Olivia and the Movie Stars (12 page)

Chapter Twenty-Two

Jon slipped into a seat in the stalls between Alicia and Eel. Georgia and Aeysha were sitting on the other side of Eel. Eel’s phone bleeped. She saw the message was from Olivia, read it quickly and then showed it to Georgia and Aeysha. Their eyes grew round as saucers. Eel grinned at them. This was going to be fun!

“Is everything under control, Jon?” asked Alicia.

“The show
will
go on,” he said, a little
over-brightly
.

“You’ve done a good job. It’s not been easy. And just remember that an audience seldom notices mistakes.”

“I sometimes think the whole thing has been a mistake right from the start, although at
the time it seemed such a good idea casting the Wood family.”

“Well, it’s certainly brought in the crowds. There’s not an empty seat. Amazing for the first preview.”

“Yes, it’s a completely full house,” said Jon, turning round to have a look. He suddenly groaned.

“What’s wrong?”

“Some press and bloggers are in. Must have paid for their tickets. I’ve just seen a couple of arts correspondents as well as the showbiz diarist of one of the tabloids. The papers and the bulletin boards and the blogs will be passing judgement tomorrow even though it’s still almost three weeks to press night when we let the critics in.”

“Well, let’s just hope everyone rises to the occasion, even Cosi,” said Alicia as the music began and the lights began to dim.

“
Especially
Cosi,” said Jon.

“Oh, I think she will,” said Eel with a big grin. “I think she’s going to be fantastic.”

“We do too,” chorused Georgia and Aeysha and they broke into giggles until Eel shot them a warning look.

Olivia and Cosi were standing in the wings with Tom. Olivia had given him a potted version of what had happened, and he had some concerns. “Are you sure this is a good idea, Liv?” he whispered again.

Olivia nodded briskly. “I’ve got to do it, for Cosi’s sake. Anyway, it’s too late to go back now. Just remember I’m not Olivia, I’m Cosi. Spread the word among the other kids. If anyone asks, they’re absolutely certain that I’m Cosi. But don’t tell the adults. They may try and stop us. Only Pablo knows.”

The curtain swung open, the lights came up on stage and Nana could be seen, folding the children’s clothes. The audience laughed. Mrs Darling appeared and went to close the nursery window and, as she did so, Cosmo’s face appeared eerily at the window as if he was a ghost trying to get in. It was so spooky that the audience gasped and Mrs Darling cried, “Who are you? What do you want?” before he disappeared. Then Tom took Olivia’s hand and pulled her on to the stage, and Cosi, her head bent over as she pretended to be Olivia, slipped
away to where Pablo was waiting for her. He hid her out of view in the place where Olivia normally waited to fly while he continued to work frantically to adjust the rigging now that no swapping was necessary.

On stage, the lights were hot and bright. For just a second Olivia’s stomach felt as if it had been popped in a tumble dryer, and then almost as quickly it settled again and she felt a surge of adrenalin. Tom squeezed her hand. Chloe Bonar caught sight of them, stared at Olivia for a beat, but without stumbling just carried on with her next line.

Then Jasper Wood appeared on stage as Mr Darling. He took no notice of the children at all, and instead concentrated on a piece of business with Mrs Darling in which she mothered him like a small child and helped him with his bow tie. The scene continued as Mr Darling suggested that it was mistake to have a dog for a nanny and Mrs Darling confessed her fears about the boy at the window. Even when Michael protested over taking some medicine and Wendy ran to get Mr Darling’s medicine so he could take his, too, Jasper didn’t seem to notice that the girl offering him the bottle and spoon was not his daughter.

Then the scene was over and the lights in the nursery were dimmed. Cosmo flew in through the nursery window with Tinkerbell, who, to the audience’s delight, was represented by the dancing flame that had been Jack’s idea. Cosmo’s Peter Pan found his shadow in the chest of drawers and Olivia sat up in the bed and asked, “Boy, why are you crying?” After that the scene just sped by and Olivia forgot that she was Olivia Marvell and was instead just a girl called Wendy Darling about to fly off on the biggest adventure of her life.

