Deception on the Set Read online

  “I’m so sorry,” said Josh. “I didn’t think it was that big of a deal. I mean, you’ve done bigger stunts than that.”

  “Yeah, well, maybe you should’ve done it, Josh,” snarled the stuntman. “Then you could trust your life to some rickety piece of equipment that hasn’t been inspected since the 1940s.”

  The medics lifted the stuntman onto a gurney.

  “I thought you were supposed to reinforce it, like I suggested,” said Josh.

  “We did,” replied the injured stuntman. They rolled him through the crowd toward a nearby ambulance.

  Josh watched them load him up and pull away. He turned, rubbed his eyes, and gave the watching crew a nervous smile. “I think we’re all done for the day,” he said. “We’ll see you tomorrow.”

  After the lights had been shut off and equipment packed away, Joe and I headed to my car. “Somewhat stressful first day of show business,” I said.

  “No kidding,” he agreed.

  LIFE CAST

  4

  JOE

  DAY TWO ON THE SET was much more relaxing. I sat in complete darkness while my head and face were massaged by a cool liquid.

  Okay, so I wasn’t getting a massage in some swanky salon. It just felt as if I was. I sat very still while someone smeared cool, gooey alginate all over my head.

  Let me back up. To me, the best thing about being in the movie was that Frank and I got to be actual zombies, with full makeup. To get that zombie look, our heads and faces had to be cast in plaster. In the movie business, they call this a life cast. Once they had a plaster cast of our heads, they could design special zombie makeup that would look like a perfectly fitted mask.

  The makeup effects coordinator was a young woman named Meredith Banks. Though she wasn’t much older than Frank and me, she had already worked on some of our favorite horror movies.

  “Looking good, man,” I heard my brother say. “Your face is like a melting . . . blobby something. Definitely an improvement.”

  “Now, don’t make him laugh,” Meredith warned. “This alginate works fast. It’ll be firm in another minute.”

  Since I had to keep my head perfectly still, I just shook a warning finger in my brother’s direction.

  “All right,” said Frank. “No more jabs.”

  I gave him a thumbs-up of thanks.

  “Isn’t this the same material dentists use to make molds of teeth?” Frank asked.

  “That’s right,” Meredith replied. “Except this alginate doesn’t have the cherry flavor added.”

  Once the alginate had cured, Meredith and her assistant, Nick, wrapped my head with plaster bandages. The hardened plaster would help the softer alginate keep its shape once it was removed from my head. I couldn’t tell by the feel of what they were doing, but I had watched Frank go through the entire process already.

  I felt a tap on my shoulder. “We’re going to pull Frank’s life cast out of the mold,” said Meredith. Her voice was a bit muffled through the plaster. “You okay by yourself for a few minutes?”

  I gave another thumbs-up.

  “Don’t go anywhere,” said Frank with a chuckle.

  I lowered my thumb, leaving just the fist waving in his direction.

  I heard the three of them walk away and was left in silence. I had to admit that this part wasn’t exactly relaxing. I was completely blind and almost deaf, with the weight of the plaster weighing down my head and shoulders.

  And then the unthinkable happened. My nose began to itch. I tried to think of anything to get my mind off it, but nothing was working.

  Luckily, I got a distraction when I heard the trailer door open.

  “Cody is not happy at all,” said a woman’s voice. “He blames Josh, you know.”

  “How can he blame Josh?” asked a second woman. “It was just an accident.”

  “That’s the thing,” said the first woman. “Cody thinks that someone sabotaged the—” She stopped midsentence. Then there was silence. I think they just realized that I was sitting there.

  “Hello?” asked one of the women. I couldn’t tell which one.

  I raised a hand and gave a slow wave.

  “We’re looking for Meredith,” said the other woman.

  I pointed around and then raised both hands in an I don’t know kind of gesture. The makeup trailer was sectioned off into several rooms and workstations. If Meredith, Frank, and Nick weren’t in plain view, I had no idea where they had gone.

  “Thanks,” said the first woman. “We’ll check back later.”

