Chapter 50- Time

Gabriele was almost sure that Erik would have worked out what was going on by now. As much as he hated to admit it, Lambourne was frighteningly intelligent, far more so than anyone else Gabriele had ever known. The night had set in fast, as it usually does in the winter months, and he was hiding in a bush across the road from the theatre.

From his vantage point he could see around the back of the theatre and some of the front. If he had chosen to go the other way the stables would, almost certainly, have blocked his view of the rear entrance.

It was ten minutes after he had arranged to meet Louis and there was no sign of him at, or anywhere near, the door. Gabriele was not stupid by any means and he knew that this mean that Louis was likely dead, at best, incapacitated. He signalled to Patrick who was across the other side of the street but a little further away from the theatre.

It was time to switch to their back up plan.

Instead of hanging around any longer they both snuck back from the edges of the street into an alley between two commercial buildings. There were three others waiting for them there.

'Where is Louis?'

Gabriele looked around him, checking there was no one there before he spoke, 'Dead,' he said simply.

'This is useless,'

'Don't be an idiot,' Gabriele snapped. 'You work for me and you will do as I say,'

'And end up like Louis?' Another of his men asked.

'The second plan will work just as well,' Gabriele insisted, leaning against the cold wall. 'I have been following that short man for a couple of days and found the secret entrance to Lambourne's home,'

There were a few grunts and a nod but no one really seemed interested. They did not understand how desperate the situation was getting. Now, it was not just a matter of capturing Erik, they needed to do it before he found them. Gabriele was in little doubt that Louis was already killed and that Erik
would be on the look out for the members of the company.

If they did not deal with him then he would finish them all off once and for all.

First, however, they needed the money.

'We will go in and deal with whatever we find,'

'This is a joke,'

'Shut up,' Gabriele growled. 'This isn't the time for you to be yellow about it. It's too late for that. Don't you know he knows what we had planned, don't you know that he will kill us all if we don't go through with this anyway!'

Patrick sighed. 'He might kill us anyway,'

'We have pistols,'

'And you know that Erik doesn't?'

Gabriele nodded. 'It is one of the things I know for sure,' he said. 'He doesn't like pistols, he keeps swords and traps,'

'And if we get caught in one of these traps?'

'You'll be dead,' Gabriele shrugged. 'But there are no traps at the secret entrance... which is why he has kept it secret,'

'Well, where is the not secret entrance?' The tallest in the group asked.

'You have to get to it from inside the theatre,' He ran his hand through his hair. 'No one has ever made it out, therefore, we are not sure anyone ever made it in,'

'Won't the secret entrance be guarded?' Patrick asked.

'It will,' Gabriele said. 'By his friend, name of Nadir, but we can deal with him,'

'Are you sure?'

'He isn't expecting us,'

'How do you know?'

Gabriele smiled. 'Why would either of them expect us at the entrance nobody knows about?'

'They were expecting Louis to be in the theatre,'

'Well,' he said. 'Erik is clever,'

'Then surely he is clever enough to protect the secret entrance,'

Gabriele rolled his eyes. 'He is,'

'Then...'

'He has it protected by Nadir, I've told you we can handle him,' Gabriele rubbed his cold hands together. 'The others are meeting us not far from the theatre, we'll then peddle back and make our way in,'

The other men looked at each other and finally, one by one, nodded their assent.

It was time.

Erik looked around him from the top of the ledge. He could not see Gabriele or any of his little goons but he was almost certain that they were there. It was not important at that time, he had Nadir at his home, and he was up in the theatre out of sight.

Well, for a while.

He made his way back into the theatre through a gap in the masonry and followed the slim opening to the corridor. Lowering himself carefully, he looked around him and, sure that the coast was clear, he walked quietly to the back of the stage. He could hear people in the back stage area but most were on stage in this part of the performance, he had planned it that way. He slid past them without anyone noticing and slipped on his own disguise. The last three people bounced on to the stage and Erik was left alone except for the sound of Ubaldo Piangi warming his voice up. Erik followed the voice in silence and found that Piangi was standing just outside the door to the stage.

'Ubaldo,' he almost whispered the other man's name.

'What is it?' The short man asked, turning the look at the hooded figure before him. 'Eh, that is my spare costume!'

