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  “No way,” Avery said.

  “How about that coin trick? That coin thing you did the other day was really good,” Maeve suggested hopefully.

  “I’m afraid it wouldn’t show from the stage,” Charlotte said. “Only the front rows could see it.”

  “We need something mega,” Avery said. “Really MEGA!”

  “Can we at least go downstairs and check it out?” Maeve pointed in the direction of the movie theater, which had a stage. “I mean, before I volunteer?”

  “It’s just magic, you know,” Avery said.

  “I’m sooo relieved,” Maeve said with a grin.

  “Tell her how it’s done,” Avery said to Charlotte. Since Charlotte suggested the magic show, Avery had read every one of Charlotte’s books on illusionists and magic.

  “Relax, it’s all done with mirrors,” Charlotte said to Maeve as they started down the stairs to the theater in a dash.

  The theater was really dark. They all stood in eerie silence as Maeve walked back to flip on the stage lights. Just like in a real performance theater, there was one single bulb, burning center stage. In fact, the Brookline Movie House had been a live theater at one point a long time ago. Maeve swore to her friends that sometimes when she was alone she could practically hear clapping and singing. None of the BSG believed her.

  Charlotte stepped on stage and immediately tripped over something. So Charlotte. Avery grabbed her arm and caught her just in time.

  “What was that?” Charlotte asked. The klutz of the group, her friends almost expected her to trip for no reason at all, but this time there was something there.

  “Orchestra pit,” Maeve said. “This used to be a live theater,” she said. “Stay put until I get some more lights on.”

  The group stood still. As the house lights came up, Charlotte saw what she had tripped over. The orchestra pit had been filled in. You could see the platform they built over it. In the top of the platform was a small trapdoor with a ring handle lock that was sticking up slightly.

  “I never knew this used to be a live theater,” Katani said. She had lived here all her life, but she had never heard anything about it.

  “Most people have no idea,” Maeve said. “In the beginning, it was a vaudeville house. During the Great Depression, when people were really poor and stuff, they used to do comedy acts here so everyone would feel better. They gave away door prizes, sometimes even food. Then, during World War II, people used to come here to see the newsreels of the troops overseas. Later it was owned by a big Hollywood studio. I heard they even held a premiere here once…I think it was with Doris Day—remember I showed you that movie with Cary Grant?” The girls nodded, but none of them ever remembered the names of the old movie actors. Maeve did. She never forgot one. It was like the stars were her friends. Yup, Hollywood was Maeve’s destiny…someday. The lights, the action, the applause…Maeve was ready for all of it.

  The girls looked around. Usually, the place was dark, so none of the girls had ever noticed what a beautiful building it was. Only from the stage could you see some of the fancy detail…Beaux Arts, Maeve called it. It was really majestic. It wasn’t hard to picture what it must have looked like back in the day. You could almost see the old-time stars walking down the red carpet to their seats with their fur coats draped around them and the flashbulbs blinking at every turn.

  MAEVE IN JEOPARDY

  It was time to get down to magic show business. The girls sat in the audience while Charlotte tried her coin trick. Everyone agreed it wasn’t visible from the stage.

  “I still don’t want to be put in a box—even if it’s only with mirrors,” Maeve whined.

  “Maybe we can just use her hands,” Charlotte said to Avery, who was the only one who knew what she was talking about. “That way the box can be smaller, and there’ll be less work for Isabel.”

  “Let me see your hands,” Charlotte said to Maeve.

  Maeve reluctantly held them out. Her nails were painted with bright pink polish. Maeve had even glued a rhinestone to every nail, very Hollywood glam, except the polish was chipping around the edges. It was hard to maintain her beauty regime and do her homework, too.

  “Now I need to see everyone else’s hands,” Charlotte said, carefully examining each pair, turning them over.

  “Avery, you’re the best match for her,” Charlotte said. “Your hands are the same size.”

  Avery pulled back her hands in horror. “I have no nails,” she said.

  “Fixable,” Charlotte said. “Nail polish will do the trick.”

