Olivia and the Movie Stars (13 page)

Chapter Twenty-Four

The curtain opened for the start of Act V and, as Olivia had predicted, when the pirate ship sailed into view, the audience gasped at how real it looked.

“A beautiful illusion,” muttered Jon under his breath, but by now he was grinning. It was clear that
Peter Pan
was going to be a huge success. Even the famously grumpy arts correspondent of a serious national newspaper had been heard loudly declaring he believed in fairies, and when the pirates stole Wendy and the Lost Boys away, the tabloid showbiz columnist had been hissing along with the rest of the crowd.

Jasper stood on the deck of the
Jolly Roger
and began Captain Hook’s famous speech: “How
still the night is, nothing sounds alive…” The evening had been going swimmingly. Although he’d never admit it, Jasper had began to wonder if he’d made a mistake in signing up the entire family for
Peter Pan
. He’d thought Cosima was going to let them all down. But she’d surprised everyone tonight, and Cosmo was getting lots of praise too. If
Peter Pan
was a triumph perhaps they could go to Broadway and do
The Tempest
together. He’d always wanted to play Prospero. Cosmo would be a great Ariel and, although she was a little young for it, Cosi could be Miranda.

Michael, John and the Lost Boys were about to walk the plank.

“Bring up Wendy so she can watch them go to their doom,” cried Hook.

Olivia was pushed up the stairs.

“So, my beauty,” said Jasper with a dreadful laugh. “You are to see your children walk the plank.” He did a double take.

“Are they to die?” quavered Olivia, entirely unperturbed by Jasper’s reaction.

“Cosi?” hissed Jasper, forgetting where he was for a moment.

“Definitely Cosi,” whispered Olivia quickly, and she turned to the boys. “I have a
message from your real mothers: We hope our sons will die like English gentlemen.”

The Lost Boys cheered.

“Impressive,” whispered Jasper, grasping immediately that it was not in the interests of the Wood family for the truth ever to come out.

“Like father, like daughter,” replied Olivia calmly, under cover of all the cheering, and Jasper thought of the YouTube clip of Cosi he’d watched earlier. Cosi was braver than ever he could be. He gave Olivia a quick wink and then they both carried on with the scene as if nothing had happened.

The show was reaching its end. The children had flown back from Never Land to the Darling nursery and been reunited with their delighted parents, and now the coda was being played in which many years later Peter Pan returns to the nursery where the grown-up Wendy now watches over her own daughter, Jane.

“Come with me to Never Land,” said Peter, oblivious to the fact that the long years have passed and although he has stayed just the same, Wendy has not.

“I can’t come, Peter. I’ve forgotten how to fly,” said Wendy.

Alicia shifted in her seat. The audience might believe that they were watching Cosi Wood, but Alicia knew she was watching her granddaughter, and wearing grown-up clothes Olivia looked so much like Toni it was almost unbearable.

“I’ll teach you again,” said Peter, blowing fairy dust on her.

“You’re wasting your time,” replied Wendy sadly. Olivia’s eyes glistened with tears.

“Why?”

“Because I am no longer young. I’ve grown up. I couldn’t help it,” replied Wendy. “That little girl is my baby.”

“What does she call you?” asked Peter fiercely.

“Mother,” whispered Wendy.

Alicia’s eyes spilled tears and she was not the only one in the audience. Every adult was recalling their own lost childhood, and every child was thinking how much they would love to fly away to Never Land to frolic with the mermaids in the sparkling lagoon under endless blue sky. The scene drew to its conclusion as Wendy’s daughter flew away with Peter Pan, and as the curtain fell so did the tears in the
audience. There was a charged silence, and then the audience began to roar their approval.

Olivia was oblivious to the response. She was scanning the wings for Cosi, a look of panic on her face.

“Where is she?” she demanded. The other children looked around helplessly. There was no sign of Cosi. “She promised she’d be back. I can’t take the curtain call. I won’t get away with it. Somebody in the front row is sure to notice I’m not Cosi. What are we going to do?” The audience were cheering as the pirates ran on to take their bow.

“I can’t go out there!” wailed Olivia.

“It’ll be more suspicious if you don’t, Liv,” said Tom, taking her hand firmly. “If anyone in the audience has the slightest hunch that something funny is going on, Wendy’s absence at the curtain call will only confirm it. Jon said there were press out there. If they get a sniff of this, it’ll be all over the front pages tomorrow.”

“This is a disaster. She can’t do anything right,” said Olivia irritably.

Pablo hurried up to them, looking agitated.

“No sign of Cosi?”

Olivia shook her head angrily.

