Taffy Sinclair 010 - Taffy Sinclair Goes to Hollywood (9 page)

She unfastened the paper and slowly opened the box, holding her breath as she peered inside.
"
Oh, look!
"
she shouted. Inside lay a small gold star that hung from a delicate gold chain. She picked up the necklace and read the single word engraved on the star: TAFFY.

Her mother was hovering over her, fluttering with delight.
"
Oh!
"
she cooed.
"
It must be from the director.
"

Taffy rolled her eyes at the thought of getting a necklace from the director, no matter how much her mother wanted it. It had to be from Raven.

She slipped a tiny card out of its envelope, almost afraid to read it. Finally, she took a deep breath and read the words:

For Hollywood
'
s newest star,

Love
,
Len

"
Len!
"
she shrieked in disbelief, and threw the necklace across the room.

T
affy spent all Sunday morning on the sofa with her ankle propped up on a pillow. Her mother ordered breakfast sent up by room service, and by lunchtime Taffy had finished the long letter to Shawnie she had started the day before and a shorter one to Cory, and she was bored out of her mind.

"
Mother, my ankle is better,
"
she insisted.
"
The swelling has almost gone down, and it barely hurts when I stand on it anymore.
"
That was stretching the truth more than a little, but Taffy was getting desperate.
"
Can we go downstairs for lunch?
"
she pleaded.

"
Don
'
t be silly, sweetheart,
"
said Mrs. Sinclair.
"
We can
'
t take any chances with that ankle. You have a big scene coming up tomorrow, and it would be a shame if they had to shoot around you.
"

Taffy thought about tomorrow
'
s scene. What her mother said was true. It was the best scene in the movie. In it her character, Tiffany Stafford, flirted with the Eric Peterson character, the one played by Raven Blaine. She had pictured the filming a hundred times in her mind, and she knew that even though she would be speaking lines from the script, her flirting would be for real.

"
I
'
ll have room service bring up some lunch,
"
said her mother.
"
Why don
'
t you see what
'
s on television?
"

Sighing, Taffy reached for the TV schedule. She flipped through the pages thinking that the only things on this time of day were reruns. She certainly couldn
'
t get very excited over that. She ran a finger down the listings. It was just as she had thought.
The Brady Bunch. Happy Days. Facts of Life. Cagney and Lacey.
Taffy stopped and stared in surprise at the next program listing.
Daddy's Little Darling.
That was the television series Paige Kramer had been in when she was younger. And to make matters worse, the advertisement in the television schedule said
"
starring
Paige Kramer.
"
How disgusting could you get?

Taffy tapped her fingers against the page and looked sideways at the television set. Could she stand to watch Paige Kramer on TV? She was probably just as conceited then as she was now, no matter what Tess said.

"
I
'
ll bet I would barf,
"
Taffy muttered under her breath.
"
In fact, I know I would, all over this beautiful hotel room.
"

Still, it might beat watching
The Brady Bunch.
I might even get a good laugh.
No!
she thought. I will not stoop to watching Paige Kramer on TV and that
'
s that!

She flipped the television schedule to the other end of the sofa and crossed her arms, glaring out the window at the beautiful California sunshine outside. Why didn
'
t her ankle hurry up and get well?

Finally Taffy stretched out on the sofa and thought about home. She wondered what the kids from Wacko were doing today.
"
I know,
"
she said, popping up into a sitting position.
"
I
'
ll call Shawnie!
"

It took some persuasion, but Mrs. Sinclair finally agreed to let Taffy call all the way to the East Coast and talk to her friend. After all, Taffy had reminded her mother, Shawnie had already called her once. It was only fair that she return the call. Besides, the studio would pay for it anyway.

Taffy listened eag
erly to the little boop-boop-
beep
-
boop sounds as the call sped along the line.
"
What if no one answers?
"
she moaned to herself as she heard the third ring. Just then Shawnie
'
s mother picked up the phone and said hello.

"
Hi, Mrs. Pendergast? This is Taffy Sinclair.
"

"
Well, hello, Taffy. Are you back home already?
"

"
No, I
'
m calling from Hollywood. Is Shawnie there?
"

Mrs. Pendergast hesitated.
"
Ummmm . . . no . . . I
'
m afraid she isn
'
t here right now.
"

"
Oh,
"
said Taffy.
"
Well, where is she? I mean, can I call her somewhere else?
"
Taffy knew the disappointment sounded in her voice, but she couldn
'
t help it. She had been dying to talk to her best friend.

"
She
'
s gone somewhere with
"
—Mrs. Pendergast fumbled—
"
with someone.
"

Taffy frowned. Shawnie
'
s mother was acting awfully funny. Why didn
'
t she just say where Shawnie had gone or whom she was with. Was it some big secret?

"
But I
'
ll be sure to tell her that you called,
"
Mrs. Pendergast said hurriedly.
"
Bye, bye.
"

Taffy hung up and stared at the phone, thinking back over the conversation. Mrs. Pendergast definitely didn
'
t want Taffy to know whom Shawnie was with. But why? Shawnie had other friends. She certainly had a right to spend time with them. Unless . . . Taffy frowned. Unless the friend she was out with was Cory Dillon.

Taffy scrambled to her bedside table and got out Shawnie
'
s letter. The last paragraph had bothered her a little when she read it the first time.

Cory called last night, and we talked
for a long time, mostly about you. I told him how much I missed you and how lonely I was already. He's really nice. He said he missed you, too, and that I could talk to him an
ytime I was feeling sad. Well, I'
d better hit the sack now. Write soon.

Love,
Shawnie

Were they together now? Had they gone somewhere to talk about how much they missed her? Taffy wondered. Or was it something else?

The next morning Taffy jumped out of bed, crying
"
Ouch!
"
as her foot hit the floor and her ankle gave way. She had been having a super dream about driving along the coastal highway in an open convertible with Raven Blaine and had forgotten all about her twisted ankle. Now she could see that it was swollen again, and putting weight on it hurt like crazy.

She looked around the hotel room quickly, relieved that her mother was in the bathroom and had not heard her cry out.

Taffy took a couple of practice steps around the end of the bed, trying her best to walk normally. If she could fake it well enough to convince her mother that her ankle was well, she could go to this morning
'
s shoot.

She remembered the elastic bandage her mother had gotten yesterday afternoon from the drugstore across from the hotel. She wrapped it securely around her ankle and stepped down again. This time she could walk almost normally, and she pulled her sock on over it and then put on her shoe.

Mrs. Sinclair looked worried when she came out of the bathroom.
"
How
'
s your ankle this morning?
"

"
Great!
"
Taffy lied.
"
I
'
m wearing the elastic bandage just in case it needs extra support. See, I can walk fine.
"

Taffy paraded around the room for her mother, managing to walk normally even though pain throbbed in the ankle and shot up her leg.

"
Well, that does look a lot better, dear. Now see,
"
Mrs. Sinclair added in her I-told-you-so voice,
"
I was right when I told you to stay off it yesterday.
"

Dollins didn
'
t seem to notice any signs of a limp when she got into the car, either. Maybe I can really pull this off, she thought happily.

Taffy had never realized before just what a long walk it was from her trailer to the set. Fortunately her mother had stayed in the trailer, so Taffy could relax a little and limp until she reached the area where the cameras were set up. But when she tried to step down on her left foot normally, she winced in pain and pulled the foot up quickly.

"
Rats,
"
she muttered and tried again. The ankle was still too painful to bear much weight, and she could see the skin puffing out around the bandage.

Taffy took a deep breath. I
'
m an actress, she told herself sternly. I can play the part of someone who
doesn't
limp if I try hard enough.

She could see the set now, the exterior of the school building, and all the other cast members except Tess were there. Paige was the center of attention, as usual. Taffy smiled to herself. She and Raven were in all the scenes for the next couple of days, but Paige was in only one. Actually, Taffy thought, Paige
'
s scene could be cut. It was totally unnecessary to the story.

So what if my ankle hurts? Taffy thought, squaring her shoulders and marching determinedly toward the set. What
'
s that old show-business line?
The show must go on!

Taffy was feeling proud of herself as she approached the set. She was gritting her teeth, but she was walking as if she had never hurt her ankle in the first place. What would Raven do when he caught sight of her? Would he rush to help her onto the set? Would he ask about her ankle?

Just then she spotted him. He looked handsomer than ever today in a deep-red polo shirt open at the neck. He had spotted her, too, but before he could call to her, Paige yelled,
"
Look, everybody. Here comes our little invalid. I see your ankle wasn
'
t
broken
after all.
"

"
Of course it wasn
'
t broken,
"
Taffy snapped.
"
I never said it was. I just twisted it, that
'
s all. The swelling
'
s almost gone.
"

"
What happened?
"
cried the director.
"
Are you okay?
"

Taffy started to explain to Jerry that she was perfectly fine, but before she could say more than two words, Toodie McCormick stepped out of the shadows beside one of the cameras.
"
Let me see that ankle. I
'
m not sure you should be working today.
"

Taffy looked questioningly at Toodie, who put an arm around Taffy
'
s shoulder and steered her to a chair.
"
Didn
'
t your mother explain to you?
"
Toodie asked.
"
I
'
m not only your teacher, but I
'
m your welfare worker as well. That
'
s the California law pertaining to children who have jobs. It
'
s also the law that you can
'
t work if you
'
re sick or injured. Now, let me look at your ankle.
"

Taffy did remember her mother
'
s saying something like that the first day she met Toodie, but she had never dreamed that a time would come when it would be important to her.

Reluctantly Taffy stuck out her foot while the director and other cast members gathered around. Toodie softly poked at it and then unwound the bandage, shaking her head.

"
How bad is it?
"
asked Jerry Lowenthal.

"
I
'
m afraid she
'
s going to have to stay off this at least until tomorrow and maybe the rest of the week,
"
said Toodie.