Fabulous Five 020 - The Witches of Wakeman (3 page)

"We're going to start with a run-through today,"
Mr. Levine said. "Everyone get out your scripts."

Laura had sat down on the end of the same row Beth was in.
They ignored each other as everyone reached in their book bags to get out their
scripts.

"We'll start with the first speeches of the
Macbeth
witches,"
Mr. Levine said. "They open the show. Dekeisha, Beth, and Laura, will you
come up onstage, please?"

Beth took a deep breath and reminded herself silently to
keep her head high. She walked up the side steps to the stage. Dekeisha and
Laura followed close behind.

"For now, I'd like you girls downstage center,"
said Mr. Levine.

The girls moved to the center of the stage nearest the
audience. Beth was still careful not to look at Laura. She figured that Laura
was still gloating over being cast as the beautiful witch. Beth didn't want to
give her the satisfaction of being able to smirk victoriously at her.

Mr. Levine looked to the back of the auditorium. "Do we
have a caldron yet?" he called out to the prop crew.

"We sure do," Molly hollered back. "Want it now?"

"Yes," Mr. Levine said. "In fact, as soon as
the prop crews make or get hold of props, let's start using them."

Molly and Melanie ran backstage to get the caldron.

"Oh, you should see the wand that I get to use when I
play Glinda!" Laura gushed loudly to everyone. "I'm going to use it
today during rehearsal."

Dekeisha smiled politely at Laura, but Beth decided to
ignore her.

Molly and Melanie came slowly around the edge of the
curtain, holding the heavy black kettle between them. There were three branches,
each about five feet in length and stripped of leaves and twigs, sticking out
of the caldron.

"These," Molly said, her hand on one of the
branches, "are what you use to stir your brew, witches."

"Thank you, Molly," Mr. Levine said. "They're
perfect. Are we ready for the witches' opening scene?"

"Ready," said Beth.

"Okay, start at the top of page one," Mr. Levine
said. "During the auditions, each of you read all the lines. But as you
can see from the script, the opening speech is divided between the three
witches. Beth, you will be witch number one; Dekeisha, you will be number two;
and Laura will be number three.

"Go ahead," Mr. Levine said. "All three
witches read the first line."

"Double, double, toil and trouble," they read in
unison, all of them stirring the "brew" inside the kettle. "Fire
burn and caldron bubble."

Beth lowered her voice and intoned as witch number one, "Cool
it with a baboon's blood, then the charm is firm and good."

Laura, standing on the right side, dropped her branch and
took a step toward the audience. "The show today will make you shiver,"
she said in her natural voice. "We have some acts to make you quiver—"

"Laura," Mr. Levine interrupted, "don't leave
the others when you speak. Just look up and continue to stir the caldron. And
you need to work on a different voice—perhaps a lighter tone, although the
volume still has to be up for the people in back to hear."

Laura nodded.

"Okay, let's try it again," Mr. Levine said.

Beth held back a smile. Mr. Levine wasn't about to let Laura
upstage Dekeisha and herself.

"Double, double, toil and trouble," they began
again.

The rehearsal went well for Beth, until they got to the
Wizard
of Oz
skit. Just before Glinda's first scene, there was a shriek from
backstage.

"What's going on?" Mr. Levine asked loudly.

"It's gone! It's not here, and it
was
here just
a half hour ago!" Laura's whiny voice filled the auditorium.

"Laura!" Mr. Levine yelled. "Come out here."

Laura appeared in front of the curtains holding her head in
her hands.

"What are you missing?" Mr. Levine asked.

"My beautiful magic wand!" Laura wailed. "It
was on top of the prop cabinet, but now it's gone!"

"It was there a few minutes ago," Dekeisha said. "Beth
and I were looking at it during our break."

Mr. Levine raised his voice for everyone to hear. "Did
anyone see what happened to Laura's magic wand?"

No one spoke, but several students shook their heads no.

"I saw Beth looking at it," Laura said nastily. "She
was holding it just before we started working on the last scene."

"I was there, too, Laura," Dekeisha spoke up. "We
were both holding it."

"Yes, but I saw Beth holding it later by herself,"
Laura insisted.

Mr. Levine turned to Beth. "Do you know what might have
happened to it, Beth?"

Beth looked at Mr. Levine, astonished that he would even
ask. "No!" she said. "And I certainly wouldn't have walked away
with it, which is what Laura is hinting at."

"Well, I wouldn't be surprised if you had something to
do with it," Laura said.

"Laura, accusing someone of stealing is a very serious
thing," Mr. Levine said.

"It sure is!" Beth said, her voice rising with
anger. "How
dare
you accuse me of stealing your stupid magic wand,
Laura McCall! Just because you saw me holding it, you think I took it? What
would I want it for, anyway? I can't think of a single thing, except for the
possible exception of making
you
disappear!"

