“It’s not petty theft! That guitar is worth—”
Kristi held the phone out and looked at it. “I don’t believe it. He hung up on me!”
“Hmmmm…must have been his lunchtime.” Bailey looked at her watch. “I think we should just skip lunch. We need to find out where Robert is staying, and snoop around his room.”
Elizabeth wrinkled her brow. “I’m not sure that’s a good idea, Bales. If Robert and Lori suspect us, they’ll be watching for us to do something out of the ordinary. I think we need to just slow down a bit. We’ll go to lunch, and then come back here for our conference call. Kate said she’d call at one o’clock, and she was going to get in touch with the others.”
“I’m with Bailey. I want to get to the bottom of this. I can’t believe that creep admitted to stealing my dad’s guitar! But you’re right, Elizabeth. We don’t want to do anything to jeopardize our investigation,” said Kristi.
Elizabeth placed a hand Kristi’s shoulder. “Let’s all take a few deep breaths and calm down. My grandpa always reminds me that God knew about our troubles long before we did. And He already knows the way out of them.”
Just then, there was a knock at the door. Standing on her tiptoes, Elizabeth peered out the peephole. It was Mary-Lynn. She opened the door.
Mary-Lynn rushed into the room and announced, “I just had the best morning! I met two different agents, and they each spent more than five minutes talking to me! One of them even gave me his card!”
“Wow, Mary-Lynn! That’s great,” the other three congratulated her.
“So, what have you all been up to?”
The three girls looked at each other, then back at the redhead.
“Oh, nothing much,” they told her.
Bailey picked at her food and listened to Mary-Lynn chatter about her connections with various talent agents, and how she had an appointment with another one right after lunch.
Elizabeth knew what she was thinking without asking. Bailey wants to be discovered too. But she’s gotten too involved in finding this guitar to pay much attention to her reason for coming to the conference.
“I’ll be right back,” Elizabeth said abruptly. She scooted her chair back, stood tall, and marched right over to Rick Forrest’s table. The man smiled when he saw her.
“Why Elizabeth! Hello. Are you having a nice time?”
“Yes, sir,” she answered, smiling at the others at the table. One by one, he introduced Elizabeth to them.
“What can I do for you?” he asked.
She squatted down next to him and said, “I hate to ask you this, Mr. Forrest, but my friend Bailey has been busy…helping a friend, and she hasn’t gotten to meet with any of the agents. Do you know if any of them still have appointments available?”
Mr. Forrest pushed back his chair. “Helping a friend, huh? Well, that shows she has character. I was just about to leave anyway. Why don’t you introduce me to her.”
Elizabeth stood with him. “Really? Oh, she’ll be thrilled. Thank you so much.”
She led the way through the maze of tables to her friend and tried to ignore Mary-Lynn’s jaw, which was hanging open.
“Everyone, I’d like you to meet Mr. Rick Forrest. He sat next to me on the plane. Mr. Forrest, this is Bailey, Kristi, and Mary-Lynn.”
Kristi and Bailey offered short greetings, but Mary-Lynn stood to her feet.
“Oh Mr. Forrest! It is so nice to finally meet you. I have wanted to meet you for so long. I actually have some things I’d like to give you. Here, let me get them—it’ll only take a minute.”
Digging through her bag, she pulled out a demo CD and a black-and-white glossy photo of herself.
Mr. Forrest smiled. “Why don’t you mail those to my secretary?” Then, focusing on Bailey, he said, “Are you enjoying the conference?”
Surprised, Bailey smiled her million-dollar smile and nodded. “Yes, sir!”
“That’s good. Are you performing in the talent show?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Good. I’ll be watching for you. I have to run now, but ladies, it was a pleasure meeting you.” With a wink at Elizabeth, he turned and walked away.
As the four girls turned to watch him leave, they didn’t notice Lori approach from the opposite direction.
The CCGs Check In
Elizabeth jumped as she heard her name.
