Lizard's Leap: chapter fourteen: the King and Them.

Chapter Six: the king and Them

There was no doubt about it. Not only had the lizard moved but it was also grinning.

They couldn’t believe their eyes; while they’d slept, one of the carved lizards on the frame had moved four inches down the side and had eaten one of the berries.

‘So, that’s how it was taken,’ Emma said. They’d been wondering since leaving Sylvia’s house the day before how one of the berries would be taken and were scared that somebody was going to creep into their room through the night. Mark vowed that he was going to stay awake and keep lookout all night but only lasted ten minutes; the mystery of the berries was solved and all had been revealed.

The wooden lizard looked pleased with himself. Emma touched it. When she ran the tip of her finger across its mouth, a single red blob dripped onto her fingertip. She drew her hand back thinking that she’d pricked herself on a splinter and put her finger in her mouth to suck off the blood.

‘Blackberry juice. I don’t believe it, that was a drop of blackberry juice.’

‘Wow, how can something wooden, leak juice,’ Vicki said. ‘Isn’t it great having a magic frame? Don’t forget, though, we’ve lost a blackberry. That means that there’s only twenty-three left. We’ll have to be really careful not to lose any more, right?’

****

They weren’t happy. That evening their parents were going to see an amateur production of The King and I at the Town Hall. They begged to go, too, but it wasn’t going to finish until late and their parents decided that they couldn’t go. It was exactly three weeks since Emma had put the letter in the frame. That morning, Vicki had woken up without a sniffle or a sneeze. Her red nose had returned to its normal colour and she was so pleased to be rid of the three-week cold. It would’ve been nice to go to the show, especially as she wouldn’t have sneezed her way through the performance.

‘I know,’ Mark said, ‘why don’t we use the frame to go? We’ve got the advertising leaflet that was put through the door. If we use that it will leap us into the audience.’

They were all excited. It was a great idea.
They had an hour to kill before Nana badgered them into their respective bedrooms for the night. Mark went downstairs first and said goodnight to his grandparents. He told them that he had a headache and was going to go to bed early, which wasn’t a lie; he did have a slight headache and would go to his bedroom, he just wasn’t going to stay there. The girls said goodnight and that they were going to lie in bed and read their new Terry Pratchett books.

It was risky. What if Nana came up to check on them? They hoped it would be okay, because, if they were gone three hours in leap time, it would only be fifteen minutes real time. It was unlikely that they would be checked on for at least an hour. Coronation Street was starting soon and they wouldn’t be disturbed while Nana and Granddad watched that. The show would be finished by half past nine and, when they leapt back, they would be home not much more than ten minutes after they left, well before the end of the television program at eight o’clock.

The leaflet was in the frame and ready. They joined hands.

‘Stop,’ said Kerry. ‘We can’t.’

‘Why not?’ Vicki asked, breaking the circle.

‘It’s against the rules. We’ll lose a berry.’

‘No, we won’t. Sylvia said we could use the frame to enjoy ourselves,’ Vicki said.

‘Yes, but Vicki, its wrong. We’re going to get into the show without paying. That’s like stealing and I don’t think the frame would like that.’ It had been bothering Kerry all night.

They all thought about it and agreed that Kerry was probably right. They sat on the floor in front of the frame with long faces, heads in their hands. The show was due to start soon; by now their parents would have gone in and been seated.

‘I know,’ Kerry began. ‘There’s a way of doing it that wouldn’t be dishonest. We will leap through the frame and then sneak back out and join the queue to pay ourselves in. If anybody says anything about us being by ourselves, we can just pretend to be with the people in front of us. Nobody will think anything of it.’

It was agreed that this was a fantastic idea. They hoped they wouldn’t lose a berry. They didn’t think they would and they said they’d check the frame when they got back just in case. They joined hands and prepared to leap. Since Emma’s incident with the letter they’d discovered that they only needed to chant the last two lines of the poem:

Sand Lizard. Sand Lizard, cautiously creep.
Shim. Sham. Shally wham. Lizards leap.

‘Can’t you people read? And don’t you tell me you never saw the sign. It says, quite clearly, do not stand in the wings unless you are waiting to go on stage. Now, get to your dressing rooms. We open in ten minutes and you aren’t even ready yet, it’s a good job you’re not on until the end of act one.’

The angry man had appeared from nowhere two seconds after they’d leaped. Where were they? The children couldn’t get their bearings. This wasn’t the hall and they had no idea what was going on? They didn’t have time to think because the man was herding them down a corridor shouting at them all the time.

‘James. James. These belong to you, I believe. I know I’m only a lowly stage manager and you are the musical director, but do please try and keep the blooming kids under control. I caught these four backstage and they aren’t even ready to go on yet. Ten minutes to curtain everybody,’ he bellowed and then disappeared in a flurry of flapping beige suit.

People in bright costumes and heavy makeup were pushing past them on all sides and so many voices were all talking at once.

‘Oh no, I’ve lost my wig. Has anyone seen my wig?’

‘Doh, re, mi, far, soh, la, ti, doh.’

‘Now remember that third turn is to the left, not the right, you went the wrong way last night, Sophie.’

‘La, la, la, la, la, la, la, laaaaaaaaaaa.’

‘Daahrling, do me up. There’s a luv.’

It was bedlam and so many people were pushing along a narrow corridor. The man, who had taken charge of them, looked the children up and down.

