Timmy

CHAPTER THREE: BROADWAY SPECTER?

CHAPTER THREE: BROADWAY SPECTER?

  Moments later, under the stage, Timmy carefully peered out the ventilation system through the same shaft he had used to escape from the bouncers the night before.  Seeing nothing alarming, he quietly crawled out and hurried across the room, towards the prompter’s box door.  Upon hearing voices, echoing from above, however, he froze, half way across the room, trying to determine if the voices were moving towards him.  Then, he heard a voice call, “Hide Timmy, now!” and he quickly ducked behind a large pile of broken stage props, resting near the back stage stairwell.  There, he remained still, listening while, on the stage, the mysterious man who had watched Angel’s lawsuit, paced in front of the three bouncers.

  “What do you mean he just vanished!?!”

  “This specter of yours is a lot harder to catch than you might think, Stone!” replied Wayne with the same sharpness. “He’s very skilled.  He knows every inch of this theater, including all of the ventilation shafts and secret hallways!  On top of that, his small size makes it easy for him to hide in places we could never reach!”

  “Did you at least hide the merchandise?” asked Stone.

  Max raised a reassuring hand.  “It’s all been taken care of, Mr. Stone.” he said.  “But that kid could still be trouble.”

  Stone shook his head. “Fortunately for you, dolts, I have a plan of my own.  Brandy Stravis has provided all of the young performers with a variety of treats to snack on in between rehearsals.  The boy will not be able to resist helping himself to some of them.  Therefore, I have tainted one tray of snacks with a mild poison that effects the stomach.  I had acquired from an associate of mine at the New York memorial hospital.  Once that poison starts working, the boy will be too sick to be any trouble to us for a while.”

  “What makes you so sure he’ll take the snacks you had contaminated?” asked Al.

  Stone frowned. “The boy has proven himself to be far from stupid.  If I am guessing him right, he’ll wait until the rehearsals begin before he makes his move, and even then, he’ll go for the tray that is the furthest away from the stage where he will not likely be seen.  Therefore, I have placed the tainted tray of snacks in one of the far halls of the lower east wing where they won’t be seen by anyone, except the boy.”

  Max crossed his arms. “I thought the dressing rooms were moved to the lower east wing due to the west wing being closed off.  If any of the children see those snacks, they won’t be able to resist indulging themselves.”

  Stone shook his head. “The upper west wing had been sealed off, yes.  But I’m certain that the children and adults are still assigned to the dressing rooms in the far lower west wing.  However, just in case something like that were to happen, I had requested that the children wait with having any of the snacks until after the first run of rehearsals to ensure the children don’t inadvertently get sick.”

  “Where do you want us?” asked Wayne.

  “I don’t care what you three do in the mean time, just make sure that the boy does not see you. The flu sample is weak but just one or two of those tainted snacks will keep that annoying boy out of the way until tonight, and even then, the after effects should still make him easy prey into the next day.” he pointed at the three men in warning.  “Just remember, if he sees just one of you dolts wandering the halls of the east wing, he might not risk going after our surprise snacks at all. So stay out of sight!”

  Underneath the stage, the ghostly figure of a man in early fifteenth century clothing appeared next to Timmy, startling him.  The man sneered at him as he caught his eye, thoughtfully running a single finger though his long mustache.

  “A devilishly clever plan.” said the figure, quietly. “I wish I had thought of that.”

  Timmy clenched a single, angry fist, as the figure vanished from sight, cracking the knuckles.  “I’m not that easy to catch!” he whispered. “I’m no one’s prey!”

  “Easy prey is what you’ll be if you drop your guard, Timmy.” said Jason, quietly, kneeling beside him, behind the broken props.

  “I was wondering when you were going to come out of there.” said Timmy, without turning to look at him. “You’ve been following me through the vents since I left the grand hall.”

  Jason smiled. “Then you saw the old gang from the orphanage.  The production staff managers adopted them and Mr. Stravis, I mean dad, gave them a chance to audition.” he chuckled, giving his head a quick shake. “Wouldn’t you know it, they all won parts in the musical.” He paused. “How did you know I was following you?”

