The Mystery of the Velvet Gown Page 4

  “I’m excited about the costumes,” Honey said. “I wonder if we’ll be renting some or making all of them.”

  “You know,” Trixie admitted, “I’m a stagehand, but I’m afraid I don’t even know what a stagehand does!”

  Mart groaned from the seat behind her, then snorted rudely. Turning to Brian and Jim, he spouted pompously, “I ask you, members of the jury, is this not a misrepresentation on the part of Beatrix Belden—to feign knowledge of a special skill of which she is totally ignorant? It’s villainous! This young woman is completely incorrigible!”

  “Fortunately for you, Mart Belden, I have better things to do than to eavesdrop on other people’s conversations. Obviously, you do not,” Trixie retorted smartly as the bus pulled up in front of Sleepyside Junior-Senior High. She gathered up her books and stalked off the bus, followed by Honey and Di.

  “You can’t win ’em all.” Mart shrugged and filed out behind them.

  In between two of her morning classes, Trixie called Dr. Samet’s office and learned that Reddy was doing fine.

  Drama class was held just before lunch hour. The group of anxious freshmen gathered in the school auditorium for their first rehearsal. Eileen Darcy arrived looking tense and tired, but she smiled as she faced the class from the stage.

  “We are very fortunate,” Miss Darcy announced, “in that we will not have to make or rent most of the costumes for this production. A friend of mine,” she went on to explain, “is the proprietor of a costume company in London, and she is planning a show in New York City.

  “She has offered to send some of her Shakespearean costumes ahead for us to use, free of charge—which will certainly help our meager costume budget,” Miss Darcy added.

  “Now, to begin, putting on a play is a serious business. Anyone who thinks this will simply be a time to chat with his friends or to lounge about can do us all a favor and leave right now.

  A play is certainly a great deal of fun, but it is also a good bit of work,” she finished.

  The entire class sat quietly and listened attentively. “Good,” Miss Darcy said. “Now that that obligatory speech is over, we can really begin.” She smiled, and the class smiled and relaxed, too.

  “First, I’ll be dividing you all into groups. The senior aides will assign the stagehands to different crews. We will need one crew for scenery and another for props. The costume crew will be divided into wardrobe and makeup crews. The lighting crew will be under the supervision of senior aide Jenny Ratner.

  “I have asked the art club to help design posters and programs and to help paint scenery. But before we get to work on those things, I want you all to understand some basic stage geography. I am passing out a mimeographed diagram of the stage area, and I want you all to memorize it. You must be as familiar with the layout of the stage as you are with that of your own house. We can’t have people running into each other or not knowing where a prop has to be at a certain time.”

  They all listened carefully while Miss Darcy explained that downstage is closest to the audience and upstage is farthest away. Stage right means to your right as you stand on the stage facing the audience, she told them, and the wings are the areas on either side of the stage, most of the time hidden by parts of the scenery.

  “When you ‘wait in the wings,’ ” Miss Darcy explained, “you’re waiting in one or the other of those areas, either as an actor or actress ready to enter, or as a stagehand with a prop or a change of costume.”

  The divided grid of the stage, as shown on the diagram, looked very confusing to most of the students until the drama teacher explained that U.R. entrance meant that the actor or actress came onto the stage from the upstage-right entrance. The stage was divided into quadrants marked up right and down right, and up center and down center, and up left and down left.

  Di leaned over and whispered to Honey. “This all seems so confusing. Not only do I have to memorize all those lines, but now I’ve got to remember where I’m supposed to say them from!”

  “Do you have a question, Miss Lynch?” Eileen Darcy snapped. “If you do, I wish you’d direct it to me. An actress must know all these things.”

  Di blushed a bright red and apologized. Jane Morgan giggled from a seat somewhere behind Di. Trixie, sitting next to Honey on the other side, turned and glared at Jane.

  I’d better keep an eye on her, Trixie thought as she and Honey exchanged knowing looks.

  Miss Darcy’s mood changed suddenly. She rubbed her forehead nervously. “I—I’m sorry,” she began. “I’m a little on edge today. I know this must all look very confusing to you, but it will become much clearer once we start the rehearsals.

