“You’re right, Eel,” said Olivia. “It is the rightest thing to do. But we’ll only let him do it on one condition.”
“What’s that?” asked Jack worriedly.
“We want you to tell us everything you remember about Mum. How you met, when you fell in love, how you got married. And we want to see all the photos and mementoes in your box.”
“It’s a deal,” said Jack, his voice tight with emotion. “But you will join me in the holidays, won’t you? I couldn’t bear not to see you.”
They nodded.
“And you’ll be welcome here any time, Jack,” said Alicia, and to her own surprise realised that she really meant it.
“A toast. We should have a toast,” said Eel, raising her glass. The others raised theirs in turn.
“To Dad, may he have many adventures,” said Olivia, her glass of lemonade held high. She caught Alicia’s eye. “And to the best school in the world. Here’s to next term at the Swan. Whatever it may bring!”
Chapter One
Olivia Marvell jumped lightly on to the low wall outside the stage door of the Duke’s theatre, flipped forwards on to her hands, and walked the entire length of the wall upside down as if it was the most natural thing to do in the world. Her little sister, Eel, and her friend Aeysha clapped enthusiastically. Several passers-by walking down the passage that divided the Duke’s from the New Vic theatre next door stopped to applaud too.
Olivia flashed them a shy grin as she jumped gracefully down, wiped her hands on her jeans and said impatiently, “How much longer? They’ve been yonks. I’m going to explode into a billion pieces if I can’t tell them our news soon!”
A gaggle of children emerged from the stage door, adults in t
ow. Like all the children who had dribbled out in small groups over the last hour, they didn’t look too happy. One of the girls was snivelling, and her mother, a glamorous blonde with sharp features, said loudly, “Silly man. That director wouldn’t know real talent if it bit him on the nose. Never mind, Kelly, we’ve got bigger fish to fry. You’re on the shortlist for that car commercial. It’s much better paid.”
“But I wanted to be in The Sound of Music and sing ‘Do-Re-Mi’…” whined Kelly, her voice drifting into the distance as they walked down the passageway.
“Not long now; they’re down to the last few,” said Bert, the stage door keeper. He’d slipped out from behind his counter just inside the stage door to join Olivia, Eel and Aeysha. Nobody, not even Gus the theatre cat, got into or out of the Duke’s without passing by eagle-eyed Bert. He prided himself on knowing everything that was going on and was a fount of delicious gossip.
“So do you think that Tom and Georgia will be cast in The Sound of Music?” asked Eel, doing the little wriggle that had given her her nickname.
Bert shrugged. “The longer they’re kept back, the better it looks for them. But there’s another group of kids coming back for a final audition this afternoon, so nothing’s certain. The director, Jon James, and the casting director may not finally make up their minds for days. And of course Chuck Daniels’ll be trying to stick his oar in.”
“Who’s Chuck Daniels?” asked Aeysha.
“He’s important; he’s the producer. He raised the money to stage the show. Anyway, they’ll want to decide which kids they think will work well together in which teams. I doubt anyone will be told today, although I have known it happen.”
“Teams? It makes it sound as if they’re going to play netball,” said Eel, wrinkling her nose.
“No,” explained Bert with a smile. “There are six Von Trapp children without counting Liesl, but they’ll cast eighteen children in the roles and split the children into three teams. Each team rehearses and performs together and the three teams share the eight performances a week between them. That way nobody gets too tired. But it does mean auditioning a lot of children.”