A fire truck makes a wide turn onto the little alleyway that runs alongside Stage Five. A few firefighters jump out and tramp into the building with hoses, which can’t be good. That might ruin our new sets too. Sadie’s bedroom. The pizza shops. All because of a stupid electrical fire.

That popped up out of nowhere, it sounds like. Almost like…a ghost did it.

Chapter Thirteen

It doesn’t take the firefighters long to put out the blaze in Stage Five. When they march out, they’re shrugging their shoulders. “Yep, looks like some sort of faulty wiring,” the chief tells Paul. “Any idea when this place was last inspected?”

“I-I was told it was inspected before we moved in.” Paul looks panicked. “I don’t understand how this sort of thing could have happened.”

By the time Paul gathers all of the actors, writers, producers, and crew around in the parking lot outside the building, he has even more bad news. “Looks like the electricians won’t be able to get everything up and running for another few days,” he reports. “Which actually is warp speed, considering the damage in there.”

Everyone starts to murmur. A few days? What are we going to do in the meantime?

Amelia’s mother raises her hand like an eager student. “What about shooting our scenes on another stage, perhaps?” She gestures to the building next door. “I’ve noticed Stage Six is empty.”

“That’s the animal show—you know, the one with trained dogs, monkeys? They’re due back here next week. Sorry.” Paul shakes his head. “And all the other stages are booked for other shows. Besides, even if there was a free stage, we’d have to rebuild all our sets, move the whole operation… It would cost too much.”

Cody speaks next. “Maybe we could shoot all the outdoor shots in the next few days? And then go back to all the interior stuff when the electricity is fixed?”

Paul nods. “We can do that. But unfortunately, this episode doesn’t have too many outdoor shots. What we really need is to get in those indoor scenes.”

“Can some of the indoor scenes move outdoors?” I suggest. “Like Sadie meeting with Madame Curio today. Maybe they could be in, like, a tent in the Woods.”

“Good idea, Hayley, though Madame Curio doesn’t strike me as the kind of person who goes camping,” Paul says. He squeezes the bridge of his nose. “This is putting us really, really behind schedule, and that’s not good. The network is being really strict about spending money. They also have a bunch of other shows they’re working on that they’re excited about, so…” He trails off, not saying the rest.