  Timmy allowed himself a short giggle before turning to his friend. “You need to cut down on the noise when you crawl around in those vents.”

  Jason laughed quietly. “No way, Timmy, that was you making all of the noise this time.”

  “Then it was just bad luck that got you caught by Mr. Coperstone last year.”
  “That was the first time I was ever glad to get caught.  It was the day my brother, Jeff and I got adopted by the Stravis family and Mr. Cruel lost his job as the guardian of the orphanage.” He laughed. “I’m glad my brother and I, along with the others, were there to see the look on his face when Coperstone told him he was fired, and under arrest! We got our happy ending, thanks to you, the Broadway Specter.”

  Timmy shrugged, blushing slightly. “I just did what I could to help.” he said  “My happy ending will come soon.” A smile touched the corners of his mouth. “It may already be here.”

  “What do you mean?”

  The two froze upon hearing the sounds of several footsteps and the excited laughter and chatter of children, echoing from above them, the group had reached the stage.

  Above them, the children talked and laughed excitedly as they followed the group of adults, led by Brandy and John Stravis, onto the stage.  Angel looked about in awe, again taken back by the size and beauty of the theater.  She did not have much time to admire it, however, as she heard a second group approaching.  She turned and smiled upon seeing the adult actors and actresses emerging from the opposite end of the stage, led by three tall, casually dressed men.

  “Your timing is perfect.” said Brandy, seeing them approach. “Form a straight line here, in the middle of the stage, please.” she turned to the children.  “Okay, kids, please form a line the front. Quickly now.”  she then turned to the children’s parents. “Parents and guardians, please form a straight line behind the adult performers, please.”

  The children and adults quickly formed three lines, facing the main curtains, which were closed, concealing the auditorium.

  “Welcome to the stage.” said Brandy, standing in front of the group. “This is where all of you fine young actors and actresses will be performing before an audience far larger than any other you had faced during your entire coast to coast tour.” She paused, allowing her words sink in.

  “For those who are new to the business, let me assure you that there is nothing to be nervous about.  You will all have the finest crew of technicians, stage hands, costume designers, and many, many others backing you up all of the way.”  She smiled. “I think the time has come for you to meet them, now.”

  John, who had left the group upon reaching the stage, heard his cue and hit the curtain switch.  The curtains slowly parted with an inaudible hum, revealing a massive auditorium.  The children and adults smiled, surprised to find the entire center section of seats filled with people who all greeted them with a short, but welcome, standing ovation.  After the applause had quieted down, Brandy turned to the audience of theater workers.

  “Ladies and gentlemen, the children on the stage before you, along with the adults standing in line behind them, are the talented actors and actresses who shall soon bring this long quiet theater back to life.  The adults behind them, in the back, are the children’s parents and guardians.” she turned to the stage. “Ladies and gentlemen, the men and women, seated in the audience before you, will be working hard behind the scenes to ensure everything runs smoothly.  With all of you working together, as a team, I am confident that the reopening of the open door theater will be a great success with our musical, Orphans on Broadway.”  This was followed by a quick applause from both groups.  “With that said, I welcome you all to take a few minutes to talk and get to know each other.”

  The children and adults, taking the opportunity, began to mingle with each other and a number of theater workers as they joined them on stage.  Among them, Angel, who’s smile never faded looked about, still awed by everything she saw.  The seats, curved around the stage, seemed to go on and on forever.  The balcony seats, which seemed to follow the round shape of the auditorium walls, took up four floors.  They all stopped short of the stage where eight elegant box seats, four on either side, stood above the center stage.  The stage itself stretched out several feet from the main curtains with a suspended rod running above the outer edge.  This allowed a second set of curtains to hide the entire stage.  She remembered this being called a thrust stage.  Only, the end of the stage widened out and curved into a huge, near perfect circle.  Taking it all in, Angel soon realized that the stage was shaped like a giant, old fashioned, key hole and that the round shaped auditorium was like a huge door knob.

  “Let me see.” she thought. “I’m standing on a key hole shaped stage in front of an auditorium shaped like door knob at the open door theater.”