  “What are you up to?” Katani asked.

  “I’ll tell you what she’s not up to,” Avery said. “She’s not painting my nails!”

  “I don’t understand,” Isabel said to Charlotte. “What kind of trick is this? It sounds creepy!”

  “Oh,” Charlotte said gleefully. “We build this little thing. Separate the box into two pieces, and voilà, it looks as if Maeve has been separated from her hands. A few dramatic noises, Maeve’s Academy Award performance, and the audience will believe it.”

  Now that it involved acting ability, Maeve was starting to get interested. “I can scream really well,” she said, and she proceeded to give them a preview.

  “Fabulous,” Katani added with sarcasm. “I don’t think you have to do that again until the talent show.”

  Maeve stuck her tongue out playfully at Katani.

  “What about you?” Charlotte turned to Avery.

  “Do I have a choice?” Avery asked.

  “Not really,” Charlotte laughed.

  “Is the Marty trick still in the show?” Avery asked.

  “Yes,” Charlotte said.

  “And I want to do a trick with the guinea pigs, too,” Avery said, realizing she had some leverage.

  “What trick?” This was the first Charlotte had heard of any guinea pig trick.

  “I don’t know yet. I’ll think of something,” Avery said.

  “Now you’re pushing it,” Charlotte said.

  “That’s my final offer,” Avery said, putting her hands on her hips. “It’s either the guinea pigs or…”

  “Okay,” Charlotte said. “Okay, okay, okay. Are we all in?”

  “I’m in, but this trick is kind of creepy. I don’t know if anyone’s gonna let us do it,” Isabel said doubtfully.

  TROUBLE WITH MOVIES

  The girls worked until almost dinnertime. By the time they were finished, they had five tricks lined up, including one with the guinea pigs, newly renamed Siegfried and Roy. Avery was delighted. Katani decided she wanted to make an endless scarf that Isabel could pull all the way across the stage. Everyone liked the idea. “I’m not sure yet what material to make it out of,” she said.

  “Something diaphanous,” Maeve suggested.

  “What does that mean?” Isabel asked.

  “You know, sheer, transparent…something that seems to glow with its own light,” Maeve said dreamily, getting carried away with a vision of herself dancing across the stage.

  “Good word,” Isabel said. “You must read a lot of books.”

  “Everyzing I know I’ve learned from ze movies,” she said in her best French accent. “Particularly the old ones,” Maeve added in her own voice. “My dad and I love to watch them together. Especially old Katharine Hepburn films.”

  Dramatically putting her hand to her forehead, she launched into her best Katharine Hepburn imitation: “The calla lilies are in bloom again…”

  Katani smiled.

  Isabel looked at her blankly.

  “Please don’t tell me you haven’t seen any Katharine Hepburn movies,” Maeve said.

  “I saw My Fair Lady,” Isabel said hopefully.

  “That’s Audrey Hepburn, not Katharine,” Maeve said.

  “Sorry,” Isabel said.

  “Wasn’t she in Chicago?” Avery asked. She hadn’t seen the movie, but she’d heard the name.

  “That’s Catherine Zeta-Jones,” Katani said.

  �
��That’s it. Avery…Isabel…your movie education is in serious jeopardy. I cannot work under these conditions! We have to have a screening right now,” Maeve said, marching off the stage.

  “Where are you going?” Isabel asked.

  “To talk to my father,” Maeve said, and walked out of the theater.

  Maeve saw the light on in the office and barged right in. “Dad, Dad, can we screen a Katharine Hepburn film? Can you believe Isabel and Avery don’t even know who she is?”

  Maeve’s father looked up from his desk with an expression on his face that immediately silenced Maeve. Mr. Taylor was not alone. There was someone in the office with him.

  “Maeve, I’d like you to meet Mr. Callahan from Citibank of Boston. Mr. Callahan, this is my daughter, Maeve.”

  Maeve extended her hand with the most movie charm she could muster. With just a hint of a southern accent, she held out her hand and said, “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Callahan.”