  I heard the trailer door shut. Once again, there was only silence. However, this time I had plenty to keep my mind occupied. I hadn’t recognized either of the women’s voices, but I definitely recognized the names they had mentioned. Josh was Josh Biehn, the director. The night before, he had called the stuntman who almost fell Cody. So, according to the voices I heard, the stuntman didn’t think that the falling fire escape was an accident.

  My thoughts were interrupted by the sound of a distant door opening and approaching footsteps.

  “He didn’t wander off,” joked Frank. “Right where we left him.”

  “Let’s get you out of there,” said Meredith.

  She pulled the mold off my head in two halves. I leaned forward as she removed the front part. As soon as it was gone, I reached up and scratched the tip of my nose.

  I moaned. “Oh yeah! That’s the stuff.”

  Meredith laughed. “Don’t worry. You’re not the first person to get an itchy nose.”

  After she and Nick removed the back half of the mold, I caught a glimpse of myself in the mirror. My eyebrows were slicked down with petroleum jelly to keep the alginate from sticking to them. To protect the rest of my hair, I wore a skin wig. I looked like a bald alien clone or something.

  Meredith leaned in beside me and caught my eye in the mirror. Her short brown hair was pulled back into a ponytail. “All good?” she asked.

  “Oh yeah,” I replied. “I just forgot how weird I looked.”

  “You think that’s weird? Check this out!” said Frank. He squatted near a table and placed an arm around a life-size bust of himself.

  “Hey, I’m seeing double,” I remarked.

  “Pretty cool, huh?” he asked.

  As Meredith and Nick carried away the molds from my head, I stood and leaned closer to Frank.

  “You think that’s cool?” I asked. “I think I just stumbled onto a mystery.”

  FIRST ENCOUNTERS

  5

  FRANK

  IT COULD’VE JUST BEEN AN accident,” I noted as we left the makeup trailer.

  “But what if it wasn’t?” Joe’s eyes lit up. “We could have ourselves a real mystery here.”

  Joe and I made our way past the long line of semitrailers parked along Cheshire Avenue. Like the makeup trailer, each one was outfitted for a different movie department. There was the camera trailer, the special effects trailer, and the trailer for grips and electric (the department in charge of all the lights and light stands). The usually quiet residential street looked like a truck stop.

  I came to a halt. “Look, you talked me into this and now you want to ruin it by nosing around for a mystery that may or may not exist.” I shook my head. “Can’t you just be happy to be in a cool zombie movie?”

  “Dude, I’m thrilled to be in a cool zombie movie.” Joe glanced around. “I’m just saying . . . we’re not working until tomorrow. What’s the harm in being curious?”

  I tightened my lips. “Plenty.”

  Look, nobody likes an unsolved mystery more than me. Our dad is a retired private investigator, so it’s in our blood. That and the fact that we’ve always managed to solve cases had always bought us a little pull with a few of the town’s police officers, even Chief Gomez. But now the guy in charge was Chief Olaf. Former Detective Olaf had never liked us and had always been resentful when we closed cases that he couldn’t solve. He was never happy to catch us looking for a mystery on our own.

&nb
sp; Joe pointed to a trailer up ahead. “Let’s just go say hello to the stunt department. What do you say?”

  “Joe . . . ,” I began, but he was already walking toward the long trailer.

  I caught up to him just as he reached the stunt trailer. The back doors were open, revealing a rig full of large pads of every shape and size. There was personal safety gear like helmets, elbow pads, and kneepads. Tons of harnesses, ropes, and carabiners hung from the walls. Near the open doors, a tall, thin guy not much older than us used a long stick to stir a solution in a white bucket.

  “How’s it going?” asked Joe. “I’m Joe and this is my brother, Frank.” He gave a short bow. “And we’ll be your zombies today. Or tomorrow, at least.”

  The man laughed and extended a hand. “I’m Chase.”

  “Actually, we just wanted to see how that stuntman was doing,” said Joe. “From last night? I think his name was Cody.”

  “Cody Langstrom,” said Chase. “He’s actually the stunt coordinator for the show. And he’s fine.”

  “Didn’t he break his arm?” I asked.

