Poppy Pym and the Double Jinx by Laura Wood

Author:Laura Wood
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Scholastic
Published: 2016-01-15T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER NINETEEN

Kip, Ingrid and I scuttled over to the side of the stage where we had carefully laid out the props.

Magda was there and she took her place on stage, holding a broomstick alongside another lady I didn’t know, and Madame Patrice, who had been drafted in to play the role of the Third Witch after the original actor had stormed out of the last rehearsal.

“Here I have a pilot’s thumb, wreck’d as homeward he did come,” Magda cackled, and Maxwell pointed at Kip who started banging enthusiastically on a drum.

“A drum, a drum! Macbeth doth come,” Madame Patrice cried, waving her arms from side to side. Then all three witches started chanting and Madame Patrice began whirling across the stage. Letty pressed the button on the smoke machine and clouds of smoke began to billow across the ground.

Kip was bashing the drum with such determination that it was a bit difficult to hear what the witches were saying, but overall the effect was very spooky – I was impressed.

Now it was time for the characters of Macbeth and Banquo to enter the scene.

“So foul and fair a day I have not seen,” Macbeth – or Gary – gasped, beads of sweat running down his face.

“Wow!” I whispered to Ingrid. “That’s amazing acting. He really looks as though all this inner turmoil is making him ill.”

“I think he actually is ill!” Ingrid whispered back. Now she mentioned it he did look quite green.

Lucas was talking now but Gary was swaying on the spot. Lucas finished his lines and looked at Gary. Gary looked back at Lucas. A heavy silence filled the air.

“Speak, if you can,” someone hissed from behind the curtain.

“That’s a bit mean,” I muttered. “He’s obviously forgotten his next line.”

“‘Speak, if you can’ is his next line,” said Ingrid, pointing to the script.

“Speak if you can,” the voice hissed again, more urgently.

Gary opened his mouth. And was promptly sick all over Magda’s shoes.

“Uggggh!” Magda cried, jumping back from the river of vomit that flowed in her direction, and teetering on the edge of the stage. I ran towards her but it was too late. Magda fell backwards with a tremendous crash. “Ooooooowww!” she howled. “My ankle!” Everything was in uproar.

Letty had leapt forward and was trying to put a screeching Magda into the recovery position. The lady playing the Second Witch had clamped her own hands over her mouth and fled off stage. Gary was now being sick into a prop helmet that Ingrid had handed him, and Madame Patrice was performing an elaborate tap dance at the front of the stage, shouting, “The show must go on! I’ve seen far worse than this in my time at the West End!”

Maxwell Dangerfield stood with his head in his hands, and Derek Dweebles burst through the door. “Sorry I’m late,” he boomed. “Had to answer a lot of questions with that blinkin’ police officer—” He stopped short, taking in the scene in front of him. “Blimey O’Reilly, what’s going on here then?” he asked, dumbstruck.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.