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  Isabel stood off to one side watching with Katani.

  “Your set looks beautiful,” Katani said.

  “Thanks.” Even Isabel thought it looked pretty good: stars, constellations, the Milky Way, all sparking in the full spectrum of stage lights. It was a magical set for a magical show.

  “Actually, your sets are amazing. Did you ever think of going into set design, like for Broadway shows?” Katani asked.

  Isabel nodded. She had thought of it. Her art teacher told her there were many ways to be an artist: artistic director of a theater company, animator, set designer. It all sounded so cool. And he said it was much easier to make a living doing that than just painting. But Isabel couldn’t decide. Since she was only in seventh grade, she wasn’t going to worry about careers just yet. She would just keep painting and see where she ended up. It would be more fun that way.

  “Ladies and Gentlemen,” Charlotte’s voice boomed. “I would like to welcome you to the world of magic, where everything you see is an illusion, and nothing is ever as it seems.”

  Both Charlotte and Avery were wearing tuxedos. Even Marty (though still inside the magic hat) was dressed formally. The only one wearing an actual dress was Maeve, and it was a beauty, all gold and silver and midnight black, with sequins in the pattern of lightning bolts. Her mom had found it at a secondhand store, and she’d had it tailored for Maeve. With her red hair and stage presence, Maeve almost seemed magical herself.

  The whole picture was so charming that people started to clap the minute the curtain opened. From where Isabel stood, she could see her parents’ faces. They immediately recognized her work. She could tell they were proud.

  As Charlotte began to wave her magic wand, flowers materialized out of thin air. As she gestured to each constellation, it became illuminated. Charlotte pulled the endless scarf Katani had made out of one of her sleeves and handed it to Maeve, who kept pulling and pulling until the scarf wrapped around every object on the stage at least once. Then, Charlotte tapped her magic wand again, and the scarf disappeared completely.

  Charlotte introduced Avery, who had been standing off to the sidelines. “Meet Avery Madden, escape artist, magician, and animal trainer extraordinaire!”

  For the first trick, Avery hypnotized Marty. The trick was an immediate hit, with Marty going stiff and playing dead.

  “For my next trick, I’m going to pull a rabbit out of a hat!” Avery announced.

  “Oh boy, a rabbit.” Kelley clapped her hands together, having seen the trick before and knowing full well that the so-called rabbit was Marty.

  There were some giggles from the audience.

  “That’s right, Kelley.” Avery couldn’t help breaking character just a little. “A rabbit.” Kelley laughed with delight at the inside joke.

  Music played. It was the kind of flute music they play in old cartoons when they’re taming a cobra. Avery waved the magic wand three times as planned. “Abracadabra,” she said, and tapped the hat. Very slowly, the tiny ears began to emerge. Marty, the consummate showman, played it to the hilt. He raised the ears so slowly it was almost as if he were playing a cobra instead of a rabbit. Finally, when both ears were above the rim of the hat, Marty popped his little head out and grinned at the audience. Then he hopped out of the hat and jumped up on the stool, standing on his back feet and hanging both paws in the air, looking just the way a real bunny rabbit might look.

  “I didn’t know he was going to do that!” Charlotte whispered to Avery. “That is so cute!”

  “I taught him last night.”

  Teaching Marty tricks at the last minute was always iffy, but this one had paid off.

  “That’s not a rabbit, that’s Marty,” Kelley said, clapping her hands together. “Yay, Marty!” Kelley started another standing ovation, and, once again, the audience joined her.

  They all saw it coming. The applause was just too much for Marty. And hearing his name called like that sent him over the edge. Before any of the Beacon Street Girls could grab him, Marty made a mad dash for the audience, going from person to person, looking for treats.

  Katani ran after him, handing out treats to a surprised group, who gave them to Marty as he moved down the line. He was about to start on the second row when Isabel grabbed him.

  “Oh no, you don’t, little guy,” she said.

  Marty harrumphed.

  Usually they tied Marty backstage out of the way. But this time Katani opted to hold him instead. Marty wasn’t happy about being constrained, not at all.

