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Chapter 9: Beware!

She opened the phone booth door and joined the other students in the hall. "I'll just have to keep following the evidence, see where it leads, and hope for the best," she thought. She owed it to Di and she wanted to finish the job she'd taken on.

At the end of the school day Del and Trixie met outside Mrs. Catania's office. Del knocked on the door and at Mrs. Catania's harried, "It's open!" the two entered.

Del was running one hand through his hair and pulling on his belt loops with the other. "Um, can we have a minute to talk with you, Mrs. Catania?" he asked nervously.

"Talk!" Mrs. Catania ordered, by way of reply, hardly bothering to glance up from the pile of papers in front of her.

Somewhat disjointedly Del began to tell about the information he and Trixie had obtained from Mr. Barlow, explaining how Mr. Barlow had seen Del and his friends. Mrs. Catania raised her head abruptly. "You don't say," she murmured a couple of times as Del talked.

"Interesting!" Mrs. Catania exclaimed when Del had finished his recitation. "That shows at least that you didn't go in the room! I'll bring this to Mr. Reed's attention tomorrow so he can follow up with Mr. Barlow himself."

"It was Trixie's idea to talk to Mr. Barlow," Del said. "I didn't remember seeing him there, but she remembered that he's there most mornings."

Mrs. Catania looked appraisingly at Trixie. "That's good work, young lady. This production badly needs our Technical Director in the clear."

Del left and Trixie moved to follow him, but hesitated at the prop room threshold. She turned back around to look at Mrs. Catania.

"Yes?" Mrs. Catania said expectantly.

"There's something else," Trixie began. "I'm not sure how to put this."

"Just put it out there," Mrs. Catania replied, dropping a pen into her desk drawer and slamming it shut.

"Mr. Barlow also told us that earlier, before Del and his friends went to the prop room, that he saw both Mrs. Travers and Alison go in the prop room. As you know, they were delivering the new costumes. Mr. Barlow saw both Mrs. Travers and Alison go in the prop room, but he only saw Mrs. Travers come out," Trixie paused.

Mrs. Catania was completely silent, staring straight at her. Trixie gathered her courage and went on. "Later that day at rehearsal, um, I heard Alison tell her mother she would need a written excuse for missing the first two periods on Monday. She told me and another friend that she'd had a doctor's appointment. But you see, Mr. Barlow saw her at school and well, um, that's an inconsistency," Trixie said.

Mrs. Catania's eyes narrowed and she looked back down at the papers on her desk. "I'll tell Mr. Reed to talk to Mr. Barlow about everyone he saw coming and going that morning," she said, not raising her head. "Thank-you, Trixie."

It was a dismissal. Trixie turned and fled from the office. She'd decided that she did not, at that point, want to be the one to publicly expose Alison's fabricated doctor's appointment. "I'll run it past Honey first," she thought. "And maybe Jim." Trixie didn't look forward to telling Jim what she'd found out about Alison, but on the other hand, whatever she discussed with Honey would get back to Jim sooner or later - mostly sooner.

"If only Mr. Reed would get off the stick and start asking some questions of his own," she thought grumpily.

Nancy Norland was in the prop room conferring with a crewmember.

"Hey, Trix, can you get the stage lights on?" she called across to Trixie.

"Sure thing," Trixie replied and headed back stage. She crossed the threshold and was about to begin flipping on lights when she thought she heard someone moving in the wings on the far side of the stage. She moved quietly backstage out of the doorway and paused while her eyes became accustomed to the dim light. A female figure was pacing the stage; she gripped her arms together, anxiously rubbing her upper arms.

As Trixie watched, the figure moved to one of the boxes under the prop tables. Her back to Trixie, she rummaged among the things in the boxes. Trixie thought she picked something up, but couldn't tell for sure. Then the figure moved toward the trap door at back stage right. Trixie held her breath as the person lifted up the trap door. In the additional light from the basement, Trixie could clearly see Alison Travers descending the stairs to the dressing rooms below. She seemed to be holding something close to her chest. Trixie was about to call out when Nancy came up behind her.