Molly burst out laughing at Beth's last remark, and Melanie
held a hand over her mouth to keep from giggling.

"Okay," Mr. Levine said, looking from Beth to
Laura, "that's enough, both of you." He sighed. "I'm sure the
magic wand will turn up somewhere."

"It's the
Macbeth
curse!" Molly shouted. "I
just realized it! The witches said the 'Double, double' speech and now another
bad thing has happened." The auditorium got deathly still, and Beth felt a
shiver run through her. It was true that a lot of things were going wrong on
the set, but there couldn't really be a curse—could there?

Mr. Levine stepped to the edge of the stage, looking both at
the cast and the prop crew. "That's enough talk about a curse," he
said sternly. "The subject is closed, remember? The wand will turn up
somewhere. Now, let's get back to work."

To Beth's relief, the rest of the read-through ran smoothly
with no unexplainable incidents. Paul Smoke performed his magic act and ended
with his pulling-the-bat-out-of-the-hat trick. Chet Miller's juggling Headless
Horseman act looked as good as it had during the audition.

As they neared the end of
The Wizard of Oz
skit where
Glinda melts the bad witch, Beth began to get nervous again. She wondered if
Laura was looking forward to the scene as much as she dreaded it.

When they got to the last scene, Mr. Levine stepped up to
the two witches. "Okay," he said, "here is where the good witch
Glinda melts the bad witch. Of course, we can't have Beth turn into a puddle
before our eyes—"

"Too bad," Laura muttered under her breath but
just loud enough so that Beth could hear. Beth scowled at her.

"—so," continued Mr. Levine, "Beth, when she
spills the water on you—and it will be a very small amount—you will
act
as if you're melting and shriveling, and you'll lower yourself to the floor. At
that moment, we'll kill the lights, marking the end of the scene and the show.
When the lights come back on, you jump up, and we'll start our curtain call.
Got it?"

"Got it," Beth said, forcing a smile.

"Okay," said Mr. Levine. "Let's try it in
pantomime."

The girls played the scene. Beth advanced menacingly on
Laura, enjoying every minute of it. It was all she could do to keep from saying
her lines out loud. Then Laura acted as if she were dashing water all over
Beth. Beth began whirling in a slow circle, dropping lower and lower, her knees
trembling. She put her hands around her throat as if she were choking and got a
horrified expression on her face. She was really into the scene, and she knew
she was doing a super job.

Suddenly there was a hideous, high-pitched laugh, stopping
Beth cold and causing her to stumble and fall to the floor. She looked up to
see Laura laughing as if it were the greatest moment of her life.

"Laura!" Mr. Levine called out. "This was
supposed to be in pantomime. Besides, you aren't supposed to laugh. Remember,
you're the
good
witch! The spilling of the water and the melting of the
bad witch was just an accident."

Laura glanced at the teacher, but she didn't say anything.

"You should be horrified, not exhilarated," Mr.
Levine ordered.

"Okay," Laura said, planting a sickly sweet smile
on her face.

When they had finished the scene, Mr. Levine nodded. "We'll
end rehearsal here," he said. "Tomorrow, instead of running straight
through the show, we'll take smaller sections and really work on them. The
three witches should be here for the 'Double, double' speech, as well as Paul
Smoke. We'll work on
The Wizard of Oz
, too. The next day, we'll work
through
Snow White
and Chet Miller's act. The three emcee witches will
have to be here for every rehearsal."

By this time the crew had gone home. Beth had no desire to
stick around where she might have to hear nasty remarks from Laura, so when she
saw Paul walking up the aisle toward the door carrying his bat cage, she
hurried after him.

"Paul!" she called out.

Paul turned around and smiled when he saw Beth. Her heart
fluttered a little—after all, he was a ninth-grader—and he seemed genuinely
glad she had called to him.

"That magic act of yours is really great," she
said, aware that Laura was walking up the aisle behind them now. "How did
you ever think of using a bat in your act?"

Paul grinned. "Bats are my hobby," he said. "I've
got three of them."

"You're kidding!" Beth said. "You have three
bats at home?"

"That's right," he said. "Batman, Robin, and
Shirley."

Beth laughed. "Shirley?"

Paul shrugged. "It's a female, and I couldn't think of
a good name for her. So I named her after my sister." He grinned. "She
hated that."

Beth laughed again. Paul is really nice, she thought, and
funny.

"Which bat are you using in your act?" Beth asked
him.

"Robin," Paul said. "He's really a ham. He
loves to perform."

"How can you tell?" Beth asked seriously.

"Sometimes I let him loose at home, and he shows off
for us, flying, swooping, and dive-bombing all over the house."

"You let him loose?" Beth was incredulous. "What
does your mom think of that?"

Paul shrugged. "She's used to it now. She likes Shirley
best because she's so shy."

