“I’ll be here, and we have a screen right by the switchboard ... or we should have one. Joe! What about that dressing screen off right?”
“As soon as you finish with that ladder, may I please....”
“All right, Peggy. Take it off now, and I’ll sew it up. Plenty of time!”
Peggy stepped behind the switchboard and slipped off the blouse, which now came off like a smock. The snaps in back would keep her from having to unbutton the whole front and then having to button it up again—a saving of at least a minute. And a minute is a long time. She put on a lightweight bathrobe, handed the blouse to the wardrobe mistress, and stepped out into the confusion of the stage, to see what was going on now.
On top of the tall extension ladder, Sam Marcus, the electrician, was fixing the position of the three end baby spots in order to light the sofa properly in its new position. Below him, Joe Banks, chief stagehand, was waiting impatiently to carry off the ladder as soon as it was free. Amy, on her hands and knees in front of the troublesome door, was tacking down a hump that had suddenly appeared in the canvas groundcloth, and which threatened to stop the door from opening. As Peggy approached her, she looked up and managed a grin, despite the fact that her mouth was full of long carpet tacks.
“Why, Grandma, what big teeth you have!” Peggy said, looking down at her friend.
“Mmph!” Amy said. She pounded in two more tacks, took the remaining few from between her lips, and surveyed her handiwork. “Think that’ll do?” she asked.
“It looks good to me,” Peggy replied. “Now let’s see what’s going to go wrong next!”
“There isn’t much left to go wrong that hasn’t already done so and been fixed at least twice.” Amy laughed. “Now, if everything will just be kind enough to hold together through tonight, I’ll be most grateful to Fate.”
Randy suddenly appeared through the door, which worked smoothly this time.