  She quietly giggled at her discovery and wondered if anyone else had noticed it.  As she turned back to the audience, however, her smile faded and her happy expression was replaced with that of puzzlement.  A small number of the theater workers were discretely looking about the vast auditorium as if they were searching for someone.  Curious, she followed one of the men’s gaze and found the comedy and tragedy symbols of the theater.  They were masterfully carved out large pieces of wood, mounted on either side of a large ventilation grid in the wall between, the box seats and the stage.  She turned and found an identical carving, mounted the same way, on the other side of the auditorium.  Looking at one of the two carved faces, Angel shivered on the inside as they seemingly returned her gaze.  She turned back to the audience and found the same group of people looking about.  Her curiosity rising, Angel looked around her, and spotted two more men standing at left and right stage, just out view of the audience, discretely searching the auditorium with their eyes.  In her mind, they were all definitely looking something, or someone.

  Remembering the sounds she had heard coming from the rattling ventilation shaft and what Sara and John had said about the legend of a specter living somewhere inside the old theater, Angel again could not help wonder.

  “There is something definitely very odd about this theater.” she thought.  “There can’t really be a little specter living in this place, can there?”

  A small grin formed on her face, as if she were anticipating a challenge.

  “It looks as if I have a strange mystery on my hands.”  Her grin slowly grew into a broad smile.  “I think these next few days are going to prove interesting.”

  Back under the stage, Timmy whispered, “I’ve got to get a closer look.”  He began to walk towards the prompter’s box door but Jason took a fast hold of his shirt sleeve and quickly pulled him back.

  “Are you nuts!?!  If you poke your head up there, someone is bound to see you and those three charm school rejects will be down here in a flash!”

  Timmy brushed Jason’s hand off his arm.  “There are two people on that stage who look like my mom and dad.  I need to know if it is really them.”  He smiled. “Don’t worry, I’ll be careful.”

  With that, he crept up the steps, through the door, into the prompter’s box, where he cautiously peered out onto the stage where the small group had gathered.  A faint gasp escaped his lips as he spotted the three bouncers, standing in front of the prompter’s box, talking with two other men. Timmy quickly ducked down as Wayne casually turned his way, fearing he might be seen and caught.  Still, his determination was greater than his fear and he soon peered out again, with more caution.  Fortunately, the five men were too busy talking to notice him as he began to scan the stage.

  Angel and the other young actresses were all standing at stage left, talking amongst themselves.  The boys were all gathered on the opposite side of the stage, talking with three tall, massive men with jet black hair and mustaches, who he guessed were the staff managers Jason had mentioned.  The adults he saw enter with the girls had gathered into a group of their own in the center of the stage with yet another group of adults he had not seen before.  He guessed they were the adult actors and actresses who would be performing with the children on the stage.  Timmy scanned the stage again and spotted two men, standing at both stage right and left, searching the stage and auditorium with their eyes.  He knew they were looking for him but he did not have time to play.  Normally, he would give them his crazy laugh and be gone inside the vents before they could reach him but that was not why he had come to the stage.

  Timmy scanned the stage yet again, keeping the four men in mind, and soon found the man and woman he had wanted to see.  They were standing alone in the background, just outside the small group of adults.  Unfortunately, he could not get a clear view.  The three bouncers were standing in the way, still talking with the two men.  He knew the first man as Jeff and Jason’s father, John Stravis, the man who had bought his father’s theater.  Timmy heard the three bouncers calling the second man Mr. Stone.  He did not know who the man was, but he had a bad feeling that he had seen him before.  Just looking at him sent a chill running down his spine as the haunting sound of a gunshot again echoed in his mind.

  Pushing back his fear, Timmy carefully pulled the picture of his parents out of his back pocket and unfolded it so he would be ready to compare it to the man and woman, when he saw them.  Minutes passed, but the five men did not move, they just stood there, blocking his view, talking about what needed to be done to prepare the theater for the opening night ceremonies.
  “Come on, come on! Move out of the way!”

  Although it seemed like an eternity to him, the five men did eventually move to another part of the stage, allowing Timmy to clearly see the young man and woman he had noticed in the grand hall earlier.  For a moment, he just stared at them, preoccupied with the hope that they were his real parents, but he knew that time was against him and he carefully compared their faces to the images of his parents within his photograph.

