Olivia's First Term (16 page)

Chapter Forty-Two

The Swan cast stood on the stage of the Palladium, looking tense. They were waiting for the results. The voting was over, the telephone lines had closed and in just a few minutes they would know whether or not they had made it through to perform in front of the Queen. There were five acts left in the competition, but only three would be on the final bill.

Please, please, let it be us
, thought Georgia to herself. She knew that, somewhere out in the audience, her mother would be sitting watching and Georgia wanted to make her really proud.

Olivia looked down and smiled at Eel, who was jiggling with excitement beside her, and then looked nervously across to the wings where Miss Swan, Abbie and Sebastian were all
waiting expectantly. Abbie grinned and raised both hands with her fingers crossed. Sebastian put his thumbs up. Olivia felt both exhausted and exhilarated.

They almost hadn't made it to the Palladium in time. When Jack and Olivia had descended from the tower, they had been met by several grim-faced policemen who seemed intent on arresting them, despite the fact that the crowd were cheering and going wild trying to get near enough to congratulate them. Even the TV reporter had become incoherent with excitement.

“How does it feel for the Great Marvello to be back?” she asked Jack flirtatiously.

“It feels great to be back where I belong,” said Jack, “and it's all down to my daughter Liv, and her love and support.”

“He is the greatest,” said Pablo, who had appeared with several magazine photographers in tow and was busy trying to negotiate exclusive deals.

Abbie and the others fought their way over to them.

“Olivia, we've got to go!” said Abbie desperately. Olivia raised her arms helplessly. A
more senior policeman pushed his way towards them.

“Where have you got to go?” asked Jack.

“To the Palladium – we're in the final to perform at the Children's Royal Spectacular.”

“You too, Liv?” asked Jack wonderingly.

“She's the STAR,” said Tom.

Jack looked thoughtfully at his daughter. “You're full of surprises, chick. Some of them nice and some of them nasty. I almost died when I saw you up there on the wire.” He took her hand and squeezed it. “You shouldn't have done it. You could have been killed. But I'm glad you did. I'm very proud of you.” He looked around at the cheering crowds and TV cameras. “They seem to have liked it.”

“It was a triumph,” said Pablo happily. “Your dad, Olivia, he is the best tightrope-walker in the world, and you are a chip off the old block.”

“Right then,” said the police inspector. “I need your full names and addresses.”

“She hasn't got time to give you her name and address, she's got to come with us,” said Eel.

“She won't be going anywhere for quite
some time,” replied the inspector ominously.

“But it's a matter of life and death; we'll be disqualified if she doesn't come now!” said Eel impatiently.

“Disqualified from what?” asked the inspector.

“The finals of the Children's Royal Spectacular,” explained Abbie. She looked at her watch. “It starts in just under an hour. If we don't go now we'll be disqualified.”

“You're having me on,” laughed the inspector, but then he looked at Eel, Georgia and Aeysha and a flash of recognition crossed his face.

“I know you, I saw you on TV in the last round. You're from the Swan, aren't you? You were fantastic. We voted for you, the wife and kids and me. We all want you to win.”

He looked at Olivia as if trying to make up his mind and then he said, “Strictly speaking, I'm not sure you've broken any law, apart from damaging the shins of one of my policemen. Go on, get on your way. We'll give you a police escort to get you to the Palladium. It's your dad I really need to speak to anyway. Good luck.”

Which was how they had arrived at the
Palladium in two police cars with their sirens wailing and just ten minutes to spare. They were met by Alicia and Sebastian, who had hurried them into their costumes and on to the stage.

Olivia didn't even have a second to feel nervous. She just remembered standing on the wire and seeing Georgia giving her an encouraging smile. Then she was entirely swept up by the performance. She was Juliet. She was fourteen and living in Verona. She was experiencing all the excitement of her very first ball. She saw her Romeo and it was love at first sight. She was head over heels. Her life would never be the same. Her heart soared. Time stood still. Her fate was sealed.

The judges had looked sceptical when they had spotted the tightrope, but by the end they were on their feet with everyone else, declaring the performance the unexpected triumph of the series.

“It doesn't guarantee that the public will like it. They can be fickle,” warned Alicia, but she couldn't stop smiling.

Now the moment of truth had arrived. Olivia stood on the stage between Tom and Georgia, who were both squeezing her hands
so tightly it hurt. She grinned at Georgia, who grinned back at her. Georgia had spotted her mum in the audience, who had given her the biggest grin of all, to let her know Georgia had made her the proudest mum in the whole world.

