Everything arranged, Mal tried to turn the group to the original purpose of the meeting, which was to work on further readings of the play. He soon realized that everyone was too keyed up to concentrate, and canceled work for the night.
“I think, in fact, that we’d better forget about rehearsals entirely,” he said, “at least until we have this theater business settled one way or the other. For one thing, we’re going to need all the sleep we can get on the nights that we’re not standing watch.”
Everyone agreed, and in varying states of tension and excitement, said good night and parted, knowing that the next few days might be very, very busy.
XVI
Understudies for Danger
School the next day seemed almost unreal to Peggy. Or was it the dark alley and the night watch to come that was the unreal thing? Considered carefully, nothing seemed quite real, even her home and her parents in the neat, orderly world of Rockport. A ride on Socks around the autumn fields of Wisconsin would clear her mind, she thought, or just an hour alone in her favorite thinking spot in the harness room.
Her thoughts, shuttling restlessly between the friendly barn and the now-sinister alley, were definitely not on her work, which was a lecture session on television acting technique.
At lunch in the park, the discussion centered on the night’s work that waited for Pip and Tom Galen. It all seemed very melodramatic.
“I’ve arranged with Tom,” Pip was saying, “to meet me downtown a little before six. We’re both going to wear black slacks and sweaters, and we’ll take black gloves. That way, we ought to melt into the shadows perfectly.”
“How about your faces?” Connie giggled. “Are you going to go in blackface like a couple of Al Jolsons?”
“We considered it,” Pip said seriously, “but we decided that it wasn’t necessary. If anyone comes, we’ll hold our gloved hands over our faces, and look through our fingers.”