  “Please… Please…”

  Sadly, although the similarities were very close, they did not seem to be close enough.  Still, he could not help feel that they were his true parents.  This mental confrontation was what made Timmy realize that he could not be completely sure by just comparing them to an old photograph, he would have to confront them.  Only he was not sure how.  Frustrated, he lightly hit the stage floor with his fist.

  On the stage, Tom caught some movement out of the corner of his eye.  Instinctively, he turned his camera to that direction and, without looking, took a quick picture.  At the same time, Angel, who was talking to the other actresses, caught the flash of the camera in the corner of her eye.  She turned, curious, and let out a loud gasp of surprise as she spotted Timmy standing inside the prompter’s box.

  “What is it, honey?” asked Maria.

  “There’s someone inside the prompter’s box.” said Angel, turning to her mother.

  All eyes turned to the half dome shaped opening but there was no one to be seen.  Under the stage, Timmy rushed passed Jason, who quickly followed, and hurried into the ventilation shafts.
  “I told you someone was going to see you.” whispered Jason.
  Timmy turned and stuck his tongue out at him before continuing on.

  Back on the stage, Leuey nudged Stan in the shoulder. “When and where we least expect it, Stan.” he whispered.

  Stan looked at the empty prompter’s box, then turned back to Leuey. “No way!”

  Paul, standing next to Stan, briefly gazed at the prompter’s box and smiled. “Cool!”

  “Zip it, you guys.” whispered Alex, carefully. “Remember your promise, don’t let on that you know about him.”

  On the other side of the stage, Sara nudged her husband. “Please tell me you got a picture.”
  Tom shrugged. “I caught some movement out of the corner of my eye and took a quick picture.  I won’t know if I caught anything until I get a chance to download the pictures off of the disk into my laptop.” He smiled. “Who knows, we may have actually caught the famous Broadway Specter on film.”

  Sara smiled and patted Tom on the shoulder. “Good work, honey. Get that disk downloaded as soon as you can and let me know what you find.”

  “There’s no one there now, pumpkin.” said Samuel.

  Angel turned to the prompter’s box and found it empty. “But I- I could have sworn I...”

  She turned back to the two carved faces, hanging upon the high wall, and paused, holding her breath in both amazement and fear.  She spotted a shadow with a small pair of ghostly eyes, behind the vent grid, between the two faces, reflecting off the shimmering light of the elegant chandeliers that hung from the high ceiling.

  “The specter?”

  Angel could not see who the small shadow had belonged to, the ventilation grid was too high and too far away for her to tell.  An icy cold chill ran down her spine, forcing her to shiver, as she found that the small eyes were directly locked upon her own.  She took a small step forward, hoping to get a better look but the shadow had retreated, into the vent, vanishing from view.
  Inside the vent, Timmy shook his head as he crawled away from the vent, unsure of what to do next, with Jason quietly following.

  “You know that guy probably got a picture of you.” said Jason.

  “Maybe.” agreed Timmy, quietly.

  He then continued to move through the vents. “I have to know for sure, but how?”

  Back to the stage, Brandy stepped forward and placed a gentle, reassuring hand on Angel’s shoulder.

  “It was probably just one of my two sons you saw, dear.” she said. “The two have been running around all morning, helping the crew get everything ready for rehearsals. But just in case, we will have our head of security, Mr. Stone, investigate it.”

  Stone, grunted. “I’m sure it was nothing but I’ll look into it anyway, you can’t be too careful."

  He walked over to the prompters box, knelt down and peered into its interior.  The door to the below stage area was open and below stage seemed to have been completely empty.

  “There doesn’t appear to be anyone there right now.” he said, turning back to Brandy.  “Still, I will have my men keep their eyes open.  Reporters and autograph seekers have been trying to sneak into the theater all day.  It’s possible that one of them had managed to get passed security.”
  Brandy nodded, satisfied, then turned to the children. “Mr. Stone was the head of security here when the theater was last open.  His record appeared to have been flawless, so we invited him to take the job on again.”

  Although her face was still a shade pale, Angel turned to Brandy and managed to give her a weak smile.

