Fred Escapes but Astra Does Not

Facing him was a cupboard which looked as though it might be used for storing props. He opened it, hoping to find something that he could wear. Then he heard creaking floorboards from not too far away. Fearful that someone was approaching, he dived into the cupboard and pulled the door closed after him.

Meanwhile Astra was trapped under the curtain and thus in total darkness, but she could feel it moving against her skin as it was tugged first one way and then another. Someone else was obviously trapped under it with her, and was struggling energetically to free himself. When she fell she had not seen what had happened to Fred. It seemed highly likely that he was the other person, but she could not be sure.

She struggled to free herself, uncomfortably aware that in the process she would almost certainly have dislodged her remaing banana skins. Even if she could get out in time to evade the audience, when she made her escape they were going to see more than she would have wished,

Then the other person's flailing hand came in contact with her ankle, and grabbed it. "Fred, is that you?" she hissed. "Let go!"

There was no response. She pulled and kicked, but the grasp of whoever it was remained firm. She could hear the tramp of feet up onto the stage, and knew that it was too late for her to escape now. Then the curtain was pulled away, and she found herself looking up at the exultant faces of half a dozen men, two of whom carried the strange metal devices that she had guessed might be weapons. She saw that the man that she had been struggling with was not Fred but her own "second", who must have dahed out from the wings when he saw the curtain rail starting to fall, Jocko, that was his name she recalled.

The lord and the more important members of the audience were now back in their seats, she saw, having evidently sorted themselves out after having had Fred land in their laps. "Well that was most entertaining," the lord observed. "Your partner seems to have made himself scarce, young lady. That's a pity, since as winner of the arm-wrestling contest he was entitled to some clothes. You, on the other hand, are still on the stage, and once the curtain has been cleared away you shall commence your forfeit. If you try to escape again, you will be shot. If you refuse any of the tasks that Ralph thinks up for you, you can spend a month in the dungeons. Now, on your feet."

Astra reluctantly stood up, to a chorus of wolf whistles, while two of the men pulled the curtain and rail off into the wings. "I see that ordering you to remove your costume has become unnecessary," the lord said. "Ralph, she's all yours for the next half-hour."

"Thank you, my lord. You seem like a very athletic young lady. So to begin: Ralph says turn half a dozen cartwheels."

1. If the rest of the things that she was required to do were no worse, then it wouldn't be so bad, Astra reflected. She did as she was bid.
2. In an attempt to escape, Astra let her cartwheels take her into the wings, gambling that the men with the metal devices wouldn't realise in time what she was up to.
3. Just then, the door at the back of the hall was flung open. An angry-looking young woman in an expensive gown stood there. "You're all making so much noise, that I can't get the baby to sleep." Then she saw Astra and shouted: "What is going on, Eric?!"

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