the audience. There were cries of "No" from several sections. "Here he is, ladies and gentlemen Mr. Marty Salter." She turned and stepped over to Marty, lead- ing him forward. There was ap- plause like the troupe had never heard in that little theatre, or never had to that point anyway. Ace, the next man in line, looked in amazement at David.

"Now, take off your wig, dar- ling," said Nadine. Poor Marty, thought David. He could do little else but oblige.

It wasn't until they were back in their dressing room, Marty having gone with the girls, that

David realized that the show's closing had not been announced. Perhaps she forgot about it, he thought, not daring to think that 'The Great Shoot-Out' might ac- tually be extended.

"Hey, have you seen the re- views of Marty's performance?" Rosalie Hammond threw the pa- per onto the crowded lunch table at Fatima's.

"Have you seen Marty?" growled Ace, his dark glasses covering the ravaged appearance of his eyes.

"After the way you guys treat- ed him last night?" Sally was still angry. The troupe had teased David and Marty unmercifully about the kiss in the hooker scene, Cindy being the worst. When she asked Marty how much he charged, and if he'd recom- mend David to Marty's new friends, Marty had finally had enough. He'd hardly said a word anyway after the show, or at Fatima's. But after Cindy's ques- tion, he'd almost run out of the coffee-house with Sally chasing after him, leaving several nasty expressions about Cindy's par-

ents behind her.

"It was all in fun," said David placatingly.

"Fun!” snapped Sally Rader. "The reviews, kiddies! The re- views!" Rosalie picked up the paper and languidly let it go. "Marty gets a whole paragraph, and all of it good! Wanna bet there'll be a big house tonight?" Her tone was mocking, spiced with innuendo.

There was a stunned silence at the table. In the background, cups rattled as secretarial work- ers hurried off to their offices as lunch hour abruptly ended. "They - they'd be coming to see Marty," said Sally slowly.

"Oh, but he wouldn't have to

"Cindy began, but then she saw David's face. She took his arm and hugged it to her. "Oh, the poor kid," she said softly.

"Well," said David. "Be nice to him tonight, do you hear?”

"Yes," said Cindy and Sally in unison. They stared at each other and then looked away. Everyone seemed more than a little embarassed.

"We're, uh, we're supposed to rehearse today," said Farrell.

"That's right, dearies," Rosalie gave Farrell and Ace a pat on their knees. "Let's all go and shake our tails." As she stood and made exaggerated progress towards the door, they all began to smile. No-one could stay mad for long with Rosalie around.

Nadine was in deep conversa- tion with a little group of dark- suited men throughout the 're- hearsal' so that it was actually Sally Rader, who had choreo- graphed most of the dances, with no billing, who ordered them about. As a rehearsal, the time spent was wasted, as Marty

-8.

wasn't there, and Jackie was just going through the motions, her voice quite gone with gone with acute laryngitis.

At the end of the desultory ses- sion, Nadine left her little group and spoke directly to Sally. "Where's Marty?" she asked

Sally shrugged. "I don't know, she said.”

"Come on now," snapped Na- dine. "You're living with the guy aren't you? What's the matter with him?"

Sally was wearing a loose sweater and dancing tights. With her hands on her hips, and with- out makeup, she looked like a very tough, muscular woman - which she was. “You humiliated him last night," she said, giving the director a very cool look. “I won't be surprised if he never comes back to the show."

For a moment, Nadine looked a little stunned which made even David Rennick feel a little twinge of satisfaction. It took quite a lot to pierce 'Miss Congeniality's' cool, Nadine had reached the stage through the beauty contest route, and each of the 'kids' se- cretly cheered Sally on.

""

"Then, he won't get paid to- night,' said Nadine frostily. "And neither will any of you un- less Marty performs."

Sally was the only one not to show concern. "You want him to do his own part, or Jackie's?” she asked quite coolly.

Nadine's dark eyes flashed. "Jackie's part," she hissed.

Sally gave her a very long look "All right," she said finally. "I'll talk to him. I'll let you know what he says."

Beautiful! David Rennick chortled inside. Sally was treat- ing Nadine in just the same way that Nadine treated them. It was