  Sensing her uneasiness, Brandy turned back to Stone. “I think we would all feel better if you have the building searched, Stone.”

  Stone stood up and turned to face her. “Normally, I would be doing just that” he said. “Only my team is already spread too thin keeping people out.  I can’t ask them to do much more.”

  Angel discretely glanced out into the audience; the men she had noticed earlier were now leaving.  She turned to stage right, then left; the men there were leaving as well.

  “They’re looking for that kid.” she thought. “But why?  Who is he?  The specter?”

  Angel loved mysteries and the one she had stumbled upon seemed to grow more complex with every passing minute, filling her mind with questions.  Still, she decided it best not to ask too many questions at once.  She instead turned back to Stone and nodded.

  “I guess I’m still a little jittery.” she said.

  Stone smiled. “Don’t worry, miss.” he said. “If there’s someone sneaking around this theater, we’ll find him.”

  Angel gave Stone a weak smile, holding back her true feelings.  Fortunately, she did not have to hold them back for long as John loudly cleared his throat, to catch everyone’s attention.

  “Well, now that we have had our little tour, can we finally move on to the dressing rooms so the children can get ready for rehearsals?”

  “Of course, dear.” replied Brandy. “We would not want to miss your debut as Mr. Scheme.”

  Stravis started to respond but he stopped short and gave his wife a funny look, moving the girls and boys to laugh aloud.  Mister Scheme was the cruel and greedy guardian of the boy’s dormitory within the city orphanage in the musical they had been performing.

  Alex tapped his father, Jon on the shoulder and pointed to the drum section in the orchestra pit.  Jon and his two brothers chuckled then quietly excused themselves from the stage.

  Stravis shook a teasing finger at Brandy. “You know, I could fire you, my dear.”

  Brandy nodded. “You could do that.” she agreed. “You could make your own dinner and sleep alone for a month too.”

  From the orchestra pit, someone played, Ba- Boom- Boom! on the drums, and struck the symbol once.  The quick drum solo was a classic follow up to the punch line of a joke or a comical jab on a number of early comedy radio shows.

  John turned to the orchestra pit and found the three production managers standing in the drum section, laughing.

  “Very funny, boys!  Very funny!”

  Jon, the eldest gave a quick bow.  “My apologies, Mr. Stravis.” he said. “We couldn’t resist.”
  Ron, the second eldest, pointed to the boys, standing on the stage.  “Our sons talked us into it, we really couldn’t let them down.”

  Don, the youngest, wrapped his arms around his two brothers, giving them both a quick hug.
  “Have mercy upon me and my comical brothers!”  he pleaded, laughing. “Please don’t fire us!”
  John shook his head at the three mischievous men then turned to his wife.  “Just so you know, I have reassigned the children to the dressing rooms in the lower east wing.  I moved the adults into the dressing rooms on the next floor up so the children and adults won’t have to worry about tripping over each other.”

  Max turned to Stone, who threw him a dirty look.

  “Why did you move everyone there?” asked Brandy.

  “Our crew found a great number of weak floors and stairs everywhere in that wing.  I had them seal off that entire wing of the building for safety reasons.  I don’t want to risk anyone getting hurt by tripping into one of those weak floors, or worse, falling through to the next floor.”

  John turned back to the three staff managers, still standing in the orchestra pit.

  “As for you three, you are too good for me to fire and you know it.”

  “You are quite right, Mr. Stravis.” said Jon. “There is no one in New York better or faster than...” The other two joined in as they declared, in unison, “The Blure Brothers!”

  John rolled his eyes in surrender and walked off the stage as the children again began to laugh.
  Brandy turned to the group. “Okay, people, let’s all move on to the dressing rooms before my husband blows a fuse.” she then turned to the three staff managers.  “You guys had better get to work, my sons are searching the theater for that tapestry material you need.”

  The three men nodded and left the auditorium, still laughing over their little joke.

  Chris, a brown-haired, freckled-faced girl, still fussing over the shaggy dog, turned to Brandy. “Can Rags come with us to the dressing room?”

  “Yes he may, Chris.” replied Brandy. “Just try not to step on him, okay?”

  Angel asked, “Brandy, why are all of the dressing rooms on the fifth and sixth floors when the stage is on the second?”

