Night on Terror Island (21 page)

Kip let go of Beth and Rose’s hands and stepped off the platform. They followed, all of them staring around, as though trying to convince themselves that they really were back in the projection room of the Paramount.

‘That was very nearly an unhappy ending,’ Kip told Mr Lazarus. ‘When we finally got to Rose, she was just about to go off with Kara Neetly in a helicopter.’

Rose shook her head.

‘Her name was Tamara Flyte,’ she said. ‘And she was an anthro … an anthro … she was a nice lady.’

‘Yes, she seemed very nice,’ said Mr Lazarus. ‘And she looked after you well.’ He smiled at Kip. ‘I saw the last scene, by the way. It was very emotional.’

Kip shrugged his shoulders. He glanced at Beth. ‘Are you OK?’ he asked her.

She nodded. ‘That was beyond weird,’ she said.

‘It was ’orrible,’ whispered Rose. ‘There was snakes and Number Tails and all kinds of nasty things. Just wait till I tell Mummy and Daddy what happened.’

‘You don’t need to tell them,’ said Beth anxiously. ‘Do you?’

‘Yes I do.’

Kip fixed Mr Lazarus with a look and lowered his voice to a whisper. ‘What are we going to do about Rose?’ he asked.

Mr Lazarus smiled.

‘
Do
about her?’ he echoed.

‘She’ll tell everyone what happened. Anyone who’ll listen. She won’t be able to stop herself.’

‘And you think people will believe her?’

Kip shrugged.

‘They might if she goes on about it enough.’

Mr Lazarus considered for a moment. Then he nodded.

‘Rose, come here,’ he said. ‘I have something to show you.’ He pulled an old-fashioned pocket watch from his waistcoat. It looked just like the one he had given to Norman. ‘Now, look at this for a moment,’
he
said. He let it dangle from its length of chain and began to swing it gently from side to side. ‘If you look really closely,’ he said, ‘you’ll see a little dancing pony.’

Rose fixed her gaze on the watch and Kip noticed Mr Lazarus’s lips moving as though he was chanting something under his breath. Suddenly, Rose’s eyelids fluttered and she began to fall. Kip caught her under her arms and looked at her pale face in dismay.

‘What’s wrong with her?’ he gasped.

‘Nothing,’ Mr Lazarus assured him. ‘She’ll sleep now and when she wakes up she’ll remember hardly anything about her experience. If she should ask any questions, just tell her it must have been a nightmare she had.’

Kip nodded. He lifted Rose into his arms and carried her across to the folding bed on the far side of the room. She was clearly in a deep sleep but her chest rose and fell and there was a smile on her face, as though she was having a nice dream.

Only now that he was out of the film, could Kip fully appreciate what he had been through. He lifted a hand to his face and rubbed at his eyes.

‘You must be exhausted,’ observed Mr Lazarus. ‘After all, it’s not every day you take on Neanderthals and sabre-toothed tigers.’

‘And a giant bat,’ said Beth. ‘I expect you missed that bit.’

Mr Lazarus nodded. ‘I didn’t see
everything
,’ he admitted. ‘Most of the time I was following the action with Rose. But I did see you arrive on the roof. That was quite a scene.’ He smiled. ‘I think we should all head outside now,’ he added. ‘If I’m correct, your father will be arriving back any moment. Let’s hope he doesn’t notice how grubby you all are.’

‘Dad!’ Kip had forgotten all about his father’s trip to the hospital. He glanced at Beth. ‘We have to act like it’s just been a normal night at the Paramount,’ he warned her.

Beth was looking down at her torn T-shirt and stained jeans.

‘Don’t worry, I wasn’t planning on telling anyone the truth,’ she said. ‘Though how I’m going to explain this lot, I don’t know. These jeans were clean on today.’

‘I think you three need to get a good night’s sleep,’ said Mr Lazarus. ‘We can discuss what happened in more detail when you’ve had time to think it over.’

‘Yes,’ said Kip. ‘Good idea.’ He pointed to the Lazarus Enigma. ‘As for that thing, you need to take it apart. Seriously. We can’t risk having any more accidents like the one we had with Rose.’

Mr Lazarus smiled thinly.

