"Bennett, Cherie - Sunset Island 006 - Sunset Secrets" - читать интересную книгу автора (Bennett Cherie)

Sam had whispered to Leonard.
A few days later, someone had altered the sign
pointing in the direction of the dressing rooms so it
read "Salad Dressing Rooms." The other dancers
could barely control their laughter, and Sam had
felt she was finally a real member of the troupe.
Now, looking back, it might have been the point
at which, smartswise, she became a real vegetable.
Buoyed by the confidence of feeling she
belonged, it wasn't long before she was
overstepping her bounds in a rehearsal for the
Wild West Revue.
"And reach-two, reach-two, spin-two, dip-two,
jump-two, splits . . . and hold!" barked the
CritterЧas in Crispy CritterЧwhich was that
week's moniker for the choreography director.
Everyone had held. Almost immediately the
Critter had darted from the wings and scuttled
across the stage. "Okay, everybody up, and places,
please. Samantha, if you don't mind telling me,
what, exactly, was that move there at the end? It
certainly wasn't a split."
"Well, it's, um, just a little variation I worked
out on my own time," Sam had said, not sounding
nearly as assured as she'd meant to. It was true
that the move, two rapid alternating waist-high
kicks with both feet off the ground at once, had
required hours of practice. She'd made sure she
could do it flawlessly before springing it on the
troupe and her director. She had hoped it would
lead to more recognition, maybe even a solo. She
had anticipated applause.
"Is it your opinion that this routine needs
variation?" the Critter had asked innocently.
Might as well go for broke, she'd thought. "To
be honest, it does seem like this is almost the
exact same routine we do for the Rockin' Fifties
Revue. I mean, except for a couple do-si-dos."
Someone in the back line had tittered. Embold-
ened, Sam had continued, "I thought the kicks
might look more cowboy, you know, more rodeo,
more Wild West. I'm not sure a cowgirl would
even do splits. After all, they have cactuses and
all kinds of prickly things on the ground out
thereЧit could be painful."
The suppressed laughter had erupted then, but
Mr. Christopher hadn't cracked a smile. His eyes
had seemed to bulge out farther from their
sockets as the last sounds died onstage.
"Thank you for that edifying lecture on the