Page 20

Chapter 20

Tuesday 9 May 1911

‘Are you ready yet?’ Finlay waited in the hall with his coat on.

He leaned against the narrow table and drummed his fingers on the polished mahogany.

Ann appeared at the top of the stairs.

Her hair had been put up for the occasion, and she wore her best dress and coat, and her new green bag hung diagonally across her body.

She walked down slowly, not wanting to disturb her new hairstyle.

He looked up at her, realising for the first time that his little sister was not so little any more.

‘Very nice,’ he said grudgingly.

Ursula frowned at him from the drawing-room doorway.

‘Not that you need me to say that,’ he added.

‘I’ve put some money in this envelope with the tickets,’ said Ursula, handing it to Finlay, ‘so you can catch a cab there and back. You’ll be able to catch one at the rank near Morningside station, and it will take you to the end of Chambers Street.

You can walk up from there, it’s not more than a couple of hundred yards.

’ She gave Ann a hug.

‘The performance won’t finish until after eleven o’clock and your father told me that he wants you to do that rather than getting the tram.

And when you come home there will be cocoa and cake and you can tell me all about it.

I want to hear every detail.

’

*

The crowd outside the theatre was huge.

Everywhere there were people in their best dresses and suits, pushing their way towards the entrance.

Finlay was determined to do things his way.

‘You need to hold my hand.’

‘Really?’

‘Yes. Definitely.’

‘I’m almost grown up now and that’s what little children do.

’

‘I don’t want to lose you.

’

‘But I’m right here beside you, you can see me.

’

‘Do you know how many tickets have been sold for tonight?’

‘No, but I expect you’re going to tell me.

’

‘Three thousand. There are two thousand, nine hundred and ninety-eight other people here, wandering about, and they will all be trying to find their seats. They’ll be standing up at the ends of the rows, talking with their friends and we will have to get past them.

’

‘Three thousand? I don’t believe you.

’

‘Father told me before we left.’

‘Oh.’ If her father had said it, Ann decided it must be true.

‘Alright then.’

‘Trust me, I don’t want to be holding my little sister’s hand in public either, but Father would never forgive me if I lost you.

’

The throng of people in the street outside had been compressed into the stalls and balcony seats inside, with some lucky ticket holders having one of the boxes on either side of the wide stage.

As they went into the auditorium, they could hear the orchestra, the string section following the lead of the First Violin as they tuned their instruments from his notes.

Finlay found their seats, near the middle of a row in the stalls, and they settled down.

Ann looked at the programme Finlay had bought for her.

‘Do you know how he does the illusions?’

‘No one knows,’ he replied.

‘It’s all a secret. If we knew, we wouldn’t be here.

’

‘I suppose we all hope we can work it out by watching very carefully. My friends at school will be so envious. None of them have seen The Great Lafayette.’

‘I don’t understand why you are so obsessed with him.

’

She didn’t answer right away because a large man was requesting that she stand up to let him pass.

Seated again, she tried to explain.

‘It’s just the magic, the not-knowing.

It’s like a big puzzle with lots of pieces and you can’t tell which is the important one that is going to make it all work.

And of course, there are the animals.

The horse and the lion.

I’ve only seen lions at the zoo.

I wonder if it’s a tame lion?

’

Finlay laughed. ‘I don’t think any lion is ever truly tame.

’

‘That makes it even more exciting, don’t you think?

’ replied Ann, ignoring the put-down.

She settled herself into the seat and opened the programme.