They stopped just outside the auditorium door, and Laura
McCall swept past them, her nose in the air.

"I suppose the next thing you'll tell me is that you
rent Robin out for Halloween parties," Beth teased.

"Hey, why didn't I think of that?" Paul threw back
his head and laughed. "Robin would love it, and I could always use the
extra money."

"I've got an even better idea," Beth said, raising
her eyebrows in delight. "Rent him to me, and I'll put him in my sister
Brittany's closet on Halloween night." Beth raised her hand before Paul
could answer. "Naw, on second thought, I'd hate to scare Robin."

They had another good laugh over that, and then Paul said, "Would
you like to come over sometime and see my bats?"

Beth grinned. "That would be fun! I'd love to see
Batman and Robin and Shirley up close.
Both
Shirleys," she added,
and giggled.

"Great," Paul said. "Let me check with Mom
about what day would be best. I'll let you know."

"Okay," Beth said.

They said good-bye, and Beth pushed the exit door open and
walked out into the brisk fall air. A ninth-grader wants me to come see his
bats, she thought, smiling to herself. I guess if Keith can flirt with Laura, I
can go and see Paul's bats.

Still, she couldn't help wondering how Keith would feel if
he knew.

When Beth got home, her five-year-old sister Alicia was
sitting at the kitchen table, which had been spread with newspapers, laboriously
painting a face on her Halloween pumpkin under the watchful eye of Mrs. Barry. Beside
Alicia's chair, Agatha, the family's old English sheepdog, happily thumped her
tail on the floor when Beth walked in.

"Bethy! Bethy! Look at my pumpkin!" Alicia
shouted.

Beth stopped beside the table and looked at Alicia's
artwork. The face she had painted was obviously female, with bright red cheeks
and lips and yellow streaks for hair.

Glinda!
Beth thought, and stifled a gasp. It looked
exactly like her.

"Well!" Alicia said impatiently. "Do you like
it?"

"Of course," Beth said quickly.

"Do you know who it is?" asked Alicia.

Beth grimaced. "The good witch from
The Wizard of Oz
?
"
she asked hesitantly.

"No, guess again," Alicia demanded.

Sighing, Beth looked at the blond-haired pumpkin. Why was it
that everything she saw reminded her of Laura McCall?

"I give up," she said.

"It's the
tooth fairy!
" Alicia cried
gleefully. "Can't you tell?"

"Oh, yeah. Now I can see," Beth fibbed.

Her mother was trying to hide a grin behind her hand, and
Beth exchanged winks with her. Alicia hummed happily and went back to work on
her pumpkin, and Beth glanced sideways at her mother again. Mrs. Barry had a
pretty face, she thought, that was for sure. But if you looked down past her
neck, you'd have to admit that she was a bean pole. So it's in the genes, she
thought miserably. I'm doomed to be skinny all my life.

Just then Brittany, who was sixteen, came jogging in the
back door. "Hi, everybody," she called out as she grabbed the
receiver from the wall phone and immediately began punching in a number.

Beth looked Brittany over. If I needed more proof, here it
is, Beth thought. Brittany was not as flat as their mother, but she was not
exactly voluptuous, either.

Beth poured herself a glass of milk and waited until her
sister got off the phone.

"Brittany," Beth began, "you don't think that
having a great body is all that important, do you?"

Brittany shrugged. "Well, it helps." Then she
looked at Beth thoughtfully and added flippantly, "Hey, don't worry that
you're so flat-chested. Some girls have it and some don't. It's no big deal—unless,
of course, you want to enter the Miss America pageant."

Beth bristled, and her face grew hot and prickly. She had
forgotten all about the Miss America pageant. And the Miss World pageant. And
the Miss Universe pageant. Why was
everybody
so hung up on women's
bodies? It didn't make any sense at all.

"Oh, Brittany," Mrs. Barry said. "What a
thing to say."

"What did she say, Mom?" Alicia asked innocently.

"I'm just telling her the truth," Brittany
snapped, and disappeared into the family room.

Mrs. Barry reached out and stroked Beth's hair. "You're
a very pretty girl. You know that, don't you?"

Beth looked down at the floor. "Maybe above my neck,"
she said.

"You're lovely all over," her mother said. "And
besides, thin is
in.
Everybody is dying to be as thin as you are. Just
give yourself time to fill out a little."

But you didn't fill out, Beth thought. Why should I think
I'm
going to? She didn't say those things, though. Why hurt her mother's feelings?

"Hi, everybody," Beth said in a grumpy voice when
she met her friends at school the next morning. She was still depressed over
Brittany's remark yesterday and she was in no mood for cheery conversation.

"Is something wrong?" asked Christie.

Beth shrugged. Maybe she should tell them what was on her
mind. After all, they were her best friends.

