Carrie walked around, mingling with the theatergoers until she found two women chatting energetically as they waited to go into the theater. One was old enough to be a grandmother; the other was young enough to be the woman's daughter. Carrie did her best to look as if she belonged to them and followed them through the front entrance. When she was inside, she forgot everything except the scene in front of her. This was what she'd been looking for in the books and magazine articles in the library! This was a theater audience! As they poured into the lobby of the Vivian Beaumont, the place seemed to crackle with energy. Part of it was the noise of a hundred different conversations going strong as everyone milled around, waiting to go into the auditorium where the stage was—Zoe's mother called it “the house.” But it was more than just the sound; it was the sense of anticipation, the feeling of a crowd of people looking forward to something they knew was going to be great. Carrie circled the room, breathing in the excitement.

A bell rang and a door opened at the back of the lobby—presumably this was the entrance to the house. A woman appeared at the door, and people began lining up to give her their theater tickets. And Carrie wanted, no, she needed to get inside. Every instinct she had said it was the only way she was ever going to understand her father and her grandmother and what they had done.

She looked around for her mother-daughter duo; they had already joined the line and were still talking. Carrie turned to watch the woman who was taking the tickets; she seemed bored with her job, and she wasn't really paying attention. It was now or never. Heart pounding, Carrie moved as close as she dared to her two decoy women, and moved with the line in the direction of the auditorium. In a matter of minutes they had reached the doorway where the ticket lady was standing. Carrie's heart was thumping so loudly, she couldn't believe the lady couldn't hear it. In another second, she'd drag Carrie out of the line and say she was a liar, or a stowaway or worse. She might even call Rose. Carrie clenched her fists and braced herself. But then she was passing by the ticket taker and the woman didn't even look up. Carrie walked a few more feet through the door. She was in! She made herself breathe. And she calmed down enough to take in her surroundings.