‘Like I say, let’s discuss it later. If I dismantle the system, then we won’t have the improved picture
quality
and sound. Two things that I think are already helping the cinema to find the wider audience it needs.’

‘Well—’ said Kip.

‘No, come along now, no more discussion! Let’s get you outside. We’ll talk about this another time. And besides, we need to see the rest of the audience out.’

‘The audience!’ Kip opened his mouth in dismay. He’d forgotten all about them. He looked at Beth. ‘What are they going to think?’ he gasped. ‘They must have seen everything!’

‘They’ll think they’ve seen a very bad film,’ said Mr Lazarus calmly. ‘One or two might even tell themselves that they’ve seen somebody they recognise in there. But who’s going to believe what they say? That the boy who sells the popcorn and his friend were in a Hollywood movie?’ He laughed. ‘Who would believe such a ridiculous story? And if they should come back for another look, well, they’ll see that they must have been mistaken. Because the film will be back the way it was always meant to be.’

Kip lifted Rose into his arms again and swung her carefully across his shoulder. She didn’t stir. She seemed to be in the deepest sleep.

‘You’re sure she’ll wake up?’ he muttered.

Mr Lazarus nodded. ‘Of course,’ he said. ‘Trust me, Kip. You worry too much. Everything is going to be
fine.’
He held out a gloved hand. ‘But I think once again you have forgotten something, yes?’

Kip looked at him, puzzled, and then realised what he was talking about. He unslung the Retriever from around his neck and handed it over. Mr Lazarus slipped the device into his waistcoat pocket. Then Kip unbuckled the leather holster containing the Communicator and Mr Lazarus dropped it onto the workbench.

‘That thing conked out,’ Kip told him. ‘At a very awkward moment.’

‘I’ll have a look at it,’ Mr Lazarus replied. ‘It probably needs a few adjustments. There now. All done. Come along, you two.’

They made their way down the stairs of the auditorium and out into the foyer. The last stragglers were wandering through the exit, many of them looking extremely confused. Kip overheard one guy telling his friend that
Terror Island
had to be the most ridiculous film he’d ever seen. What was all that stuff about the little girl? And what about that weird bit where everything went into reverse and then speeded up again?’

His friend nodded. He couldn’t understand why
Nessun Dorma
had started playing really loudly during one sequence, drowning out all the dialogue. Who were those two kids who seemed to pop up out of nowhere right at the very end of the film?
And
why did they look so maddeningly familiar? Kip made sure that his face was turned away as the two customers walked past him.

‘So, what did you both think of the experience?’ asked Mr Lazarus.

‘Scary,’ said Kip. ‘Very scary.’

‘And very emotional,’ added Beth. ‘You really felt like you were in it.’

‘So it wasn’t all bad news?’

‘No,’ murmured Beth. ‘It was a real adventure. One that I’ll never forget.’

They reached the exit doors and stepped out into the cool night air. Kip found himself glancing nervously up and down the darkened street.

‘Relax,’ said Mr Lazarus. ‘There are no Neanderthals here. Unless you count
them
.’ Across the road, a party of people waiting at a bus stop were staring at Kip and Beth open-mouthed. Clearly they had just watched the film.

‘I wish they’d stop staring at us like that,’ muttered Beth.

‘I don’t know,’ said Kip. ‘I think it’s kind of cool. It’s almost like we’re movie stars now.’

‘Yeah. For one night only,’ said Beth.

Mr Lazarus looked at the two of them sternly. ‘I hope it goes without saying, but I’ll say it anyway. Tell nobody about your little adventure. If people like the ones across the road ask, “Wasn’t that you in
the
film I watched last night?” tell them they must be crazy. This has to remain our secret.’

Headlights illuminated them suddenly and Dad’s car moved quietly into the vacant parking spot in front of the cinema. He wound down the window and looked out at them.

‘How’s that for perfect timing?’ he called to them. Dad did a double take. ‘Good grief, Kip, you look
filthy
!’ he exclaimed.

‘Er … yeah, it was quite messy cleaning up tonight. A lot of … spilled popcorn. Beth gave me a hand.’ Kip took the opportunity to change the subject. ‘Rose fell asleep ages ago,’ he said. ‘I guess it
is
kind of late for her.’

