Stage Fright!

Soon the forty seats were full and still people
were arriving! There was Grandpa Albert on the
second row, Uncle Max at the back, and in the middle
Tim and Polly Stack, Mr Gumtree, Farmer and Mrs
Bagwash, Mr and Mrs Whistle-White and a long
queue at the Box Office.
Sophie's mum and dad propped up some wooden
planks on logs to make extra benches so there were
enough seats for everyone to sit down.
Twenty-four adults and thirty-three children!
It was an incredible turnout.
Where had they all come from?
‘It might be something to do with some phone calls
Elsa made,’ said Sophie's mum. ‘She was ringing
people and telling them that The Barn Theatre wasn't
really haunted and that she was sorry for scaring them
and that the play was going to be wonderful and
that they'd got to come along or they would miss a
real treat!’
‘Good for Elsa,’ said Cressida. ‘She really is sorry.
It must have been difficult for her to ring up all those
people and tell them she'd been wrong.’
The audience were indeed in for a treat. The Barn
Theatre looked magical! The DDC had decorated it
with great swathes of holly and ivy hanging from the
ancient beams. Sophie's dad had woven twinkling
138