“This is the moment you've all been waiting for,” said the presenter. “The lines are closed, the votes have all been counted and I can tell you that the first of the three acts going through to perform at this year's Children's Royal Spectacular is…” He paused for dramatic effect. “The Treetops School of Dance and Drama!” The children leapt around and hugged each other.

“The second act through is … Pearl, the youth break-dance group from Manchester.” There were more screams and cheers.

“And the final act through, topping the bill at the Palladium, is…” There was another long pause and then he said two words: “The Swan.”

The stage and auditorium erupted, and in the mayhem Olivia looked across into the wings and saw that Jack was there. He was standing right next to Alicia, and they were hugging each other and crying.

Later that evening, Olivia, Eel and Jack were all sitting in Alicia's flat. They had just finished watching a recording of the televised show and were demolishing the final scraps of takeaway pizza. Jack's phone went off and he went into a bedroom to talk to Pablo. Eel had been on YouTube and announced that the clip of their performance had already had 200,000 hits, and the one of Olivia and Jack on the high-wire over Tower Bridge even more.

“Bet it will be up to half a million by tomorrow,” she said with a satisfied smile. “We'll all be famous!”

“Stage-school brat,” said Olivia, but her eyes were laughing. Jack came back into the room. He and Pablo had to report to the police station tomorrow, but the inspector had made it clear that charges were unlikely to be brought.

“Actually, they ought to give you a medal for cheering up London,” he had said.

Offers of work had also been flooding in since the stunt, with one big North American circus asking Jack to name his price and a Las Vegas hotel offering him a residency with double the money if Olivia came too. Newspapers wanted exclusive interviews and a TV company
wanted to fund his next stunt and make a documentary about it.

Jack smiled at Alicia and sat down on the sofa. Both Olivia and Eel snuggled up to him.

“Girls,” he said seriously, “we need to talk about our future.”

Eel looked at him anxiously and started wriggling around on the sofa with nerves. She opened her mouth to speak.

“Listen to what your father has to say,” said Alicia, silencing her with a single look.

“I've had lots of offers,” said Jack, “and there are some that are very tempting, although I'm not sure Las Vegas is really me. But I've had one offer that I'm minded to accept, but I want to run it past you two first, because if I do say yes then it will affect you both.”

“What is it?” asked Olivia, her heart thumping.

Jack smiled at Alicia.

“Your grandmother intends to make circus training part of the curriculum from next term and she's invited me to become the Swan's Head of Circus. I love teaching and it would give us a steady income and somewhere to live. But,” he paused, “it would also mean that you two could
stay here at the Swan to continue your education and training.”

Eel gave a whoop of joy and threw herself at Alicia.

“I knew it would make you happy, Eel,” said Jack with a smile. “But what about you, Liv? I know you didn't want to come to the Swan in the first place, and your grandmother and I will quite understand if, after everything that's happened, you don't want to stay beyond the end of this term and the Children's Royal Spectacular performance over Christmas. Alicia has promised that Eel can stay on even if you decide against continuing, and we'll find somewhere else for you. Maybe you and I will even go back to Italy, and Eel can join us in the holidays. I promise to do whatever will make you happy, Liv. You don't have to say now. Please think about it.”

“I don't need to think about it,” said Olivia. “I
know
what will make me happy.”

Everyone looked at her expectantly. Olivia took a deep breath.

“I never thought I'd hear myself saying this, but the Swan feels like home. It's where I belong, and what would make me happy is being here
with Eel and with Gran. And being with friends like Tom and Georgia and Aeysha and Abbie. I've never really had friends before because we never stopped anywhere long enough to make them. I want to stay on at the Swan next term.”

“Well, that's all settled then,” said Eel happily, throwing herself into a mighty jiggle.

“Actually,” said Olivia, “I don't think it is.” Everyone looked at her, surprised. Her face was serious. She turned to Jack.

“I know you're a great teacher, Dad. You're the best. But do you really want to be one? Term in, term out. You have a circus soul, Dad, just like Eel has a dancing soul and Mum had an acting soul. You'd get restless here, and after a while you'd feel as if we'd tied you down. You'd be like a caged bird always dreaming of flying away. I couldn't bear that to happen to you.”

“But we could all be together here,” said Alicia. “Surely you're not proposing that your father abandons you again and sets out on another of his wild adventures.” There was an edge in her voice.

