Olivia and the Movie Stars (7 page)

Chapter Twelve

Over in the Swan, Tom, Aeysha and Georgia jumped at the sudden burst of machinery noise. They stared at each other fearfully. The roar ceased almost as soon as it had begun.

“Somebody must be in there with Liv and Katie!” said Tom. “I’m going to go over to find out what’s going on.”

“No, Tom,” said Georgia. “It’s too dangerous. Whoever is in there has obviously already found them poking around. Maybe there was some kind of night watchman we didn’t know about.”

“Or maybe Katie betrayed Olivia; maybe it was all a set-up? After all, Katie’s got form in that department,” said Aeysha quietly.

Georgia gasped.

“Whatever it is, Livy’s going to get into terrible trouble and you don’t want to get caught too, Tom. She won’t thank you if you give away the fact she went into the building on the wire,” said Aeysha.

“Do you think they’ll call the police and have Livy arrested?” asked Georgia tearfully.

“It’ll be Miss Swan who’ll have Livy under lock and key, particularly if she discovers how she got into the building. She’ll be furious,” said Aeysha.

Georgia tried to sound hopeful. “Maybe they’ll just let her go? Why don’t we go downstairs and wait for her just in case? At least we’ll be there to see if the police do turn up to arrest her,” said Georgia. Ayesha nodded.

“I’m going to stay here,” said Tom. “In case she comes back this way.”

The others left. He got out his mobile and stared at it. He knew that Liv had her phone with her. He wondered whether he should try calling her. He was desperate to find out what was happening but what if they were wrong and Katie hadn’t betrayed her and she hadn’t been discovered? He didn’t want to do anything that might put her in danger.

Olivia and Katie stared at each other in the gloom. They had both gone so pale that they looked like ghosts. There was somebody else in the building. They could hear whoever it was moving about downstairs.

“It was a trap,” said Olivia in a dazed whisper. “I believed you, Katie. I trusted you and you betrayed me. You’re just the same Katie you’ve always been.”

“No, Livy!” whispered back Katie. “I promise. It’s not like that. I
have
changed. I’d never do anything to hurt you. Please believe me. It’ll be my dad, come to check the equipment. I didn’t know he was coming, honest. I thought he was safely tied up in a meeting tonight.”

She turned off her torch and pulled Olivia towards two huge filing cabinets standing side by side by the wall. Olivia switched her torch off too. She was shivering with fear. She didn’t know whether to believe Katie or not.

They crouched behind the filing cabinets in the dark, hardly daring to breathe. They heard footsteps coming up the stairs, then Mr
Wilkes-Cox
walked into the room. He swung his torch
around the room and then went over to his equipment.

“Looks good,” he muttered to himself. “Another nice peaceful day ahead for the Swan.” He turned to walk up the stairs to the next floor when Olivia’s mobile went off. Katie’s dad swung round and shouted, “Who’s there?”

Olivia felt Katie squeeze her hand as she stepped out from behind the filing cabinet and said, “It’s all right, Dad, it’s only me. My mobile just rang.”

Her father was shining the torch right in her eyes.

“Kitten! What on earth are you doing here?” He looked around suspiciously. “Are you on your own?”

“Quite alone, Dad.”

“How did you get in?”

“Oh,” said Katie, gazing up at him adoringly and putting her arm through his. “I came over this way to see my old friend Kylie Morris. You remember her; we took her on safari with us.”

Mr Wilkes-Cox was frowning. “I didn’t think you kept in touch with anyone from the Swan.”

“Oh, I haven’t seen Kylie for ages. She’s leaving too. She says lots of people are going. The Swan’s losing its reputation.” She looked at her dad wide-eyed. “I don’t know what you’re up to, Dad, but it’s definitely working. You are clever.”

Momentarily Mr Wilkes-Cox looked pleased, but then wariness clouded his face. “But why on earth would you want to come in here, and how did you get inside a locked building?”

“Well, that’s the thing,” said Katie. “I was just saying goodbye to Kylie when I noticed that the front door was swinging open. I thought maybe you had accidentally forgotten to lock it. I was going to call you but I thought I’d better check everything was OK. Of course, I did think that maybe I ought to just ring the police, but I wasn’t sure if that would be the right thing to do.”

