Now the orchestra is in place. A row of footlights shine red and yellow. Joel is standing behind the curtain, but is almost blinded. All the members of the orchestra are wearing red jackets now. Kringström’s face is already sweaty.
Then they start playing. Not many people dance at first. Some of the boys venture over to the Mountain Wall, but they soon retreat to the opposite wall again. All the time Joel is keeping an eye on the swing doors where Engman is trying to keep the Pack of Wolves under control. None of those Joel is expecting to see has arrived as yet. But it’s starting to get crowded out there now. Queues are forming at the swing doors. Engman is flailing his arms about. The orchestra starts to play another tune. It’s a faster beat. More people are dancing now. A group of boys are standing in front of the stage, watching the orchestra. They are not dancing. They are just watching and listening.
Then Joel notices Sara and Samuel. Engman is still flailing his arms about, and Sara and Samuel make their way through the throng.
They can’t see me here, Joel thinks. Not while I’m hidden behind this birch tree.
Now they are dancing. Samuel has his arm round Sara. It looks as if he is jumping. He’s sticking his bottom out and pushing Sara along in front of him. Joel starts laughing behind his birch tree. He’s never seen Samuel like this before. His eyes are glued to Sara and Samuel, and he forgets all about keeping an eye on the swing doors. Only when the dance has finished and Sara is wiping the sweat from her face does he remember that he has to keep a check on who comes in. It is as crowded as ever around the doors. He can’t see either the Caviar Man or Gertrud.
It’s Samuel’s fault, he thinks in annoyance. If he hadn’t brought Sara here, I’d never have forgotten to keep an eye on the swing doors.
The orchestra starts playing again. Sara and Samuel are dancing. Joel keeps his eyes skinned. He suddenly catches sight of the Caviar Man. He can see the back of his head among all the couples on the dance floor. But then he realises it isn’t the Caviar Man after all. It’s somebody else. And where is Gertrud?
They’re not going to turn up, he thinks. It’s gone wrong again...
It’s hard work, peering through the hole in the birch tree. He has to lean forward all the time in order to see. When the orchestra finishes playing, he stands erect and stretches. He walks to the edge of the birch woods and looks into the wings. The World’s Fattest Drummer is wiping the sweat from his brow. Kringström puts down his saxophone and picks up the clarinet instead.
‘Siam Blues,’ Kringström shouts. ‘Are you ready?’
He stamps his foot to beat the rhythm, and Joel does the same. Just as Kringström plays the first note, Joel sees the Caviar Man.
He’s in the group gathered in front of the stage, watching the orchestra.
Joel dodges quickly back into the shadowy wings. Are his eyes deceiving him again? No, it’s the Caviar Man all right. He’s come!
The Caviar Man seems to be staring up wistfully at the orchestra. His lips keep moving, as if he were playing an invisible saxophone. Just like Joel. He suddenly turns round and looks behind him. He’s looking for Gertrud, Joel thinks. But it’s not Gertrud who poked him in the back. It’s somebody else. The Caviar Man looks angry. He tries to make himself a bit more room.
Then it all turns pitch black in front of Joel. It’s the World’s Fattest Drummer who’s moved his stool slightly and landed slap bang in front of the peephole. Joel can’t see a thing. He goes back to the wings. It’s not such a good place as behind the curtain — if the Caviar Man suddenly turns his head, he’ll be able to see Joel watching him. The same applies to all the couples who are dancing. They could see him as well. Now he has to look in several directions all at once. I could do with some extra eyes, he thought. At least another ten...
When the orchestra takes a rest and leaves the stage, Joel has started to get worried. Why hasn’t Gertrud come? he wonders. Surely she must have been pleased to receive another letter from the Caviar Man.
‘What do you think you’re doing here?’ says a voice behind him.
Joel is so startled, he almost jumps out of the wings and onto the stage.
It’s the Community Centre manager, Engman. He looks angry.
‘What’s a little kid like you doing in here?’ he says, looking even more angry. ‘This is for grown-ups. How did you get in?’
Nothing annoys Engman more that people trying to sneak into a dance or a film show. Joel has heard lots of stories about what Engman can do when he’s angry.
‘I belong to the orchestra,’ he says, his voice shaking.
Engman stares at him.
‘Are you Kringström’s lad?’ he asks.
‘Yes,’ says Joel. ‘He’s my dad.’
‘OK,’ says Engman. ‘In that case you can stay here.’
Engman disappears into the wings. What will happen if he starts talking to Kringström, Joel wonders. But he calms down when he realises that they talk to each other as little as possible. They are not exactly the best of friends.
The Caviar Man has vanished. It’s completely empty in front of the stage. Joel leans forward cautiously and looks out into the big dance hall. He can see a crowd of people at the doors leading into the café, but there’s no sign of the Caviar Man. Nor can he see Samuel and Sara. He makes up his mind to recapture his peephole behind the birch tree. If he can move the stool behind the drums slightly, the World’s Fattest Drummer won’t be sitting in the way any more. All the musicians are in the changing room. He peers out into the hall again. There are a few people out there, but nobody is looking at the stage. He leaps like a tiger towards the drummer’s stool, but needless to say, he bumps into a music stand. When he thrusts an arm out to maintain his balance, he accidentally punches one of the cymbals. The sound echoes around the hall. He loses his hat and his glasses and tumbles down among the drums. He recovers the hat straight away, but the glasses must have landed under the big bass drum. He races back into the wings again. He looks across at the wings on the other side of the stage, and sees the World’s Fattest Drummer staring anxiously at his drums. Joel sidles back into the shadows. The big man on the other side of the stage shrugs, and goes away. Joel can breathe again. He moves back to his place in the wings where he can see into the auditorium.
Sara is standing in the middle of the dance floor, looking at him. Straight at him.
He’s been rumbled! Joel realises that there’s no point dodging back into the shadows. Sara has discovered him. She must have been somewhere out there, heard the noise when he hit the cymbal, and recognised him.
But where’s Samuel? Has Samuel rumbled him as well? Joel looks at Sara. She stares back at him, as if she couldn’t believe her eyes. Then she breaks into a smile. Smiles and shakes her head. At the same time Joel notices Samuel. He’s coming out of the door to the café.
Joel raises a finger to his lips. Will Sara understand?
Yes, she understands. She nods and raises her own index finger to her lips.
Joel takes a step back. Now he can’t be seen. But he can hear Samuel’s voice.
‘What are you staring at?’ Samuel asks.
‘I think there was a cat in the wings over there,’ says Sara.
‘A cat?’ says Samuel in surprise.
‘I may have been mistaken,’ says Sara. ‘It was probably nothing.’
Joel stands motionless in the shadows. It’s a big moment when you fall in love with somebody. Now Joel is in love with Sara. She hadn’t said anything. She’d turned Joel into a cat. He knew she would keep his secret.
She must wonder, Joel thinks. He makes up his mind to tell her why he’d gone to the Community Centre. He’d tell her one of these days. Some time in the future...