  “All right,” she said briskly. “Costume crew over there.” She motioned to her left. “Stagehands next to them, and lighting crew over there.” Students quickly gathered in their assigned places. “All actors and actresses remain— ” Miss Darcy broke off suddenly, then finished her sentence absentmindedly, “— seated.” She paused. “Excuse me, class, I’ll be right back.” She walked quickly to the back of the auditorium, where Peter Ashbury, her fiancé, was standing.

  Trixie poked Honey in the ribs. “There’s ‘dreamboat,’ ” she whispered. “I wonder what he’s doing here during school hours.”

  “Maybe he came to take Miss Darcy to lunch,” Honey suggested.

  “She certainly seems nervous this morning,” Trixie mused, “but it’s perfectly understandable. She must be terribly worried about her father.” Honey giggled. “What’s so funny about that?” Trixie asked.

  “That’s not funny,” Honey answered. “It was your ‘perfectly understandable’ that made me laugh. Everything has to be at least ‘understandable’ with you, if not ‘perfectly understandable.’ ” Trixie giggled, too. “I guess you’re right, Honey. But you know that detectives have to think like that all the time, not just when they’re working on a case!”

  Suddenly Jane Morgan interrupted the whispered conversation.

  “I heard Miss Darcy spent last night at your house, Honey,” Jane said, a stiff smile fixed on her face. “You’re getting pretty chummy with a teacher, inviting her over for a slumber party.” She sniffed. *

  “Miss Darcy came to visit Miss Trask, not Honey,” Trixie answered sharply.

  “Oh, yes, her governess. Well, not everyone has a governess that happens to be friends with one of the teachers,” Jane observed, with a snide smile.

  “It just so happens that—” Trixie began.

  “I know the whole story, Trixie Belden,” Jane interjected, all pretense of a smile gone. “You know, you and your gang aren’t the only ones who are privileged with certain information.” Honey spoke before Trixie could respond again. “That’s true, Jane,” she answered sweetly and then quickly turned away from the girl.

  “She’s just jealous,” Honey said under her breath to Trixie. “Don’t let it get you so upset. I do wonder how she knew about last night, though.”

  Trixie’s face was red with anger. “I forgot to tell you,” she said. “Jane is Dr. Samet’s niece. She helps him with the animals. She probably went to help him before school this morning, and he must have told her what happened last night. She makes me so mad!”

  “I know,” Honey said, “but you’ve got to try to ignore her.”

  The class was beginning to get restless as Miss Darcy returned from talking with her fiancé.

  Trixie turned and saw him waiting at the back v of the auditorium.

  “We only have a couple of minutes left before the bell,” Miss Darcy said loudly. “I want you all to come back here right after lunch, and we’ll discuss your assignments for tomorrow.” Then Miss Darcy dismissed the class.

  As students filed out of the auditorium, Honey, Trixie, and Di passed very near Peter Ashbury. They’d gone only a short distance down the hallway when Honey suddenly stopped.

  “What’s wrong, Honey?” Trixie asked.

  “I think I’ve seen that man somewhere before,” she mused aloud.

>   “Of course you have, Honey,” Trixie said, puzzled. “You’ve seen him pick Miss Darcy up after school lots of times!”

  “I know, but I’ve seen him somewhere else, too. I just realized it, but I can’t remember where.”

  “Now who needs to have everything ‘perfectly understandable’?” Trixie laughed.

  “I know,” Honey said. “I’m getting as bad as you. It’s probably nothing, but I know I’ve seen him before—somewhere....”

  The Costumes From England ● 5

  THE FIRST FEW DAYS of rehearsal went smoothly. “Work downstage,“

  “Stay to the center line,” and “Exit stage left” now made some sense to the cast and crew, who eagerly worked together under Eileen Darcy’s direction.

  Trixie, up to her elbows in paint, was carefully filling in a backdrop for one of the scenes. “I never imagined there was so much work to do!” she exclaimed to Jim Frayne, who was working beside her. He had volunteered as one of the senior aides to help with scenery and posters.

  “This is just the beginning, Trixie,” Jim told her. “Wait until you have to have all the props ready and the scenes set up on time. But you’ll have a shift chart for that,” he added.