  “Watch Avery,” Katani said to Marty. “She’s about to do her Houdini trick.”

  Marty sighed and harrumphed again. But when the lights went down, he settled in to watch Avery as Houdini.

  Charlotte introduced the next trick. She gave some background history on Harry Houdini, the escape artist. Then she told the audience that it was rumored that Avery Madden was a long-lost relative of Harry Houdini. And now, to demonstrate, Avery was going to do one of the escapes that Houdini had made famous.

  Avery was nervous. It surprised her. Her hands were clammy when Charlotte secured the scarves around them. They had practiced so the scarves looked like they were tied tight, but the type of material allowed her to untie them really easily. Avery had wanted to use chains like the real Houdini, but Ms. Ciara and Avery’s mom said “No way!”

  Avery’s feet were sweating, which was difficult, since once she was inside the box, she had to open up the trapdoor with her toes. Plus, it was stifling in the box. They hadn’t used all the lights at rehearsal, or else Avery hadn’t noticed how hot it could get under them. Already, she could feel her stage makeup starting to run. Whose idea was that, anyway? she wondered. Avery hated the idea of wearing makeup at all, much less this heavy pancake stuff. It was making her itch.

  Charlotte pushed Avery down inside the box and closed the cover.

  “Now, in a feat too daring to imagine, Avery will escape from the scarves and the box before the music finishes. There is only enough air in the box to last until the end of this song. Let’s hope she can do it. Good luck, Avery!”

  “Good luck, Avery!” Kelley yelled.

  Once the music started, Avery had only twenty seconds to open the latch and jump down through the trapdoor to the mattress below. If she didn’t do it exactly right, Charlotte would open the box and find Avery still inside, hunched into a ball of sweat, makeup running down her face. And though Charlotte had been exaggerating about the lack of oxygen, it was still very hot in the box. Avery had to do it right.

  The music started and Charlotte’s voice faded into the background. The only sound Avery could hear was her own breathing.

  Avery escaped the scarves easily. The fact that she was sweating probably helped with that part. Avery stretched down, feeling for the latch. She found it, started to turn it and slipped. She tumbled inside the box. She could feel the box move, and she could hear stray laughter from some of the audience in the front row who had obviously seen it too.

  “You okay in there?” Charlotte’s whispered.

  There were only about five seconds left. Avery reached for the latch again. She was sideways in the box, and she couldn’t tell which way was up. Avery reached for the latch again, but this time she found the side panel.

  “Five seconds. Four. Three.” Charlotte was counting down. Time was rapidly running out. What if Avery couldn’t get out? Charlotte was really nervous. Maeve could have show business, she thought.

  Avery twisted herself in the box, reached a fourth time and finally engaged the latch. Giving it all the strength she could muster, she freed the lock. As the final bars of the song played, Avery slipped into the darkness below, just as Charlotte opened the box.

  Charlotte looked down at Avery through the hole.

  “The box is empty!” Charlotte said, surprised, reaching inside. With one hand, Charlotte held up the empty scarves and, while the audience clapped, she reached into the box with the other hand and relocked the floor latch. Maeve pulled
the magic box off the floor, while Charlotte casually put her foot down over the latch. Maeve and Charlotte held the box up to the audience to show that it was really empty and that Avery had indeed escaped.

  The audience applauded wildly. They were still applauding as Avery made her way through the blackness of the tunnel and up the other side to the back of the stage. As planned, the stage light was on, and she found her way easily.

  Avery broke through the curtain and took her bow. It was the perfect ending to an almost perfect act. Avery walked over and grabbed Marty, Charlotte, and Maeve, and they all took their bows together, with Avery keeping a tight grip on Marty so he wouldn’t break free and make another run for the audience and the possibility of more treats!

  When they broke down the set, they tied Marty backstage. Then they sat down next to him and watched the rest of Act One.

  The show was already a success. Betsy’s Sousa band number went next, and it was so lively that everyone in the audience clapped along. The march music kept the energy up and was the perfect lead-in to Maeve’s ballad, which Katani had scheduled for the end of Act One.