  “We thought so,” replied Chase. “But he just strained it. They gave him the once-over at the hospital last night. Other than a few bruises, he checked out just fine. He should be back any time now.” He went back to stirring the liquid in the bucket.

  Now that we were closer, I could see that the liquid was clear but very thick, almost like syrup.

  “What’s that?” I asked, pointing at the bucket. “If you don’t mind me asking.”

  “Not at all.” The man pulled the stick out, and clear slime oozed off the tip. “I’m making up another batch of stunt gel.”

  “Stunt gel?” asked Joe.

  “Yeah, we put this stuff on us when we do a fire gag.” Chase stirred some more. “Think of it as water that doesn’t run off. This gel keeps a thin layer of moisture all over our bodies. That way when we’re in a fire, we don’t turn into crispy critters.”

  “Very cool,” said Joe.

  “Literally,” said Chase. “Give it a try.”

  Joe and I leaned in and dipped our fingers into the bucket. The stuff was slimy and oozed off our fingertips like runny egg whites. But after a moment, my fingers felt cool. It seemed to work the same way sweat cools our bodies. But this stuff didn’t evaporate (or stink, for that matter).

  “What is it made of?” I asked.

  Before Chase could answer, a truck pulled to a stop beside the trailer. Cody Langstrom stepped out from behind the passenger seat, waving to the driver. Cody’s right arm was in a sling.

  “There he is,” said Chase. “No worse for wear?”

  “I’m all right,” growled Cody. “I’m supposed to wear this stupid thing for a few days.” He nodded to the sling.

  “This is Frank and Joe,” said Chase. “A couple of our zombies.”

  “We will be tomorrow,” I added. “We just got our life casts made.”

  “I can see that,” said Langstrom. He reached up and scratched his left ear.

  I was about ask how he knew, but I was interrupted by my brother diving right in, headfirst as usual.

  “Sorry about your accident,” he put in. “What happened?”

  Langstrom shook his head. “Someone is not a fan of stunts, me, or this movie. That’s what happened.”

  There it was. Right out in the open. “Sabotage?” I asked.

  Cody nodded. “That’s what I think.”

  “Any idea who did it?” asked Joe.

  “No,” Cody replied. He eyed Joe suspiciously. “Why do you ask?”

  “Maybe we can help find out,” said Joe. “We’re pretty good at—”

  I cut him off. “What he means is that we’ll let you know if we hear anything.” I ushered Joe away from the trailer. “But we’ll let you get back to work now.”

  When we were several yards away, Joe stopped walking. “What was up with that?” he asked. “You never turn down a good mystery.”

  I held up a finger. “One. It may, just may be a mystery.” I held up a second finger. “Two. Chief Olaf already doesn’t like us snooping around when people ask us for help. What do you think he’d do if we started investigating on our own?” Joe opened his mouth to reply, but I held up a third finger. “And three . . . it could get us kicked off the only movie we’ve ever had a chance to be a part of.”

  Joe threw up his hands. “Okay, okay. Sheesh!” He backed away. “No investigating. Got it.” Then he grinned. “Still going to keep my ear to the ground, though. You never know.” He turned and continued to walk beside the long row of trailers.

  I sighed and followed him. It was the best I could hope for, really. Joe could never turn down a mystery. And he was right; I usually couldn’t either. Actually, I was more than a little intrigued about the sabotaged stunt. I just didn’t want to blow this opportunity. We were learning so much about the film industry and how movies were made. Plus, to be completely honest, I didn’t want to ruin my chances of meeting Chelsea Alexander.

  Little did I know, my wish was about to come true. As Joe and I walked past the catering trailer, we almost ran into three girls coming around the side. One of the girls was Chelsea herself. Joe and I skidded to a stop, just barely keeping from plowing them over.

  “Whoa!” said Joe.

  Okay, I know this sounds dumb, but when I saw Chelsea in person, I felt as if I was nine years old again. My stomach tightened into that familiar knot, the same one I had felt when I watched her show after school. Her once-long curly brown hair was now short and straight. She was taller, of course, but she still had those same pale-green eyes. Back then I had had one powerful crush. And when I saw her it was as if it had never gone away.