In Row G of the stalls, Alicia and Jon glanced at each other. Everything was going so well. Chloe Bonar was charming, Jasper was surprisingly comic, Nana the dog was so delightful that Jon was sure they’d be inundated with letters from children offering her a home, and Cosmo was unexpectedly ethereal as if he wasn’t a boy at all but a spark made by rubbing childhood and innocence together to make a flame. But it was Cosi as Wendy who was the real revelation.

Jon and Alicia leaned forward in their seats. This Wendy wasn’t just the Edwardian “little mother” of Barrie’s original. She had
Wendy’s softness but somehow she seemed far more contemporary, infinitely more spirited, and touched by something sadder too, as if she already knew that her days in the nursery were numbered and that if she didn’t fly to Never Land this very minute she never would. The audience was entranced. Both puzzled and astonished by Cosi’s unexpected transformation into such a consummate actress, Alicia and Jon leaned further and further forward in their seats. Alicia’s jaw suddenly dropped open. They turned to each other at the same moment.

“Are you thinking what I’m thinking?” asked Jon.

Alicia nodded. “I certainly am,” she whispered.

“What’s going on?” asked Jon. He went to stand up.

But Alicia placed a restraining hand on his knee and shook her head. “Leave it, Jon,” she said gently but firmly. “Whatever will be will be.”

“We’ll have to make an announcement at the interval,” hissed Jon.

“Ssh,” said the man sitting behind him, who was one of
Peter Pan
’s angel investors.
Without his money, and that of his fellow angels, a production would never get off the ground. He was in a very good mood because a production and acting this good guaranteed a hit and he’d get a big return on his money. He particularly liked Cosima Wood’s Wendy. That girl was a real star. “It’s lovely. You’re spoiling it making all this noise.”

“It
is
lovely,” agreed Eel in a whisper. “Cosmo is fab and Cosi is amazing.” Jon stared at her. Couldn’t Eel see it was her own sister up there? He went to open his mouth but Alicia gave him a look that silenced him. He sat back in his seat, deciding to enjoy the show and worry about conspiracies later.

The scene before the interval was coming to a close. Peter and Wendy were perched on Marooner’s Rock in the middle of the lagoon as the waters rose threateningly around them. In a few minutes, they might both drown.

“Go, Wendy,” cried Peter, placing her hand on the tail of the kite that would carry her to safety.

“I won’t go without you,” she cried desperately.

“You must,” cried Peter. He pushed her from the rock and the kite lifted Wendy off her feet and carried her out over the auditorium, the music soaring with her. The audience gasped with pleasure, but then their attention was cleverly directed straight back to the stage where the waters were beginning to lap over the edges of the rock and Peter’s feet. A huge white moon rose in the sky and the stars came out, winking against the midnight-blue backdrop.

“To die will be an awfully big adventure,” cried Peter, and as he did so, a dozen mermaids appeared in the water as if by magic, the music rose to a crescendo and the curtain fell for the interval. For a moment you could have heard a pin drop and then the audience cheered and clapped loudly.

“It’s fantastic, Jon. You should be very proud,” said the man sitting behind them.

“It is,” agreed his wife. “The Wood twins are great. Particularly Cosima. Who’d have thought from that TV show she does with her brother that she could ever be so good?”

“She’s the best,” piped up their children, still clapping furiously.

Olivia, who had landed in the box furthest
away from the stage, unclipped herself from her harness, and raced down to the front of the theatre and round to the stage door. Then she ran full pelt up to Cosi’s dressing room where Cosi was waiting. The applause was still coming over the tannoy.

“You’re brilliant, Livy. I can hear it,” said Cosi.

“No, you’re brilliant, Cosi,” said Olivia, firmly stressing the “you”. “You’re giving the performance of your life.”

There was a knock on the door and Tom, Cosmo, Will Todd and some of the other children crowded into the dressing room. They were all up to speed with what was happening, and happy to go along with it. They all liked and respected Olivia and as far as the Lost Boys were concerned, anything Tom said was all right by them. He was a bit of a hero in their eyes. Besides, all of them, even the very youngest, had experienced that tickle of fear that heralds stage fright and knew what might happen should the tickle get out of control.

“Watch out! I saw Jon James and Miss Swan heading this way,” said the boy who played Nibs.

“Right,” said Olivia. “Is everyone ready? You all know what to do?” They all nodded. “I want Oscar-winning performances from all of you. You particularly, Cosi. Don’t blow it, now.”

