177
Dominil was puzzled. When she’d arrived in London, Beauty and Delicious had been a useless pair of intoxicated losers who never got anything done. By strength of character she’d dragged them back on course. Throughout this period, the twins had never been exactly moderate in their behaviour but they had at least made an effort. They’d drunk less, attended rehearsals, and worked on their songs. Everything seemed to be going well. Neither the violent incident at the rehearsal studio nor the intimidating visit by the Douglas-MacPhees had dimmed their enthusiasm for their music. So Dominil couldn’t understand why, now that she had finally got them the gig they so desperately wanted, everything had gone wrong again.
Their behaviour was now worse than ever. They were rarely in a fit state to pick up their guitars. Dominil just couldn’t account for it. No matter how she railed against them, they refused to make an effort.
“We’re musicians,” was all Beauty would say. “We don’t have to practice. It’ll be fine on the night.”
Dominil dismissed this. At this rate it wouldn’t be fine on the night. It would be a disaster. Dominil had her pride and she abhorred the thought of anything to which she had contributed being a disaster. Frustrated, the white-haired werewolf strode out into the falling snow and hurried through Camden. Pete the guitarist was surprised to find her at his door, though not as concerned as he once might have been. No one actually liked Dominil but the band had come to trust her. He invited her in. His front room, Dominil noted, was extremely untidy.
“Was it not the case that a week ago things were looking promising for the band?”
“Eh… yes,” replied Pete.
“Then why are Beauty and Delicious now acting in so destructive a manner? They refuse to do anything except drink and make fools of themselves. I cannot see any possible explanation for this.”
Pete had an idea of what the problem might be but hesitated to make a suggestion. He felt intimidated by Dominil.
“Well maybe…” he began, then paused.
“Speak up,” demanded Dominil. “If you are about to criticise me you may do so freely. After living with the twins I am used to it.”
“I wasn’t going to criticise you. You’ve been great. Really. I think it’s just that they get nervous. You know, they’re quite shy really.”
Dominil stared at him in disbelief.
“Nervous? Shy? Beauty and Delicious? Everything they do is designed to call attention to themselves.”
Pete shrank back a little.
“Well yes. But you know… they’re probably just overcompensating. They wouldn’t be the only people to do that. They were always like this before gigs. They’re scared in case they get onstage and no one likes them.”
“You mean they have stage fright?”
“Yes.”
Dominil considered this. Was it possible the guitarist was right? If so, it was something that Dominil had completely failed to take into consideration. It hadn’t occurred to her for a moment that the sisters might suffer from nervousness.
“They have no reason to be anxious. The band is sounding good and there is every reason to be optimistic.”
Pete shrugged.
“I don’t think that makes any difference really. You know how some people just worry anyway.”
“No.”
“You don’t?”
“It is not something with which I can easily empathise.”
“I can believe that,” said Pete.
Something in his tone caught Dominil’s attention.
“You think I am lacking in empathy?”
“If you go around saying things like it is not something with which I can easily empathise then it’s probably a sign that you can’t. And you always talk, you know, sort of formal.”
Dominil felt irritated.
“I did not come here to discuss my diction. What is to be done to bring the twins back to normality?”
Pete didn’t know. He’d seen this before, and as far as he remembered the twins kept on behaving badly till it was time to step onstage.
“And then they were all right?”
“Not really. The gigs were always a shambles.”
Dominil thanked Pete for his help. She had noticed before that for a young guitarist, Pete was fairly attractive. She could even have classed him as desirable, if she wanted. Not while she had work to do, however. She walked slowly back to the twins’ house, wondering what to do about their emotional fragility. There were less than three weeks left to the gig and Dominil was quite determined that it was going to be a success.
The Avenaris Guild was quite determined that it was going to fail. The Guild had managed to track down Dominil. One of their operatives who’d survived the fight at the rehearsal studio had happened to see her in Camden, handing out fliers, and taken one. It was on Mr Carmichael’s desk at this moment, and the small slip of paper had generated a great deal of activity. Plans were now being made for an attack on the gig.
It was reported that the white-haired werewolf had been accompanied by a girl who matched the description of Kalix. The presence of the werewolf princess made it a very important operation for the Guild. Despite this, nothing about it was entered on their computers. The Guild’s information officers believed that their system was now safe but Mr Carmichael’s intuition told him otherwise. Someone had hacked into their files recently. It might happen again. He gave instructions that all arrangements were to be made by word of mouth. A messenger was sent to Mr Mikulanec, informing him that his services would be required on the night. Yum Yum Sugary Snacks and all werewolves associated with them were going to be eliminated.