“Oh, I didn’t mean to startle you.” Lori placed a well-manicured hand on Elizabeth’s shoulder. “I was just wondering if you found your way back from the ladies’ room without any mishaps. I know you mentioned how easily you get lost.”
“Oh, um…yes, ma’am. I found my way out just fine.” Elizabeth eyed the woman’s red-tipped fingers on her sleeve. They reminded her of claws.
“That’s nice. I was wondering…what were you doing there in the first place? There weren’t any classes on that floor last hour.”
Elizabeth watched Lori’s perfectly lipsticked smile and nearly choked. “Oh, I—I—”
Bailey piped up. “You found your notebook, didn’t you Elizabeth?”
“What? Oh, um…yes. I…found what I was looking for. Then I left,” Elizabeth said honestly.
Lori studied her for a moment, and then smiled a catlike smile. “That’s good. You wouldn’t want to be caught somewhere you shouldn’t be. I’d hate to see you get in trouble. They’ve been known to send troublemakers home from this conference. But of course, that would never happen to someone like you, Elizabeth. See you later!”
The girls stared, open-mouthed, after Lori, the click-clicking sound of her heels echoing in the dining hall.
“That was kind of weird,” said Mary-Lynn.
“Yeah,” added Bailey.
“That will be something else to tell the other girls,” Elizabeth said. She looked at her watch. “And it looks like about time that we need to go back to the room for our conference call.”
A little later the other Camp Club Girls listened in rapt attention as Elizabeth relayed all that had happened.
“Talk about a close call!” McKenzie exclaimed.
Alex giggled.
“What’s so funny?” asked Sydney.
“I was just thinking of poor Elizabeth, trapped there under that desk with her long legs! What if she’d gotten stuck?”
Soon, they were all laughing at Elizabeth’s expense. Elizabeth chuckled too. “I hate to think what would have happened if they had caught me!”
The girls laughed even harder, until Kate brought them back to the issue at hand. “Let me tell you what I found out. From the list Kristi compiled, I discovered that three of them are also members of Joshua Conrad’s official fan club. I also googled Robert Kranfield, and I did find his name in the list of Star Records’ songwriters. And here’s the interesting thing. The president of Star, a Mr. Edward Miller, is on Kristi’s list, and a member of the fan club.”
“You think Mr. Miller is behind this? He’s known my dad for years!” Kristi exclaimed.
“Maybe. I don’t know. But there is one more thing I want to check.” The other girls could hear Kate clicking away at the keys on her computer. “It seems like I remember.…You said that woman’s name was Lori, right? Let’s see.…Bingo! Mr. Miller has a daughter named Lori. She’s sort of a celebrity in her own right. She’s tried to break into the music world, but she’s not that great of a performer. Most of her fame comes from the trouble she’s gotten into. She always seems to be involved in one scheme or another. But her dad keeps bailing her out of trouble. Here. I’m sending you a link to a picture of her. See if it’s the same person.”
Elizabeth, Bailey, and Kristi watched for the email to come in, then clicked on the link. Sure enough, there was a picture of Lori, hanging on the arm of some young athlete.
“Yep. It’s her, all right,” Elizabeth said.
“It seems to me, based on what Elizabeth heard, that Lori is the one who wanted to steal the guitar. She just got Robert to do her dirty work for her,” said McKenzie.
/> “At first I thought she was pretty. But now, I don’t know,” said Bailey. “She sort of reminds me of a cat.”
“Just like the catwoman in the Batman shows. She uses her beauty to get people to do what she wants,” said Alex.
Kristi leaned over Elizabeth’s shoulder, studying the picture. “According to what Elizabeth heard, Lori wants to sell my guitar, though why she’d need the money, I don’t know. Her dad is one of the wealthiest men in the business.”
“Most thieves don’t steal because they need something. They do it because they’re selfish, or because they like getting away with something bad,” Sydney said.
“Well, whatever her reason, we’ve got to get that guitar back before she sells it. We need to come up with a plan,” Elizabeth stated.