There was a sharp knock at the door and Jon James strode in, followed by Alicia, Eel, Georgia and Aeysha.

“What on earth is going on—” The director broke off. The children were surrounding Cosi and cheering her wildly.

“You were fantastic, Cosi!” said Tom.

“Inspired,” said Cosmo. “Dad and I are so proud of you, sis.”

“I’m very proud of you, too, Cosmo. I’m glad you’re my twin.” Cosi met her brother’s eye and a look of understanding flashed between them. Cosmo smiled.

“You were awesome, Cosi,” said Eel. “I know that Jon and Gran are really impressed.”

“We are,” said Alicia with a twinkle in her eye. “It’s like some kind of miracle. And you too, Cosmo. You have surpassed yourself. You’re a real actor.” For once Cosmo seemed to be lost for words.

“Isn’t Cosi good, Mr James?” said Will, turning to Jon and looking as if butter wouldn’t
melt in his mouth.

Before Jon could reply there was another knock on the door and Pablo walked in. “I just came up to congratulate you on your magnificent performance, Cosi. All of us on the technical side, we watch you very closely and we are very admiring of your talent,” he said.

Jon looked at Pablo as if he had gone raving mad. A little smile of amusement began to play around Alicia’s lips.

“Thank you,” said Cosi charmingly. “All I can do is my best.”

Pablo turned to Livy and gave her an almost imperceptible wink. “Your flying, Livy, it is good tonight but not as good as Cosi’s acting. But you and Cosi and Cosmo are our little stars.” He turned to Jon. “You must be very proud of them all.”

Jon, who was feeling ever more confused, opened his mouth. “But … but …” he started.

At that moment Jasper Wood – now dressed as Captain Hook with a wig that looked like black candles had melted over his head – burst into the room without knocking and said delightedly, “No buts, Jon, it’s going swell. Everybody says so. This is going to be a Wood
family triumph.”

The children looked at each other, and Alicia raised an eyebrow. Had Jasper really not noticed what was going on? The five-minute bell rang, signalling the end of the interval. Jasper swept Jon out of the room with him and Tom, while Cosmo and the other children followed, leaving Alicia alone with Olivia and Cosi. She looked at them both very hard.

“You do realise that what you’re doing is utterly unprofessional, don’t you? But no doubt you have a good explanation and I will of course expect to hear it eventually.” She gave her granddaughter a piercing gaze. “But it is by any standards a most remarkable performance. Keep it up, girls.” She left as the three-minute bell rang and the call went out over the tannoy for “beginners Act IV”.

Cosi immediately put on her coat and pulled a hat that Pablo had lent her down over her eyes.

“Ready?” asked Olivia. “You’ve got the torch?”

Cosi nodded.

“You
must
be back in time for the curtain call,” Olivia reminded her. “I can’t carry that off.
The audience will realise I’m not you.”

“Don’t worry, I’ll be back,” said Cosi. “Do you think Jack’ll be very angry with me?”

“I can’t answer that,” said Olivia. “All I know is that he deserves to hear from you what you did to him.”

Chapter Twenty-Three

Alicia and Jon settled into their seats again. Jon had wanted to stay backstage and watch from the wings, but Alicia, with a little help from Eel, Georgia and Aeysha, had firmly steered him back to his seat.

“You realise we are colluding in a con, Alicia,” hissed Jon. “We’re deceiving the audience. They think they’re seeing one thing and they’re really seeing something else entirely. I expect we could be arrested under the Trade Descriptions Act. I really should make an announcement.”

“But, Jon,” said Alicia smoothly, “what would you announce?” She waved her arm around. “That all these people are having a fantastic night at the theatre and really
enjoying themselves?”

Aeysha said, “My mum always says that all theatre is a kind of deception, and that it only works because the audience wants and allows itself to be deceived.”

“That’s why it’s so magic,” said Georgia with a little shiver. “The audience has to join in. We have to want it to work for it to work.”

“Yes,” said Eel. “When I was in
The Sound of Music
I used to think that it was like being a magician. You make people see what you want them to see, so they believe it’s all magic. That’s what a theatre director does too.”

“The girls are right, Jon,” said Alicia. “The audience enjoys the collusion so why spoil it for them by breaking the illusion and telling them how it’s being done?”

Jon didn’t look convinced.