  When Katani had heard Maeve sing “For Good” from the Broadway show Wicked in rehearsal, she knew that it was going to be a showstopper and just the thing to end Act One.

  Katani nodded to Maeve to get ready, and gave a sign to Billy Trentini to open the curtains. When the curtains opened, the stage was dark. The only light was a spotlight that shone down on Maeve. Dressed entirely in black, her red hair full and shiny, Maeve looked like a cabaret singer. The audience seemed to sense that they were in for something special and grew still.

  Maeve dedicated the song to her friends, the Beacon Street Girls, to her mom and dad…and Sam.

  Dillon stood offstage, just watching the number. There was something magical about Maeve, her red hair, her great smile, that made him so happy. When she finished, there wasn’t a dry eye in the place. She had nailed her song. Maeve beamed as the audience clapped and whistled.

  “She’s quite a professional,” Isabel’s father said to Mr. Taylor.

  “She will be, someday,” Maeve’s mother said. Her parents exchanged a look of tenderness and pride that Maeve could see all the way from the stage.

  When she came off stage, she almost ran headfirst into Dillon. He caught her by the shoulders. “Ooo!” Maeve said. “Dillon.”

  “You were great, really great,” he said as he looked at her shyly. Maeve felt equally shy as she said a quick thanks. They sort of stood there for awhile, staring at the ground, as other kids walked by them. Finally, Dillon mumbled something about really liking her dress and then he said he had to go, and rushed off. His face was all flushed. Maeve took a deep breath. She knew Dillon still liked her, and she liked him. But what should come next? She wasn’t sure. But she couldn’t think about that now. She was too psyched about her performance to think of anything else.

  CHAPTER 25

  The Queens of Mean

  While Dillon was busy watching Maeve’s act, Anna had stolen Kiki’s videotape out of the machine.

  “What are you doing?” Joline asked when Anna presented it to her.

  “I’m going to watch it,” Anna announced. “I don’t believe we’re even in it.”

  “Kiki said we were,” Joline said.

  “Well I’m going to make sure before I go out there as one of her backup dancers, I can tell you that much,” Anna said.

  “How are you going to make sure?” Joline didn’t understand.

  “I’m going to watch it, that’s how!” Anna said.

  “Where? There’s no place to watch it around here.”

  “I’ve got that all figured out,” Anna said. “Follow me.”

  The back door up to Maeve’s apartment was open. There was a little TV in the kitchen and it had a videotape player, which Anna had seen the day she and Kiki went upstairs to find Isabel.

  “But what if someone catches us?” Joline hesitated. She was scared. Wasn’t it illegal to be in somebody’s house if they didn’t know you were there? But Anna forged ahead, and Joline did what she always did…follow Anna.

  “No one’s going to come up here now, not with their ‘precious’ Maeve out on stage.”

  It wasn’t if they were strangers breaking into someone’s house, Joline thought. They were there before and the Taylors knew them. It wasn’t so bad, she reasoned. And she also had to admit that she was curious to see the tape. Lately, she was feeling taken advantage of by Kiki too.

  Anna and Joline stood in the darkness watching the tape. Anna fast-forwarded through hundreds of Kiki frames.

  Kiki hadn’t lied, not exactly. The backup dancers were there, all right, but only at the very end of the number. And they weren’t dancing. They were standing awkwardly, watching Kiki dance.

  “Do you believe me now?” Anna asked Joline.

  “Why did she cut us out?” Joline was really mad.

  “Because she is really selfish,” Anna said. “She didn’t want us looking better than her.”

  “Then why did she need backup dancers to begin with?” Joline didn’t understand.

  Anna said, “Because Ms. Cool wants all the attention.”

  Anna had succeeded in getting Joline just as angry as she was, maybe even more angry because Joline felt betrayed. During the last few weeks, Joline had started to think of Kiki as her new BFF. But that was never true. For whatever reason, Kiki had just been using her all along.

  Anna pulled another tape out of her backpack.

  “What’s that?” Joline wanted to know.

  “It’s a surprise,” Anna said.

  “What are you going to do?” asked Joline nervously.

  “Are you in or not?” Anna challenged Joline.

