'No.'
'You look tired,' Mike observed.
Paul grinned. 'That's the price of climbing out your window after eleven P.M. Yes,' he added, noting Mike's surprise, 'our own little Jenny.'
'Why did you go out that late?' Mike's tone was disapproving.
'Someone sent me a note,' I replied, 'asking me to meet him by the river.'
The light in Mike's eyes darkened. The muscles in his jaw tensed, hardening his face. I gave up the scrap of hope to which I had been clinging-he knew what I was referring to. He had sent the note to Liza.
'You ought to be more careful,' he said.
'Yeah, you never know who you're going to meet out there,' Paul added.
From across the stage Maggie called out, 'Jenny. May I see you a moment?'
'She's on to you, girl,' Paul whispered.
I ignored him and crossed the stage.
'How are you doing today?' Maggie asked, resting a hand on my shoulder.
'Good. Ready to go.'
'Then what do you think of rehearsing with the stage lights up twenty-five percent and the house lights down about the same? Think you can handle it?'
'I'd like to try.'
'I want everyone who is not in your scene to be sitting in the audience. Is that pushing you too hard? We can cut the scene immediately if you start to feel ill.'
'Let's cut the scene only if I give you a signal,' I proposed. 'I might turn a little green, but I want to try to get through it.'
Maggie smiled. 'I knew from the start you'd be a great kid to work with. I'll tell Walker.'
Walker wanted to run the same scene as yesterday since he thought it best to 'get back on the horse you were riding when you fell off.' The lights were adjusted and kids settled into their seats in the audience. Paul and Keri, as Oberon and Titania, stood in opposite wings, waiting for their entrances.
Katie and her fellow fairy entered from stage left, I from stage right, vaulting, spinning, landing lightly on my feet. ' 'How now, spirits, whither wander you?'' My voice came out strong-not with as much expression as I'd have liked, but I was in control. The fairies gave their speech about how they served Queen Titania and I began my account of Oberon and his feud with the queen-the speech that I had blown yesterday.
As I spoke my lines and worked on the balance beam, I became increasingly sensitive to the stage lights in my eyes. It was like watching a sunrise and suddenly having to look away from the brightness. I paused, took a deep breath, then continued on, ' 'And jealous Oberon… And jealous Oberon'… Line.'
' 'Would have the child,' * Brian said softly.
' 'Would have the child, Knight of his train to trace the forest wild.' ' I knew where I was again and carried on, a little shaky, but determined.
The fairies spoke the next ten lines, leading up to my favorite speech, in which Puck tells of all the mischievous tricks he likes to play. We had woven lots of gymnastics into those lines. My first stunt was a cartwheel on the balance beam.
' 'Thou speakest aright,' ' I began, ' 'I am that merry wanderer of the-'' My right hand had just touched the beam. The stage lights flickered. A beat later my left hand touched. The lights went out. Total darkness. My left leg came around to find the beam but missed it. I slid off, banging my arm against the wood.
'Arthur!' Walker shouted.
'Jenny, are you okay?' It was Brian's voice.
'Fine. Fine.' I was angry, not hurt. I should have been able to complete the wheel in darkness. It was a loss of concentration, my own fault.
'Be still. Everyone be still till we get the lights on,' Maggie said.
'Arthur!' Walker hollered again. 'Brian, get him.'
Kids giggled.
'This is nothing to laugh about,' Maggie said sternly. 'These pranks are dangerous. Someone could get hurt.'
The nervous laughter was stifled. Kids whispered. I heard Brian's footsteps crossing the stage.
'If I find out who is behind this. .' Walker's voice resonated in the darkness, deep and threatening. The whispers ceased.
In that moment of silence something dropped. It sounded small but heavy, like a metal object. It rolled across the stage and stopped close to me.
Kneeling, I groped with my hand along the edge of the gym mat and found it. A ring.
The lights blinked on and I inspected the piece of jewelry. It was large with a gaudy red stone, the kind of ring that would be used as a stage prop. I slipped it on my finger. Glancing up, I noticed that everyone was looking at me. Katie, Keri, and Paul. . Shawna and Lynne. . Denise and Mikeeveryone who had attended last year's camp was staring at the ring with troubled expressions. I pulled it off.
'It's from Twelfth Night,' Shawna said. 'Remember? It's the ring Viola received, the one that Liza wore. We couldn't find it after Liza died. We looked everywhere.'
Brian walked toward me and held out his hand.
Knowing that Liza had worn the ring, I gave it up reluctantly.
'Who brought this in here?' Brian demanded.
Kids looked at one another suspiciously. Walker wiped the sweat off his brow, and Maggie bit her lip. Mike's face was grim. No one answered Brian's question.
'I want it,' Paul said at last. 'Give it to me.'
'No,' Walker said firmly, 'it's theater property. Put it where it belongs, Brian.'
Brian nodded, then headed for the backstage steps.
I rubbed my palm, thinking. I hadn't felt anything when I held the ring, and there had been no glimmer of blue during this incident. Nor had there been blue light when I smelled my sister's perfume or heard her voice. These incidents were different from my visions and the last two were witnessed by others besides me. I didn't know how to account for them. Was my sister haunting the theater? Or was there a living, breathing person behind these three events? If the latter, someone among us wanted to rattle nerves.
Perhaps someone suspected I was Jenny Montgomery and wanted to unmask me. Or maybe these pranks were aimed at torturing and unmasking another person, the murderer.
What would Liza's murderer do if it was discovered that I was her sister? Till now it hadn't occurred to me that my relationship to her might put me in danger. I would have to be more careful that no one found out.
Tuesday night I went to bed early. My room, where I had feared having more visions, was now my refuge.
Not that I sat in the window anymore. I stretched out in bed and listened to another of Maggie's relaxation tapes, then read until I fell asleep.
The sound of a bell startled me, pulling me out of a dreamless slumber. It was a repeated, echoey sound, like a bell in a school building-a fire alarm! I had to get up, I had to leave, but my arms and legs felt too heavy to lift. I lay there listening to the bell.
'Jenny, come on! Jenny, please!'
Liza reached for my hand. I couldn't see her, but I knew it was she.
'Don't be afraid,' she told me, grasping my fingers.
'But I am afraid!'
'I'll help you,' she said, her hand tightening around mine.
'Jenny, Jenny, wake up!'
I was shaken hard. Shawna was tugging on my hand, and Maggie was bending over me, her face pale and