Later that day, Bailey, Kristi, and Elizabeth sat in the main conference room waiting for the general session to begin. Announcements flashed on the large screen in front of the room, and Bailey read one of them out loud. “Deadline to register for the talent show is tonight! Don’t miss your opportunity to perform on the stage of the Grand Ol’ Opry!”
“Isn’t it cool that they’re letting us use the Grand Ol’ Opry for our talent show?” asked Bailey. “I’d be in the show even if I had no talent, just for the opportunity to perform on that stage.”
Elizabeth thought about that. It would be kind of cool to perform on that legendary stage, where so many great musicians had performed. But she still wasn’t sure that she wanted to be part of it.…
“Are you going to be in the talent show, Kristi?” Elizabeth asked.
“No. I’d rather just enjoy it,” she said. “How about you?”
“Oh, I don’t know. I’ll probably just help Bailey out.”
Bailey stood and put her hands on her hips, leaning over Elizabeth like she was talking to a little child. “Now, you listen here, Elizabeth Anderson! You are one of the most talented people I know, and you need to be in that talent show. Who knows? You might even win and become famous, and I could be one of your backup singers!”
“But Bailey, I don’t want to be famous.”
“How can you say that? How can you not want to be famous?”
Kristi leaned forward. “Bailey, why do you think being famous is so great?”
“Because,” Bailey replied. “When you’re famous, you have a lot of money!”
Kristi lifted her eyebrows.
“Okay, so just because you’re famous doesn’t mean you have money. But when you’re famous, everyone treats you better,” Bailey continued.
“Maybe so, but you have to be careful. People who treat you better just because you’re famous usually just want something for themselves. You always have to be asking yourself, ‘Is this person really my friend? Or does he or she just want something from me?’”
Bailey sat down in her seat, frustrated. “Well, if there’s nothing good about being famous, why do so many people want to be famous?”
“For the reasons you mentioned. They think they’ll have lots of money, and sometimes they do. They think people will treat them better, and that’s true too, though it’s not always genuine,” Kristi told her.
“But there are some good reasons to want to be famous,” Elizabeth said, putting her arm around Bailey.
Bailey lifted an eyebrow. “Really?”
“Sure,” said Elizabeth. “When you’re famous, people listen to you. You can influence them in a good way.”
“Oh. Like, how?” Bailey asked.
Elizabeth smiled. “All sorts of ways. You can tell them to stay off drugs, and to do well in school. You can convince them to be kind and compassionate. You can tell them God loves them, and He wants to have a relationship with them. The list goes on and on.”
Bailey grinned. “So what you’re saying is, being famous is a good thing?”
“It can be, yes,” Elizabeth answered.
“Then it’s settled.” Bailey flashed a cat-ate-the-canary smile. “You’re entering the talent show.”
Elizabeth laughed and shook her head. “That’s not what I—”
“I agree with Bailey. You should enter. What are you afraid of?” asked Kristi.
“I never said I was afraid!”
“Then why won’t you enter?” Kristi pressed her.
“I don’t know. I just…I’m here to work on my songwriting skills.”
“Then why don’t you perform one of your original songs?” Bailey asked.
“Because they’re not good enough!” Elizabeth exclaimed.
“Why don’t you let us be the judge of that?” Kristi asked her. “Come on. Sign up for the talent show, and I’ll help you polish a song for it. It will be good for you.”
“Yeah. Besides, just think how many people you’ll encourage. Your songs can’t help anybody if no one ever hears them!” Bailey exclaimed.
Elizabeth let out a heavy sigh and leaned back in her chair. Her heart was pounding in her chest as she thought about actually performing one of her originals. Finally, she looked at Kristi, then at Bailey. “Okay.”
The other two cheered. “Yes! This is going to be great!”
Before Elizabeth even knew what was happening, Bailey and Kristi had her signed up, and she stood before a voice instructor who was working with talent show students.
Elizabeth looked at the voice instructor, took a deep breath, and opened her mouth to sing. Mrs. Crenshaw had given them each a number, and it was Elizabeth’s turn. Each participant was to sing a song of his or her choice, and Elizabeth had made up her mind. She would sing one of her originals. She might as well get it over with.