Katie sounded as innocent as the first snowdrop of spring. Olivia held her breath. Would Mr Wilkes-Cox fall for it? Katie was acting superbly and sounded remarkably convincing. The bit about the police was a brainwave. The last thing Mr Wilkes-Cox would want was the police asking awkward questions
about his equipment.

“Hmm, yes, you were quite right not to call them, Katie,” he blustered. “I always think it’s best to leave them out of things. They just go poking their noses around where they’re not wanted. You should have called me, instead of running around derelict buildings on your own. It’s not safe.” He put his arm round his daughter and started to steer her towards the stairs. “Well, everything looks as if it’s in working order here. The Swan is going to get exactly what it deserves again tomorrow. You go and wait outside, and I’ll just have a quick look around to check that nobody else got in while the door was open.”

“Oh, they didn’t, Dad. I’ve looked. The building’s completely empty apart from a few pigeons. I think you just didn’t close the door properly last time you were here and then after a while it blew open. It’s quite windy today. It was lucky I was passing.”

“Yes, it was, kitten,” said Mr Wilkes-Cox. “I’m going to have to bring in some proper security for this place. Let’s go home.”

“Yes, let’s,” said Katie, “and you can tell me everything about your plans for the site. I want to know everything you’re up to. I hate
the stupid Swan. I’d like to see it torn down brick by brick.”

Olivia breathed a sigh of relief. She waited until she heard the door of the building bang shut, then stood for a moment uncertain of what to do. If she just left, she would have achieved nothing and as soon as the school day started tomorrow, the Swan would be bombarded with noise. She couldn’t bear the thought of her gran’s pale, strained face. It made her feel so angry she wanted to smash all the equipment to smithereens. But even if she’d had a hammer, she knew that she wouldn’t have used it. It wasn’t in her nature to destroy with such
cold-minded
intent. She stood immobile for a second longer and then she started unplugging all the equipment as fast as she could. Of course Mr Wilkes-Cox could just plug it all in again, but he’d have to come back first and at least he’d know that someone was on to him. It might even win the Swan a few days’ respite from the noise. When she had finished, she headed back up the stairs towards the roof, the wire and home.

Georgia and Aeysha raced up the stairs towards the top rehearsal room. Their eyes
were wide with panic and their cheeks were flushed from running.

“We saw someone come out of the building,” shouted Georgia. “But it wasn’t Olivia. You’ve got to go over there, Tom, and see what’s happened to her!”

“It must be something terrible,” said Aeysha. “We’re so worried.”

“Calm down and tell me slowly,” said Tom. “Who did you see coming out of the building?”

“Katie Wilkes-Cox. And her dad,” said Olivia calmly as she stepped off the wire and ducked under the window frame on to the sill.

“Livy!” cried her friends. “Are you all right?”

“Fine,” said Olivia. “I’ve got a lot to tell you.” She explained what she had found in the building.

“Well, at least the Swan will get a bit of peace and quiet,” said Olivia. “It really does seem as if Katie genuinely wants to help us. She saved me from her dad. She didn’t give me away.”

“Maybe a leopard
can
change its spots,” said Aeysha.

Chapter Thirteen

“So,” said Jack. “I’ve shown you all the rigging for the flying, and once we’ve got your parents’ permission, every child involved in the production will get a chance to fly if they want to.”

A big cheer went up from the assembled children. Olivia, Tom, Cosi and Cosmo, and the boy playing Michael were the envy of the whole cast, who all wanted a go at flying. Jack had organised the workshop on the flying rig for everyone involved in the production but his ulterior motive had been to put the twins at their ease. He’d even managed to persuade Jasper that the twins’ minders should stay away from the theatre during the workshop.

“Now you know how safe it is, does anyone
have any more questions?”

Cosi put up her hand. Jack was pleased. To his surprise, Cosi had taken a really intelligent interest in the flying rig and had already asked lots of questions. He had been very patient, showing her which wires and ropes were directly connected to her harness and emphasising the care that was taken to check that everything was in order before and during each flight.

“I just wanted to say thanks to Mr Marvell for showing us the ropes,” she said.

“You’re welcome, Cosi,” said Jack. “I just hope you realise now that nobody needs to have a fear of flying. Really. Nothing can go wrong.”