  But something was up, and Maeve knew it. Although Mr. Callahan was clearly amused by the greeting, her dad didn’t smile. She must have looked alarmed, because her father explained right away. “Mr. Callahan is here because I have applied for a second mortgage on the theater.”

  Maeve had no idea what a second mortgage was. She wasn’t even all that sure what a first mortgage was.

  “Could we talk about Katharine Hepburn later? Mr. Callahan and I have some things to discuss.” Maeve’s father walked her to the door.

  “But Dad,” Maeve said. “The BSG just wanted…”

  “We’ll talk over dinner,” he said, cutting her off. Then, trying to recover, he smiled. “This is my night to make dinner with you and your brother, isn’t it?”

  Maeve just nodded. Things must be really bad if he had forgotten about tonight. For a week, they had had plans to make their own pizza tonight. They were all looking forward to it. At least Maeve and Sam were.

  When she got back to her friends, Maeve’s whole demeanor had changed.

  “Maeve, are you okay?” Isabel asked.

  “Does anybody know what a second mortgage is?” Maeve looked as confused as she felt.

  “Sure,” said Isabel. Her parents were both accountants. She was familiar with the lingo.

  “My dad’s trying to get a second mortgage on the theater. Why would he do that?” Maeve asked Isabel.

  “My dad says people sometimes get a second mortgage when they want to make improvements on a property, and need to borrow some money to do that,” Isabel said. “Or because interest rates are low and their monthly payments would be less.” Everyone stared at her. “I know,” she laughed. “I sound like an accountant. But my parents think it’s important to know this stuff.”

  “I totally agree,” said Katani. “Girls totally need to learn about money.” Money and how to manage it was Katani’s new passion. Most girls her age were thinking about school, sports, and boys. Not Katani. She thought about business and money and how she could use it to help people.

  “Maybe your father wants to do the place over,” Charlotte suggested, thinking of what a beautiful theater it would be after some restoration work.

  “Or sometimes people do it when they need money to pay bills,” Isabel said.

  “Oh God, do you think he needs money? I mean, with the two apartments and all, and my mother’s only been able to work part time.” Maeve was beginning to sound tearful.

  “Don’t worry,” Katani said. “I’m sure it’s something positive.” Katani knew something about mortgages, too. She wasn’t at all sure it was something positive, but she wasn’t going to tell Maeve anything that would make her worry. Maeve had enough to worry about lately.

  “So I shouldn’t worry?” Maeve asked.

  “Of course not,” Charlotte said.

  “No way,” said Avery.

  CHAPTER 4

  Checkers

  Katani had promised Kelley that they would play checkers tonight. But after one game, Katani called it quits. She was worried about Maeve, and she wanted to figure out a way to help her. Maeve was having a really tough time lately, and Katani didn’t want her to have anything more to worry about.

  “You promised we’d play,” Kelley complained.

  “We did play, Kelley,” Katani replied.

  “Only one game,” Kelley said.

  Katani felt bad about it. She actually liked playing checkers with her sister.

  Even though she was autistic, Kelley was pretty good at the game, and every time she jumped a line of checkers, she howled with laughter. Katani used to let Kelley win, but her sister was really improving, especially lately. She had a way of seeing potential moves on the checker board before Katani saw them, and she was winning more and more games every time they played. Katani had stopped letting her win a long time ago.

  “I have some research to do, and you should probably go to bed,” Katani said.

  “It’s not my bedtime yet, Miss Bossy!” Kelley said, looking at the clock.

  “Then go downstairs or something,” Katani suggested.

  “I don’t have to go downstairs. This is my room too, you know.”

  Katani knew that only too well. Aside from being a fashion designer, her other big dream was to have a room of her own. Still, she didn’t want to hurt Kelley’s feelings. “I’m sorry. I just meant I have to do something, so you should do something else now, okay? So I can concentrate.”

  “Okay, Miss Bossy.” Kelley said. She liked this title for Katani, especially since she could tell that Katani didn’t.