  “A shift chart?”

  “Sure,” Jim answered. “Stagehands work in pairs, because things have to be set up and taken down quickly between scenes. You and your partner will be assigned things to do in a certain order. Let’s say that one scene calls for a chair and the next one doesn’t. Your shift chart will say ‘set chair’ for that first scene and ‘strike chair’ for the next scene.”

  “Oh,” Trixie said. “I should have guessed what it meant. You know, Jim,” she continued more cheerfully, “this is really a lot of fun. Everyone is working together, helping each other. I like it.”

  “Maybe you’ll change your career plans,” Jim teased, “and take up set designing.”

  “Never!” Trixie laughed. “I don’t like it that much.”

  They finished the backdrop and quickly cleaned up. On the way back to the auditorium, they stopped in the wardrobe room to see how Honey was doing. As they approached, they could hear Jane Morgan’s voice.

  “Honey Wheeler, you took this in too much. Now look at how it fits her!” Jane was pointing to a costume worn by one of the girls in the cast.

  “Why, Jane,” Trixie said innocently as she entered the room, “I didn’t know you were in charge of the costume crew.”

  “I’m not,” Jane snapped back, “but someone has to keep an eye on all these people who don’t know what they’re doing. We have to make some of the costumes, you know. It seems only Juliet gets the special ones from England.” Trixie held her temper with difficulty. She turned to Honey. “It’s almost time for lunch, Honey. Why don’t you come out in front with us and watch the end of the rehearsal?”

  Honey nodded, picked up her sewing equipment, and walked out with them.

  “Whew! I wouldn’t want to get on her bad side,” Jim whistled when they were out of earshot. “What did you do to her, Honey, stick her with a needle?”

  “She should have!” Trixie exclaimed. She explained to Jim that Jane was jealous of Di for getting the part of Juliet and that she seemed to be taking it out on everyone else.

  “But honestly, Honey, I don’t know how you can tolerate her!” Trixie said, exasperated. “ ‘Too long, too short, too tight....’ She’s just doing that to aggravate you.”

  “I know,” Honey responded, “but jealousy can sometimes make people do strange things. I don’t think Jane really means to be that way.“

  “Of course she does!” Trixie retorted. “Honey, you’re just too nice sometimes. You’re always trying to see the good side of people, and usually they end up taking advantage of you.”

  Trixie became silent as they entered the auditorium and slipped into front row seats. The cast was working on Act II, Scene II, in which Juliet speaks to Romeo from her balcony window.

  Miss Darcy still seemed very much on edge, and according to Miss Trask, who spoke to the drama teacher daily, there was still no word about her father. Peter Ashbury came to rehearsals every day and sat quietly in the back of the auditorium until lunch break.

  Trixie watched her pretty friend rehearse the part of Juliet.

  ‘Good-night, good-night! parting is such sweet sorrow....’ ” Di faltered and stopped.

  She blushed a deep red, then stammered through the line again, repeating “sweet sorrow” several times.

  “Well, Diana?” Miss Darcy demanded impatiently, her voice sharp.

  Poor Di, Trixie groaned inwardly.

  Suddenly a voice was heard from the wings. “ ‘That I shall say good-night till it be morrow.’ ”

  “That’s Jane Morgan!” Trixie hissed to Honey and Jim.

  “Thank you, Jane,” Miss Darcy was saying. “Try to remember your lines, Diana! That’s the second time today that Jane has had to help you. There won’t be any prompting on the night of the performance,” she admonished curtly.

  Eileen Darcy was interrupted just then by a student bearing a message from the principal’s office. After reading it, her mood suddenly changed.

  “The costumes from England have arrived.” Miss Darcy’s face was flushed, and she seemed very excited. “If everyone is willing to forego a few minutes of their lunch break, I’ll bring them in and we’ll take a look at them.”

  All the students agreed. Miss Darcy asked for several volunteers to help carry the boxes. Jim and Trixie quickly offered, and they headed toward the office with Miss Darcy. On their way out, Peter Ashbury rose and offered to help, too.

  There were three large, flat boxes. Jim carried one, Ashbury another, and Trixie and Eileen Darcy carried the third. They took them back to the auditorium and set them on the stage.