“Look,” continued Alicia. “If you asked that man sitting behind you whether or not he believes in fairies, he’d laugh and say of course not. But I guarantee that in half an hour’s time, when Peter says that Tinkerbell is dying because she has drunk medicine poisoned by Captain Hook and the only way to save her is for everyone in the audience to say that they
believe in fairies then that same man will shout that he does at the top of his voice and maybe even with a tear in his eye. I don’t know what is going on tonight but maybe you should just allow yourself to believe in magic.”

“Do you all believe in it?” asked Jon.

“Of course we do,” chorused Eel, Georgia and Aeysha.

Then Alicia added, “Like the rest of this audience, bar possibly you, while the curtain is up I’m prepared to believe that I am watching Cosi Wood give the performance of her life. Who is to say whether it’s true or just a beautiful illusion?”

“And tomorrow? What will we do at tomorrow’s performance?”

“Oh, don’t worry about tomorrow; tomorrow will sort itself,” said Eel brightly, and she sang a snatch from
Annie
. The lights dimmed and the curtain went up to reveal the Lost Boys’ home under the ground.

Cosi crept along the river path from the direction of the Swan. It was very dark and she felt a little frightened to be out on her own in such blackness. But the stars were out and she
could see boats going up and down the river so although she was alone she didn’t feel too far from other people. But she was pleased she had her torch. Best of all, she could see the trees. Jack had fixed up some fairy lights and she could see the banners they had put up blowing in the breeze. She knew that she had to hurry if she was going to get back to the theatre in time for the curtain call. But the closer she got to the trees and Jack, the more her feet dragged. How she dreaded telling him! It wasn’t so much that she feared his anger; the thing she feared most was that he would pity her. She couldn’t bear that, although pity was the best that she could hope for and more than she deserved.

She was so close now that she could see Jack moving about in the trees. He was like a monkey, entirely unconcerned about how high up he was in the branches. She so admired his physical ease. She saw him swing himself on to a zip-wire and make his way to the ground, where he had a folding chair and small picnic table with a Thermos, a book and a torch. He unscrewed the Thermos and poured himself a cup of something hot. Cosi could see the liquid steaming by the light of his torch. It was, thought
Cosi to herself, now or never. She started to step out from behind her tree but, instead of sitting, Jack put down his cup, picked up his torch and strolled away towards the bushes. She guessed he was going to relieve himself. She hung back, feeling a little bit embarrassed. She would hate to be caught spying so she turned off her torch. It was eerie standing alone in the pitch blackness.

As her eyes adjusted to the dark she noticed another figure bobbing through the trees from the other direction. The figure was torchless and running as lightly and soundlessly as a panther. She wondered whether it was a jogger. But the figure ran through the trees straight towards Jack’s table and, just for a moment, picked up Jack’s cup. Then he ran onwards, passing within a few trees of where Cosi was standing watching in the darkness. She held her breath and the figure passed on oblivious to her presence. What odd behaviour! For a moment Cosi had thought that whoever it was had intended to steal Jack’s cup. But who would want to steal a plastic cup? Maybe, she reasoned, it was a jogger overcome with a raging thirst while out for a run. But when she thought about it, she couldn’t remember seeing the figure take a drink; it had looked
more as if he’d been putting something into the cup. Maybe the jogger took sugar?

She was still puzzling when she saw Jack returning from the bushes. She waited until he sat down in the chair and picked up his book. She took a deep breath. She had to speak to him, and soon. It was almost nine fifteen. She knew that around now Tinkerbell would be drinking Peter’s poisoned medicine. Suddenly she realised what she had just witnessed. She saw Jack pick up the cup and raise it to his lips, and with a great screech Cosi started running towards him as fast as she could. Jack looked up in alarm as she skidded into him and knocked the cup from his hand.

“Hello, Cosi,” said Jack very calmly. “It’s lovely of you to pay me a visit, but shouldn’t you be on stage?”

“Your drink!” said Cosi, shaking with shock. “I saw somebody put something in it.” Jack looked sceptical. “I did!” she gasped. “I was hiding behind that tree and when you disappeared into those bushes somebody tampered with your cup.”

