Chapter 22: New Girl On the Features Desk
In Which Miss True starts a new job at the Morning Star and discusses Gilbert & Sullivan with members of the Redemption Culture Claque.
"Excuse me. I'm Cassandra True. I was told to report to the Features Desk?"
A handsome brown-haired man at the coffee machine paused in filling his cup and turned a pair of startlingly blue eyes toward her. "Ah, Miss True. The new girl. A memo came down about you this morning. Mr. Johnson's expecting you." He flashed Cassandra a smile.
"Thank you. I hope I'm not late." She had overslept that morning and nearly missed the bus. right when she so wanted to make a good impression on her first day at the Morning Star. And God, he had dimples!
"I'm Saul Taylor. One of our merry crew here. I guess we'll be working together." The guy offered his hand.
Cassandra stared into his blue eyes for a moment before taking it. "Wonderful! I mean... it's nice to meet you!" she said. Any minute now she'd begin blithering. She knew it.
"Mr. Johnson's office is this way." He led the way through a maze of desks to a corner office. Inside a middle aged man with a pudgy face sat evaluating photographs. The man looked up grumpily.
"This is Miss True," Saul said. "Cassandra, this is Billy Johnson, Features Editor; your new boss."
Cassandra tentatively offered her hand. "Hello, sir."
Johnson snorted. "Mister Knox says you come highly recommended. I hope you can pull your weight."
"I'll do my best, sir!"
Johnson dug through his desk and handed a file to Cassandra. "Well, we might as well put you to work. Here; I want you to do a story on the Redemption Culture Claque. They're putting on their annual Gilbert and Sullivan Festival and Mister Knox likes to have us cover it. He's a big patron of the arts. Taylor, show Miss True to her desk and help her get settled in." He turned his attention back to the photographs.
Saul began ushering Cassandra out of the office, when she paused and added, "Sir, I actually am working on a story right now you might be interested in." Johnson looked up, skeptically. "Well, maybe you might. It's about ghosts."
"Ghosts."
"Well, yes. Ghost sightings. You know." She immediately regretted saying anything; but the only thing she could do now is keep on going.
"Do you believe in ghosts, Miss True?"
"Uh... of course not!" Cassandra fibbed. "But a lot of people are interested in them and there are a lot of ghost stories in Redemption."
Johnson's face suddenly broke into a warm and paternal smile. "That's very true," he said in a condescending tone. "But we like to focus our coverage to things that actually impact our readers' lives." Right, like the Redemption Culture Claque, Cassandra thought sourly. "But don't give up on your story," Johnson continued in a soothing, syrupy voice. "Maybe we can run something like that next Walpurgis Night."
Then as quickly as it had gone, his grumpy demeanor returned. "Taylor, get back to work."
* * * * *
Back in the 1930s, the Alhambra Theater had been the premier movie house in the City of Redemption; a glittering movie palace to rival the most glamorous theaters of London or New York. Time and economics had worked their ruinous magic on the building and for decades the theater had been neglected and forgotten. Then, about a dozen years ago, the Redemption Culture Claque seized upon the theater as a piece of local history. They mounted a campaign to have it declared a National Monument and organized a fund-raising drive to restore it to its former glory.
Now, instead of being a showplace for first-run movies, the Alhambra was a venue for art films, visiting theatrical troupes and, of course, the Annual Gilbert & Sullivan Extravaganza. Looking at the magnificent architecture, the imposing marble columns and vaulted ceiling, the lavish murals and intricate mosaics of the restored theater, Cassandra had to admit that the ladies of the Culture Claque truly had benefited the community in this instance. It reminded her of Strephon, for some reason; old-fashioned, but... nice.
She shook her head. What was she thinking of him for?
A janitor entering the lobby with a vacuum cleaner noticed her. "May I help you?" he asked.
"Yes, thank you. I'm looking for Mrs. L.G. Trotter. I was told I could find her here."
The janitor pointed to the large doors at the end of the lobby. "She should be by the stage or thereabouts."
Cassandra thanked the janitor and headed into the theater. She saw Mrs. Trotter standing on the stage, directing a couple of workmen who were moving a piano. Another woman, noticeably older than Mrs. Trotter but with fewer chins, sat in the orchestra pit, looking over a score.
"Hello, Mrs. Trotter?" Cassandra called out. "My name is Cassandra True; I'm a reporter for The Daily -- uh, The Morning Star. We met the other night at a party of Melchior Dusk's."
Mrs. Trotter brightened and extended her hand. "Why of course! You were the young lady with that charming Mister Bellman! How pleasant to meet you again."
"Yes, I'm doing a story for the Star about the Gilbert and Sullivan Festival."
"Extravaganza," Mrs. Trotter corrected, "it's an Extravaganza! We're going to have a lecture by Sir Humphrey Smudge from Cambridge on the Victorian Theatre, a concert of some of Sir Arthur's serious music, a performance by our own local group of The Sorcerer and, of course, the ever popular Sing-It-Yourself Pinafore !"
"My! That does sound exciting," Cassandra said. She had seen The HMS Pinafore once on a school outing when she was nine years old and it bored her to tears, but she couldn’t tell Mrs. Trotter that.
"You don't know if Mister Bellman might have changed his mind about auditioning, do you? We could use someone to play Dr. Daly, the Lonely Vicar…” she gave the character’s name a melodramatic ring, “... and I think he'd be splendid!"
Strangely enough, Cassandra realized she could easily picture Strephon as a Lonely Vicar; but she really didn't want to talk about him.. "I’m not sure he'd be interested. He can't dance, you know."
"Oh he wouldn't have to dance. And I'm sure just by talking to him that he has a simply splendid singing voice."
"I'm afraid I couldn't say. Please, tell me more about the Extravaganza."
Mrs. Trotter was more than happy to oblige, and Cassandra had difficulty keeping up with her stream of chatter. She also noticed that the woman in the orchestra pit kept staring at her. At one point, Mrs. Trotter said, "...but if you want to know about the history of our event, you should talk to Miss Morrigan here. She's been with the Claque for years!"
The woman in the pit climbed the steps up to the stage on wobbly legs, never taking her eyes off Cassandra for an instant. "Good day, Miss True," she said.
"This is Belladonna Morrigan. She'll be playing Lady Sangazure in our production of The Sorcerer. She specializes in our 'Katisha' roles, don't you know. Belladonna, Dear, tell Miss True a little bit about how this group was founded."
"I can do better than that," the old woman said. "I have a number of souvenirs from some of our early productions. Perhaps you would be interested in seeing them?"
"Yes, certainly," Cassandra said.
"Good. Then I insist that you come and visit me. I'd be delighted to have you."
"Well," Cassandra hesitated. "If it's not too much trouble."
The old woman smiled, adding even more wrinkles to her leathery face. "No trouble at all."
NEXT: Into The Woods
