Star of the Show Read online

  It was history today and Tessa worked steadily, but she was glad when class finished for the day. “I wonder when the director will want us,” she commented to Storm as she, Fay, and Kelly put away their schoolbooks.

  “Duh! When he’s ready,” Kelly scoffed. “Or maybe you think you deserve special treatment, Princess?”

  Tessa blushed. She must have spoken louder than she meant to and Kelly had heard and thought she was talking to herself. She realized that she was going to have to be a lot more careful about keeping Storm a secret.

  “Stop calling me ‘Princess’! I don’t like it!” she snapped at Kelly.

  “Okay, Your Royal Highness,” Kelly crowed.

  Chapter THREE

  “Fay Hinson, Kelly Lucas, Tessa Churchill to wardrobe and makeup, please!” a woman with a clipboard called out later that afternoon.

  Judith Raunds showed them the way and they all set off eagerly.

  “Yay! This is it. We’re going to get our costumes and have our hair and makeup done,” Tessa whispered to Storm as he trotted beside her.

  There was a big sign that read “Wardrobe” on one of the rooms. Inside thousands of gorgeous dresses hung in neatly labeled rows and there were countless shelves and racks of hats, gloves and shoes, and wigs on stands. Assistants fetched armfuls of Victorian clothes, complete with underwear, petticoats, and black boots for the three girls.

  As Tessa was helped into her costume, she noticed that her name was sewn into every item, just like a real movie star. Once the girls were dressed they went to hair and makeup. A whole hour passed before Fay, Kelly, and Tessa were finished. Tessa hardly recognized herself under the curly brown wig! She did a twirl in front of Storm so that her skirts swung out with a silken rustle.

  Storm tucked his little rusty-colored tail between his legs and looked up at her with anxious midnight-blue eyes.

  “What’s wrong? Don’t you like it?” Tessa whispered after quickly checking that everyone was busy.

  “It is a very good disguise,” Storm woofed. “But who is the fierce enemy you are hiding from?”

  “I’m not hiding from anyone,” Tessa reassured him. “I have to wear this for the film, the same as Kelly and Fay. We’re all dressed up because we’re supposed to be three Victorian children who find a magic watch. We have to act in three scenes. You’ll get the idea when you see us on set.”

  “Where is on set?” Storm barked.

  “It’s anywhere the day’s filming is going to be. They set up lights and pieces of scenery. And the floor’s marked out so you know where to stand to say your lines.”

  Storm frowned. “It sounds very strange.”

  Tessa smiled. “I expect it does if you’re not used to it. Acting is really like having the most amazing game of pretend. It’s just the best.”

  “I like games, too, especially with balls and sticks,” Storm yapped, looking much happier.

  “I’ll see what I can do about that later,” Tessa promised.

  A young man with another clipboard appeared at the door and called for them to follow him to the rose garden at the back of the house.

  Tessa let Judith, Kelly, and Fay walk on ahead, so that she could talk to Storm without anyone noticing. At first the tiny puppy kept treading on her long swishing skirts and almost tumbling over his own paws.

  “You’ll have to walk a little farther away or you’ll get swept off your feet,” Tessa told him, trying not to laugh and hurt his feelings.

  Storm finally got the idea and padded behind Tessa, keeping his distance.

  The rose garden was surrounded by clipped hedges. There was a pretend stone arch and a wrought-iron seat made of painted wood. Thick cables trailed across the ground and there were huge bright lights and cameras all over the place.

  Tessa noticed that Fay went and stood all by herself. She was threading her fingers and looking very pale and tense. For the first time Tessa wondered if Fay’s seeming unfriendliness was really just a bad attack of nerves.

  A tall young man dressed in an old-fashioned dark suit and a shirt with a stiff, high collar walked through the stone arch.

  “Look! That’s Donny Jenton!” Tessa said excitedly.

  “Wow! He’s much better looking in real life!” Kelly gushed.

  Tessa bit back a grin. Kelly was obviously too busy thinking about Donny to think up one of her usual mean comments!