'I know,' Erik said, quietly.

'Who are you?' Ubaldo demanded. 'What do you want?'

'You don't know who I am?' Erik kept his head bowed. 'I'm hurt,'

'If you came for my signature then you are wasting your time, Monsieur, I am far too busy, as you will probably know,'

'I can take a weight off for you,' Erik quipped and he realised that part of him was actually enjoying this.

Ubaldo's face creased into disgust. 'You foolish little man,'

'Apologies,'

'This is what I live for!' he exclaimed. 'This is no weight on my shoulders! This is everything, the music, the adoration; this is what I live for!'

'And die for, Monsieur?' Erik asked.

'You are disturbing me now,' Piangi said, backing away with some caution. 'Who did you say you were?'

'I'm here to help you,' He almost meant it. If Ubaldo left now, then Erik would let him live.

'How can you help me?' The older man asked, frowning. 'I need nothing from you,'

'I think you do,'

'What do I need?'

'My help, of course,'

'What help?'

Erik shrugged, head low. 'You cannot sing this part,'

'I can sing any part,'

'You can't hold the notes well enough, your voice is not rich enough,' Erik made his voice soft. 'How can you sing it?'

'I can do anything I like, Monsieur,' Ubaldo stepped further away. 'Leave me,'

'Of course,' Erik smiled to himself. 'The all seeing, all knowing Ubaldo Piangi who is so tone deaf he doesn't even recognise my voice,'

'Should I?'

'Perhaps not,'

'Then leave,'

So be it. 'Certainly,'

Erik turned and opened the door, stepping out and the climbing up the rope to his left. It made it so that he was just above the back stage area, standing directly over Ubaldo as he took his place in the wardrobe designed to hide Don Juan. The closet was tall and wide, exaggerated so that it was noticeable. He followed as the cast wheeled it towards the back of the stage; he stepped carefully along a beam so that he was crouched over the top of the wardrobe.

They were behind the second set of curtains, designed to mask the rear of the stage when props were being brought on and off whilst there was a performance happening at the front. To his credit, Ubaldo did not look a bit nervous, even after his encounter with Erik backstage. The man had not even known who Erik was.

He looked out across the stage. He had only minutes.

It was time.

Meg twirled and found her way to the side of the stage with the rest of the dancers. They gracefully moved backwards until they were off stage and out of the audience's eye line. She managed to catch Christine's attention as she moved away and she nodded some encouragement at her. Backstage was quiet and the girls carefully went about their business, taking their shoes off and stretching their muscles.

They were done now. Their part was over.

Meg listened to the music now playing on stage and she recognised it immediately, the play was nearly over and this was the part that Christine had been dreading. The part where she had to be up close with Ubaldo, not something she relished in.

Meg glanced out quickly at the audience, frozen to their seats, as if they knew too.

It was time.

The dancers had done well and made her proud. Antoinette felt that she was glowing slightly as she stepped into the backstage area; she was so proud of her girls and especially of her Meg. When she arrived they were all busy cooling down, making sure that they didn't strain anything.

'You all did very well,' she said quietly, making sure to look at each of them in turn. 'The audience were pleased, the managers looked pleased and I am very happy,'

They all smiled at her warmly. She had told them all the previous evening that after this run at the theatre she would be gone. Antoinette was now tasked with finding a suitable replacement and Reyner, bless him, had expressed how difficult he thought it would be to replace her. She had felt her cheeks flush at this comment and, for the first time in a while, felt like a youngster.

'Thank you, mama,' Meg kissed her cheek softly.

Antoinette could hear the music starting and much of the cast dispersing from the stage area into the sides. The music, she knew, signalled what Ubaldo Piangi was looking forward to most. Being close to Christine, she just hoped that he could keep himself professional throughout. Poor child, she thought, looking at her Goddaughter.

Christine looked confident but there was something in her eyes, something distant and sad, and Antoinette thought that she understood what it was.

Fear for Erik, fear for Raoul.

The worry placed squarely on such young shoulders was a heavy burden to carry.

As she watched she felt a chill crawl along her spine. She looked around and everyone was still there, many watching the show from the sides, but something was wrong.

Something was very wrong and in that instant she simply knew.

It was time.