  “That is a very good question.  When this theater was built, there were a number of concerns regarding safety and security. Therefore, the dressing rooms were all placed on the fifth and sixth floors to ensure the actors and actresses would all have their privacy.  For the same reason there is a switch box on every floor so that if a fuse blows, the maintenance people would not have to race down to the basement to fix the problem.  Now if there are no other questions, I will escort you to the dressing rooms.”

  With that, she led the group of children and adults out of the auditorium with Maria and Samuel following, leaving both Stone and the bouncers alone on the stage.

  “That brat might have heard our entire conversation.” said Max. “I suggest we alter our plan.”
  “He could still be listening.” said Wayne.

  “You let me worry about the boy.” said Stone. “Just make sure you keep the Stravis kids busy so they won’t get any ideas about snooping around. I have a strong suspicion that they have been helping that kid out somehow.”

  The three men left the stage while Stone remained, pondering. He removed a small glass vial from his jacket pocket and looked studied its contents.

  “That little brat can’t possibly be as good as those idiots think he is.  But just in case...”

  He reached into his jacket pocket again, retrieving a small tranquilizer gun, and loaded it with the small vial.  “There’s always plan B.”

  Stone placed the gun back into its holster and quickly left the stage while, high above, Timmy and Jason quietly ran across one of the many catwalks.

  Moments later, in the east wing, the boys and girls marched out of the stairway onto the fifth floor landing where they paused as Brandy turned to the adults, still in the stairway.

  “The dressing rooms we set up for you are on the next floor up.” she said. “There are clearly marked signs posted that will show you the way.”

  The adults in the group nodded and continued to follow the stairs while Brandy lead the children
into the halls of the fifth floor dressing rooms.  Resting on a small table in the mouth of the first hall was a small tray of cookies.  The children all passed it without giving them a second look. 
The youngest of the girls, however, paused, letting out a low moan as she eyed the tray of cookies with her mouth watering.

  “What’s wrong, Stephanie?” asked Brandy.

  Stephanie turned to her. “It’s nothing, really, Mrs. Stravis.  It’s just that my mom and I woke up late this morning and I didn’t get the chance to really eat any breakfast.”

  Brandy discretely looked around, then said, “I don’t think anyone would notice if you pick up two or three of those cookies, do you?”

  “But Mr. Stone asked us to wait until after rehearsals.”

  Brandy turned to the group. “Girls in the first hall, boys in the next!  Let’s go, kids!"  She then turned back to Stephanie. "Don’t worry about Mr. Stone, I will set him straight later. You just help yourself to a few of those cookies, okay?”

  Stephanie gave Brandy a small but grateful smile. “Okay.”

  Elsewhere, while the children and adults prepared for final rehearsals, Timmy and Jason crawled out of an air duct into an empty storeroom on the twelfth floor.

  “So what are you saying?” asked Jason, pulling himself out of the air duct behind Timmy. “Stone is going to try to poison you?”

  “I heard him saying that he was going to put something that will give you a tummy ache into some of the snacks your mom had brought in for everyone.” replied Timmy quietly. “’Not that it bothers me any, I mean, I can do without the snacks.  It’s just that I don’t want anyone else to get sick on them.”

  “Do you think I should tell mom about it?”

  “No, if you tell her, that man, Stone will think that you overheard him; that would be very bad.”
  Jason took a step back. “What do you mean?”

  “I… I…“ Timmy turned away, desperately trying not to remember. “I just know it will be bad.”
  Inside his mind, the sound of a gunshot rang out and echoed in his ears.  So loudly, it seemed, that he hardly heard his friend talking to him.

  “Timmy.” he said again.

  “Huh?” Timmy looked at him as if he had just been woken from a deep slumber.

  “Hello? What are you going to do?”

  “I’m going to swipe those bad snacks so that no one will get sick on them.  Hopefully, those guys will think I ate them and stop looking for me.  That way, I can move around a little more.“ he sighed. “You’d better get back before your mom or dad start looking for you.”

  “Oh, I got that covered, the crew needs me to find some tapestry material.  No one really knows where it was last stored.” He swallowed. “Do you really think that the two you saw are your mom and dad?”

