Gene Costos and Annabelle Kelly swept onto the stage, moving past the Lester twins. The twins watched with thunder-struck expressions and the local orchestra hurried to flip their music sheets. Challenge number one of live theatre without enough rehearsals. Audra hurried up, a dark expression on her face as she glanced toward the stage then back at her rundown.
“What do I do about them?”
Robert shrugged. “Let it go for now, and make sure the Lester twins are ready to zip out. After the show will be early enough to deal with the confusion. Look at the crowd.” He gestured toward the stage, and Audra’s gaze followed. “They’re entranced.”
Annabelle mesmerized in a flowing dress that swayed around her in a lyrical manner with each beat of the music. The audience settled back as the two pros danced in a beautiful style. The twins relaxed, arms crossed over their chests, waiting for the next opening to get on the stage.
Lana staggered backstage, looking out of breath and drained. Before he could stop her, she pushed into the dressing room she shared with a couple of other women. The door closed but not before he heard a loud crash followed by a bang.
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
__________
The music reached a crescendo as Gene and Annabelle tapped off the stage. The Lester twins hurried out before anyone else could slip in front of them. Audra wiped her forehead with Robert’s handkerchief, the one she’d had since that fateful flight to Hollywood. She glanced at her rundown to see who should stand ready for their act.
“Did you hear that, Audra? The crowd loved us.” Annabelle squeezed Audra into a quick hug.
“Just keep showing me that style and the next movie is ours. Move over, Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers. It’s time for the Gene and Annabelle Show.” Gene squeezed the blonde to his side and then led her down the hall with a quick dance step.
A door banged open, and Dalia ran out of Lana’s dressing room. “Lawd have mercy. Mizz Garfield just dropped. Weak as a newborn kitten.”
Audra spun to hurry into the room, but Mark stopped her. “Keep the acts moving. The audience can’t know anything’s happened. And get everyone back to the original line-up.”
Glancing at the assembled performers, Audra waved them away from the dressing room door. “I’m sure she’ll be fine. Next up are Constance and Frank. Let’s hear all the high notes, Constance.” The group dispersed slowly, the women taking a second or third look back, hesitation and fear painted on their faces.
Constance gargled some water then spit it out. “This is terrible.”
“What do you mean?” Audra picked up the pitcher and sniffed it. She couldn’t smell anything unusual. “It’s just water.”
The singer looked like she was winding up for a fit, something Audra didn’t have time to figure out now. She grabbed a passing stagehand. “Johnny, can you get Constance a fresh cup of water?”
The young stagehand jumped to comply and hurried back with a cup. Constance accepted the cup and swallowed the water then handed the glass back to him. She warmed her voice over an octave. A couple of the notes quavered and she frowned. “Nerves. More water, Johnny.”
Audra chewed on the end of her pencil. The dance number was about over. She had to get Constance prepped to run on stage. “One minute.”
“I can’t go out there. Not before I run another octave.”
“Doesn’t matter. You’ll have to do that as you waltz on stage. Come on, Frank, take her with you.”
“All right, baby cakes. It’s show time.” Frank swept Constance onto his arm and marched her to the curtain. Johnny hurried back with the cup of water.
“Thanks, Johnny, but she’s already on stage.” Johnny walked off with slumped shoulders. Audra eyed the pitcher then found a clean glass and poured some water in it. After a sip she decided nerves must be bothering Constance since there was nothing wrong with it.
The Lester Twins hurried behind the curtain, Charlie rubbing his hands together. Audra gave them hand towels from a stack resting on a table.
“Thanks. That audience was really following us tonight.” Charlie grinned and fanned his face.
Danny slugged his brother in the shoulder. “It’s me they like, you big lug.” The grin splitting his face took the sting from his words.
“You two’d better get changed. Your next number will be here before you’re ready if you don’t hurry.”
The brothers bickered good-naturedly as they hustled to a dressing room. There didn’t seem to be much activity coming from Lana’s dressing room, so Lana must be okay. Audra wanted to check on her but felt tugged in too many directions. A creaking note in Constance’s song yanked Audra’s attention back to the stage.