“Help me help somebody
To see Your loving ways.
Help me help somebody,
Guide me through each day,
And help me help somebody.”
She sang through one verse and the chorus before the woman stopped her.
“That’s lovely. Who wrote it?”
Elizabeth felt the heat creeping up her neck and into her face. “I did.”
Mrs. Crenshaw lifted an eyebrow. “Really? I like it. What a great message.”
The others in the room nodded encouragement. Elizabeth could hardly believe it. They liked her song!
“You have a lovely voice as well,” continued Mrs. Crenshaw. “But you sound like a scared little mouse. Believe it or not, stage fright comes from focusing too much attention on yourself. You’re worried about whether you will mess up, or what the audience will think of you. Quit worrying about that, and just let yourself go.”
Elizabeth nodded, and tried not to laugh when the woman put her hands around Elizabeth’s waist. It tickled!
“Breathe deeply for me.”
Elizabeth breathed. Why did she feel like she was in the doctor’s office?
“No, no. You breathed into your chest. When you sing, you must breathe into your belly. Now breathe, and I want that skinny little middle of yours to get as fat as you can make it.”
The class laughed as Elizabeth tried to do as she was told. It was hard not to laugh.
Mrs. Crenshaw smiled. “Now, I want you to sing it again, but this time, pretend you are singing opera.”
Everyone laughed some more. Elizabeth wasn’t sure she could do that.
“I know it sounds strange, but trust me. You’ll sound great. Just try it.”
Elizabeth breathed deeply, expanding her belly, and envisioned herself as an opera singer in full costume. She giggled, and the class laughed.
“Come on now. You can do it!”
She tried once more. Deep breath. Big belly. She opened her mouth and belted out the words. Amazingly, nobody laughed.
She continued through the second verse before Mrs. Crenshaw stopped her. “That was amazing! Could you hear how much stronger and better you sounded? And you didn’t sound like an opera singer at all. You just sounded stronger.”
Elizabeth nodded, and the class applauded as she took her seat. They liked my song. I sang one of my originals, and nobody
thought it was weird.
She sat in a daze for the remainder of the class. After Mrs. Crenshaw dismissed the group, she said, “Elizabeth, may I speak with you for a moment?”
Elizabeth gathered her things and waited for the other students to leave, then approached the woman.
“Have a seat.”
Elizabeth took a seat in the front row. What could she want with me?
She didn’t have to wait long to answer that question. Mrs. Crenshaw sat down, leaving one empty chair between them.
“Elizabeth, you’re very talented.”
“Thank you,” Elizabeth answered.
“I meant what I said about stage fright. You have much to offer. It’s a rare gift to be able to sing well and write music. And you play the piano too?”
Elizabeth nodded.
“Do you play any other instruments?”
“Yes, ma’am. I play the guitar a little, but not as well as I play the piano.”
Mrs. Crenshaw nodded. “Why do I get the feeling you don’t like to perform?”
Elizabeth took a deep breath. “I’m okay with it, sometimes. Like when I led music at a kids’ Bible club in San Antonio. It was just a bunch of little kids, and they didn’t bother me. But when I’m in front of people my own age or adults, I get nervous.”
“Everyone gets nervous in front of a crowd. But the more you do it, the more comfortable you’ll be. There is sincerity to your music—and in your voice—that will touch people. Don’t hide that. Don’t deny people the message that God has given you.”
Elizabeth didn’t know what to say. She had always been content to stay out of the spotlight, but everyone seemed to be pushing her into it. Bailey and Kristi, and now Mrs. Crenshaw. “I’ll—do my best.”
Mrs. Crenshaw patted her on the back. “That’s all anyone can ask of you.”
A sound at the back of the room interrupted their conversation. Elizabeth turned to see Bailey and Kristi waiting at the door.
“Friends of yours?”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“Well, you don’t want to keep them waiting. Think about what I said.”
Camp Club Girls: Elizabeth Page 38