  A man got up from a canvas chair which had “Director” on the back and started giving Donny instructions. While they were all waiting for the scene to begin, Tessa saw a woman with a fat little dog on a leash. It had short fawn-colored fur, bulging brown eyes, and a dark muzzle, and wore a collar with “Lady” in sparkling jewels. The woman doled out doggy treats and Lady chomped them all up with a slobbering noise.

  Storm licked his lips and gave a hopeful little woof.

  Tessa smiled. “That must be Donny’s dog. The way Lady’s devouring those treats, she’ll eat them all in a minute. It looks like Hollywood pooches get the star treatment, too, doesn’t it?” she whispered to him. “Don’t worry. You won’t get left out. I’ll get you a treat later.”

  Everyone watched in silence as Donny’s scene was filmed. He had to say his lines over and over again, while the director shouted, “Keep rolling!” to the cameras.

  The director seemed really strict. Tessa began to feel nervous and started fidgeting.

  “Are you all right?” Storm barked worriedly.

  “I’m worried about messing up my lines,” Tessa whispered.

  “I will help you,” Storm yapped eagerly.

  “Thanks, but it’s just stage fright. Everyone gets it,” Tessa said, smiling. It was sweet of Storm to offer to help. But what could he do? After all, he was just a helpless little puppy.

  An assistant came up to Tessa and handed her a gold-colored pocket watch to hold. “When he tells you to, the director wants you to walk over to Donny and give this to him. Okay?” she asked with a kind smile.

  Tessa nodded.

  “How come you get to give Donny the watch?” Kelly complained after the assistant had left. “I’ve got more lines than you. It should be me who does it!”

  “Don’t blame me. I’m just doing what I’m told,” Tessa said, wandering away before an argument started. It hadn’t taken long for Kelly to go back to her old self.

  “Your laces are untied.” Storm leaped forward and started snapping at Tessa’s boot lace, which was trailing on the ground.

  “Thanks, Storm, I could have tripped over that,” Tessa said, horrified by the idea of falling in front of everyone.

  She found a low wall to sit on and carefully placed the watch beside her before crossing one leg over the other to retie the boot.

  To her annoyance Kelly dashed over and sat down on the wall next to her. She really hoped Kelly wasn’t going to start teasing her again. But instead Kelly smiled warmly. “Break a leg, Tessa!” she said, which was something actors often said to each other. It meant good luck for acting in the coming scene.

  “Er . . . thanks,” Tessa said, wondering why Kelly was being so friendly all of a sudden.

  “See you on the set,” Kelly said abruptly. She got up and hurried away, her long skirts swishing.

  Tessa frowned, puzzled. “What was that all about?” she said to Storm.

  “I do not know,” Storm woofed, but he was watching Kelly closely and his midnight-blue eyes were thoughtful.

  “The director’s almost ready for you. Let’s move a bit closer,” Judith told Tessa. “You’ll be on first.”

  Tessa’s heart began to beat fast. It was a good thing she was still sitting down because her legs had turned to water. “Oh, I need the pocket watch!” she remembered.

  She reached under her skirts and felt along the top of the wall, where she’d placed it. But it wasn’t there.

  Tessa looked all around for the watch. She checked on the other side of the wall in case it had fallen over, but there was no sign of it. “It has to be here. I only put
it down a minute ago. Oh, this is awful! The director’s going to be furious!” she cried in dismay.

  Storm gazed fixedly at Kelly who was watching Tessa with a smug look on her face. His little muzzle wrinkled in a growl. “I have an idea where it is!”

  Suddenly, Tessa felt a warm tingling sensation flowing down her spine.

  Something very strange was about to happen.

  Chapter FOUR

  Tessa watched in utter amazement as huge gold sparks ignited in Storm’s wavy reddish-brown fur and his ears and tail crackled with electricity. Raising a little front paw he sent a burst of glittery light zooming toward Kelly.

  The light divided up into glowing streamers which whizzed up and down and around and around her as if searching for something. Then, just as if someone had given them a signal, all the streamers shot toward Kelly’s dress pocket and disappeared inside. No one else seemed to have noticed anything and Tessa realized that only she could see Storm’s magic at work.

  Tessa saw Kelly’s pocket bulging and churning as if it was filled with Mexican jumping beans.