  Trixie immediately began opening one of the boxes. “What do you think you’re doing?” Peter Ashbury demanded. “I think you should wait until you’re asked to do something. Perhaps Miss Darcy would like to open them. They are her responsibility, after all.”

  “I—I was only trying to help,” Trixie stammered, blushing furiously.

  “Mr. Ashbury is right, Trixie,” Miss Darcy said smoothly. “I would like to open them myself, since they are on loan to us.”

  She quickly began opening the boxes as the students looked on. The first costume she removed was a beautiful cape.

  “This is to be worn by Romeo in the first act,” she explained. She then proceeded to remove the rest of the costumes, until finally she brought out a long, exquisite velvet gown with intricate lace and jewel designs.

  “This is lovely!” she exclaimed, holding up the gown.

  Suddenly a flashbulb went off. Eileen Darcy looked up in surprise.

  “Didn’t mean to startle you, Miss Darcy,” said the smiling young man with the camera. “I just wanted to get some shots for the paper, and I think candid ones are often the best.” It was Bill Morgan, Jane’s older brother, who was a photographer for the school newspaper. “I plan to do a whole article about the play,” he explained glibly.

  “That’s fine,” Eileen Darcy said. “You just startled me, that’s all.” Then she glanced down at her wristwatch. “I’ve detained you long enough, class. You’d better get to lunch. Mr. Ashbury and I will carry the costumes to my office. And, Trixie, after lunch, will you please stop in and see me for a few minutes?”

  Trixie nodded, then gathered her things and walked to the cafeteria with Di, Jim, and Honey.

  “It looks like we’ve all gotten in some hot water today,” Trixie sighed. “Jane yelled at Honey, Di forgot a line, Mr. Ashbury snapped at me, and now Miss Darcy wants to see me. I wonder what else I did! Is there a full moon or something?”

  “Maybe it’s hunting season for Bob-Whites,” Honey giggled.

  Trixie laughed, too, and then became serious again. “Did you notice how nervous Miss Darcy was while she was opening the costumes?“

  “She’s been nervous all week,” Jim said, “and t
hat really doesn’t need any explanation, Trixie. She’s undoubtedly worried about her father, and maybe she’s still shaken by the accident with Reddy.”

  Throughout the walk to the cafeteria, Di had been unusually quiet. “Is something wrong, Di?” Honey finally asked.

  “No... well, yes,” Di began, tears filling her violet-colored eyes. She hesitated for a moment, then blurted out, “I don’t think I can play Juliet! All the lines I knew yesterday, I’ve forgotten today, and the ones I’ll have to learn for tomorrow, I’ll probably forget by the next day! Jane knows all of them. Maybe she should play the part.”

  “Don’t be ridic, Di!” Trixie exclaimed angrily. “Sure she knows the play—she’s probably got a script in her hand, waiting for you to forget a line. And she’s not out there saying them in front of all those people!”

  “Trixie’s right,” Honey added firmly. “Tomorrow’s Friday—we’ll help you practice all weekend. You’re going to do just fine.”

  “I agree with both of them,” Jim said, handing Di a handkerchief. “Now, dry those eyes, and let’s eat, or you’ll be too weak from hunger to go back to rehearsal.”

  Brian and Mart were already seated at a table and were half-finished with their sandwiches by the time Honey, Di, Trixie, and Jim joined them.

  “What detained thee, thespian friends and sibling?” Mart asked blithely.

  “The costumes from England arrived,” Honey answered, “and we all stayed to see them. There are some beautiful gowns that Di will get to wear.”

  “They are lovely, aren’t they?” Di said, brightening a little.

  It was Trixie’s turn to be quiet. She silently munched her sandwich as her friends chattered on about the play and costumes.

  “Uh-oh,” Mart said. “I get the feeling that this is the lull before the storm. What’s brewing in that cranial cauldron, Trix?”

  “I’m just thinking instead of gabbing, for once,” she answered flippantly, getting up and quickly gathering her books. “And I’ve got to run. Miss Darcy wants to see me before rehearsal.” She left the lunchroom abruptly.