Sugar Plums for Dry Creek & At Home in Dry Creek (10 page)

“I'll be careful,” Judd said. He wouldn't need a hat any way to fight back against the cow boy.

“And, Pete, you'll be careful too, won't you?” Lizette asked, turning to the cow boy. “Your tail is a little fragile.”

Judd started to grin. “His tail?”

Pete stopped laughing. “My tail?”

“Well, you are a mouse,” Lizette said.

Amanda and Bobby both giggled. Judd thought he heard Charley give a snort or two as well.

“Rat,” Pete corrected. “You said I was a rat.”

“Mouse. Rat. They both have tails,” Lizette said as she reached into a bag.

Judd grinned even wider. The tail Lizette pulled
out of the bag had to be five feet long. And it was pink.

“I can't wear pink,” Pete said.

Lizette frowned as she looked at the tail. “It's not exactly pink. It's more puce than any thing. Your whole costume is puce.”

Judd could see that the costume was pink.

“Maybe I could have my tail chopped off,” Pete said. “I bet there are rats that've run into trouble and are missing part of their tail. You know, the fighter kind of rats, like I will be.”

“But the tail balances out the ears,” Lizette said as she pulled two pink ears out of the bag.

Pete was speech less.

Judd decided his hat wasn't such a bad thing. “If you don't like the look of your ears, maybe you should get a hat.”

“Well, at least I have to have something to fight with, don't I?” Pete finally said. “I mean, I have to have something to fight with—like a knife or something.”

“You have teeth,” Lizette said as she also pulled out a rat's head.

Judd had to admit the head looked like a fighter rat. An uglier mask he'd never seen.

“That's more like it,” Pete said as he picked up the mask and turned it around.

“Well, every one try on their hats and heads. I want to be sure everything fits,” Lizette said.

Judd looked around him at all of the other dancers. Mrs. Hargrove had come into the room and was fingering a billowing white dress that must be the Snow Queen out fit. Charley was trying on an old tweed bath robe that was the costume for the narrator. Judd wished
he'd
been the narrator. The bath robe looked comfort able. Amanda was, of course, eyeing the Sugar Plum Fairy costume that was over in the corner. Even Bobby and the twins looked happy, since they were going to be either mice or toy soldiers in the first part of the ballet and snow flakes at the end.

Judd realized he'd never been in any thing like this in his life. His uncle had thought school it self was a waste of time, so Judd had never tried out for any school plays. There were al ways chores to do. The closest thing to costumes he'd ever seen were the clown costumes at the rodeo and every one knew those clowns were not for fun.

Judd decided he liked the thought of playing a part in something like this ballet. Especially now that he'd seen the tail Pete had to wear and realized he wasn't going to be the only man who was wearing a ridiculous costume.

Besides, Judd thought as he saw Amanda and
Bobby, he'd never seen the two of them so excited, and it was worth making a fool of him self to see them having such a good time.

T
he first official rehearsal of the Dry Creek Nutcracker ballet was underway. An X was taped to the floor where the artificial tree would be. Charley was sitting on a folding chair next to the fire place he had built out of card board. Mrs. Hargrove was back stage helping the Sugar Plum Fairy ad just her wings. The Curtis twins were being good little mice and sitting in the corner until it was time for them to run across the stage. Bobby was sitting next to the twins in his tin soldier costume. Pete was looking at his new mouse head in the mirror by the practice bars. Judd was holding his hat and frowning at it.

Yes, Lizette thought to her self, they were really going to be able to do this. Even though this was the first time on stage for all of her performers, they already looked like a typical group of ballet students.
The only thing that was missing was for one of the performers to be sick.

Lizette had changed into her Clara costume—with Amanda choosing the Sugar Plum Fairy part and no other young girls clamoring for the role, Lizette had decided to adapt it for her self. For the first time today, she felt as if she was the teacher and had everything under control. Generally, Clara had several different costumes during the performance, but Lizette had decided to keep her costume simple. It was a yellow dress with a short skirt. Clara was a young girl, so Lizette had braided her hair into a single braid down her back and tied the end with a big yellow rib bon.

“Let me get the narrator's book and we'll begin,” Lizette said.

Madame Aprele said the book she'd sent was a condensed story of the Nutcracker that she had used for one of her own productions years ago when she was first starting her school. She'd eliminated some of the scenes and changed others. She'd promised Lizette that it was a very simple rendition of the classic ballet. Lizette had briefly re viewed the narration and was ready to begin.

“Everyone take your places,” Lizette said as she gave Mrs. Hargrove the audiocassette tape to put into the small stereo system Lizette had set up earlier.

 

Judd knew ballerinas were supposed to glide, but seeing Lizette dance the first dance left him breath
less. She was dip ping and bowing and soaring all over the practice floor. And while Lizette was moving, Charley kept reading from the narration about a young girl and her brother who were given special gifts at Christmas time.

The sun was starting to set, and Charley asked Mrs. Hargrove to bring him a lamp that was along the side of the room.