"Have you ever thought much about the Miss America
pageant?" she asked. "You know, how the winner is picked?"

"Oh, boy, have I," Katie said, looking
exasperated. "I hate the idea of judging women for how good they look in a
swimsuit."

"I'll second that!" said Beth.

"Of course, the pageant does provide scholarships for
the winners and runners-up," Katie admitted. "That should count for
something."

"And a lot of them are really talented," Melanie
said.

"Do you think the judges consider talent?" Beth
asked.

"Of course," Jana said. "Otherwise, the
pageant wouldn't have a talent contest."

"But I still think most people tune in to see how
beautiful the women are," Katie said. "If they wanted talent, they'd
watch Johnny Carson or David Letterman."

"But why does a woman's body have to be so perfect?"
Beth cried out suddenly. "Can't people appreciate a woman for her
musical
ability or her
acting
talent or her
dancing
or
gymnastic
abilities? Or even how nice she is? Why does everyone care about what her
stupid
bust
measurement is!"

Jana and Katie looked shocked at her outburst. Beth turned
on her heel and stalked off toward the school. "Hey, I
agree
with
you," she heard Katie call after her.

Beth kept walking. She didn't want to see anyone or talk to
anyone. She was suddenly sick of talking about
Miss America
, sick of
being the ugly witch, sick of being flat, flat, flat!

"Hey, Beth!" she heard a voice call.

She stopped in front of the school door and turned to see
Keith hurrying toward her. Her mood softened a little when she saw him, even
though she was still hurt from seeing him flirt with Laura. "Hi," she
said.

"I've hardly seen you lately," Keith said.

"I've seen you," she said softly.

"What? Where?"

"Oh, nothing." Beth wished she'd kept her mouth
shut for once. "What have you been up to?"

"Oh, you know," Keith said, "studying,
playing ball with the guys—stuff like that."

Beth nodded.

Keith looked at her curiously. "Are you okay? You seem
kind of—well, mad or something."

Beth forced herself to smile. "Oh, I'm not mad at all.
In fact, I was wondering if you'd like to meet me at Bumpers after rehearsal
this afternoon."

Keith grinned. "Sure, I'll be there!"

"Terrific," said Beth. "I'll see you then."

Keith waved good-bye and moved off to talk with a group of
his friends who were approaching the school.

Beth smiled to herself. Good old Keith. He really did like
her, even though she was flat-chested. She was lucky, she thought, to have a
boyfriend as nice as he was.

The school day was uneventful, although Beth was glad that
she'd seen Keith to lighten up her mood a little. She walked into rehearsal
that afternoon feeling better and ready to put her acting skills to work.

Paul Smoke was onstage already, arranging the materials he
needed for his magic act. His assistant was preparing the box she would lie in
when he sawed her in half.

Paul looked up and smiled when he saw Beth. "Come on
up," he called to her.

Beth grinned and hurried up the side steps to the stage.

"Where's Robin?" she asked.

"He's backstage in his carrying case," Paul said. "My
assistant will bring him out just before I need him."

Beth glanced at the girl working with the box and wondered
if she was Paul's girlfriend.

"Oh, I forgot you don't know Shirley," Paul said. "Beth,
this is Shirley, my sister
and
assistant."

"Oh, hi!" Beth said. "I didn't know you were
Paul's sister, but I've seen you around the halls."

Shirley laughed. "Paul's so afraid someone will find
out how he does his tricks, he only allows me to help him. I'm also the goblin
he saws in half."

"And," Paul added, "Shirley is used to Robin.
Handling bats doesn't bother her."

"Well, let's say I don't freak out," Shirley
corrected. "They're our pets—Paul's pets—but they're not like having
fluffy little kittens to play with."

Beth laughed.

"By the way, Beth," Paul said, "tomorrow
would be a good time for you to come and visit my bats if you still want to. I
don't have rehearsal tomorrow, but you could come over after your rehearsal is
over."

"Sure," said Beth. "That would be fun."

"Great," Paul said. "The bats love visitors."

"Really?" Beth asked. "Bats actually care
about visitors?"

Paul grinned. "Sure. Robin can't wait to show you his
stuff."

Shirley smiled and rolled her finger around next to her ear,
as if to say her brother was loony.

Beth laughed. "Well, I'm looking forward to seeing your
three—uh, friends."

By this time, Mr. Levine was ready to begin the rehearsal.
He started with Paul's act. Beth sat in the front row and studied his
movements, trying to figure out how he pulled off his tricks. But Paul was
good. Beth couldn't figure out how he did any of them. She was so impressed
that, when he finished his act, pulling Robin out of the hat, she stood up and
applauded. Paul grinned at her and made a little bow.

"Paul, you're doing an excellent job," Mr. Levine
said.

Right, thought Beth, it's easy when you don't have to worry
about being flat-chested.