Lucky Break (14 page)

She reached up to the back of her head to turn herself off and when she slumped on top of Garrick, Olivia heard several people sniffling in the audience – they were crying!

She had to bite the inside of her cheeks not to smile broadly.

Of course, they don’t know what’s coming next
, Olivia thought. This was not the end of their show. Camilla had written an extra scene where Olivia would have no choice but to kiss the beastly boy.

The lights turned red, green, blue and purple and the theatre filled with an electronic humming sound. On cue, Olivia and Garrick stood bolt upright as the audience gasped in astonishment. They knew this wasn’t how the story of Romeo and Juliet went. Camilla’s big rewrite was to have them come back to life after dying, to give them the happy ending Shakespeare denied them.

Garrick and Olivia looked at each other and continued the scene. Olivia had to raise her voice over a muttering that she thought might be a disapproving Mr Wagenbach.

‘Sometimes, the fates do not stand for good people making mistakes,’ Olivia intoned.

Oddly, there was a silence.
Has Garrick forgotten his next line?
Olivia wondered.

But then Garrick started up again. ‘Thou lookest most delicious, my Julietron.’

What?
Olivia knew that wasn’t what he was supposed to say. It should have been something about the power of love.

‘Cometh into my alien arms,’ Garrick went on.

Olivia could see Ivy just off-stage frantically gesturing at Garrick to get back on script.

What is he up to?
Olivia started to panic.
Is this the extra stuff he had planned? That fake Shakespeare sounds awful!

‘A taste, sweet Julietron, of your tinny flesh. Just one bite!’

Bite?
Garrick leaned closer and Olivia saw that he was wearing a set of false vampire teeth!
When did he put
those
on?
He was trying to turn Camilla’s sci-fi theme into a vampire one.

Olivia hopped off the tomb to get away from him and continued with the lines as Camilla wrote them, trying to force Garrick back on script. ‘A peace between our races would serve the fates.’

‘Who cares about peace? You’re supposed to be mine!’ Garrick advanced, his ten arms outstretched, trying to grab hold of Olivia.

She decided to buy herself some time, running away from Garrick. But she had to stay in character and run like a robot. Garrick chased her with his twitchy, itchy shuffle.

The both looked absolutely ridiculous.

She should have known, when it came down to it, they could not trust Garrick.

You are in so much trouble!
Olivia thought.
When this mess is over, I am going to pluck your arms off one by one! And then Ivy and I – and Camilla – will bash you with them!

Just as Garrick was about to catch her, someone shouted, ‘Behold!’

Garrick froze.

Jackson, in only part of his Merc-X88 costume, leaped on stage from the wings. ‘I thought my fate was sealed by that foul Tybalt,’ he said, improvising much better Shakespeare than Garrick. ‘Now it seems I am the cat with nine lives.’

‘You cannot stop me,’ Garrick muttered.

Jackson darted in front of him. ‘Romezog, selfishness has consumed you. You must be banished from Veronova.’

Olivia saw Camilla pushing three supporting actors on stage to help Jackson restrain Garrick and haul him off, making it look like an arrest. He shouted the whole time that Romezog would return.

When the silence fell, Olivia realised that it
was just her and Jackson on stage, and that they had to end the play.

Jackson extended an arm and said, ‘Will you take my hand, beautiful Julietron?’

Olivia wanted to rush across the stage to him, but she couldn’t break character. She had to do her robot-walk across the stage.

But what are we going to do when I get there?
Olivia wondered.
How can we end Romezog and Julietron without Romezog?

Finally, Olivia reached him, and felt her heart threatening to bounce right out of her chest. Jackson had the same look on his face as when he had pulled her into the wings.

‘May I kiss you?’ Jackson asked.

In a rush, she realised that she was going to get her wish after all. Not really how I imagined it, but it’s super romantic all the same.

It took everything Olivia had to nod like a
robot and not like a human in love.

As Jackson leaned in towards her, the theatre lights blacked out. Their first kiss was in complete darkness. A moment shared by only them.

Jackson pressed his lips against hers, and Olivia closed her eyes. It was soft and gentle, and sent a shiver down her spine like goosebumps.

A short pause later, there was thunderous applause and they broke apart. The lights came up, and the rest of the cast, with a grumpy-looking Garrick, joined them on stage for a bow.

Olivia held Jackson’s hand as they bowed together and felt tingly with happiness. She knew she would never forget her first kiss.

‘
N
ice save,’ Ivy said to Jackson as the cast rushed backstage, buzzing with the excitement of the closing scene. ‘I am going to
kill
Garrick.’

‘Not if I get there first,’ Olivia said.

Ivy chuckled. Garrick wouldn’t stand a chance with the twins after him!

‘Mission accomplished,’ Sophia said, hurrying over from the wings and taking off her headphones.

‘Was that … the lights? Was that you?’ Olivia asked.

‘Ivy’s idea over the headphones, my execution,’ Sophia admitted. ‘Just in time, too.’

‘I wanted you two to have a little privacy,’ Ivy explained.

‘Thank you,’ Olivia said at the same time as Jackson.

Ivy could see that her sister was absolutely beaming – from the buzz of performing, or from finally getting that kiss with Jackson? Probably both.

Camilla burst into the green room, with an unreadable look on her face.

Uh oh
, Ivy thought. Camilla had been so strict through all the rehearsals. What did she think of the chaos of her carefully constructed ending?

Camilla broke out in a huge smile. ‘That was better than I could have ever imagined. Why didn’t I think of putting Juliet with Mercutio?’ She gave them both a hug. ‘We’re going to do
the rest of the performances like that, as long as I can keep Garrick in check.’