Johnny rubbed an ear. “With a voice like that how’d she get on the tour?”
“First night. She’ll smooth it out.”
The strains of the song wafted to the last notes, the saxophone carrying the melody as Constance’s voice collapsed. She barely waited for the curtain to fall before hurrying toward the dressing room, a storm cloud developing on her features. She stopped in front of Audra. “Tell me Mark didn’t hear me sing. Please.”
“I didn’t see him.”
“I’ll die if he sends me home.” Constance’s eyes were huge in her face.
Audra smiled at Constance while waving the next act on. “He wouldn’t do that.”
“You don’t know Hollywood or the rumors about that man.” Constance hurried toward the dressing room she shared, her wails carrying back to Audra.
“What a diva,” Winston Portland muttered while waiting for Robert to finish his shtick so the now dapper fellow could hurry out with his little skit based on the day’s headlines. The man had abandoned his hobo costume for the role of professor. He’d scoured at least half a dozen papers, circling headlines and throwing wadded-up sheets in heaps around him on the floor of the theatre.
Dalia hurried from the dressing room, her hips swaying as she jogged.
Audra hurried up to Dalia. “Is Lana all right?”
“Smellin’ salts worked like a charm. She got herself a headache from collapsin’, but she gonna be good as new in the mornin’.”
“That’s a relief.”
“Sho ’nough. I gots to get her somethin’ to munch.” Dalia hustled into the labyrinth of rooms.
Robert waved Winston onstage, and Audra’s mind spun as she watched the buzz of activity. So many people coming and going, overlapping, yet she’d kept them straight and organized so far other than Annabelle and Gene. And the longer she spent time with them, the more she hoped none was involved with Rosemary’s death. Nagging suspicion lingered from that afternoon’s attack.
Rosemary would have loved every moment of this tour. From the time she’d stepped on the train, Audra had known the wrong Schaeffer sister worked the caravan. Now, as the chaos of the first show proceeded, she felt the bleakness of missing Rosemary cloak her.
* * * * *
“Now, Winston, rumor has it you’re something of a professor.” Robert angled his stance so that both of them could keep their bodies open to the audience.
Winston made a show of examining his coat, his pockets, even his tie. “I’m not sure what you mean.”
“You’re a student of history.”
“On occasion. Especially if she’s blond—about this tall”—he held his hand up to his chin—“and only a year or two older than me.”
Robert did a double-take. “I’d heard more in the-study-the-headlines kind of way.”
“Oh that.” Winston straightened his bowtie. “I guess I’ll accept that title if you think the coeds find it attractive.”
The audience tittered while Robert stared at him. Winston was supposed to comment on headlines, not the female population. Had he seen all the uniforms in the crowd and decided to alter course? If so, how could Robert pull the interplay back to current affairs? Guess he and Winston would have to talk more before the next show. “While women are fascinating….”
“You bet th
ey are.” A soldier stood up a dozen or so rows back. “In fact, why don’t you bring a few more out here. We’d rather watch them than you two.”
Several men hooted and clapped. “That’s what we like.”
Robert folded his arms and pivoted away from Winston. “Sounds like they’ve got some opinions, Mr. Professor.”
Winston shrugged and gestured like he was making a note on his hand. “Next time I’ll bring someone with me.”
“Make sure she’s prettier than you, with Betty Grable legs,” a soldier hollered at them, hands cupped around his mouth.
Robert shook his head and gave in to a grin. “Well, for now, professor, why don’t you fill us in on the headlines?”
A groan rose from the men in the audience while Winston moved into his planned routine. In a few moments, he had them eating out of his hand, laughing and snorting as he rattled off jokes like a Bob Hope in training. Robert had to admit, Winston had a humorous take on the headlines as he moved from topic to topic. But as he stood just off stage watching the audience, Robert knew much work remained. The haphazard nature of the caravan and its program needed to be smoothed out to ensure the audience got the polished performance they anticipated.
