“I am. But I don’t know which one. Kristi said she’d take a look at my stuff, but I haven’t wanted to bother her. She has enough on her mind.”
“All the more reason to bother her. She needs something to take her mind off the stolen guitar,” Bailey said, rubbing the sleep from her eyes.
Elizabeth nodded. “Good point. I’ll go ask her now.” She started for the door.
“Um, Elizabeth?”
“Yeah?”
“You might want to wait until it’s light out.”
Elizabeth looked out the window. The stars were still bright. The clock read 5:47 a.m. “Another good point.” She turned the light out, crawled back into her bed, and tried to relax her nerves.
“As soon as we finish eating, let’s find an empty classroom, and I’ll listen to your songs,” Kristi told Elizabeth over breakfast.
“Finding an empty classroom shouldn’t be a problem,” said Bailey. “I just happen to know of a class that has lost its teacher!”
“Yeah, I wonder if we’ll still have our songwriting class, or if they’ll just cancel it.” Elizabeth finished off her last bit of scrambled eggs just in time to see Mr. Forrest headed their way.
“Good morning, ladies. Did you sleep well?”
Elizabeth nodded, and Bailey shook her head. “Some of us have roommates who like to wake up before the roosters.”
Mr. Forrest smiled. He pulled up a chair and looked at Kristi. “How would you feel about leading the songwriting class today?”
Kristi lifted her eyebrows and dropped her jaw. “Me? You want me to lead a class?”
“Why not?” Mr. Forrest asked her. “You probably know more about music than half of my staff. And I’ll be in there with you. I thought you might want to tell the other students about your dad, about all his hit songs, who he’s played for, how he gets his ideas…we could even listen to some of his music.”
Kristi’s face brightened. “I’d love to do that. I just wish Dad were here to teach the class himself.”
Mr. Forrest looked thoughtful. “Maybe I’ll ask him to be on staff at next year’s conference, if he’s feeling up to it.”
“He would love that,” Kristi said with a smile.
A short time later, Elizabeth sat at the keyboard in the empty classroom, playing and singing for Kristi. She had chosen three of her best songs. She’d let Kristi decide which one she should perform.
“I like them all,” Kristi said. “But I think this one could be even better if you’d change this chord progression, and move the bridge to here.” She pointed to Elizabeth’s page. “May I try something?”
Elizabeth scooted over, and Kristi sat at the bench. She began playing, and soon she had turned Elizabeth’s song into a masterpiece.
“How did you do that?” Elizabeth asked her.
“I don’t know. I just hear the music. Some of it I inherited from my dad, but a lot of it is just practice. The more songs you write, and the more you experiment, the better you’ll get at knowing what will work and what won’t. It’s just like anything else. Practice makes perfect.”
“Maybe so, but you have a gift. You’re like some kind of musical genius!” Elizabeth told her.
Kristi laughed. “Not really. I’ve just been around it all my life. It’s become a part of me.” She grew quiet. “That’s why I wanted to go to Julliard. I want to keep learning from the very best musicians. But, I guess there’s nothing I can do about that.”
Elizabeth realized, for the first time, that Kristi needed to go to Julliard. Mr. Forrest had been right. Kristi knew more about music than most of the people on his staff. Here she was at a music conference, wanting to learn, and she was doing the teaching. Julliard was probably the only place Kristi would find musicians who knew more than she did.
Lord, please make a way for Kristi to go to Julliard.
“Elizabeth, you need lipstick,” Mary-Lynn said as the girls got ready for the evening’s talent show. “And if you’d just let me do something with your hair, I could make you look like a star. I’ve done it once already, you know.”
Elizabeth laughed. “No thanks. One night as a superstar was enough for me. Tonight, I just want to be myself.”
“Suit yourself,” Mary-Lynn told her and leaned forward to apply mascara to her own lashes.
“I’ll take some of that lipstick,” Bailey said, and soon Mary-Lynn was giving Bailey a full-scale makeover.
Kristi sat on the bed watching them. “You all are going to be great.”
Elizabeth plopped down next to her.
“I can’t believe you’re not going to be in the show. You’re the most talented person here, and everyone knows it.”
Kristi laughed. “I’m not so sure about that, but thanks for the compliment. No, I’d rather sit back and enjoy the show. Besides, without my guitar—dad’s guitar—I’d just feel strange.”
“But you were going to sell it anyway,” said Bailey.
“I know. But I didn’t want to.”
“Don’t you wonder what it will feel like, performing on the stage at the Grand Ol’ Opry?” Elizabeth asked her. Kristi grinned. “No. I’ve already done it.”
“You what?” asked Elizabeth, Bailey, and Mary-Lynn in unison.
“When I was six years old, Dad had me come onstage with him and perform a song. I was too young to appreciate it then. I just sang, and everybody clapped. But now, I realize what a great moment that was.”
The girls were speechless. “That is so cool,” whispered Bailey.
Mary-Lynn stood back and surveyed her handiwork. “You look smashing, dahling.”
Bailey spun around and showed off her new look. Elizabeth tried not to laugh. She looked like a miniature, dark-haired Mary-Lynn. Minus the freckles.
“Girls, you know I love you,” Bailey told them. “But the minute we step out that door, it’s game time. Don’t think of me as your friend. Think of me as your fiercest competitor!”
