Calling the Shots (13 page)

Authors: Annie Dalton

BOOK: Calling the Shots

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I felt myself relax. That picture told me everything I needed to know. Honesty Bloomfield had made it.

By this time, though, I was on a roll, so I went into the film history section to see what the movies buffs had to say about Tony Mantovani’s movies. To my disappointment, I drew a complete blank.

“I don’t get it,” I said to myself.

“Hi, Mel. How’s it going?” Brice came mooching round the stacks, looking distinctly dangerous in a way you totally don’t expect in an angelic library. He registered Lola and said in a slightly different voice, “Oh, hi.”

She just nodded as if one fallen angel more or less in the library was no big deal.

“I’m trying to find Tony Mantovani,” I explained, doing my best to act as normal, and if I say so myself, I thought I pulled it off pretty well. “He made a movie called Dangerous Pearls, and Honesty’s sister played the heroine, but no-one seems to have heard of it.”

“Did you check through the library’s vintage movie collection?” Brice suggested.

I didn’t tell him I hadn’t known our library possessed a vintage movie collection. I just rushed off to ask the librarian, and a few minutes later she pushed a heavy metal spool across the counter.

“Director’s cut,” she said proudly.

My mouth fell open. “This is the actual
film
!”

“The original copy of Dangerous Pearls was destroyed in a warehouse fire, not long after it was finished,” said the librarian. “But as you probably know, we keep copies of every film ever made.”

“Omigosh, I had no idea!” I shrieked.

Several angel trainees looked up from their books and said “Sssh!”

I wandered around until I found Brice. “But how will I watch it?” I said pathetically. “It’s like,
really
old technology.”

He gave a deep sigh and took me to a door near the library’s spiral staircase. I peered wonderingly into a dinky retro movie theatre, which I had completely never noticed. It had plushy seats, red velvet curtains, a screen, and best of all, an old fashioned movie projector.

“Have fun, sweetheart,” said Brice and he sauntered off, doing his dangerous bad-boy walk.

As he mooched away, I thought,
well that wasn’t so bad, Melanie. Providing you only meet him in totally public places.

That night I took all my mates to the movies. We did it American style, with popcorn and Hershey’s Kisses and Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups.

Chase started up the projector, and I hugged myself happily as I heard it starting to whirr in the dark.

It was almost as good as being back in the Golden Palace Picture House. The film had been digitally re-mastered to recreate the authentic Twenties film experience. As the title Dangerous Pearls came up, dramatic piano music filled the theatre.

I know, I know, I should have acted really cool and let my mates watch the film in peace, but I just couldn’t help interrupting. I kept going, “Oh, that’s Clem with the puppy. Mr Mantovani really hated that poor little dog. It kept widdling on his shoes,” and, “Rose could have been a famous celebrity, you know, but she wanted to be an intellectual, so what can you do?” I was just so incredibly proud that I had actually been with these human while this film was being made.

“Oh, you’ve got to watch this bit,” I interupted suddenly. “This is where they tied poor Rose to the train tracks. Honesty was convinced she was going to be mashed by an express train. I wasn’t too happy about it myself, so I surrounded Rose with— Omigosh!”

Lola burst out laughing. “Hey, girl, you’re a celebrity!”

I gazed in pure astonishment at the screen.

The scene was very nearly as I remembered it, with Rose miming wide-eyed terror, and the villain pulling evil expressions.

But now three people were in shot: the heroine, the villain, and a girl in a pink Kung Fu Kitty T-shirt and boot-cut jeans.

“But how…?” I breathed. “I wasn’t even
visible
, not then.”

“This is the heavenly copy,” Reuben reminded me softly.

“But I look-I look…” I was so happy I’d lost the power of speech.

Like an angel
, I thought.
I look exactly like an angel
.

About the Author

Annie Dalton has been shortlisted for the Carnegie medal and won the Nottingham Children’s Book Award and the Portsmouth Children’s Book Award.The twelve Angel Academy books (previously known as Agent Angel), became an international best selling series. Annie lives overlooking a Norfolk meadow with a ruined castle, in a row of cottages that were rescued from bulldozers and lovingly rebuilt by a band of hippies.

www.anniedaltonwriter.co.uk

Also by Annie Dalton

Urban Fantasy Books

Night Maze

The Alpha Box

Naming the Dark

The Rules of Magic

Angel Academy Series

Winging it

Losing the Plot

Flying High

Calling the Shots