‘I suppose you’re the four stand-ins from the agency? I must say, you don’t look very oriental. This flu bug is playing havoc with my cast. Now, look, I know you haven’t rehearsed, but you’re familiar with the way it works. Yes? Thank goodness, they are non-speaking parts, except, one of you has just one line and the prompter will help you if you get stuck. Just follow the others and try to melt into the crowd. Score,’ he yelled at the top of his voice, ‘Will someone get me a score for these kids please?’ As he shouted he was already pushing them through a door on the left.

‘Mercy,’ sighed a lady clutching a handful of theatre makeup. ‘That agency is cutting it fine. Still, you’re here now.’ They were each guided firmly into a seat by four enthusiastic women who set about giving them a five minute Asian look.
They were sitting in swivel chairs in front of a huge mirror. Vicki was enjoying herself more than she had in a long time. From the other side of the room, she heard Mark’s voice pipe up: ‘Sand lizard, sand lizard…’

‘Don’t you dare,’ Vicki shouted.

He shut up, knowing that tone of voice all to well. He tried to hang his head; this could only end in trouble, lots of it. As he put his head down the woman thrust a yellowed finger roughly under his chin and forced him to tilt his face back up again. Mark had no choice but to look into the woman’s hard, grey eyes. She smelled of stale cigarettes.

When Vicki had shouted across at Mark, the make-up lady hovering over her face thought she was talking to her.

‘Ooh,’ she said. ‘I was only putting a bit of this blue eye-shadow on you. I suppose you could have the green if you prefer, but with your colouring dear, I would strongly advise the blue. You kids, one whiff of greasepaint and you all think you’re flippin’ superstars. I say, Jenny?’ she shouted across the room to her friend. ‘I think we ought to curtsey to this one on the way out. All this princess stuff’s gone right to ‘er ‘ead.’

Vicki blushed and when she was able to open her eyes again she glared at Mark.

As soon as all four were made-up, a young man herded them back out into the corridor. ‘You’re all right for a bit yet,’ he told them. ‘The King’s children don’t go on until almost the end of the first act.’

They stood in the corridor with about twenty other kids who looked just like them. They were heavily made-up to look Siamese, with jet-black wigs made out of thick wool that were uncomfortable and hot. Their eyes were outlined in heavy black makeup that made them look oriental and they wore glittery satin trousers that ended at their calves, with matching mandarin jackets and black pumps. They did look like a troop of Asian children. Vicki was so excited; she was going on stage in The King and I. What a fantastic adventure.

The others were plain terrified and wanted to leap back before anything else happened.
‘Break a leg,’ shouted the woman who had attended to Mark.

‘Huh? Never mind my legs missus. Bet they last longer than your lungs,’ he muttered under his breath.

‘Wonder who trod on her face?’ Emma whispered.

‘Never mind that,’ hissed Mark. ‘What are we going to do? We’ve got to get out of here. Let's see if we can find somewhere to leap without anybody noticing.’

‘We’re not leaping anywhere. I’ve always wanted to be in a show. This is fantastic,’ Vicki said.

‘Are you mad? Earth to Vicki. Come in Vicki,’ said Emma, ‘our parents are in the audience. You know those mums who gave birth to us and those dads who we threw up on when we were babies? Those parents who think we’re safely tucked up in our cozy little beds? I’m leaping. No ifs, no buts. I’m leaping; you can do what you like.’

‘Well, I’m not going anywhere. I’m staying to do the show. This is a dream come true, and anyway, the folks will never recognise us looking like this. Just try not to gawp straight out at the audience.’ Vicki wasn’t going to be talked out of being a star for the night.

‘I’m in,’ said Kerry. ‘When are we going to get a chance like this again? It’ll be fun, and like Vicki said, if we stay in the background they’ll never know it’s us. Why would they? They aren’t expecting us to be here. What about you, Mark?’
‘Dunno,’ he said, shuffling from one foot to the other. ‘I feel like a right idiot dressed like this. I’ve got makeup on. What if any of my mates see me? Fink I’ll go home wiv Emma.’

‘Okay, suit yourselves, it’s your loss. But I wish you’d stay, it won’t be as much fun without you two. Look, they’ve all gone now. So, if you really want to, I’ll cover you and if you’re quick you can leap without anyone noticing. See you later,’ Vicki said.

****

While two of the four soon-to-be-superstars were trying to work a way out of the mess they had got themselves into, four disappointed children were being turned away from the stage door by the man in the flapping beige suit.

‘I don’t care who sent you. They must have got their numbers wrong. The agency has already sent four kids out, so we won’t need you tonight, thank you. Yes, yes, all right, you call your agent; see what good it’ll do you. Yes, you do that.’ He forced the children out of the door. ‘Don’t call us, we’ll call you.’ he shouted, as he shut it in their faces.

****

Mark and Emma couldn’t get away fast enough. After trying to talk Vicki and Kerry into leaping home with them, and failing, they held hands and began to chant: ‘Sand liz…’

‘There you are.’ the stage manager interrupted. ‘It’s not good enough me having to chase round after you. If you can’t be professional little act-ors, then you should not have your names down on the drama class temp list. You are on in thirty seconds…now, move.’

They felt themselves being pushed and prodded along the corridor until they were back in the stage wings. The other children were all filing onto either side of the stage with their arms folded. With one almighty shove, the stage manager pushed Emma and Kerry. They were standing directly behind Mark and Vicki and the four of them flew out of the wings and onto the stage.

They were in the spotlight now.

‘Oh, crikey. I think I’m going to throw up,’ whispered Emma.