‘Pop her in the back seat,’ suggested Dad. ‘Beth, I’ll drop you at your place on the way home.’

‘Thanks, Mr McCall.’ Beth opened the rear door and Kip laid his sister gently on the back seat, then slid in beside her.

‘How’s Grannie?’ Kip asked as Beth walked around and climbed into the passenger seat.

‘She’s fine,’ Dad told Kip. ‘I managed to get a message to your mum. She came to the hospital and is staying on there a bit longer, just till your gran is properly settled.’ He looked out at the smiling face of Mr Lazarus. ‘Any problems tonight?’ he asked.

Mr Lazarus shook his head. ‘None at all. In fact, it was a great success. Very nearly a full house. I’ll lock
the
takings in the safe for the night, before I er … head for home.’

‘Thanks,’ said Dad. ‘I don’t know what I’d have done without you.’

‘My pleasure, Mr McCall. I hope you know that as far as the Paramount is concerned, I will do everything in my power to keep it going.’ Mr Lazarus raised a gloved hand. ‘Now, I’ll say goodnight to you all.’ He glanced at Kip and winked slyly. ‘Sweet dreams,’ he said. He walked back to the entrance and stepped inside, closing the door behind him.

Dad shook his head. ‘You know, sometimes, you’d almost swear he
lives
in that cinema,’ he said. He started up the engine and drove away. They travelled the short distance to Beth’s house in silence and stopped outside. Beth opened the door and climbed out.

‘Thanks, Mr McCall,’ she said. ‘Goodnight.’

Kip opened his door too.

‘I’ll just say goodbye,’ he said and Dad gave him a meaningful look, but Kip ignored it and walked with Beth along her garden path to the door of her house. They stood there for a moment. It was a clear night, and a crescent moon sailed in a nearly starless sky, so different from the huge full moon and the millions of shimmering stars they had witnessed in the skies over Terror Island.

‘That was … fantastic,’ said Kip.

Beth nodded. ‘I’ll say. Think Rose will remember any of it?’

‘I hope not,’ said Kip. ‘I don’t want to be the one who has to explain everything to Mum and Dad.’

There was a long silence before Beth said, ‘It
was
amazing though, wasn’t it? I mean, it was so …
real
.’

Kip nodded. ‘Like watching a great movie,’ he said. ‘Only better.’

‘I was, like, terrified. But at the same time, it was kind of cool.’ She thought for a moment. ‘And, boy, did we kick Neanderthal butt!’ They laughed.

‘Of course, we can’t ever do it again,’ said Kip. ‘It was way too dangerous.’

‘I guess,’ agreed Beth. ‘Unless …’

Kip looked at her.

‘Unless what?’ he asked.

‘Well, unless it was a film that wasn’t so deadly. You know, a comedy, or something …? A film where people don’t get eaten.’

‘We’ll have to see what comes up,’ said Kip. ‘Let’s sleep on it.’

Beth nudged him in the ribs. ‘Hey, I don’t know if they give Oscars to people who visit movies, but you should get one for that little speech you made on the roof. When you told Rose you cared about her, and all that?’

Kip smiled.

‘That’s because it’s true,’ he said.

Beth raised her eyebrows and gave him a disbelieving look.

He smiled. ‘Sure she can be a pain, but you know what? I meant every word of it. What was it your mum likes to say? You don’t know what you’ve got till it’s gone? Well, for a minute there, it looked like she
was
gone and I didn’t like the idea, not one little bit.’

Kip glanced at Dad’s car, realising he was probably impatient to get home, but he wanted to linger just a moment more. He’d talk about the adventure with Beth tomorrow in the full daylight, but then it wouldn’t seem quite so real. It would be like some dream he’d had. Right now, it was still almost close enough to touch.

‘You were great, by the way. For a girl, I mean. You know, the way you handled yourself in there? When that Neanderthal was throttling me, the way you …’ He made a slashing motion with one hand. ‘Well, thanks, anyway.’

‘No worries,’ said Beth. She smiled. ‘It’s late. I’d better go in.’ She leaned forward and gave him a light kiss on the cheek. He felt himself colouring up, but somehow couldn’t stop himself from grinning with pleasure.