  Katani searched the Web for movie theaters. What had other old theaters done when they saw their profits dying? One theater she found had become a revival house. It showed nothing but old movies. A theater on the Massachusetts North Shore now hosted a children’s show. And still another gave away prizes every night. Isn’t that what Maeve had said? That the old theaters used to give away prizes?

  They were all things that could help the theater long term, but Mr. Taylor needed help with the taxes right now. And as Katani surfed the Web, she was starting to get an idea that might work right now. It was based on something Maeve had said earlier when she was doing her Katharine Hepburn imitation. What was it Maeve had said? Oh yeah. Everything I know, I’ve learned from the movies. Even if that was stretching it, Katani could make a case for it, and she might be able to help the Movie House.

  “Hey Kelley,” Katani said, feeling bad about how she had treated her before. “I need your help.”

  Kelley was sitting on her bed, sulking. But she wasn’t really mad. Her mood improved instantly at the thought of doing anything with Katani. “Okay,” Kelley said, trying not to sound too eager.

  “Tell me one thing that you have learned from going to the movies,” Katani said.

  “Like what?”

  “I don’t know. Anything at all. Something that you didn’t know before, but that you know now.”

  Kelley thought about it for a long time before she answered the question. “I learned not to put my feet on the chairs in front of me.”

  Katani laughed.

  “That’s not funny,” Kelley said, offended. “I also learned not to put popcorn on people’s heads.” Kelley thought about it for a minute. “That last one might be a little funny.”

  Katani was trying to hide her smile. “Etiquette,” Katani said, suddenly excited. “You learned etiquette.”

  “Well, I don’t know about that!” Kelley said. She wasn’t sure what the word meant, but it sounded like an insult.

  “Etiquette means manners. You learned good manners from going to the movies!”

  Kelley looked proud. “Of course I did. I’m not stupid, you know.”

  “Yes. And you helped me with my paper.”

  Kelley was delighted with herself. The hall phone rang. Kelley ran to get it. A minute later she brought the phone back to Katani. “It’s my new best friend Charlotte,” Kelley said. “She wants to talk to you.”

  “Tell her I can’t talk right now,�
�� Katani said.

  “Is that good manners?” Kelley asked.

  “If you say it in a nice way, it is,” Katani said.

  “Katani said she doesn’t want to talk to you right now,” Kelley said in the sweetest voice she could muster.

  Now it was Katani who was irritated. That was the thing about Kelley, she always told the truth.

  “Tell Charlotte I’m working on a report, and that I’ll call her when I’m done.”

  Kelley got back on the phone, but Charlotte had already heard. “Charlotte says the book report isn’t due until next week. She says she needs to talk to you about Maeve’s problem.” Kelley’s face scrunched up with concern. “What’s the matter with my friend Maeve?” Maeve was another one of Kelley’s favorite people, and Kelley looked really worried.

  “Nothing, Kelley, Maeve is fine.” Now Katani was getting upset. She had to finish her proposal by tomorrow, or any hopes of helping Maeve would be gone.

  “Just tell her I’ll call her back, okay?”

  Katani’s voice sounded annoyed. “Okay,” Kelley said. “Charlotte, Katani doesn’t want to talk to you right now because I just beat her at checkers and she’s really mad. Why don’t you come over and play checkers with me?…”

  CHAPTER 5

  A Secret Plan

  Charlotte sat up late in the Tower waiting and waiting, but Katani never called her back. She hoped Katani wasn’t mad about something, because Katani always called people back right away. Katani loved to talk on the phone. She said it was easier than talking to people in person, where you got distracted by what they were wearing or what they looked like. You could just concentrate on what your friends were saying, which in the end was the important thing. “The extra bonus,” Katani said, “is that you can be in your sweats with funky-looking hair and no one can see you.”

  But, Charlotte was frustrated. She had something really important to talk to Katani about. She had been thinking all day that the BSG had to do something to help with the Movie House. After all, they took an oath to be loyal to their friends forever. And of all the Beacon Street Girls, Katani was the one with the best business sense. If they were going to come up with a way to help the theater stay open, Katani was going to have to get involved.