Elizabeth laughed. “I’ll remember that.”
Soon, the girls gathered their things and headed for the buses, which were waiting to take them to the legendary music hall. It was nearly showtime.
Elizabeth was the last performer on the program that evening. She sat next to Kristi for most of the show, applauding loudly for both Mary-Lynn and Bailey. Either of them had a shot at the trophy, as did any of the other dozen or so performers. This was a talented group of people.
When it was almost her turn to take the stage, she stood to leave. Kristi grabbed her hand it squeezed it.
“You’ll do great,” she said. “Just remember. It’s not about you. It’s about what you can give to others.”
Lord, that’s why Kristi needs to go to Julliard. She has both the talent and the heart. Please make a way for her.
As the announcer called her name, Elizabeth walked onto the stage. She took a deep breath and tried to savor the moment. No matter what happened, she would have this memory. She was actually going to perform on the stage of the Grand Ol’ Opry. Unbelievable.
“Go Elizabeth!” she heard Bailey yell from the audience. Elizabeth couldn’t help but remember Bailey’s words from earlier. Fierce competitor, indeed.
Elizabeth took her seat at the keyboard, adjusted the microphone, and said, “I’d like to dedicate this song to Kristi Conrad, who has taught me not only how to be a better musician, but how to use the gift of music to help others. Thanks, Kristi!”
She took a deep breath and let her fingers glide over the keys, playing the notes Kristi had suggested. Softly, she began to sing:
“Jesus, I long for Your Spirit,
I long to be made new.
Jesus, I know only You can change me.
Make me a mirror of you.
Make me a mirror of You, my Lord,
May each thought be pure and true.
May Your Spirit guide my footsteps
In all that I do,
And make me a mirror of You.”
Elizabeth finished the song with Kri
sti’s chord progression, softly fading away. The room was still for several long moments, until finally one person began to applaud. Then another and another, until Elizabeth looked out and saw the audience in a standing ovation. Here she was, getting a standing ovation at the Grand Ol’ Opry! She smiled, for she knew they weren’t applauding for her. They were applauding for her Lord.
She exited the stage, and Mr. Forrest patted her on the shoulder as she passed by. “Well done,” he said to her before he took the microphone.
“Ladies and gentlemen, this has truly been one of the greatest displays of talent I’ve seen in a long time. Thank you to each of the contestants for making this evening such a pleasurable one for all. While the judges are tallying their scores, I have a special presentation to make. And there is someone special here to help me make it.”
The audience gasped, then applauded as Dolly Parton walked onto the stage. “Thank you, Rick. It’s a pleasure to be here. As many of you know, this has been a difficult week for one of your participants. Kristi Conrad came here expecting to sell her dad’s guitar, to earn money for Julliard. Unfortunately, that guitar was stolen. Kristi, would you come up here, please?”
Elizabeth and Bailey nudged Kristi from either side. The poor girl was in shock. Slowly, she stood and made her way to the stage. Dolly put her arm around her and said, “Kristi, I understand that you are one talented young lady. I don’t doubt it, if you’re anything like your father. A group of your dad’s old music buddies have put together the Joshua Conrad Music Scholarship fund, and we’d like for you to be our first recipient. This should be enough to get you through four years of Julliard, and then some.” She handed Kristi an envelope.
Tears flooded unchecked down Kristi’s face. “Thank you,” she whispered. “I don’t know what to say.”
The room erupted in applause, and Elizabeth had to wipe tears from her own face. Thank You, God. I knew You’d make a way for her!
Suddenly, Dolly felt in her pocket and left the stage pulling a cell phone out of her pocket. The audience continued their applause, and a moment later the star returned, holding up her hands.
“Quiet down, folks! I’ve just had some wonderful news! They’ve caught the man who had Kristi’s guitar. Kristi, your guitar will be returned to you as soon as the police have finished their investigation. And now, you won’t have to sell it!”
Kristi covered her face with her hands, overcome with emotion. Elizabeth looked around the room, and saw many people wiping tears. The applause continued for many minutes.
Finally, Mr. Forrest directed people to take their seats, and a man in the front row handed him an envelope. “We have the results from our panel of judges. The grand prize winner of this year’s talent show is…Miss Elizabeth Anderson!”
Bailey and Mary-Lynn jumped up from their seats, whooping and hollering. Elizabeth, however, was in shock.
“Elizabeth, go up there! You have to get your trophy!” Bailey urged her.
Standing to her feet, she walked to the front of the room as the audience continued their applause. Dolly held a hand out to her and helped her up the stairs. “I was backstage and heard your song. That was beautiful. You keep using that voice of yours to sing for the Lord, okay?”
Elizabeth smiled and accepted the trophy from Mr. Forrest. Kristi stepped forward and offered a big hug. It was almost more than Elizabeth’s emotions could handle.
“It’s funny how the Lord works,” she whispered into Elizabeth’s ear. “Bailey and Mary-Lynn came to the conference wanting to be discovered, but they’re cheering for you more than anyone. You came to stay in the background, afraid no one would like your songs. But you placed your focus on God, and you won a trophy!”
“And just when you were about to give up hope, God provided money for Julliard and returned your guitar,” Elizabeth whispered right back.
God is good, thought Elizabeth. He really does put a song in my heart.
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Camp Club Girls: Elizabeth Page 42