  Kelly stiffened. Her eyes widened. “Ye-ow!” she yelled. Grabbing handfuls of her skirts, she shook them wildly so that her pocket tipped open and something shiny fell out and plopped onto the grass.

  “The watch!” Tessa said, realizing all at once how Kelly had distracted her before stealing it off the wall.

  Storm gave a triumphant little woof and then sat down, looking pleased with himself as every last gold sparkle faded from his fur.

  “Thanks, Storm. You’re the best!” Tessa whispered, petting his little head after quickly checking that no one could see her doing it.

  Kelly stood looking down at the watch lying on the floor as if it might jump up and bite her. As Tessa bent down to pick it up, Kelly edged away. “I wouldn’t touch that if I were you. There’s something weird about it!” she warned.

  “Seems fine to me,” Tessa said, holding the watch. “How come it was in your pocket anyway?”

  “I . . . er . . . saw you drop it. And I was just coming over to give it back to you,” Kelly said.

  “Yeah, right,” Tessa said, annoyed. “That was a really mean trick to play just so I’d get into trouble. I bet you were hoping the director would ask you to give Donny the watch instead. You’re just a scene-stealer!”

  “I’m not . . . I didn’t—” Kelly shouted.

  “Quiet on the set!” the director’s annoyed voice interrupted. He glared at Tessa and Kelly. “I don’t need this. Someone figure it out. Now!” he shouted.

  Tessa saw Judith striding toward them with a stern look on her face. “I expected more from you two. What’s going on? Out with it!” she demanded.

  Kelly froze and threw Tessa a scared look. “I . . . um. It w-was . . .” she stammered.

  However angry Tessa was, she wasn’t a tattletale. She thought quickly. “I couldn’t find the pocket watch for our scene. And I got worried that the director would be angry. Luckily Kelly found it and she was just giving it back to me. Sorry. I didn’t mean to make a scene,” she apologized to Judith.

  Kelly’s mouth dropped open in shock. “Um . . . Tessa’s . . . right. That’s exactly what happened. I’m sorry for getting angry, too,” she said.

  Judith looked from one girl to the other. She didn’t seem convinced but after a moment she nodded. “No harm done, so we won’t say anything else about this. But please remember that you need to behave yourselves on the set at all times if you want to be taken seriously as actresses.”

  “We will,” Tessa said.

  “Definitely,” Kelly agreed. When Judith had walked away out of earshot, she grudgingly turned to Tessa. “You’re not so bad for a spoiled rich kid, Princess.”

  “Thanks for nothing!” Tessa murmured, barely managing to contain her anger as Kelly walked away.

  The final call for her came and Tessa had just enough time to flutter her fingers in a tiny wave to Storm. Then excitement took over as Tessa prepared for her first scene with a major Hollywood star.

  “And—action!”

  Despite her nerves, Tessa remembered her lines perfectly. When she stood on the right mark and gave the watch to Donny he winked at her encouragingly. Time seemed to fly and then she had to pretend to be shy and run away.

  “And—cut!”

  “Thank you, Tessa. Good job,” the director said. He turned to Kelly and Fay and waved to them to come onto the set.

  Tessa sat on a chair with Storm on her lap, watching Fay and Kelly act. They were both good but Tessa had goose bumps while Fay was speaking. It was obvious to everyone that the shy girl had something special.

  “She just lights up when she’s acting,” Tessa said, stroking Storm’s silky head. “I wish I was that good.”

  “You are. You just don’t see it in yourself,” Storm woofed loyally.

  “Okay, we’re done for now.” The director glanced toward Judith. “I’ll need all the girls back on Thursday afternoon.”

  Tessa felt a little disappointed. Thursday was two whole days away.

  Judith smiled as she led them back to wardrobe and makeup. “Good job. This director doesn’t say very much, but I could tell that he was happy with all of you.”

  Later that day when Tessa and Storm were alone, Tessa gave the little puppy a big hug. “And you were great today, too, Storm. I didn’t know you could do magic like that! Thanks for getting the gold watch back from Kelly.”

  “You are welcome,” Storm barked happily.

  After dinner, Tessa took Storm for a walk. He rushed around, ears flapping, as he investigated the flower beds and sniffed around the trees.

