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Seymour Schwenk zoomed through the streets of London. His rocket engine backfired as he zipped along. People stared. Horses neighed. Seymour was causing quite a ruckus! London in 1880 had never seen anything like it.
As he pulled up in front of the theater and hopped out of his peculiar contraption, he was met by Millward Phelps and Cavis Appythart. They were very anxious to meet him.
Millward admired Seymour's rocket-powered invention as Cavis talked about their upcoming production of The Princess and the Plumber , a musical spectacular scheduled to open in just three days, on Christmas Eve.
Spying the package that Seymour was carrying, