The travel agent 7/21

The next opportunity for Eve to meet the whole family came rather sooner than she expected. Mary popped round for a cup of coffee and a chat and mentioned that Jennifer Jane’s school was putting on an end of term theatrical performance the following week.

“Jennifer Jane’s going to perform some magic tricks at her school concert,” she said, “she’s really very good. Dave used to be a bit of a conjuror when he was her age and he can’t see how she works the cards. As you don’t have a child at the school, perhaps you’d like to come along as our guest. You may find the rest of the entertainment a bit boring; especially the younger ones, but some of the seniors are very talented. All in all it should be a good night out!”

Eve was only too delighted to accept and asked if she could bring her husband along. “He’s always had an interest in conjuring as well, a bit like your Dave really. I think he’d be fascinated if Jennifer Jane is as good as you say she is.”

At long last the day of the concert arrived. The children had a day off to help prepare the school stage and lay out seating for the audience.

The senior girls had turned one of the nearby classrooms into a buffet for the interval, while the dining room staff brought in a great variety of snacks, nicely laid out on plates covered with cling film to keep the food fresh until it was wanted.

Finally the moment arrived when the audience were shepherded in by the staff and shown to their seats. Jennifer Jane and some of her friends were peeping through a gap in the curtains, watching to see where their parents were going to be sitting.

She was most relieved when she saw Abigail arrive and sit down at one end of the second row from the front. She’d promised that she’d come just to make sure nothing went wrong with the use of magic during the evening.

Adam and Eve arrived with her parents and seemed to be very impressed by all the arrangements. Then at last everyone was seated, the head mistress welcomed the audience to the school and gave the signal for the entertainment to begin.

The house lights were turned off, the curtains opened and the first part of the show began. The infants sang several songs, played simple music on recorders and had a very good try at remembering their lines for a short play.

The senior choir sang beautifully and the best of the P.E. students brought on some of their equipment and showed off exercises using a springboard and vaulting horse.

For some reason that Jennifer Jane couldn’t understand, several of the grown ups in the audience seemed particularly amused by some of the lines of a French language play performed by the French students.

It was all fairly familiar to most of the audience and naturally enough, those taking part were cheered particularly loudly by their parents and friends as they appeared.

The house lights came on again and the Head declared the buffet open, while the stage was completely emptied. Jennifer Jane swallowed a little nervously, she was the only remaining act and it was her turn next. Abigail came behind the curtain to reassure her.

“Don’t you worry about a thing. It’s all going to be real magic and your dad and I have discussed how to make it all appear like conjuring and illusion. I’ll be here if anything goes wrong. Best of luck!”