“You’ve got to take the curtain call, Livy. I’ve spoken to the guys on lighting. They’ll keep it all really low. Take the grips out of your hair and push it forward to keep your face covered. You and Cosmo should take your bow from the back of stage. One curtain only, then Jasper will take the limelight. Don’t come forward to join him until the whole cast do, and then, Tom, make sure you and the others hide her as much as you can. However much they stamp and cheer we’re going to cut the final curtain short.” He pushed them towards the stage…

The curtain swished closed for the final time. The lengthy applause finally died away as the audience realised it wasn’t going to rise again however much noise they made. Olivia looked around agitatedly from her position at the back of the stage. She was certain they had got away with it. But where was Cosi? Why hadn’t she turned up for the curtain call? Irritation had turned to worry and a real fear that something had happened to her friend. She hoped that Cosi hadn’t run away rather than face up to what she’d done. Tom had Olivia by the arm and was bundling her up the stairs with Cosmo. It was
like being arrested.

“We’ve got to get you changed and out of the building before Jon comes round and demands to see Cosi. We can just say that you’ve both gone. Hurry!”

They left her in the dressing room where she started quickly pulling on her own clothes. Suddenly there was a frantic banging on the door. She jumped in shock.

“Livy, Livy, it’s me, Eel!”

Olivia unlocked the door and her little sister tumbled into the room.

“Livy! I’ve had a message from Jack. Cosi’s at the Swan with him. We’ve got to get round there. Mr Wilkes-Cox is back with his diggers. The battle for the trees has begun.”

Olivia felt the adrenalin surge through her once more. “Go and tell everyone, including Pablo, and get moving,” she said, pulling on her trainers. “I’ll meet you there.”

Eel ran towards the door just as it opened and Alicia walked in, swiftly followed by Jasper. She squeaked and shot Olivia a look of sympathy before scooting off down the corridor.

“Jon’s been held up talking to the press but he wants to talk to you and Cosi right away,” 
said Alicia gravely. “And I want a word with you both too. Where is she?”

Olivia swallowed. “She’s at the Swan with Jack. Mr Wilkes-Cox has come back to cut the trees down.”

“So that explains the bizarre curtain call,” said Alicia. “You were lucky to get away with it. Now, I can’t condone what has gone on tonight—”

Jasper put up his hand to cut her off. “I want to thank you, Olivia Marvell. I think you’ve done Cosi a good turn tonight,” he said. Before he could continue, they heard Jon’s voice in the corridor.

The two adults looked at each other and seemed to reach a decision.

“Quick,” said Alicia, opening the window and peering out. “It’s not far down to that ledge and then beyond that to the ground. I’m sure you’re manage, Livy.”

Olivia grinned. “But you’re always telling me not to do dangerous things, Gran,” she said as she clambered out of the window.

“I make exceptions when it’s absolutely necessary,” said Alicia, slamming the window shut just as Jon walked into the room.

“Where are they?” he demanded.

“Who?” asked Alicia, a picture of innocence. Jon just looked at her. “Olivia went back to the Swan after the interval to see Jack, and I’m afraid you’ve just missed Cosi.”

“That’s right,” said Jasper. “Cosi was so sorry she had to go without seeing you. She and all the other children have gone to the Swan. But it was such a pleasure acting opposite my daughter tonight. She was flawless.”

“Yes,” said Alicia. “The whole thing was a triumph. When word gets out,
Peter Pan
is going to be a smash. You should be delighted, Jon.”

Jon opened his mouth but at that moment the stage manager arrived and announced that the BBC wanted to interview him straightaway. He left, muttering darkly under his breath.

“Your Olivia is a fine actress,” said Jasper softly. “So generous too in what she’s done for my daughter tonight. Do you know why she did it?”

“I can guess but I think you need to ask Cosi that,” said Alicia. Then she added, “You’ve got to let Cosi go, Jasper. She doesn’t want to be part of the Wood family dynasty. Children have to find their own path in the world. You’ll
still have Cosmo. He enjoys acting, and he was very good tonight. Almost as good as Livy. He’s come on brilliantly. Set Cosi free and she’ll fly. I’m certain of it.”

“You’re absolutely right, Alicia,” said Jasper. “I’m beginning to realise I’ve clipped Cosi’s wings too much. She needs her childhood back before it’s gone forever.”

Alicia smiled. “Now, I must get back to the Swan and find out what’s happening with the trees.”

“I’ll come with you,” said Jasper. “I want to do anything I can to help.”

Chapter Twenty-Five

The bulldozers and diggers rumbled over the uneven ground towards the trees, their bright lights making Jack and Cosi screw up their eyes against the dazzle. They stopped a hundred metres or so from the trees with their engines gently idling. Cosi felt something inside her, a tickle of possibility, as if she was at the start of something completely new in her life.

