Sister to a Star by Eloise Smith

Author:Eloise Smith
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Chicken House
Published: 2022-10-15T00:00:00+00:00

Evie slipped out of Stage 17, still in her fencing kit. Tallulah had been missing for too long now. True, she wasn’t due on set until late afternoon. But it was getting past a joke.

‘Don’t you want to practise for your next scene?’ panted Cat, catching up with her on the forecourt.

‘I need to find Tallulah. Something’s not right,’ said Evie, shaking her head. ‘Let’s try there.’ She pointed at the next-door studio with her prop sword. Girls with princess hair and trailing ballgowns queued to get in. This was more Tallulah’s style. Perhaps she was inside?

‘Princess Petulia 2?’ said Cat, dodging around a reversing cherry picker. ‘It’s a closed set, they don’t just let anyone in.’

‘Tallulah will have found a way,’ said Evie. ‘Probably fluttered her eyelashes at someone.’ She had no idea how they’d get in. She just knew they needed to. She looked down at her breeches, fencing jacket, long socks and single leather glove, all as black as midnight. Then at Cat with her patched-up cheek. They hardly looked like extras in a fairy-tale romance. Unless it was a fairy-tale romance that included a girl ninja and a facial-injury victim.

‘Well, if Tallulah can get in, so can we,’ winked Cat. ‘Prepare to be important!’ Her confidence was like sun after rain. Evie smiled and followed as Cat swung up to security.

‘Hi, we’re Masked Sword Girl and Wounded Orphan,’ she said cheerfully, peering at the list. ‘We’re really late.’

‘Can’t see you on the list,’ frowned the security guard, flipping to the next page. ‘Sorry, we’re being extra-tight today. Some unusual activity was spotted around here last night.’ Evie’s shoulders slumped. This wasn’t working.

‘Ah,’ said Cat, undeterred. She lowered her voice. ‘I shouldn’t really say, but there’s been a last-minute script re-write. The writers have changed the ending. We save Princess Petulia, not the prince.’ The guard’s eyes widened. ‘It’s top secret. They don’t want the press to get hold of it yet. You won’t tell, will you?’ Cat gave the guard puppy eyes.

‘Your secret’s safe with me,’ he said. Glancing left and right, he ushered them in. Inside, Cat and Evie burst into laughter. They wound round a crowd of medieval peasant actors with pitchforks. Past extras in tight leggings. Then up to the film set. They both looked at the huge fairy-tale castle with no back. Leaning out of a high turret was a young woman in flowing robes. Princess Petulia. The lights shone up at her, sending the rest of the studio into semi-darkness.

‘I used to climb towers like that no problem,’ whispered Cat, going pale. ‘Heights just make me feel sick now. Ever since . . .’ She trailed off.

‘What happened?’ Evie asked, hardly daring to listen to the answer.

‘You know, my dad used to be the best stuntman in Hollywood. Only took one little mistake. The last film set-up of the day. This big superhero movie. Free-climbing up a building. They said he died instantly. But I think he’d have known he was going to die as he fell.

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