Tangled Tapestry. Anne Mather

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      ‘I think you’re beginning to like our national sport.’

      ‘I am,’ she agreed, nodding. ‘Particularly when our side is winning. Pete Lindsay is in my class.’

      ‘Of course he is,’ said the principal reflectively. ‘But tell me, Debra, what is all this about the Omega Studios, and Dominic McGill?’

      Debra was taken aback. ‘You … you know?’ she exclaimed.

      ‘Of course. How do you imagine they got your telephone number?’

      ‘Well, from the book, I suppose,’ murmured Debra awkwardly. ‘You mean they rang you?’

      ‘Exactly. It was obviously the most satisfactory way. But anyway, enough of that, what exactly did he have to say to you? Or is it too private for me to know?’

      ‘Oh, no—that is—well, actually, what did they tell you?’

      ‘Dominic McGill rang me. He told me he wanted to get in touch with you. Something about a screen test at the studios. Was that in the itinerary, by the way?’

      ‘Of course not.’ Debra was blushing furiously. ‘You must think me a stage-struck teenager!’

      David Hollister gave a short, mirthless laugh. ‘Hardly that, my dear, but I must confess I was disturbed when I found that a member of my staff had been taking a screen test.’

      ‘I was practically forced into it,’ replied Debra quickly. ‘Mr. Morley, Emmet Morley, that is, one of the directors—’

      ‘I have heard of Emmet Morley,’ remarked Hollister dryly.

      ‘—well, Mr. Morley said he wanted me to take a test, in front of all the children. Naturally, they would have been disappointed if I had refused.’

      ‘Yes, I can see that,’ he nodded. ‘But even so, it must have occurred to you that it was hardly what was expected of you.’

      ‘I know, I know.’ Debra compressed her lips. ‘I’m sorry.’

      ‘And is that all there was to it? This screen test?’

      Debra’s colour deepened. Somehow she didn’t want to have to tell him about everything else, not yet. It might not be true, and it was nothing to do with him, however friendly his interest might be.

      ‘Well, I suppose so,’ she temporised.

      David Hollister studied her confused expression. ‘Dominic McGill—whom we have all heard of; a man with numerous plays and films to his credit: who lives an entirely different life from any you have known, or me, for that matter; this man takes the trouble to find out your name and telephone number from the school principal, just because you’ve taken a screeen test that has apparently been successful! My dear Debra, the mind boggles!’

      Debra stared miserably at her fingernails. ‘Please, Mr. Hollister—David, then,’ as he protested, ‘don’t ask me any more now. There is more, I admit it, but just at this moment I don’t want to say any more.’

      Hollister looked a little annoyed, but he shrugged his shoulders and ran a hand over his thinning brown hair. ‘I can’t make you, of course.’ he said slowly. ‘But if I were you, I would think carefully before getting involved with a man like McGill. At the moment, he’s only a voice over the telephone; when you meet him you may be able to understand what I mean.’

      ‘Oh, but …’ began Debra, starting to tell him about McGill’s visit to her apartment, and then she stopped.

      Misunderstanding her, Hollister continued: ‘I know you’re going to say you can take care of yourself, but really, Debra, the film world is a very big jungle, swarming with wild animals. It’s kill or be killed, and quite frankly, I don’t think you have the proportions of a lady-killer.’

      Debra smiled at his humour, but said nothing.

      Hollister offered her a cigarette, and when they were both smoking, he said: ‘I’d like to think you’d think of me as someone you could turn to, if you found yourself out of your depth.’

      ‘Thank you.’ Debra felt grateful to him.

      ‘Well, as I’ve said, be careful. Remember what I’ve told you. No matter how much they flatter you, don’t be misled.’

      ‘I … I won’t,’ murmured Debra, wishing now he would let it go. But instead he returned to the subject of Dominic McGill.

      ‘Tell me,’ he said, ‘do you know much about McGill?’

      ‘Practically nothing,’ replied Debra truthfully.

      ‘Then remember, as a jungle animal, there is no one more dangerous.’

      Debra drew on her cigarette to avoid a reply, and he looked at her a little irritatedly.

      ‘I do know what I’m talking about,’ he said. ‘He’s completely without scruples, either morally or financially. The press can’t leave him alone. He’s news!’ He said the word with vehement dislike, and Debra wondered fleetingly whether in actual fact David Hollister didn’t envy, just a little, the life that Dominic McGill apparently led.

      She looked at Hollister uncertainly. ‘If you think he’s particularly interested in me, you couldn’t be more wrong,’ she said. ‘It … it’s not exactly a personal thing.’

      This of course intrigued David Hollister even more, and she could tell he was becoming more curious than ever. So changing the subject, she began talking about the sports they had in England, most particularly British football which was becoming more popular in the United States. David Hollister had no choice but to follow her lead, for without labouring the point there was nothing more he could say.

      That evening Debra went to the movies with Margaret Stevens, the teacher who took classes in music and drama. Margaret was a girl in her late twenties, unmarried now, although she had been married and divorced several years before. She was a cynic so far as men were concerned, and Debra didn’t take her comments about the opposite sex too seriously.

      She had not, of course, heard about Debra’s screen test, and for a few hours Debra determinedly put all thoughts of it out of her mind. The film, a powerful police thriller, was sufficient to occupy her thoughts, although she stiffened when she read in the credits that the screen play had been written by Dominic McGill. Was she to have no peace now? she thought angrily. Until then she had never bothered to read the credits.

      Afterwards they called in a coffee bar and had hamburgers and coffee, and discussed the film. When Debra returned to the apartment she felt pleasantly tired, and thought she would sleep without much difficulty. But once she was alone in bed, her thoughts turned back tortuously to the problem at the front of her mind, and she lay for hours puzzling the circumstances of her birth. Eventually, when she did get to sleep, she slept soundly and dreamlessly, not waking until after ten o’clock.

      Immediately her thoughts leapt to the remembrance that McGill was arriving at eleven o’clock to take her—where? She shook her head, slid out of bed, and washed hastily while the percolator bubbled appetizingly. She dressed in a slim-fitting suit of orange tweed, that suited her very well. With her dark hair and lightly tanned СКАЧАТЬ