Sam in the Spotlight by Anne-Marie Conway Page B

office and ask him to turn it down.”
    It was obvious she was trying to avoid Arthur, but I didn’t mind – I was pleased for an excuse to get out. I wandered down the corridor, thinking about Ellie and how I was going to break the news. I kept telling myself she’d thank me in the end, but now that I’d actually seen her I wasn’t so sure. Arthur’s office is tucked around the corner by the toilets. I was just about to knock and go in when I heard him talking to Mrs. Beagle from the church fund-raising committee – or at least that’s what I thought at first.
    â€œ Mrs. Beagle, ” he was saying, “ we’ve worked together for all these years but recently… No, no, that’s no good… Let me see… Mrs. Beagle, ever since your poor husband passed away… Oh dear, that’s not right either… My dear Mrs. Beagle, or may I call you June? Ever since you came here to help raise money for the church, my feelings for you have deepened… ”
    I put my hand up to my mouth to stop myself laughing. Mrs. Beagle wasn’t in there at all. It was Arthur talking to himself and we’d obviously made a massive mistake. The love letter we found must have been for Mrs. Beagle, not Mandy, and it sounded as if he was planning to propose to her at any second. The hilarious thing was Mandy thought Arthur was in love with her, when he was actually madly in love with Mrs. Beagle!
    I waited until I was sure I wasn’t going to laugh and then I knocked on the door.
    â€œYes?” said Arthur, peering out.
    I explained about the heating and he promised to turn it down.
    â€œI don’t know where my head is at the moment,” he sighed. “I actually put the kettle in the fridge and tried to boil the milk this morning. I suppose it must be my age.”
    But it wasn’t his age of course. It was hormones! And I knew all about that!
    Back in the hall, Mandy had everyone round the piano.
    â€œI’m so excited,” she was saying, “because my boyfriend Julian has agreed to compose some spooky music for the show. It’s going to play out all through the opening number and then whenever the phantom face appears at the window.”
    â€œCan’t he compose some special music for me?” said Monty B. “Like some really cool detective music or something?”
    â€œSorry for being thick, yeah,” said Neesha, “but what exactly is detective music?”
    â€œWhat I’d like you to do,” said Mandy, ignoring them, “is to sing the opening number in a really creepy way. Try to put across to the audience that you can’t trust anyone, not even the people you think you know really well.”
    I looked over at Ellie. She trusted Eddie but he was a liar and a cheat and it was up to me to save her. I didn’t take my eyes off her all the way through the song and whenever we sang the line “ The question of trust is one that you must be sure of – or you’ll be in trouble! ” I practically yelled the words right in her face, drowning out the rest of the group.
    â€œCalm down a bit, Sam,” said Mandy. “You should be half-whispering, remember, not shouting at the top of your voice. It’s great that you’re so enthusiastic, but you need to listen to the others – not sing over them.”
    â€œI was just trying to get across how easy it is to trust someone when you don’t really know anything about them,” I said, still staring straight at Ellie.
    â€œI swear my mum doesn’t trust anyone,” said Neesha. “She’s totally paranoid about me speaking to strangers or answering the door or even stepping foot outside the house without her watching my every move.”
    â€œMy mum’s the total opposite,” said Monty B. “She says a stranger is just a friend you haven’t met yet. ”
    Neesha rolled her eyes. “Yeah, well no one’s as