“That's exactly what I
am
proposing,” said Olivia quietly. “But Dad isn't abandoning us, we're setting him free. He'd shrivel and die here
at the Swan; he needs to be constantly on the wing. Like that spirit, Ariel, in
The Tempest
. I've been reading it.”

Jack was looking at his elder daughter and his whole face was suffused with love. “My Liv, chick,” he whispered.

“It would be totally irresponsible behaviour,” huffed Alicia.

“No, it wouldn't,” said Eel, hugging Olivia and Jack. “It's the rightest thing to do in the whole world.” Olivia looked at Jack and he gave an imperceptible nod, and all the tension went out of his face. He looked like a boy again.

“You're right, Eel,” said Olivia. “It
is
the rightest thing to do. But we'll only let him do it on one condition.”

“What's that?” asked Jack worriedly.

“We want you to tell us everything you remember about Mum. How you met, when you fell in love, how you got married. And we want to see all the photos and mementoes in your box.”

“It's a deal,” said Jack, his voice tight with emotion. “But you will join me in the holidays, won't you? I couldn't bear not to see you.”

They nodded.

“And you'll be welcome here any time, Jack,” said Alicia, and to her own surprise realised that she really meant it.

“A toast. We should have a toast,” said Eel, raising her glass. The others raised theirs in turn.

“To Dad, may he have many adventures,” said Olivia, her glass of lemonade held high. She caught Alicia's eye. “And to the best school in the world. Here's to next term at the Swan. Whatever it may bring!”

Olivia Marvell jumped lightly on to the low wall outside the stage door of the Duke's theatre, flipped forwards on to her hands, and walked the entire length of the wall upside down as if it was the most natural thing to do in the world. Her little sister, Eel, and her friend Aeysha clapped enthusiastically. Several passers-by walking down the passage that divided the Duke's from the New Vic theatre next door stopped to applaud too.

Olivia flashed them a shy grin as she jumped gracefully down, wiped her hands on her jeans and said impatiently, “How much longer? They've been yonks. I'm going to explode into a billion pieces if I can't tell them our news soon!”

A gaggle of children emerged from the stage door, adults in tow. Like all the children who had dribbled out in small groups over the last hour, they didn't look too happy. One of the girls was snivelling, and her mother, a glamorous blonde with sharp features, said loudly, “Silly man. That director wouldn't know real talent if it bit him on the nose. Never mind, Kelly, we've got bigger fish to fry. You're on the shortlist for that car commercial. It's much better paid.”

“But I wanted to be in
The Sound of Music
and sing ‘Do-Re-Mi'…” whined Kelly, her voice drifting into the distance as they walked down the passageway.

“Not long now; they're down to the last few,” said Bert, the stage door keeper. He'd slipped out from behind his counter just inside the stage door to join Olivia, Eel and Aeysha. Nobody, not even Gus the theatre cat, got into or out of the Duke's without passing by eagle-eyed Bert. He prided himself on knowing everything that was going on and was a fount of delicious gossip.

“So do you think that Tom and Georgia will be cast in
The Sound of
Music
?” asked Eel,
doing the little wriggle that had given her her nickname.

Bert shrugged. “The longer they're kept back, the better it looks for them. But there's another group of kids coming back for a final audition this afternoon, so nothing's certain. The director, Jon James, and the casting director may not finally make up their minds for days. And of course Chuck Daniels'll be trying to stick his oar in.”

“Who's Chuck Daniels?” asked Aeysha.

“He's important; he's the producer. He raised the money to stage the show. Anyway, they'll want to decide which kids they think will work well together in which teams. I doubt anyone will be told today, although I have known it happen.”

“Teams? It makes it sound as if they're going to play netball,” said Eel, wrinkling her nose.

“No,” explained Bert with a smile. “There are six Von Trapp children without counting Liesl, but they'll cast eighteen children in the roles and split the children into three teams. Each team rehearses and performs together and the three teams share the eight performances
a week between them. That way nobody gets too tired. But it does mean auditioning a lot of children.”

“I'd hate to have to do an audition,” said Olivia vehemently, pushing back her curtain of dark hair. “If I had to choose between going to an audition and going to the dentist for a filling, I'd choose the dentist.”

“You're just weird, Livy,” said Eel, pirouetting very fast across the passageway and causing a man in a pinstripe suit to glare at her. She came to a stop with her chestnut curls still dancing and said, “Oh, I wish, I really,
really
wish that I was auditioning,” so dramatically that Olivia, Aeysha and Bert smiled at her heartfelt passion.