Once the lamp was there, Lizette danced in the circle of light it gave.

Judd was watching Lizette so closely that he didn't notice when his cue came.

“The Nutcracker,” Charley cleared his throat and repeated a little louder. “When Clara opened her present, she saw the Nutcracker.”

“Just walk into the circle of light,” Lizette directed. “You're not alive at this point, so no one will expect you to move.”

Judd moved into the circle of light.

“You mean I'm your present?” Judd whispered to Lizette in dismay. “Your Christmas present?”

Judd had got ten Amanda a doll for Christmas with eyes that lit up depending on what kind of eye makeup the girl put on the doll. Judd didn't pre tend to know much about little girls, but he was willing to bet that very few of them would be excited about get ting a nut cracker for a Christmas present. “Do I at least come with a few walnuts or something?”

“Way to go, Nutcracker,” Pete said as he stood by the fire place holding his rat-king head. “I'd at least bring her some cheese.”

“Clara was very excited to open her present and see the Nutcracker,” Charley read from the book.

Lizette danced some more, and Judd would swear that the movements of her arms and legs did re mind him of an excited little girl. The back ground music for this part of the ballet was very light and fanciful.

Maybe it wasn't so bad being Lizette's present, Judd thought as he looked over at Pete. The cow boy was still leaning against the wall, only now he was frowning.

“Clara's brother was also given a gift—some toy soldiers,” Charley read as Bobby marched for ward in a toy soldier costume. “But, even though he liked the toy soldiers, he was jealous of Clara's nut cracker and broke it just when it was time for every one to go to bed.”

Lizette danced into the shadows as the narrator said, “every one went to bed,” leaving the Nutcracker and the toy soldiers in the living room.

“That night after every one was asleep,” Charley kept reading. “Clara and her brother went back downstairs.”

“Mice gather over by the fire place,” Lizette whis
pered, and the Curtis twins hurried over to the fireplace.

“Clara and her brother start playing with the mice,” Charley read. Then he reached into the prop bag and pulled out a large wind-up alarm clock. “But then the clock strikes mid night.”

Charley pulled a but ton so the alarm clock would ring.

“When the clock strikes mid night, the mice stop playing. The room be comes darker and is no longer a friendly place. The mice start attacking Clara and her brother. The toy soldiers try to fight back, but they are outnumbered.”

The Curtis twins ran up and started flinging their arms around Bobby, who was the toy soldier.

In the middle of the action, Lizette danced around the stage like a wounded bird.

“Seeing that Clara is in trouble, the Nutcracker comes to life and starts to de fend her from the mice.”

“From the mice?” Judd said. “I thought I was going to fight that Rat King.”

Judd figured he shouldn't even have worried. The day he wasn't equal to two little kids was the day he'd give up ballet.

Judd spun around on his tip toes and pulled the card board sword out of the sheath on his belt. Then he tried to dance to the music while he fought back
the mice. Of course, he was careful not to fight too hard. He didn't want to discourage the Curtis twins in their mice roles.

“Gradually, it looks like the toy soldiers and the nut cracker are pushing back the mice, and then a giant rat comes bursting out of the fire place.”

Pete crawled out of the front of the fire place. Of course, the cow boy was on his knees and it took a moment for him to stand. It took an other second for him to roar.

Judd took a deep breath so he wouldn't laugh. Pete's tail was twisted around his shoulders, and his ears were as lop sided as a rabbit's.

Pete put his rat head down and charged to ward Judd.

“Stop,” Lizette commanded. “I have to show you how to stage a fight.”

Judd figured it was too late to stage any thing. So he moved to the side and let Pete catch him on the shoulder.

Charley kept reading. “The giant rat keeps fighting the Nutcracker until the Nutcracker is weary.”

Judd didn't feel the least tired. He rather liked the look of concern he saw on Lizette's face. It might take a charging rat for her to worry about his well-being, but it was nice to know that she could do so with the proper encouragement.

“But we need to stage the action,” Lizette said. “There shouldn't be any physical contact.”

“How am I going to hit him if I can't touch him?” Pete said as he raised his head.

“You pre tend. We all pre tend,” Lizette said.

“It's okay. He can touch me,” Judd said.

Pete lowered his head. “Let the story continue—”

Charley cleared his throat. “The Mouse King gets ready for one final attack. The toy soldier is lying on the floor. Only the Nutcracker is left, and he is wounded.”

Pete pawed the floor like a bull would do be fore it charged.

Judd figured this was the final act for him.

“Clara sees the Mouse King get ready to attack and puts her self between the rat and the Nutcracker,” Charley reads.

“What?” Judd said.

“What?” the rat echoed.

“I can fight my own battles,” Judd said. He'd thought there was nothing worse than dying in this battle. He was wrong. He'd never live it down if the Nutcracker hid be hind a woman's skirts.

“I'd never hit a lady,” the rat said.