"Hey, let's get this show on the road!"

"Right, sorry," Trixie said, startled. "It's just that I thought I'd heard someone," she quickly turned back around but the trap door was closing shut.

"I thought you were used to our ghost by now," Nancy teased, as she moved quickly and efficiently to get the stage ready for rehearsal.

Trixie wanted very badly to see what Alison had taken downstairs, but the rest of the cast and crew were arriving and Nancy was asking for her help getting props out and arranged.

Trixie tried to keep an eye out for Alison's return, but was quickly absorbed in checking her prop list for the scenes they were to rehearse that day. She read the items silently, scanning the prop table to see if each was present: one rope, one red carpet bag, Buffalo Bill handbills, one white baton, one fake cigar, two hand mirrors, clothespins, one primer reading book.

Trixie frowned. The primer reading book was missing, as was one of the mirrors - the one that Annie Oakley was supposed to use to perform a sharp shooting trick. Trixie took a quick breath. Perhaps Alison had been carrying something downstairs after all. Trixie surveyed the prop table one more time and delved into the prop box underneath, but she still couldn't find the two missing props.

"Has anyone seen Annie Oakley's stunt mirror or primer reading book?" she called aloud.

But everyone was scurrying around, attention on their own last minute chores. Most acknowledged Trixie's question with no more than a distracted shrug. She stepped away from the table, looking around. Backstage left, near the prop room, Honey and Mrs. Travers were conducting costume fittings with chorus members. It was getting close to the starting time for the rehearsal and Trixie knew neither Nancy nor Mrs. Catania would be happy if everything wasn't in place.

"Gleeps!" Trixie thought. She gripped her blonde curls in frustration and turned back to the prop table and stopped short. The primer reading book had reappeared. Trixie looked around quickly. Alison Travers was walking across the stage, having come from the general direction of the prop table. She could have been there a minute ago, but then, a dozen other people had access also, Trixie realized. Del was conferring with Ryan just five steps away. Chorus members were milling around also.

"Still, I've got to force this one. I've got to see if I can get something out in the open," Trixie thought. She hurried to catch up with Alison.

"Alison!" she said, swinging along beside her, trying to keep her voice friendly. "I'm missing two props for Annie Oakley, I thought you might have seen them."

Alison turned to Trixie, her eyebrows knit in a small frown. "Oh?"

Out of the corner of her eye Trixie saw that Mrs. Travers had paused in pinning up a costume and was looking over at Trixie and Alison.

"I saw you in here earlier. By the prop table," Trixie said bluntly. "The primer reading book is missing and so is the mirror for Annie Oakley's sharp shooting stunts. I thought maybe you saw them."

Mrs. Travers came rushing up. "I sent Alison in here to drop off some safety pins Nancy had asked me for, for her stage kit. Come along Alison, we need to fit you for your evening gown. Now," Mrs. Travers emphasized when Alison seemed to hesitate.

Mrs. Travers was pulling Alison's arm, but Alison stood still a moment looking directly at Trixie. "I haven't seen the mirror," she said. Then she left with her mother.

Trixie stood for a moment watching the two walk off. The look on Alison's face had surprised Trixie. Alison had looked tense, but not evasive. "It was almost like she was trying to tell me something," Trixie thought.

She mulled that over as she walked back to the prop table. The mirror still hadn't reappeared, however, and she had to alert somebody. She saw Di at center stage chatting with her co-star, Robert Wells, and quickly crossed over to the two.

"I can't find your mirror for the shooting scene anywhere," she told Di breathlessly.

A cloud passed over Di's lovely face but she quickly shrugged it off. "I'll just get my purse from downstairs and use my own mirror for rehearsal," she said. "It's no big deal."

"Good idea, but you don't need to fetch props," Trixie said quickly with a grin. "I'll find someone who's got a mirror. Lord knows, I don't!" Di and Robert laughed as Trixie ran her fingers through her rumpled curls.

As it happened, Nancy had a small cosmetics mirror in her stage kit and she handed it over to Trixie without comment, barely looking up from her discussion of lighting cues with Del.