Jon was so thrilled to have Tom and Olivia involved in
Peter Pan
, and was feeling so well disposed towards Alicia, Jack and the Swan (which had provided most of the children in the production) that he was doing anything he could to keep them all happy. He hoped that Cosmo and Cosima might relax and perform better if they were having a good time.

Jon had noticed that they were both less stressed when they were away from Jasper and was now beginning to understand Cosima’s
remark at the press conference. Jasper Wood may not have an iron hook instead of a hand but he could inflict real damage on his children with his sarcasm. Once, when Cosima had forgotten her lines, Jasper had behaved with a brutal, Hook-like coldness. It wasn’t hard to believe that, given half the chance, he really would make his daughter walk the plank into a
shark-infested
sea.

“You’re just not making any effort, Cosi,” he’d said. “You don’t deserve the family name.”

“I don’t want the family name!” his daughter had screamed back at him. “I don’t even want to be an actor! I hate it!”

Alicia, who had been at the theatre, had taken Cosi away to dry her tears.

“Poor little motherless things,” she said to Jack, over a late night glass of wine back at her flat. “They’re completely afraid of their dad and his insane idea of family duty. Even Cosmo is a seething mass of insecurities beneath that arrogant exterior. Did you know he takes eight different kinds of vitamin pill? That’s not normal behaviour for a twelve-year-old.” She sighed. “What they desperately need is a mum to stick up for them.”

“Liv and Eel don’t have a mum to stick up for them,” said Jack quietly, looking at the picture of Toni over the mantelpiece. He seldom mentioned his beloved wife. She had married Jack against Alicia’s wishes and mother and daughter had only just been reconciled when Toni had been killed. It was a painful subject for them both.

“No,” said Alicia, “but Olivia and Eel don’t have Jasper Wood as their dad. They have you, Jack, and you’re an amazing father. Not a conventional one, it’s true, and not one who’s there all the time, but one who really does listen to his children, who tells them when they’re making mistakes and who is on their side and there for them when it really matters.” Alicia looked Jack straight in the eye, recalling the terrible scene that had taken place in this very room only two terms ago when Jack, who had lost his travelling circus due to a road accident, had turned up destitute and asked Alicia to take his daughters in.

“I once called you an unfit father, Jack. I thought you were selfish, irresponsible and reckless and accused you of abandoning your own children. Like a child who had never grown
up. I was wrong. Completely wrong. I now realise that you love Livy and Eel very much and that they love you. The three of you have an incredible bond. You’ve done a really good job of raising those girls on your own. Toni would be proud of you, Jack, and so I am. Very proud.” Alicia had tears in her eyes, and Jack knew that it had cost her a great deal to say what she had said.

“That’s one of the nicest things anyone has ever said to me, Alicia. Thank you,” he said quietly.

There was a pause before the conversation moved on.

“Pablo told me the noise from the building site next door has stopped,” said Jack. “That must be a big relief.”

“Yes, it is,” replied Alicia, though she still looked anxious. “But I don’t suppose it will last.”

Jack looked at her troubled face. “Alicia, is there something else worrying you?” he asked. Alicia swallowed and using all her acting skills she shook her head very firmly.

The next day Jon had organised a huge picnic
for all the
Peter Pan
children. After seeing how well the twins, particularly Cosi, had responded in the workshop when the minders weren’t present, Jon had persuaded Jasper to get rid of them permanently. He was pleased that he had. Jasper would have had a fit if it had been reported back to him how his children were spending their afternoon.

The children spent a couple of hours on the riverbank at the back of the Swan, climbing trees and pretending to be pirates. It was great fun and everybody was getting on brilliantly. Jack, Pablo and a couple of the stagehands fashioned a zip-wire between a couple of the trees, which all the children loved except Cosi and Cosmo, who refused to go on it. Cosi was frightened, but Cosmo thought that his dad wouldn’t approve.

Tom caught Cosmo looking wistfully at the others as they slid screaming down the wire. “Come on, Cosmo, why don’t you have a go? Your dad’ll never know. There’s nobody to tell him now that your minders have gone.”