“Come down from the trees!” shouted Mr Wilkes-Cox through a loud hailer. “Do not put yourselves at risk. You cannot stop us. We have permission to cut down the trees, and the law is on our side. We will use it if you resist, and you may get hurt. Please come down.”

“Are you ready, Cosi?” shouted Jack over the noise. 

“Yes!” she shouted back and she felt as if she’d grown to about three times her normal size.

“I might have to leave you here and use the zip-wires to go and defend other trees, if necessary. There’s only so much we can do from just one tree on our own.”

“No problem, Jack,” said Cosi. “I’ll be OK here. I know what I’ve got to do.”

“I am going to count to ten,” shouted Mr Wilkes-Cox. “If you have not come down from the trees by then, the bulldozers will move in.” To Mr Wilkes-Cox’s surprise, Jack and Cosi took up the count. They seemed so confident but how could just one man and a girl defend all those trees by themselves? He had expected that they would give up without a fight when they realised what they were up against, and he was counting on Jack starting to feel very sleepy any time soon.

“… eight … nine … ten …!” shouted Jack and Cosi in unison with Mr Wilkes-Cox.

“Come and get us!” called Cosi, laughing loudly like a child playing a game. Mr
Wilkes-Cox
was so furious that he nodded towards one of the bulldozers, which began edging towards
the tree where Cosi and Jack were sitting.
That’ll frighten them down
, thought Mr Wilkes-Cox. The bulldozer rolled closer.

“Hold your nerve, Cosi!” warned Jack. The machine moved towards the tree and when it was just a few metres away Cosi and Jack turned on the high-pressure hoses they’d been keeping out of sight and aimed them straight at the windscreen.

The driver couldn’t see anything and a few seconds later he could see even less as a bag of flour broke against the windscreen and flour splattered everywhere. The bulldozer ground to a halt.

Mr Wilkes-Cox gritted his teeth and nodded to two of the other diggers. They roared into life and trundled menacingly towards the tree. The same thing happened. This time the drivers leapt out of their cabs only to be drenched with water. They were getting very angry. Three pieces of equipment were now out of commission because of the sticky mix of water and flour across the windscreens. Using the windscreen wipers simply smeared the mess across the glass.

Mr Wilkes-Cox, drenched and splattered
with flour so that he resembled a deranged zombie, retreated a little distance away to where Bill Jukes was standing watching. “There’s only two of them, so they can’t defend every single tree in the line because they haven’t got the reach,” advised Bill. “Try and take out the trees at the far sides.”

Mr Wilkes-Cox shouted and pointed and one of the diggers headed towards the trees at the far end of the row, beyond where Jack and Cosi’s hosepipes could do any damage. But no sooner had it headed that way than Jack set off on the wires he’d strung over the tops of the trees. Jack was fast and agile while the digger had to negotiate the uneven ground. Jack reached the farthest tree at the same time as the digger and immediately started spraying it with water before following that up with two well-aimed bags of flour. They split across the windscreen in a pleasing exploding-star formation. The driver couldn’t see where he was going so he leapt out of the cab and ran away but not before he too was targeted with flour and water.

Another digger began to roll towards the tree, while on the far side another was heading towards the tree furthest from Jack, right at
the other end of the row. Jack looked around desperately. He couldn’t be in two places at once. Cosi had just disabled another bulldozer but the men were busy washing the gunk off some of the others and they’d soon be back in commission. She was doing a fantastic job in the middle, but she couldn’t get to the far end of the row where a digger had almost reached one of the trees and already had its jaws wide open.

Jack pelted the nearest digger with flour and turned to start clambering back towards the threatened tree at the other end of the row. An astonishing sight met his eyes. Cosi had leapt off the platform where she’d been standing and was whizzing down the zip-wire to the next one. She landed with a thud, but didn’t stop. She simply picked up the hose resting there and sprayed water all over the digger before landing a bag of flour on its windscreen in a perfect bull’s eye. Jack reached her just as another digger started to approach.

“I’m so proud of you, Cosi,” he shouted. “That was an amazingly brave thing for someone who is afraid of heights to do.”

“I remembered what you said, Jack,” gasped Cosi as she flung another bag of flour at
the digger. “If you care enough about something you learn to live with your fear and use it to your advantage.”

Jack looked around. “We’re not going to be able to hold out much longer on our own.”

“So it’s just as well that the cavalry has arrived,” shouted Cosi as the Swan children, led by Olivia, Tom and Pablo, ran into view and were soon swarming all over the trees.