Ziegfeld Girls by Sarah Barthel

Author:Sarah Barthel [Barthel, Sarah]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Kensington
Published: 2017-11-06T05:00:00+00:00

One false move and you’ll be sorry.

Dance your life away, dear Francine.

The time has come for you to die.

Leave the Follies or you’ll be sorry.

“None of them are signed.” Jonathon turned the papers over.

“No one would sign such notes,” Suzanne scoffed. “But these alone aren’t enough to make her leave the show.”

“Something more must be happening,” Jonathon said.

The stage door opened and Ruby stepped inside. Despite the heat, her face was pale and her blouse wasn’t fitting well. Many girls lost weight during the stress of rehearsal, but Ruby was already so small it was disconcerting. Ruby stared at the pile of notes that covered the floor and her face went even paler.

“What is this?”

“It’s nothing,” Jonathon said. “I just spilled some garbage.”

Ruby looked to Suzanne and then walked quickly past them.

“Great, I’ve lost my advantage of being early.” Suzanne handed Jonathon the notes she picked up. “I’ve got to go.”

Jonathon took Suzanne’s hand for a moment. “Please don’t tell anyone about this.”

“Of course,” she agreed. “It would only upset the other girls.”

* * *

Rehearsal, if you could call it that, had been dull. Not what you’d expect from performing with a great comedian. Bert barely spoke. He sat in the audience and watched as Leon and Julian placed the girls in different positions to get a feel of how to balance the stage. They were representing a forest while Bert and Ann sang about life at a ball. In the middle of the number they would come alive and move around Ann and Bert to symbolize the frivolity of love. At the end of two hours, Julian declared, “Thanks for your time, girls. Suzanne, you look pale, get some rest. And, Ruby, try to eat more.”

Ruby and Suzanne walked back to their room in a silent buzz of fatigue. The dressing room was quiet. Jada stood to one side, collecting the strewn garments Ruby and Lillian shed. She hardly looked up when Suzanne entered. A wave of guilt hit Suzanne and she was frozen for a moment. This was not what she meant when she told Jada she’d see her later. She didn’t want her cleaning up after Lillian and Ruby all day.

“Jada . . .” Suzanne started to say, but when Lillian looked up she didn’t know how to finish.

“I was there, just like I promised,” Jada said as she hung up a blouse.

Lillian cleared her throat. “I think I’ve been in the wrong. I am sorry if I made either of you feel bad about the Williams number. I will try to be happy for you from now on. We should all be supportive of one another.”

Jada turned toward Lillian, a look of surprise on her face. Suzanne rubbed some lotion into her skin as she asked, “What brought this apology on?”

“It’s just, Ruby is my friend and I should be supportive of her. And while I don’t know that I like you, we share a room and I’d rather not have you as an enemy, or have you thinking that way of me.

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