  Back in the big house, Tessa called her mom and dad.

  They were delighted to hear all about the scene she had acted in with Donny. “And how about the other girls? Are they nice? Did you become friends with them?” Mrs. Churchill asked at the end of the conversation.

  “I have made one great new friend,” Tessa said, beaming at Storm.

  Tessa said her good-byes and went up to her room. Storm scampered eagerly upstairs beside her.

  Fay was sitting on her bed in a pool of light from her reading lamp. She wore a pair of yellow pajamas with pink teddies and had her diary open on her lap. “Where’s Kelly?” she asked Tessa.

  Tessa shrugged. “I don’t know. Maybe she’s in the living room. Judith and some other people are in there watching a movie on TV. It was great today, wasn’t it? I really love acting.”

  Fay smiled shyly and her hazel eyes sparkled. “Me too. It wasn’t half as bad as I’d expected. I was really dreading it.”

  “But you were really good. Everyone thought so,” Tessa said, surprised. Fay had said her lines perfectly and she’d only had to do them once before the director was satisfied.

  “Do you think so?” Fay asked anxiously. “I always try so hard, but I never think I’m good enough.”

  “My dad says that you can’t do any more than your best,” Tessa told her. “That’s what I think of when I get stage fright.”

  “I’ll remember that. Thanks,” Fay said. She got into bed and slipped her diary into her night table before turning off the lamp. “Night. See you in the morning, Tessa.”

  “Night, Fay.”

  Storm leaped onto Tessa’s bed and turned around in circles, making himself a soft nest in the blanket. As Tessa got undressed, she smiled to herself. Perhaps she might leave Harpford Manor with more than one new friend after all.

  Chapter FIVE

  After class the following morning, Judith drove Fay, Kelly, and Tessa, with Storm invisibly snuggled up on her lap, into the nearest big town. “I thought we deserved a treat, and since you’re not needed until tomorrow we have some spare time,” she told them.

  “I wonder where we’re going,” Fay said to Tessa as Judith looked for somewhere to park.

  “We’ll find out in a minute, won’t we?” Kelly mocked. “How come you and Princess are suddenly all buddy-buddy, anyway?”

  “
We’re not!” Tessa snapped without thinking and then she noticed Fay’s hurt look. “I mean, we are kind of . . . And if you don’t stop calling me ‘Princess’ . . . !”

  “Huh! Who dented your crown?” Kelly drawled.

  “Look!” Fay called hurriedly as they passed a movie theater. “Donny Jenton’s latest film is showing.”

  “I know,” Judith said, grinning. “That’s where we’re going.”

  The film was great. It was all about thieves who are trying to steal a rich prince’s fortune, and had tons of special effects. Meera Brook, a gorgeous young actress, was starring with Donny. She had long dark hair and wore amazing dresses.

  They all watched the movie screen, spellbound.

  Storm was a bit scared of the loud noises and flashing lights at first but he soon settled down and enjoyed the movie when he realized there was no danger. “See, Storm, it’s all just pretend,” Tessa said soothingly.

  Storm took the movie very seriously. He growled when Donny’s carriage was attacked and woofed excitedly when Donny rescued Meera from a horrible bandit with a bristling beard who was slashing around with a curved sword.

  “Oooh, Donny looks so hot!” Kelly said. “I wish I was Meera Brook.”

  After the film ended, Judith took them all for pizza. Tessa got permission to go into the superstore that was two doors down. She went straight to the pet department and bought a small bag of doggy treats and a dog bone.

  Once they all got back to Harpford Manor, Tessa found a quiet spot outside to give Storm his treats.

  “These taste good,” he woofed, licking his chops.

  “Well, I don’t see why Lady should be the only pampered dog around here!” Tessa said. “But if you eat too many you’ll soon be a little porker!”

  Storm polished off the dog bone, too, and then flopped onto the grass and rolled onto his back with his tongue hanging out. Tessa smiled as she rubbed his fat rusty-colored tummy. She felt a surge of affection for the gorgeous little pup. “I wish you could stay with me forever. When I become a famous actress, you can travel everywhere with me.”