  “I’m in,” Joline said. She wasn’t sure this was a good idea, but Anna had never been wrong before. Besides, Kiki so had it coming. How dare she keep Anna and her out of the video!

  They snuck quietly back down the stairs.

  While Dillon was with Maeve, Anna slipped the second tape into the machine. Then she and Anna stood on the sidelines and clapped for Maeve, just as if nothing had happened.

  CHAPTER 26

  The Hip-Hop Honeys

  So should we just walk out or what?” Joline whispered to Anna as they broke for intermission.

  “No way,” Anna said. “She’ll know we did something.”

  “What about Isabel?” Joline asked.

  “What about her?” Anna said.

  “Aren’t we going to tell her we’re walking out?” Joline wanted to know.

  “Hey, Isabel wants to dance for her father. Without us there, he might actually be able to see her.”

  “You’re bad,” Joline said, but there was admiration in her voice.

  Anna and Joline got to the dressing room just as Isabel was doing up her dress. She stood in front of the mirror, looking at her dress. “I don’t know,” she said to both of them. “I still think we’ve got the Christmas thing going.”

  “It looks great on you,” Anna said with a sickly sweet smile.

  It was the first time Anna hadn’t complained about the dresses. It was also the first time Isabel could remember that Anna had spoken a kind word to her. That in itself should have made her suspicious. But she was too nervous thinking about her parents in the audience to give Anna’s change in attitude a second thought.

  After intermission, Katani had two stand-up comedians in the lineup. Then there was the girl who twirled the fire baton.

  Katani had counted on the momentum of the first act to carry these entries, but as the first comedian performed badly, the audience, especially the kids, was starting to get restless. Katani began to panic. What should I do now? she won dered. She looked around for Ms. Ciara. She was on the other side of the stage. Then she saw her father watching the comedian. He was shaking his head in amusement at how awful he was. Katani really panicked now. Her father laughed at every bad comedian there was. Things must be really bad. Katani beck
oned to him to come over.

  “What’s up, honey?” he asked her.

  “Dad, I’m scared. This act is not going well. The audience might get up and leave. I don’t know what to do,” she stammered.

  Seeing how nervous she was, Mr. Summers put his arm around his daughter.

  “Honey, do what the quarterback does when he’s in trouble.”

  “Dad,” Katani whined. “I don’t play football.”

  “Katani, when the game is going poorly—change the play.”

  Katani looked at him with confusion in her eyes, and then suddenly the light bulb went on.

  She motioned for Keisha the baton twirler to come over.

  “Keisha, how good are you at this baton twirling?”

  Keisha looked at Katani strangely. Nobody in school knew Keisha very well, including Katani. She hardly talked, and she wasn’t able to rehearse for the talent show because the Movie House only had an insurance policy for one night. Keisha could twirl her fire baton for the night of the show…that’s it. Keisha’s mother brought in a tape of her daughter with her baton club to show Ms. Ciara. Nobody else had seen her twirl.

  When Keisha didn’t answer her, Katani said, “Keisha, this is no time to be shy. You see that audience out there? We need fantastic right now! Can you do it or not?”

  Keisha put her chin up and said, “Watch me!”

  Keisha stood behind the curtain. Just before the music started, Keisha’s mother rushed on to the stage and lit the ends of the baton. When the curtains flew open, the Trentini boys went crazy. They marched up and down the side of the stage, raising their fists, going, “Awesome!”

  And Keisha, the shy girl, was exactly that…totally awesome. She twirled her brains out, and when the flaming baton went up in the air the audience held its collective breath. NO problem. Keisha caught the baton, twirled, and bowed to the audience for her finale.

  When she walked off the stage, Keisha was an Abigail Adams celebrity, and the show was back on track. Thank goodness!

  Next, Katani put the ventriloquist, who was using an old Cabbage Patch Kid as her dummy, on stage. The material was funny, but the girl had laryngitis and couldn’t project her voice, so Katani closed the curtain and had her stand in front of the curtain, so at least the first ten rows could hear her. This setup also allowed the Hip-Hop Honeys to get ready behind the curtain.