Show, The by Heldt John A

Author:Heldt, John A. [Heldt, John A.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: John A. Heldt
Published: 2013-02-16T07:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 37: GRACE

Saturday, November 16, 1918

Grace settled into her cushioned seat as the opening credits flashed on a massive screen and noise from a Wurlitzer organ filled an even bigger theater. She preferred voices and natural sounds to music that could set her hair on fire but conceded that two thousand pipes working in harmony had a certain charm. When the volume dropped to a reasonable level, Grace leaned to her side and spoke into the ear of a uniformed officer.

"Thank you for taking me."

"It's my pleasure," John said.

"I mean thank you for taking me all week. I feel like I've taken advantage of your kindness and patience, not to mention your pocketbook."

John laughed.

"You've done nothing of the sort," he said.

Oh, yes I have.

Grace didn't want it to end like this, but she knew that it probably would. If the rest of the evening went as planned, she would leave John's side during the screening of Stella Maris, enter the ladies' room, and proceed directly to Joel Smith. Captain John Walker would become, in the military vernacular of 2002, collateral damage.

Grace had already been through two dry runs – on Tuesday and Thursday, when John had taken her to Soldier Arms with Charlie Chaplin and Tarzan of the Apes. She had left her seat twice each night to search for the time portal and had come up empty every time.

The failures had proved disappointing but had done nothing to shake her resolve. Grace had known that her best chance for success would come Saturday night, when she attended a showing of Stella Maris in the clothes she had worn on October 5, 2002.

Now that Saturday had arrived, Grace felt more confident than ever. She was certain that whatever had been present in the Palladium in 2002 was with her now. She would succeed and be with her loved ones before the evening was through.

That didn't make the prospect of leaving Captain Walker any more attractive, of course. She liked him. She liked his keen intellect, easy manner, and warm smile. She also liked how he had rushed in to take Alistair's place when she had asked her uncle to take her to the Palladium at the earliest opportunity. She liked how he had taken her to dinner. She liked that most of all.

Grace hoped John would eventually forgive her thoughtless departure and believe a truthful explanation she had left with Alistair. She had instructed Alistair to give John a letter revealing her secret in the event she did not return. Grace hoped John would find someone deserving of his many virtues. She was sure he would. She knew he would. Now, however, she had more pressing concerns. It was time to pay a visit to the room that had done her wrong.

Grace looked at the screen and saw that Mary Pickford was as feisty as ever. That was good. She had remembered America's Sweetheart filling the screen the night she had taken a wrong turn at 1918 Street. Hopefully, the similarities between the two evenings wouldn't end there.

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