Robert imagined Mark would crack the whip on the train until they reached their next stop. It wouldn’t take long to get to Norfolk and the naval installations near there. Not enough to give them down time to polish the acts.
The audience roared.
“That’s telling it.” A man’s voice shouted approval above the crowd.
What had Winston said that tickled their funny bones? Maybe Robert should take notes. The man had a comedian’s sense of timing.
Winston bowed then hurried off, and Robert squared his shoulders before walking back on stage. A woman in the front row looked at him expectantly.
Robert laughed and shrugged. “Don’t know if I can top that, folks. So instead of trying, let’s get the next act out here. Are you having a good time? Enjoying yourselves?”
The roars of approval and clapping could have lifted the roof from the National Theatre.
“All right. That’s what we like to hear.” Robert clapped along for a moment then stepped back up to the microphone. “I think you’ll like this next act. These gals sing in a way that makes you think you’re in heaven.”
“Do they look like angels?” A man in the fifth row stood up and searched behind Robert.
“Yes, indeedy.” Robert stepped back and motioned to the curtain. “Put your hands together for the McAllister sisters.”
The three beauties jitterbugged onto the stage as Robert exited. The soldier in the fifth row clasped a hand to his heart and sighed dramatically. “That’s more like it. Look at those dames!”
“Ah, be quiet.” The airman behind him tugged the sailor down.
Soon the girls sang in a style reminiscent of the Andrews Sisters. Sweet harmonies wove around the auditorium and then they switched to another jitterbug number.
Robert turned and collided with Audra. He reached out to steady her. “Sorry about that.”
“I guess I was distracted.”
“The show’s going well.”
“Yes, but I haven’t seen Lana.” Audra’s gaze darted to his ex’s dressing room and back. “Her next number is coming up in a minute, and I have a feeling the audience will get antsy if they don’t see her soon.”
“It’s not like she’s Kate Hepburn.”
“True. But she’s the female headliner for this tour.” A lock of her hair tumbled in front of her eyes. Robert considered brushing it behind her ear, but she did, before he could act. A pang of disappointment shot through him.
“Why don’t you go check on her?” Robert reached for her clipboard. “Who’s up next?”
“Jim Collins act. And then Lana and Royce.”
“Then go find her. Lana’s not a lot of things, but she is a professional. She’ll do her part on the caravan.” The pucker between her eyes told Robert that Audra didn’t believe him. “Trust me on this. She’ll make it work.”
Audra nodded. “I don’t have much choice. Does she snap people’s heads off?”
“Only husbands’.”
Audra scurried down the hallway. Robert watched her until she disappeared from sight. It wasn’t like Lana not to be primed and ready when it was her time to appear before an audience or camera. She lived for the spotlight. No need to worry Audra about that. Lana would be fine. She always was. She had more lives than the proverbial cat.
Jim Collins hustled by.
“Hey, wait a minute, Jimmy.”
The stout man stopped and turned with a frown. “No one but my mama, God bless her, calls me Jimmy.”
Robert held up his hands. “Sorry. Just needed your attention. Soon as this group stops singing, you’re up.”
“I know. Too bad Winston sucked all the laughs out of the audience.”
“Don’t believe that for a minute. You have the touch. You’ll have them eating out of your hand.”
“I hope so. Do I ever.” A bead of sweat trailed down his forehead.
“Better see Dalia and have your makeup touched up.” Robert clapped Jim on the shoulder. “And hurry back. You’ve got three minutes by my count.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
__________
The dining car rocked as the performers decompressed from the show. Audra sat at a table across from Robert, trying not to be disappointed their planned tour of D.C. had evaporated with Mark’s shouted orders to return to the train as soon as the war bond sale ended. He’d been so abrupt she wondered if he’d feared losing stars on the D.C. streets.
Robert had looked like he wanted to sit next to her when he followed her onto the dining car, but Elizabeth McAllister slid in beside her before he could. Audra tried to cover her disappointment, especially since she was a fool to think anything could develop with Robert.
