The Lady Vanishes

Astra leaned over to Fred and said, "It is sweet of you to look out for me, but I can take care of myself. After you win, go to the front of the stage and put on a show."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes. Don't forget to bend you knees a bit when you go up, and it will turn out fine."

Apparently Astra had a plan. Fred tensed his face, made an effort, and pushed Astra's forearm down to the table. The crowd cheered sarcastically.

Fred walked to the front of the stage, waved his arms (but remembered to bend his knees a little) and shouted, "I put her in her place. She called me a puppy, and coward, and a liar. She talked big, but when it came time to deliver, she just couldn't ..."

Fred felt the inside of Astra's foot kick his rear end. He shouted, "Who-o-o-o-a-a," as he lost his balance and fell into the bench nearest the stage. He tried to collide into as many people as possible, to create the most distraction that he could, as well as to cushion his fall. Fred did his job well, as members from the audience from the second and third benches jostled with fleeing customers from the front bench that Fred had fallen near. Fred was lucky that he did not break a shin. The theater was in chaos. When Fred turned to the stage to take a look, he found out why. Astra was nowhere to be seen. He had assumed that she had gone backstage, but from the look that he saw on Ralph's face, it appeared that she had not been intercepted by stagehands just yet. Or perhaps she had seen a path out that he had not yet found?

Fred quickly looked around to see if there was an avenue of escape that had opened up in the confusion.

1. There was.
2. There was not.

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