Haunting Melody Read Online Free PDF Page A

followed this decidedly
feeble-witted bluff.
    “My name is Briley McShan. I’m a
stagehand-electrician here. I try to avoid the women’s dressing
rooms because the ladies who inhabit them are usually lunatics. But
when Saree raced up asking me to check on an ailing girl, I came.
Saree’s got one very big heart. She was quite worried that
something was wrong with you.” He surveyed me with more than a
passing glance. “Obviously she was right.”
    “Oh, thanks very much. I appreciate your
comment more than I can say.”
    His expression changed to a thoroughly wicked
grin. “Oh, there’s nothing wrong with your looks.” He paused, took
a breath then hurried on as a slight flush crossed his face. “It’s
the fact of you that’s wrong. You don’t seem to belong here.
Whether you’re just a practical joker or a spy I haven’t yet
decided. But there’s something not right about you.”
    I smiled. “So, Briley McShan. Stagehand and
electrician. Who’s the dog belong to?”
    “Nice dodge, Melody Flynn.”
    I kept smiling. My face hurt.
    He shrugged. “All right. Let me introduce you
to Sir Duffy Gordon. D.G. for short. He was originally a present to
Flo and Billie from Lucille, the English designer. Heard of her?
Lady Duff-Gordon. Flo brought him to work one day right after they
got him and the pup kept following me and ignoring everyone else.
The Ziegfelds already have about five dogs and rabbits and sheep
and raccoons and rabbits, so they gave him to me. He’s barely six
months old, but he’s good company, the cast loves him, and he’s
normally a superb guard dog for backstage. How you got in without
his howling is amazing. You must have a way with animals. Now...
Who.... Are... You?”
    His patience was at an end.
    I looked into his eyes. Could I tell him I
thought I’d time-traveled without fear of immediate commitment to a
lunatic asylum? I opened my mouth to start an explanation but what
came out instead was, “I’ve got a dog named after Lucille, too.
Really. I mean, she’s Lucy for short and she is short. A miniature
Border Collie. She’d love Duffy. Probably herd him through the
theatre, then wrestle him to the floor for playtime.”
    Briley bit his lip. “I’m supposed to trust
you because you like dogs?”
    He hadn’t softened even with the mention of
the sweetest dog in any era. So much for trying to explain my
situation.
    Fortunately Saree came racing into the
dressing room, shrieking in an attempt to be a soprano. “Melody!
They’re definitely looking for understudies. I told them about this
funny tall redhead who just dropped in. If you get out there now
you really have a chance of being hired. Please, please hurry.”
    I jumped up. I was still a tad woozy, but
this could not only get out of explanations but possibly land me a
job. I was bonkers. Looney tunes. A wannabe-costume designer from
the Twenty-first Century thinking I could become a Follies girl.
But, if I didn’t make it as a real live Ziegfeld chorine, maybe
they’d let me work in wardrobe as a seamstress? If I couldn’t get
myself back, some kind of security in 1919 was needed so I didn’t
end up roaming the streets singing Elvis tunes, begging for
quarters, sleeping in doorways and hunting for small witches. Then
again, maybe I could get in good with Billie Burke and ask her to
do her Glinda bit and send me home. Did granny boots work like ruby
slippers?
    I have to admit I was also thrilled with the
idea of getting the chance to audition for the Ziegfeld Follies. I
looked at Saree, a bit puzzled by her instant acceptance of this
slightly looney stranger who’d literally fallen into her dressing
room.
    “Why are you trying to help me?”
    Saree snorted. “Partly because if you don’t
get this job, they’ll probably give it to Eloise Jenkins. Since
Dolores isn’t it the show this year, Flo is desperate to find
someone tall, preferably to sub for Jesse. Eloise is tall - though
not as tall as you. But I don’t like