The rehearsal began with the scene of the shooting match between Annie Oakley and Frank Butler. When it came time for Di to shoot holding a mirror, she pulled out the tiny cosmetics mirror.

"Hold it!" Mrs. Catania called out loudly from her seat out front. "Is that the mirror we're using? I can't even see it back here! I can't tell what Di's doing."

Nancy Norland went onstage. "We can't find the regular mirror, Mrs. Catania. So, Di's just using this for this one rehearsal."

Mrs. Catania frowned. "People, you are going to have to keep better track of things! I've never seen so many props disappear. Whose job were those props? Whose?"

Sheepishly, Trixie joined Nancy onstage. "That's my job, Mrs. Catania. I looked everywhere, it was here yesterday, I swear, I asked everybody -"

"Enough!" Mrs. Catania cut off Trixie's apologies. "People, you have to pay attention! You crew members have to check and double check. And, you actors, don't go walking off and leaving props everywhere. I've seen props sitting on ladders, for mercy's sake! Nancy, you are going to have to come up with a system to get your crew in better shape." Mrs. Catania looked around grumpily for someone else to scold, but realized she had pretty much included everyone in her lecture. She frowned around in general once more and then said, "All right. Let's pick up from where we were! Someone find that mirror by tomorrow!"

Trixie grimaced and hurried back stage with Nancy. Rehearsal resumed and when she had a chance Trixie whispered her apologies to Nancy.

"Don't worry about it," Nancy whispered back. "It is my responsibility, ultimately. Besides, you know Mrs. Catania. She blows her stack at least once a night, but she gets over it quickly, too. She won't even remember this in an hour."

After the shooting scene the cast and crew got a brief break. Trixie took advantage of the break to find Di and apologize for the distraction of not having the correct mirror.

Di, chatting with Robert, was still in a relaxed mood. "You know what, Trixie? It's not a big deal. I'm learning to roll with the punches and not think every mistake is the end of the world."

"Now all she has to do is get Mrs. Catania to agree with that," Robert put in and he and Di laughed heartily.

Trixie chuckled, not quite as amused as they were, but relieved. Most of all she was impressed and proud that Di was proving so resilient.

Rehearsal resumed with a scene in the railroad car. Annie Oakley was being taught to read by her younger brother, played by the ten year old son of Sleepyside High's Chorus Director. Together the youngster and Di opened the book. Both stopped, momentarily, and stared.

The youngster looked up at Di uncertainly, then went ahead with his lines. The child stopped speaking and there was a pause. Di's smile seemed frozen on her face. Finally, she began to stutter unintelligibly.

"Prompt, give her the line," Mrs. Catania called out impatiently.

Nancy read the line and Di repeated it.

No sooner had Di gotten the line out than Mrs. Catania interrupted. "Diana, there's no reason to miss that line," she complained. "All you have to do is repeat what your brother says. He's teaching you to read! If you're at a loss, just repeat the words that he says! Get your head in the game! Okay, start again!"

Di took a deep breath and repeated her line. She stumbled a few more times, but recovered without needing another prompt. By the time Robert joined her on stage for their duet, "They Say It's Wonderful," she seemed to have regained her concentration. She sang sweetly, wistfully, every note true:

The thing that's known as romance is wonderful, wonderful
In every way, so they say.

Even Mrs. Catania seemed mollified. "Your duet is okay, you two," she said. "But I think we want to re-think the lighting for this scene. Del, see me about this later," she called. "Okay, everyone, let's call it a night."

The cast and crew started putting things away as quickly as they could. Hurrying with the rest, Trixie began to put the smaller props in a box, double checking that each one was present and accounted for. She looked up once to see Di standing stock still amid the bustle. She saw Trixie looking at her and walked slowly over, carrying the primer reading book that had been used in the scene.

Trixie looked up at her questioningly. Without a word, Di opened the book to the page it had been opened to during the scene and handed it to Trixie. Looking down Trixie saw that what looked like the back of a fortune cookie message had been taped onto the center of the page. On it a message was written in big, block letters:

"Beware. There's STILL another 'Sure Shot' …backstage."