Jack picked up the cup, which had fallen on the grass. Most of the coffee had drained
away, but a dribble remained along the side and there was a trail of white sediment behind it. His stomach lurched. This was getting serious. If Mr Wilkes-Cox was prepared to go to such lengths, somebody might get really hurt. He wondered whether Alicia was right to think there was a connection between what was going on here and the sabotage of the flying system at the theatre. He suddenly felt panicked. If Cosi was here, who was playing Wendy? He was sure he knew the answer.

“Is Liv paying Wendy?” he asked urgently and his eyes were dark with fear.

“Yes,” said Cosi. “She’s brilliant. But don’t worry. She’s completely safe. Nothing bad will happen to her. You don’t have to worry about the flying. I promise. But somebody has just tried to kill you!”

Jack re-examined the sediment in the cup. “It’s unlikely anyone hates me enough to want me dead. I think it’s probably just crushed-up sleeping pills. Somebody must be very keen for me to get a good night’s sleep. You realise what this means?”

“Yes,” said Cosi. “Mr Wilkes-Cox is going to try to cut down the trees tonight.”

“I thought after this morning’s fiasco he’d let things rest a few days but I was wrong. I suppose that after things started to appear on the Internet he decided he had to move quickly. I’m going to need your help, Cosi. Most of the others are at the theatre and they may not get here in time.”

“I’ll do whatever I can,” she said.

“I know you don’t like heights, but if I help you, do you think you could be very brave and climb up that tree?”

Cosi gulped. Then she looked Jack straight in the eye and said, “If that’s what it takes. But Livy said I had to go back to the theatre in time for the curtain call.”

“I think in the circumstances Liv will understand. I reckon that here is the place you’re most needed just at the moment.” They walked over to the tree and Jack gave Cosi a leg up. She scrambled on to the first branch. For a moment she felt dizzy, as if she was going to fall, but then she moved upwards again and it became easier. Jack was shining his torch to show her where the handholds were. Then he climbed up behind her, passed her with great agility, and clambered on to a small platform he’d erected.
He reached down a hand and helped her up. Then he turned off his torch so they were sitting in darkness so complete they were unable to see each other’s faces.

“In a minute we need to start texting the others,” he said quietly. “But first, do you want to tell me why you’re not playing Wendy and why you’ve come to see me? I imagine it wasn’t just a spur-of-the-moment social visit?”

Cosi swallowed very hard in the dark. She was finding it difficult to speak.

“Livy isn’t just playing Wendy,” whispered Cosi. “She’s pretending to be me playing Wendy.”

“Ah,” said Jack. For a moment there was silence. Then he said, “Stage fright?”

Cosi was so surprised that she almost fell out of the tree. “How did you know?”

“I experienced it once myself. On the
high-wire
. It was awful. Like being frozen inside, made of ice and fear not flesh and blood. I thought that if I had to walk any further I’d die and I’d have done absolutely anything to avoid having to take another step.”

“That’s exactly how I felt about tonight. I really believed I’d die. It felt as if there was a
crocodile out in the darkness waiting to gobble me up. Oh, Jack, I’ve been dreading it so much.” She looked at him, and could just make out his face in the gloom. “But you’re amazing on the wire! How did you get over it?”

“You never really get over it,” said Jack. “It’s always there, perched on your shoulder like a black crow cawing in your ear. But you learn to live with it and use it to your advantage. Of course, you have to love walking the
high-wire
or acting enough to get past it. I don’t think you like acting at all, do you? In fact, I think you hate it with a passion.”

There was a long pause while Cosi nodded, before realising that Jack couldn’t see her in the dark.

“I’ve got a confession,” she said. “I did something really terrible.”

“It’s all right, Cosi, you don’t need to tell me,” replied Jack quietly. “I know.”

“How?”

“From what you’ve just told me, and the fact you’re so certain Liv is safe on the flying rig. I thought this afternoon you were trying to confess something to me. I should have realised something was up when you were so interested
in how the flying system worked.”

“I’m so sorry,” said Cosi.

“I believe you. You’ve been very brave coming here tonight. And if you hadn’t, I would have drunk whatever stuff was in that cup. I’d say we’re quits.”

Cosi smiled with relief. In the distance they heard a sudden roar of engines. Jack got out his phone and began texting. They could see the glare of headlights as the diggers and bulldozers started to roll towards them.

“Right,” said Jack. “Looks like it’s just you and me.”