Free Night on Terror Island by Philip Caveney

films.’
    ‘But you won’t even be watching it!’ Kip reminded her. ‘Why do you have to make everything so difficult?’
    ‘We’ve brought your books and crayons,’ added Dad. ‘You can just sit in the office with me and amuse yourself.’
    ‘It’s not fair! Why do I have to?’
    Kip sighed. It was Friday night and Mum had announced that she had yet another of her late meetings, which meant that he and Dad were stuck with Rose for the night.
    ‘Why don’t you ever get nice films?’ she demanded. ‘Something
I’d
like to watch. Something about ponies or fairies or princesses?’
    ‘We
do
get nice films sometimes,’ Kip told her. ‘But we can’t do anything about tonight. Anyway, it’s Dad who chooses the films, not me.’
    This was true – though, in reality, Kip was a big influence on Dad’s choices.
    ‘They don’t make many nice films any more,’ said Dad. ‘Most people prefer the scary ones.’
    ‘Well I don’t!’
    ‘It’s only for a couple of hours,’ Kip reminded her. ‘You’ll be able to sit in the office and draw. You
like
drawing.’
    Rose looked at him indignantly.
    ‘I have to be in the mood,’ she told him.
    The Paramount came in to view and they saw Mr Lazarus waiting by the open doors. He smiled at Rose as Kip dragged her up the steps and inside.
    ‘Ah, here’s my favourite girl,’ he said. ‘How are you tonight, Rose?’
    ‘All right,’ said Rose, grumpily. She always seemed very wary of Mr Lazarus, Kip thought, but she was like that with most people until she got to know them properly. It came from years of Mum telling her not to have anything to do with strangers. And they didn’t come much stranger than Mr Lazarus.
    Just then, Dad’s mobile phone rang. He lifted it to his ear and listened for a moment. His expression became grave.
    ‘Oh no,’ he said. Kip looked at him. ‘Oh dear,’ he said. ‘I see. Well, of course somebody needs to be there with her. Uh huh. Just a minute.’ He took the phone away from his ear and looked at Kip. ‘It’s Grannie,’ he said. ‘She’s had a bit of a fall. Nothing too serious but they’ve taken her into hospital. They’re going to have to operate tonight.’ Kip knew that this was a big problem. Grannie lived alone in a little house in Blackburn and had nobody up there who could help her. Dad thought for a moment, clearly unsure of what to do. ‘I won’t be able to contact your mum; she always switches her mobile off in meetings … but somebody needs to go over to Blackburn and help sort Grannie out.’ He looked at Kip and Mr Lazarus. ‘I’m afraid we might have to cancel the film for tonight.’
    Kip stared at his father. ‘We can’t do that!’ he protested. ‘It’s the first night of
Terror Island
. The place will be packed.’
    ‘I can’t help that. It’s hard enough running things with three people, let alone two. And there’s Rose to think about.’
    Mr Lazarus stepped forward and placed a hand reassuringly on Dad’s shoulder.
    ‘Please don’t worry, Mr McCall,’ he said. ‘We can handle things here, can’t we, Kip?’
    ‘Er … yeah, sure, absolutely.’ Kip nodded. ‘Course we can.’
    ‘Kip can handle the ticket booth and the confectionary and I can move between the projection room and the office. Once the film is running, I’ll be free to come down and help Kip out.
    ‘I don’t know …’said Dad. ‘It’s a bit of a tall order.’
    ‘Not at all. You just go and do whatever you need to do.’ Mr Lazarus smiled that sleepy smile of his. ‘We’ll take care of everything. I promise.’
    Dad still looked worried but lifted the phone to his ear again. ‘OK, tell her I’m on my way,’ he said. ‘I’ll be there as soon as I can.’ He rang off. ‘OK, Kip, obviously you’ll have to keep a close eye on Rose tonight.’
    ‘Oh but, Dad, it’s Friday. It’s—’
    ‘I know what night it is,’ Dad assured him. ‘But just for once you’re going to have to give the movie a miss.