To my amazement, the entire “Lindsay incident” was forgotten the next day. She was back to her nasty, yet non-violent self.
The two-week run of the show was thankfully uneventful. After I began to trust that Lindsay wouldn’t try to kill me on stage, I relaxed a bit.
Our next stop was quite a distance away. Our production of Forbidden Love, a hip, young version of Romeo and Juliet was to open in Santa Barbara, California.
We all took our bows during the curtain call for our final New York production of Shrew. Once the heavy red curtains closed in front of us, everyone moved into high gear. The actors ran off to the dressing rooms, removing costume pieces on their way. The crew began disassembling the set. As bodies rushed past me, all I could think was Didn’t we just open this show?
Cindy came over to me with clipboard in hand. “Penny, I have to fly into Santa Barbara ahead of the tour to take care of some things. Peter suggested you go along with me. Would you want to come and give me a hand?”
Excited, but a little puzzled I asked, “Does this have anything to do with the Lindsay incident?”
“Probably,” was all she said. As a matter of fact, I hadn’t been able to get anyone to talk about it. “We’ll leave tomorrow around eleven.”
Was I being paranoid again, imagining things, or making more of things than I should? Aunt Julie and Dr. Waldham had always made a special point of making me feel that way.
No, I’m not imagining anything. That nasty witch really did go after me. The thing I wasn’t sure of, was why. I didn’t know if I’d ever be able to get any answers from her, but I’d definitely keep an eye on her for the rest of the tour.
I brushed past people in the crowded dressing room until I got to my space. I sat on the hard wooden chair and looked at my reflection in the mottled old mirror surrounded by bare, mostly burned out light bulbs.
As I took the bobby pins out of my hair, I realized the flight to California would give me the perfect opportunity to get some answers from Cindy.
I changed clothes and packed all my possessions in my black tote. I flung it over my shoulder and headed back into the auditorium.
Most of the actors had already left. I heard something about a party, but I hadn’t gotten the details.
The lively audience had disappeared and Peter and Cindy were standing in front of the stage talking.
“Hey, is everyone gone?”
“I think just about everyone went down to that restaurant we went to opening night,” Cindy answered.
Peter walked over to meet me. “Cindy told me you agreed to go on ahead to California with her.”
“Yeah, it sounds nice.”
“You’ll love the flight.” Why was I getting this special attention? Something didn’t seem right, but I couldn’t quite put my finger on it.
Peter put his arm around me. My muscles tightened. “You did a wonderful job in this show.”
“Thank you.”
“I’ll be looking forward to seeing you play Juliet in our next production.”
Cindy had started out. She looked back and hollered, “Penny, come on, we’ve got to get packed. We’ve got an early flight tomorrow.”
Her words gave me the perfect excuse to move away from Peter.
As I walked away he added, “You girls have a safe trip and we’ll catch up with you in about a week.”
* * *
The flight from New York to California was long, but since I was far from a frequent flyer, it was also very exciting. Cindy let me take the window seat. The initial nervousness I felt during the take off lessened when the flight attendants began to wheel their carts of drinks and snacks down the aisle.
I wasn’t sure how to ease into it, so I jumped right in. After all, now I had a captive audience. “What is wrong with Lindsay? Why didn’t Peter say anything to me about what happened? Does she do this all the time and WHY does everyone avoid me when I ask about it?” I took in a deep breath.
“Well, let’s see …” Cindy answered rather calmly to my battery of questions. “I’m not sure what’s wrong with her, except that she’s terribly spoiled. Peter does try to keep her little problems quiet. I’m really not sure why. The only thing I can think of is that she’s been with his group for a very long time. Maybe it’s some kind of loyalty thing.”
I rolled my eyes. “As long as she doesn’t get terribly out of hand, it’s common knowledge for everyone to act like nothing happened. Things always get back to normal.”
“Normal? Not terribly out of hand? Give me a break, she tried to strangle me!” My pent up anger was finally escaping.
“She wouldn’t have gone through with it.”
“What makes you so sure?”
“Hey, she loses it, gets weird on us for a while, then she’s okay again. I do have to admit, for some reason, you really do seem to bring out the very worst in her.”
“Thanks, that’s a very comforting thought.”
* * *
When we arrived at LAX, we transferred to a commuter flight that would take us to the airport in Santa Barbara.
I gazed out the window of the small twin engine plane as it glided up the California coast. The Pacific’s azure blended into a sky of powder blue.
Just as we approached the Santa Barbara airport, we hit unexpected turbulence. It was as though we hit one lone, deep pothole in a smooth, newly paved road. It was the only rough spot during our otherwise peaceful flight.
Our plane landed as smoothly as one that size probably could. I looked out the window toward the terminal. Tiny and quaint, it made me think more of a little Spanish bus station than an airport.
As we stepped out onto the platform at the top of the metal stairs, I could see that the sun was just beginning to set. It was my favorite time of day, no matter where I was. I closed my eyes and felt a warm gentle breeze. It was soft and seemed to envelop rather than hit me.
Cindy and I collected our luggage as they removed it from the side of the plane. We walked through the arched gate entrance to the adobe style mini airport. I felt more like I was on a vacation than going to work.