  “I don’t know. But I’m going to find out.”
  Moments later, after leaving Timmy, Jason opened the storeroom door and carefully peered out down the long, dim hall.  Deciding that the coast was clear, he crept out, eased the door closed, and hurried down the hall.  Moving passed a seemingly endless number of dark drawings, Jason made his way down a number of halls and stairways, out of the west wing.  As he turned the last corner, however, he ran into the blurry Max, bouncing off his rock like form, and falling clumsily to the solid, hardwood floor.

  “What do you think you were doing running around up there!?!” demanded Max. “The west wing was sealed off for a reason!”

  Jason jumped to his feet, startled.  He gazed at Max, gasping for the air to speak.  Above him, inside the ventilation shaft, Timmy, who was making his way to the east wing, froze in front of a vent directly above Max, not daring to make a sound.

  “Well!?!”

  “I- I was looking for a roll tapestry material.” said Jason, finally finding his voice. “One of the back drops needs repair and my dad wants everything to be ready in time for final rehearsals.”

  Above them, Timmy, summoning all of his courage, soundlessly crawled over to the open vent and warily peered down into the dim hall just as Max pointed an accusing finger at Jason.

  In that one, brief moment, Timmy’s entire body froze in horror, his face turning an ashen white, as he quietly slapped a hand over his mouth to silence a gasp.  Upon the usher’s wrist was the tattoo of a single rose engulfed within a bright yellow flame.

  Inside his mind, Timmy caught a bird’s eye view of a massive figure, dripping wet from the pouring rain.  He was standing just outside of the dim light in the narrow alley from his dream.  The figure slowly rose his left arm, into the light, revealing a large, heavy handgun.  The ghostly cry of his mother’s scream carried over the sound of the rain as the gun was fired twice.  Upon the figure’s wrist was the very same tattoo.

  Shaking his head in fear, Timmy backed away from the vent as the two gunshots and his mother’s scream continued to painfully echo within his mind.  Slowly, mercifully, the haunting sounds eventually faded, giving way to silence.  The terror he had felt upon seeing the tattoo, however, remained.  Timmy bowed his head as he vainly fought back the tears.

  “Please let that man and woman be my mom and dad.”

  “No one knows where they are.” argued Jason, inside the hall. “The tapestry material got moved so many times during the renovation, I doubt it’s all in one place any more .”

  Max shrugged and spoke in a lighter tone. “Well, there isn’t anything like that up here.  I would try some of the larger storerooms in the lower east wing, downstairs.  Just try to be quiet doing it, the girls are getting dressed for rehearsals in one of the rooms of that wing.  They will have an absolute conniption if they see you sneaking around the halls outside of their dressing room.”

  Jason said, “I’ll be careful, sir.  Was there anything else?”

  “Just one thing.  By any chance, were you or Jeff doing some work under the stage about twenty minutes ago?”

  “No, sir.  I was running around up here looking for that tapestry material and, as far as I know, Jeff has been with the production managers, helping them hang up the backdrops needed for the stage.” He swallowed. “Is there a problem?”

  Max shook his head. “It’s nothing, really, I am sure we can handle it.  In the mean time, I think you had better hurry over to the east wing, the rehearsals will be starting soon.”

  With that, he walked away, leaving Jason standing alone in the hallway, who could not help shiver off a certain coldness.

  “That guy gives me the creeps.” he thought.

  He looked up to the soft sounds of Timmy crawling away through the ventilation shafts and shook his head.

  “Be careful, Timmy.  There’s a lot of people here looking for you.” He let out a weary sigh. “Sometimes I think you’re too curious for your own good.”

  Later, inside one of the large dressing rooms in the east wing, Angel and the other actresses had just finished getting dressed and ready for rehearsals.  They excitedly talked and laughed amongst themselves, unaware of a small boy, watching them from behind a ventilation grid in the ceiling, or of little Stephanie who was beginning to feel uneasy.

  “Who do you think was watching us form the prompter’s box, Angel?” asked Tarra, the eldest of the eight girls. “A ghost of Broadway?”