  Joe didn’t seem to be as awestruck as I was. He thrust out a hand. “Hi. I’m Joe and this is my brother, Frank.”

  Chelsea’s friends checked their phones while Chelsea reached into her purse. “Do you two want autographs?”

  “No,” Joe replied. “I mean, we’re in the movie too.” He glanced at me and smiled. “We’re going to be zombies.”

  Chelsea smiled. “That’s great.” She looked at me, obviously expecting me to say something. I opened my mouth to agree with Joe, but all I could get out was an “uh-huh.”

  Joe grinned. He was clearly enjoying this way too much. When he opened his mouth to speak, I knew what he was going to say. My eyes widened in horror, but it was too late.

  “Frank has been a mega-fan of yours since Arithme-Trek,” he announced.

  “Oh yeah?” she asked. She smiled and took a step closer. “Do you like math?”

  This time I was able to smooth-talk my way into almost two words. “Uh . . . yeah.”

  She took another step closer as my heart hammered in my chest. “I see you’ve already had your life casts made.”

  I opened my mouth to reply, but nothing came out. How did everyone seem to know that?

  She reached a hand toward my face, and I swear, my heart stopped beating altogether. Then she lightly brushed my left ear. She pulled her finger away, and it had a white smudge on the tip.

  “Alginate,” she said. “I’ve seen my share of this stuff, believe me.”

  It’s a scientific fact that my heart really hadn’t stopped. But at that moment, I was so embarrassed that I wish it had.

  DECOMPOSING

  6

  JOE

  STILL NOT TALKING TO ME?” I asked Frank. My brother didn’t answer. Instead he stared forward as Meredith slowly turned him into a zombie.

  It had been like that for the rest of the day yesterday. I thought that after a good night’s sleep Frank would finally accept my apology. I really hadn’t noticed the alginate on his ear. And I was just trying to help him break the ice with Chelsea. But I continued to get the silent treatment all through breakfast and during the drive to the makeup trailer.

  “You guys have a fight?” Meredith asked, not taking her eyes off her work.

  Frank shot me a look that meant I had better keep m
y mouth shut.

  I shrugged. “No big deal.” I pointed to Frank’s half-zombified face. “So how many of those pieces do we have to wear?”

  “You guys have pretty simple masks,” Meredith replied. She glanced up and smiled. “Since you’re not the stars of the show”—she pulled another floppy piece of foam from a nearby table—“your makeup consists of just five prosthetic pieces.”

  It was fascinating to watch Meredith turn Frank into one of the undead. After she had cast our heads, Nick had taken clay and sculpted zombie faces over our plaster faces. Then he had taken a mold of our completed zombie faces. Once that mold was ready, the clay was removed. Now, if you put both molds together, there would be an empty space where the zombie-face-shaped clay had been. Nick used this empty space to create the foam makeup pieces that would eventually get applied to our real faces. I know all this because Frank had been fascinated and had asked a million questions. Apparently, his silent treatment didn’t extend to everyone else.

  Meredith attached a foam piece to Frank’s chin. This new zombie chin was made to look as if some of the skin was gone, with a piece of jawbone showing—way gross but way cool. She had also applied foam pieces to Frank’s forehead, one on each eye and cheek, another over his nose and upper lip, and finally, one over his chin and lower lip.

  “We cut the mask into all these pieces so it will be able to move with his face,” Meredith explained. “That way he can still make different expressions.”

  Even though the seams weren’t painted yet, I could see how Frank was going to look like a creepy zombie. Small flaps of what was supposed to be dried skin peeled away from his forehead. The rest of the mask made it look as if his skin was stretched tightly over his skull. He had sharp cheekbones and pronounced eye sockets. Just like his chin, some of the skin was made to look as if it was missing, so parts of his skull jutted through.

  “I hope my makeup looks as sick as that,” I said.

  “Don’t worry. It will,” Meredith assured me.

  Frank glanced over at me. “Anything will be an improvement.” He gave half a grin that wouldn’t have looked so creepy if he wasn’t covered in zombie makeup.