Watching him today, her first impression had been reinforced. His star would rise again. When it did, he wouldn’t look to a nobody from the Midwest for companionship. Even if he might, the studio would line up the perfect starlet.
She’d do well to guard her heart. No matter how encouraging he looked, nothing was destined to develop between them.
Between that and the earlier attack, she couldn’t shake a glum mood. She resisted a tremor at the thought someone had tried to harm her earlier. While she’d wanted to get to know some of the people Rosemary had known, she’d never really expected to find Rosie’s killer. But after the attack, it appeared the killer was here, maybe even in this very car. Right now.
Nobody else shared the fearful direction of her thoughts. Instead, the performers talked over each other in their excitement. They quickly filled plates and cups from the refreshments Mark had the porters prepare. Even Dalia sat in a back corner enjoying the general excitement while keeping a close watch on Lana. Fortunately, the star had continued to improve, just as Dalia had predicted. Other than an underlying paleness, she carried herself with her customary elegance.
“Did you see the people lined up to buy war bonds?” Constance bounced on her seat.
“What a beauteous sight. Yes, sir!” Winston rubbed his hands together. “I think we’ll be the talk of this town for a while.”
“Maybe we should stay another day, Mark. Imagine all the bonds we could sell since people will talk about the show.” Frank did a quick tap dance move. “We only thought people packed the theatre tonight.”
Mark shook his head. “You must not have seen the show I did.” He leaned against the bar and rapped the top with his knuckles. “We’ve got a trainload of work to do before we’re ready for Norfolk. I’ve got half a mind to cancel tomorrow’s appearances. The radio shows can wait. But rehearsals can’t.”
“What a wet towel.” Winston brushed the air in front of him. “You’re sucking the fun from this trip. Making us working stiffs.”
“Besides, I signed on for those appearances, and I’m probably not the only one.” Lana
puckered her mouth in a pretty pout. Audra shook her head. She could try for a hundred years and never pull off that look without appearing petty and put out. “Last time I checked I wasn’t getting paid for these weeks on the road except in publicity.”
“She’s right, Mark.” Royce snuggled closer to the pale star. Lana pushed away, but he ignored her, almost pinning her to his side. She shot him a pointed look but stopped resisting.
Was everything all right there?
Maybe Audra should check. That is, if the star would let her.
Mark shook his head. “This is about more than you and your publicity, Lana.” His gaze included every performer in the car. “We’ve got to give our best…”
“The ‘it’s your duty’ line is getting worn, Mark.” Quincy plunked a few keys on the piano, the discordant notes making Audra cringe. “We’re all performers, stars on the rise…”
“Or fall.” Danny Lester jumped in. “It’s no secret some of us have to make this work or we might as well stay in Atlanta or some other city. Hollywood won’t have much to offer us if we can’t entice the studios to believe the public loves us.”
“The audience seemed to eat out of your hand tonight, Danny.” Constance put her hand on his leg and grinned at him.
“That’s just ’cause they knew the sooner we got off, the sooner you and the other gals would get back on stage.” He shrugged. “It’s the same everywhere. Charlie and I aren’t pretty faces like Quincy and Royce. If we can’t make people remember our slapstick, we’re done.”
Charlie nodded, his red curls bobbing. “It’s a dog-eat-dog world out there. Five people standing in line to take our spots.”
“Some will fight for it, while others wait in the wings.” Danny crossed his arms.
Quincy played a couple of chords. “You two might as well hop off now. Even Robert is more entertaining than you.”
Robert glowered at Quincy. Charlie had always seemed so unmoved by everything, but now he looked rattled by the criticism.
Audra reached across the table, placing her hand on his. “Don’t let him get to you.”
“Aren’t you sweet.” Audra moved her hand at Lana’s acerbic comment. Guess she felt like herself again. “I don’t know, Royce. Wasn’t Miss Schaeffer’s sister more attentive to you gents?”
Stars in the Night Page 17
