Daring Darleen, Queen of the Screen by Anne Nesbet

Author:Anne Nesbet [Nesbet, Anne]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781536211757
Publisher: Candlewick Press
Published: 2020-06-14T16:00:00+00:00

What Jasper Lukes had to say for himself, at least at first, was nothing.

Darleen rolled into a less awkward sitting position. Now she could see the face of Jasper Lukes, and it rattled her more than any mere tumble from skylight to floor.

He had always been what she considered conceited, full of thoughts about himself and rather lacking in thoughts about anybody else. But hanging out with actual kidnappers had done something to him: his eyes were angry and resentful and tired and cagey all at once. Villainous eyes.

He can’t do anything to me here, Darleen told her gasping inner self. He can’t! Not with all these people right around us!

And the other thing she told herself: Don’t let anything slip about Victorine!

“Let’s get this thing rolling,” said Uncle Charlie in disgust after waiting a moment for an apology that apparently was not going to materialize.

Those words unfroze everybody all at once; technicians and carpenters and cameramen leaped into action. The place became noisy again in the usual way, with cheerful shouting and things being dropped and a piano being played rather nicely at the end of the studio, where, Darleen realized, they must have found a musician among the extras.

“Don’t you worry about the roof,” said one of the carpenters quietly to Darleen, as he punched the canvas and thin board back into position. “As long as nobody lands on it a second time, we’ll be fine.”

“We need the ropes back on Darleen!” shouted Uncle Charlie. “So our heretofore missing Salamander can shake his worthless fist at her!”

While they bound Darleen’s hands together and tied her to that chair again, Dar found that unexpected emotions were bubbling up inside her — that is to say, emotions she was not used to feeling on the set of a photoplay, although she certainly had felt them many a time out and about in everyday real life. She felt angry and anxious and even — embarrassing though it was to admit it — afraid. What she did not feel like, just at the moment, was an actor. And that was strange too.

She wanted to catch another glimpse of Jasper Lukes’s face, to see what he might be thinking, but of course she also really didn’t want to see him at all, not now and possibly not ever.

People were so much more frightening than cliffs.

“On the count of three, Lukes, you’ll come up those stairs with that envelope. Darleen, I’d like a nice reaction from you. You’re terrified but being brave, of course. One . . . two . . . three, and crank away, Dan!”

Jasper Lukes came stomping up the half staircase, an envelope crushed in his angry hand, and as Darleen saw his face this second time, her heart began to pound in some alarm.

“Look menacing, now, Lukes!” called out Uncle Charlie. “Oh, very nice! Good work, Darleen. Now Lukes, ask her where that Black Sapphire thing is. You’ve got a photograph of that father of hers, that exiled King. Lay

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