Chapter 5

"I could get used to this."

Robbie gave me a sideways glance. "You already are."

I grinned back at her as we took another bow.

It had been a hectic week.

Monday we had a morning assembly where Mr. Reed and the school wished us luck. Afterward, Leslie Villers kissed me, then told me she was counting on us to bring a second Prentiss Award back to the school. No pressure or anything.

We loaded into Mom's minivan, while I hoped she wasn't getting too used to my Mustang, and drove to the middle school where Kelly, Traci, and Suzie Calloway were just getting out of their own pep rally. Traci and Kelly squeezed in. Suzie was riding with her mom, and we headed out of town.

Just as I got to the interstate we passed Luke Reese and Ricky Calloway, who'd run our stage crew and now were driving the U-Haul with all our sets and props. Our musicians and all their equipment were coming tomorrow.

We got to Seattle and our hotel--The Prentiss Foundation had put us up in the Hilton, no less--and spent a mostly peaceful night. Mostly peaceful 'cause Mrs. Calloway, Suzie's mom, surprised at the lack of parental supervision, adopted the role of group mom. She was a nice lady and had some funny stories to tell, the funniest making Suzie turn bright red, but Tami and I wanted some privacy and alone time.

We also wanted to keep her ignorant of the sleeping arrangements which had Tami and me in one room while keeping me ignorant of the sleeping arrangements that had Peter and Traci in another.

Tuesday morning we saw our theater. This year's contest picked six regional finalists. Last year they'd had eight. The foundation had arranged for three theaters. Each group got three days for set-up and rehearsal. So there were performances on Thursday, Friday and Saturday, this week and next.

The order of the plays had been drawn randomly. We got number two, so we performed this Friday.

Anyway, early Tuesday morning we saw our theater, and I wondered if we should just pack up and go home. Save ourselves the embarrassment. Seattle has dozens of theaters, and we drew the Globe. After all the shots I'd taken at Shakespeare.

We spent the morning getting sets in place while Luke and Ricky learned about the Globe's lighting and sound systems. We managed to get one full rehearsal in before heading back to the hotel and its spa.

Wednesday was mostly bits and pieces. Our musicians were here, and we spent the day with them playing or us singing or talking while Robbie listened from various parts of the theater and Luke tried to adjust the finicky sound system to suit her.

Wednesday night was the big dinner: the honchos from the foundation, the judges, and the three groups of nervous teenagers for this week.

The judges were an interesting group. Seattle's deputy mayor and the state parks and recreation director represented the politicians. The military got two votes, one the base commander from Fort Lewis and the other the wing commander from McChord. I would have been more impressed if he'd flown F-15's or A-10's instead of C-17's, but I guess we all got to do what we got to do. Seattle's a sports town, so we got a rookie from the Supersonics and a front office weenie from the Mariners.

The arts, if you can call them that, were actually represented by three judges. A guy who'd made a successful career our of writing historical romances, though considering he always wrote in the first person as an embittered and imperiled girl, you had to wonder just how in touch with reality he was. A television actor whose claim to fame was having been in four successive series that lasted nine episodes between them. And, finally, a director who'd managed to lose a hundred million dollars on his last three films, but already had a contract for another one.

There was probably a message in there about the foundation's expectation for the contest, but I didn't even want to think about what it was.

Yesterday, we'd managed three complete run-throughs before heading to the Roxy theater for Vlad. The group from Vancouver had put together a stylish and spooky retelling of the Dracula story. It was good, but I figured we had them beat.

This morning had been fun. The sound system shorted out during our first dress rehearsal. Luke, Ricky, and Fred the stage manager finally got it back on line, and a spotlight bulb gave out. I was wondering if there was a veterinary store close by where I could pick up a supply of Ketamine. I figured if it could keep horses calm it might work for Robbie.