Maskerade

The audience stood up and applauded as he climbed through the jangling tiers towards the central cable.

Then another shape clambered over the edge of the balcony and loped along in pursuit. This was a stockier figure than the first man, one?eyed, broad in the shoulders and tapering at the waist; he looked evil in an interesting kind of way, like a pirate who really understood the words 'Jolly Roger'. He didn't even take a run but, when he reached the closest part to the chandelier, simply launched himself into space.

It was clear that he wasn't going to make it.

And then it wasn't clear how he did.

Those watching through opera?glasses swore later that the man thrust out an arm which merely seemed to graze the chandelier and yet was then somehow able to swivel his entire body in mid?air:

A couple of people swore even harder that, just as the man reached out, his fingernails appeared to grow by several inches.

The huge glass mountain swung ponderously on its rope and, as it reached the end of the swing, Greebo swung out further, like a trapeze artist. There was an appreciative 'oo' from the audience.

He twisted again. The chandelier hesitated for a moment at the extremity of its arc, and then swept back again.

As it jangled and creaked over the Stalls the hanging figure swung upwards, let go and did a backward somersault that dropped him in the middle of the crystals. Candles and prisms were scattered over the seats below.

And then, with the audience clapping and cheering, he scrambled up the rope after the fleeing Ghost.

Henry Lawsy tried to move his arm, but a fallen crystal had stapled the sleeve of his coat to his armrest.

It was a quandary. He was pretty sure this wasn't supposed to happen, but he wasn't certain.

Around him he could hear people hissing questions.

“Was that part of the plot?”

“I'm sure it must have been.”

“Oh, yes. Yes. It certainly was,” said someone further down the row, authoritatively. “Yes. Yes. The famous chase scene. Indeed. Oh, yes. They did it in Quirm, you know.”

“Oh…yes. Yes, of course. I'm sure I heard about it…”

“I thought it was bloody good,” said Mrs Lawsy.

“Mother!”

“About time something interesting happened. You should've told me. I'd've put my glasses on.”

Nanny Ogg pounded up the back stairs towards the fly loft.

“Something's gone wrong!” she muttered under her breath as she took the stairs two at a time. “She reckons she's only got to stare at 'em and they're toffee in her hands, and then who has to sort it out afterwards, eh? Go on, guess…”

The ancient wooden door at the top of the stairs gave way to Nanny Ogg's boot with Nanny Ogg's momentum behind it, and cracked open on to a big, shadowy space. It was full of running figures. Legs flickered in the light of lanterns. People were shouting.

A figure ran straight towards her.

Nanny sprang into a crouch, both thumbs on the cork of the badly shaken champagne bottle she held cradled under one arm.

“This is a magnum,” she said, “and I'm not afraid to drink it!”

The figure stopped. “Oh, it's you, Mrs Ogg…”

Nanny's infallible memory for personal details threw up a card. “Peter, isn't it?” she said, relaxing. “The one with the bad feet?”

“That's right, Mrs Ogg.”

“The powder I give you is working, is it?”

“They're a lot better now, Mrs Ogg—”

“So what's been happening?”

“Mr Salzella caught the Ghost!”

“Really?”

Now that Nanny's eyes had — managed to discern some order in the chaos, she could see a cluster of people in the middle of the floor, around the chandelier.

Salzella was sitting on the planking. His collar was torn and a sleeve had been ripped off his jacket, but he had a triumphant look in his eyes.

He waved something in the air.

It was white. It looked like a piece of a skull.

“It was Plinge!” he said. “I tell you, it was Walter Plinge! Why are you all standing around? Get after him!”

“Walter?” said one of the men, doubtfully.

“Yes, Walter!”

Another man hurried up, waving his lantern.

“I saw the Ghost heading up to the roof! And there was some big one?eyed bastard going after him like a scalded cat!”

That's wrong, thought Nanny. Something wrong here.

“To the roof!” shouted Salzella.

“Hadn't we better get the flaming torches first?”

“Flaming torches are not compulsory!”

“Pitchforks and scythes?”

“That's only for vampires!”

“How about just one torch?”

“Get up there now! Understand?”

The curtains closed. There was a smattering of applause which was barely audible above the chatter from the audience.

The chorus turned to one another. “Was that supposed to happen?”

Dust rained down. Stage?hands were scampering across the gantries far above. Shouts echoed among the ropes and dusty backdrops. A stage?hand ran across the stage, holding a flaming torch.

“Here, what's going on?” said a tenor.

“They've got the Ghost! He's heading for the roof! It's Walter Plinge!”

“What, Walter?”

“Our Walter Plinge?”

“Yes!”

The stage?hand ran on in a trail of sparks, leaving the yeast of rumour to ferment in the ready dough that was the chorus.

“Walter? Surely not!”

“Weeelll… he's a bit odd, isn't he…?”

“But only this morning he said to me, 'It's a nice day Mr Sidney!' Just like that. Normal as anything. Well… normal for Walter…”

“As a matter of fact, it's always worried me, the way his eyes move as though they don't talk to each other —”

“And he's always around the place!”