  Angel looked up at Tarra, slightly annoyed.  She was about two inches taller than her, unusually strong for her age of fourteen, with shoulder length brown hair and a firm, rugged face, giving her a tom boy appearance.  Only her soft, blue eyes gave away her true gentle nature.

  “Very funny, Tarra.  I’m positive I saw someone there and he looked too young to be a stage hand assistant.”

  “Well, there is an orphanage for boys just a few blocks away from here.” suggested eleven year old Karen, sitting on the opposite side of the room. “Also, Mrs. Snoope did say that there were rumors about a specter haunting this theater.”

  “What does that have to do with anything, Karen?” asked the girl next to her.

  From inside the ventilation shaft, above the dressing room, Timmy closed his eyes and shook his head before taking a second look at the two girls.  They were twins, both a perfect mirror image of the other, from their blonde hair, to their doll like features and lightly freckled faces.

  “Angel might have seen a runaway from there, Rachel.” replied Karen, inside the dressing room. “Dad had told us that a small number of the orphans were known to hide in this theater when it was closed, remember?”

  Rachel nodded.  “Yeah, I remember now.  He also told us about a small, mysterious child who would distract the social workers and police long enough for them to get away for a while.”

  Karen nodded back, serious. “This kid has been seen everywhere in and around Broadway but, to this day, no one has been able to catch him.  His reputation has quickly grown into a legend. The people around the theater district have all come to call him the Broadway specter.”

  “Well, maybe.” said Angel.

  Inside the shaft, Timmy smiled, flattered that he had gained such a large reputation for helping people on occasion.  Although he did not know it, he was becoming as timeless as the characters in his posters. He did not see himself as a legend, whatever that was, he just liked to help people. He smiled, thinking of all the people he had helped but pushed the thought aside, returning his attention to the conversation inside the dressing room as a tall, slender, brown-haired girl spoke.

  “Why would the boys run away from the orphanage and hide here?” asked ten year old Sue. “Were they treated badly there?”

  “Bad treatment doesn’t even come close to describing that place, Sue.” said Karen.  “My dad does investigative work for the New York welfare system.  That orphanage for boys down town had a terrible history of abuse and extortion.  It still does, but my dad is working very hard with the new guardian there to change all of that.”
  “Is that orphanage really that bad?” asked Sue, startled.

  Rachel nodded. “My dad told us that one visit to that orphanage will give you nightmares.  The place makes the orphanage in this musical look like a vacation holiday.”

  “Come, come, ladies!” said Brandy, clapping her hands as she entered the room. “You all have fifteen minutes to finish up then it’s rehearsal time.”

  Brandy turned to leave, then stopped, noticing Stephanie, and turned to her, concerned.  She was still in her street clothes, sitting alone with Rags, carrying a look of misery on her face.

  “What’s wrong, Stephanie?  Do you feel okay?”

  Sitting across the room from Stephanie, Lauren, a young, tough looking, twelve year old girl with a wind swept face and dust blonde hair turned in her seat. “She’s been like that for a while now, ma’am.”

  “Thank you, Lauren.” said Brandy, politely. “I will take care of it.  But, next time you see something wrong like this, let me know as soon as you can.”

  “I- I’m all right, Mrs. Stravis.” said Stephanie. “I guess I just have a case of the jitters.”

  Brandy smiled. “You’re a very talented nine year old girl.” she said. “There is nothing to be nervous about.  I’m sure you will be feeling better once you get into the rehearsals.”

  Stephanie managed a weak smile, which Brandy returned before leaving the room.

  Above them, inside the ventilation shaft, Timmy looked up to find the ghostly figure of a small boy facing him from the opposite side of the ventilation grid.

  “The girl got to the bad snacks.” he said. “She is going to be very sick for a while.”

  Timmy looked back down into the room with a frown dominating his expression.

  “I’m too late!” he thought, mentally kicking himself. “Those snacks were supposed to make me sick, not her!” he paused, genuinely worried. “She looks so sad, she must really be sick.”

  The frown on Timmy’s face deepened as he curled a fist to the point of cracking the knuckles.

  “If they find out she’s really sick, they might not let her perform at all!  I have to do something!”

  Then, the ghost whispered, “You and the girl look so much alike.  You could take her place.”