Stage Fright on a Summer Night - Mary Pope Osborne [7]
“Not until the end, when we all bow,” said Will.
Just then Jack heard the audience laughing again. He really wanted to see the play. So he found a shadowy spot at the back of the theater and watched from there.
Jack couldn’t understand everything people said, but he could understand the story. It was about people in love. But none were able to marry the people they loved.
The funniest part was about the fairy king and fairy queen. The king was mad at the queen. So he put magic juice on her eyelids to make her fall in love with the first person she saw.
Puck worked for the king. He wanted to make the king’s trick even funnier. So he put the head of a donkey on a funny man. When the queen woke up, she saw the donkey-man. The magic made her fall madly in love with him!
The fairy king finally broke the spell. Puck turned the donkey-man back into a human while he slept. When the man woke up, he looked about in wonder.
“I have had a most rare vision,” he said. “I have had a dream … .”
Jack whispered the words to himself. “I have had a most rare vision. I have had a dream.”
Beside him, a group of actors gathered for the last scene of the play.
“My lion mask is missing!” one of them wailed. “I cannot be a lion without my mask!”
“Hush, of course you can,” said Will. “Just roar! And roar again!”
Will pushed the actor onstage. He wiped his brow. Then he caught sight of Jack.
“Get Andy!” he said. “It’s almost time for our bow.”
Annie? Where is Annie? Jack wondered. He hadn’t seen her in a while. He peeked into the costume room. She wasn’t there.
Jack’s heart started to pound. He had a scary thought … .
“Oh, no,” he whispered.
Jack ran down the stairs. He opened the door. He was happy to see Annie running out from some trees behind the theater.
“It’s time to bow!” he said, grabbing her hand. “Where have you been? What did you do?”
“I’ll show you later!” said Annie.
Jack and Annie charged upstairs together. They found Will and some of the actors waiting.
Puck was finishing his last speech onstage:
So good night unto you all.
Give me your hands if we be friends … .
“Andy! Jack!” said Will. He grabbed Annie and Jack.
Puck ended his speech. The audience gave a big hand. They clapped and whistled and shouted.
Jack and Annie ran onstage with Will and the other actors. While the crowd cheered, they all bowed once … twice … and once again.
Will stepped forward and held up his hands. Slowly the crowd quieted down.
“Thank you all,” he said. “And thank you to the most important person in all the world. She has graced us with her presence today.”
Will made a sweeping bow to a woman in a gallery above the stage. The woman wore a white dress with pearls. A veil covered her face.
The woman stood up and slowly lifted the veil. She had pale, wrinkled skin and small dark eyes. She wore a red wig.
The audience members let out a gasp. They all fell to their knees.
“Long live Queen Elizabeth!” said Will.
“Long live Queen Elizabeth!” the crowd shouted.
“Long live Queen Elizabeth!” shouted Jack and Annie.
The queen smiled. Her teeth were all black! The audience didn’t seem to mind. They cheered even louder.
The queen raised one hand and the crowd instantly hushed.
“I thank you, my good people,” she said. “And I thank all these good players, every one. Today, they gave us a special kind of magic—the magic of theater. They turned the very daytime into night.”
“Oh, man,” whispered Jack. That was it—the special magic. Their search was over.
The audience cheered again. When the actors left the stage, they gathered around Will to congratulate him on his success.
Annie pulled Jack aside.
“We found it!” she said. “The magic!”
“I know!” Jack said. “Will helped us. Let’s thank him!”
“Later,” said Annie. “First I have to show you something. I need your help! Quick!”
Annie led Jack downstairs and outside. As people streamed away from the Globe, the late afternoon sun was going down.
“This way,” said Annie. She headed for the patch of trees behind the theater.
When she and Jack