Cosmo grinned and headed for the wire. Soon he was zipping up and down and Tom showed him how to climb to the top of one of the tallest trees, too. He was good at it. His head
could be seen bobbing about among the leaves alongside Tom’s red head and Aeysha’s dark one.

“I hope Cosmo doesn’t get stuck or we’ll have to call the fire brigade to rescue him,” said Jon nervously.

“Don’t worry,” said Jack. “He’s having the time of his life. Let him enjoy himself. Tom and Aeysha will look after him. He really does seem to be behaving like a kid, not a mini-adult. I saw him actually eating a sandwich and a cupcake instead of that green gloop he swallows all the time.”

“Even Cosi looks happier,” said Jon.

“Yes,” said Jack. “And she seemed to take a real interest in the flying equipment at the workshop. I hope I’ve set her mind at rest about how safe it is and she can relax a little.”

Olivia rather wished that she was climbing trees with Tom and the others too, but she was trying to be a good friend to Cosima.

“The trees are so beautiful,” said Cosi, biting into a cheese and watercress sandwich. “It’s amazing to think that some of them have probably been here for hundreds of years.”

“So they’re even older than Gran,” said
Eel, quite wide-eyed.

“Much older, Eel,” said Cosi. “And lots of creatures and plants will be living on them. Even fungi.”

“Gran definitely doesn’t have any fungi growing on her,” said Eel.

“No,” laughed Cosi, “but because trees support other life, every single one is precious.”

“But there are masses of them,” said Eel. “Why does it matter if one or two get chopped down?”

“It matters because seventy per cent of the earth’s animals and plants live in forests,” said Cosi seriously. “Cut down a tree and you cut down their home. How would you like it if somebody came along and pulled your house down just because they wanted to?”

Olivia, who had been listening quietly up till then, said fiercely, “I’d hate it. I’d fight as hard as I could to stop them.”

“So would I,” said Cosi. “And that’s why we have to fight on behalf of the animals and plants who can’t fight for themselves. Otherwise the trees will disappear. At the rate things are going, by this time next century there will be no rainforest left at all.”

Eel goggled at them. “I can’t think that far ahead,” she said. “And that’s enough gloomy stuff. I want another go on the zip-wire. I’m very good at it. I’m better than lots of the boys.” She ran away followed by William Todd, who had been cast as Tootles in
Peter Pan
.

“Selfish little beast; she never thinks of anyone but herself,” laughed Olivia affectionately. “She’s heartless just like Peter Pan and she boasts about how great she is just like him too.”

“Livy,” said Cosi shyly, now they were left alone. “Have you ever acted on a big stage in front of a huge audience?”

“I’ve really not done a lot of acting,” said Olivia. “I used to think it was silly and pointless. But I don’t think that now. I like it more and more. It’s cool. But mostly I do circus stuff. But I did play Juliet in a version of
Romeo and Juliet
on the high-wire at the London Palladium and that was massive and I loved it.”

“I bet you were really good at it,” said Cosima plaintively. “I’ve heard you when you’re helping Cosmo run through his lines. You’re fantastic as Wendy. Cosmo much prefers acting opposite you, I can tell. He’s much better
as Peter when you’re being Wendy in those little bits you do for me. In fact, he’s really good. I wish you were playing Wendy and not me. I know all the Swan children in the cast do too. I hear them whispering.”

“You worry too much, Cosi. Nobody thinks that, nobody whispers about you and you’re going to be fine. Gran’s been saying how well you’re coming along. And you’re already so experienced. You’ve had your own TV show and you’ve made movies. When you walk out on stage for the first preview with the audience out front you’ll forget all your worries and you’ll just be Wendy and you’ll be brilliant.”

Cosi grimaced. “Or I’ll make a complete fool of myself. TV and movies are different. You can retake the scene. It once took me sixty-two takes to get one line right. You can’t do that in the theatre, and the audience is out there in the dark, just waiting for you to make a mistake. Just like the crocodile with its jaws open waiting for Captain Hook. I can’t do it. I keep hoping the end of the world will arrive before the first preview.”

“Oh, Cosi, it will be all right on the night, I’m sure it will. Once you’ve done it the first
time it will be a breeze,” said Olivia. “What does your dad think about all this?”

Cosi laughed bitterly. “What do you think? He just doesn’t listen and he wouldn’t care if he did.”