“You don't have to hit me,” Lizette hissed. “Remember, there's no physical contact. Everything is staged.”

“B-but, still—” Pete stammered.

“Besides, you don't hit me in the story,” Lizette whispered. “I hit you.”

Charley turned a page in the book and continued. “Clara takes off one of her shoes and throws it at the Mouse King.”

Lizette threw her dance slipper at the rat.

“The shoe hits the Mouse King and topples him,” Charley continued.

Pete still stood in astonishment.

“Lie down,” the Curtis twins whispered to him. They were both al ready lying on the floor where they had fallen in battle. “You're dead.”

“From a shoe?” Pete asked. “I get beat by a shoe?”

Judd shook his head. He supposed he should be happy that the Mouse King was defeated, but he had to wish right along with Pete that it had happened an other way. It didn't do Judd's image any good either to be rescued by a woman and her shoe.

Pete reluctantly slid to the floor. “Even if I'm dead, I'm not closing my eyes.”

Charley was fumbling in the bag and the music was starting to soar.

“Because of the bravery of Clara and the Nutcracker, the Nutcracker comes to life and be comes a man,” Charley read.

Judd liked the sound of that.

The music soared even further.

“When Clara sees that her be loved Nutcracker is alive, she kisses him,” Charley read.

“She what?” Lizette said.

“She does?” Judd grinned.

“Well, no body told
me
that,” the Mouse King said, and it looked like he was going to rise again.

Charley looked up. “That's what it says right here.”

“Madame Aprele must have changed the text,” Lizette said as she walked over to Charley and looked at the book for her self.

“I think a kiss would be nice,” Mrs. Hargrove said from the side lines. “Everybody likes a little romance in a ballet.”

“Well, I guess it could be a stage kiss,” Lizette said as she walked back to Judd.

“And you need to take his hat off for when he turns into a prince,” Charley whispered. “Those are the directions.”

Judd for got all about the room that was around them. He for got about the dead mice lying on the floor and the live rat looking ready to pounce. He for got about the Sugar Plum Fairy sitting on the sidelines watching him. All Judd could think about was the green eyes staring straight at him.

Why, she's nervous, Judd thought to him self. The woman who had been treating him all morning like
he was a raw recruit and she was the drill sergeant was actually nervous to be this close to him.

“It'll be okay,” he said softly.

“It's just a stage kiss,” Lizette re minded him.

Judd wasn't even going to ask what a stage kiss was. He figured a raw recruit should be able to plead ignorance.

Judd took the tall hat off his head and set it on the floor be side them. He'd never yet kissed a woman with his hat still on his head, and he wasn't going to start now.

The back ground music dipped, and the green in Lizette's eyes deepened. She must have guessed his intent, because she gave a soft gasp and her mouth formed a perfect O.

Judd kissed her. He'd meant to satisfy his curiosity with the kiss. He'd been wanting to kiss Lizette since he saw her hanging that sign in her window. When he kissed her, though, he for got all about the reasons he wanted to kiss her. He just needed to kiss her. That was all there was to it.

Judd finally heard Charley clearing his throat. Judd wasn't sure how long the man had been sitting there doing that, but he figured it must have been for some time. The others were looking at them in astonishment.

Somehow Judd's arms had got ten around Lizette and she was nestled in the curve of his shoulder. She
still had her face turned into him, and Judd felt protective of her.

“We were just doing this stage kiss,” Judd finally man aged to say. His voice sounded a little hoarse, but he was at least able to get the words out.

“Uh-huh,” Pete said from where he lay by the fireplace. “You mean the one where there's no actual contact?”

“It's the one the movie stars do,” Judd said as he felt Lizette move away from his shoulder a little.

“Sometimes,” Lizette said as she took a steadying breath, “actors get very involved in their roles and for get who they really are.”

“I'm not get ting that involved in being a rat,” Pete said as he stood up.

Judd had to admit he wasn't asking him self how a Nutcracker would feel about any thing, either. He had enough trouble just knowing how Judd Bowman felt.

Lizette stepped out of his arms and Judd let her go. In that instant, he knew exactly how Judd Bowman felt. He felt as though a truck had run him over, and he wanted to beg it to come back and run him over again. He couldn't breathe.

“I think we've gone far enough in the story for today,” Lizette said as she stepped even farther away from Judd. “We'll meet again tomorrow—”

Charley cleared his throat. “But tomorrow is Thanksgiving.”

“Oh, yes.” Lizette blushed. “I mean on Friday. We'll meet to practice on Friday. And I hope all of you have a nice Thanksgiving.”

Judd was starting to breathe normally again.

“But we were going to ask you,” Amanda whispered as she came up be side Judd and put her hand in his.

Judd let his fingers curl around the little hand.

“We
were
going to ask her, weren't we?” Amanda asked as she looked up at Judd.

“Yes, pump kin,” Judd said as he tried to get himself to focus. He felt as though he'd been bucked off a stallion and hit his back hard coming down. He looked down to see what Amanda wanted.