By then, other cast members’ families were flooding backstage, presenting everything from neon flower bouquets to boxes of gold-painted chocolates.

‘Olivia!’ called Mrs Abbott, waving from the curtains. ‘Can we join you?’

‘Of course.’ Camilla waved them over. ‘Your daughter is a genius!’

‘We’re so proud of you, honey,’ Mrs Abbott said.

‘And, ahem, Jackson you were, uh, very good, too.’ Mr Abbott was having a hard time saying it.

Ivy saw her sister blush. It must have been weird for Mr Abbott to almost-witness his daughter’s first kiss.

‘Thanks so much for putting up with me,’ Ivy overheard Camilla saying to Olivia.

‘It was a great show,’ Olivia replied. ‘You are really a fantastic writer and director.’

‘I agree,’ said a familiar voice behind Ivy. It was Amy Teller – Ivy hadn’t noticed her in the audience. She must have been right at the back.

‘You whipped a motley crew into shape in three weeks and put on a very entertaining show.’ Amy nodded her approval. ‘I’ll be keeping my eye on you, young lady. I’m always looking to make friends with talented people.’

Camilla blushed and Olivia clapped for her.

Ivy spotted her dad through the crowd, followed by Aunt Rebecca.

Rebecca smiled and waved, but thoughts of Lucky came rushing back and, suddenly, Ivy didn’t feel like celebrating any more.

‘I wasn’t expecting to like the sci-fi version,’ Mr Vega said to Camilla. ‘But it really worked.’

Camilla grinned. ‘Thank you.’

‘And you, Olivia, were a wonderful Julietron,’ he continued.

‘I couldn’t have said it better,’ Aunt Rebecca said.

Ivy shared a look with Olivia. That might be the first time those two had ever agreed on anything.

Maybe it could be the beginning of the two of them finally getting along?

Ivy dropped her fork and it clattered on to her half-eaten plate of food.

‘Sorry,’ she murmured.

They were back at the ranch, silently hoping for any hint of news about Lucky. It had been a week since he’d escaped and there hadn’t been any sign of him. How was he getting through the cold nights and was he OK without his medicine?
If only I’d never gone into that stable!
Ivy felt like she
would never stop berating herself.

‘It’s been a hard week,’ Rebecca said, to fill the silence. ‘But I’m not giving up hope.’

Ivy felt as grey as the sky. Outside, the wind was blowing like a storm was coming.

During this lunch, there had already been three choruses of, ‘It’s not your fault, Ivy.’ And it seemed there wasn’t much else to say.

Once they were done with their mushroom salad, Olivia and Rebecca were planning to go out riding again. Ivy had nibbled a Vita Vamp bar in the bathroom just before lunch, but it had tasted sour.

Hank and John were already out there, searching. Ivy and Mr Vega would only be able to sit and wait.

Ivy picked at her food. She wouldn’t want even a rare sirloin steak today. Her appetite was lost somewhere out there in the woods with Lucky.

‘Lovely meal,’ Mr Vega said, being polite. Of course, he’d much rather be sinking his teeth into a beef stir-fry or some Italian meatballs.

At least he’s trying to get along with Rebecca
, Ivy thought.

‘Thank you,’ Rebecca replied, but the conversation couldn’t go any further. There just wasn’t much to talk about that wasn’t about Lucky.

The ringing phone cut through the silence and made Ivy jump.

Rebecca flew out of her chair to the phone on the wall, a hopeful look on her face. ‘Yes, hello?’ Ivy wanted to hear what was being said, until she saw her aunt’s face fall. ‘Yes, yes, it’s OK. I understand.’ Rebecca started sniffling. ‘Thank you for trying.’

When she hung up, Rebecca leaned against the kitchen counter.

‘That was Jerry Green, the local sheriff. He’s
suspending the search by his department. They did a last sweep this morning, but there’s nothing more they can do.’ Rebecca slid down the wall and buried her head in her hands. ‘I just have to accept that we’re not going to find him.’ Her voice was muffled.

Ivy couldn’t take it any more.
I did this
, she thought. ‘Excuse me,’ she said.

Olivia made eye contact, asking if Ivy wanted company, but Ivy shook her head. She just wanted to be alone.

She rushed up the stairs and threw herself on the big quilt. The square she was lying on had a little blue embroidery – the initials S.K. This square was her mom’s – that meant probably the whole quilt was.

I’m so stupid. Why did I even try to bond with Lucky? I’m not my mom. I’m not good with horses.

Ivy wiped her eyes and her black eyeliner
smeared across the back of her hand. She didn’t even care.

She reached for her phone and called Brendan, but there was no answer. She tried a second time and then gave up, turning off her phone.

Maybe if Mom was here
, she thought,
she would know what to do. Ivy sat bolt upright. But Mom is sort of here …

She opened the desk drawer and took out the precious journal. What if she wrote something about Lucky? Where they liked to ride to, where he might be.

Ivy knew she had promised to look at it with her sister, but Olivia would understand. She tucked it under her arm, crept down the stairs, grabbed her black pea coat and went out into the muggy air. The spot where Lucky disappeared looked like a black hole in the tree line. Ivy knew that’s where she should start.

‘Who says I can’t search on foot?’ she said aloud.

She opened the journal and read as she walked, not really knowing where she was going.

Help me, Mom. Help Lucky.

She flicked through pages, catching words and phrases here and there, but there weren’t many mentions of horses in the first pages. Finally a sentence caught her attention.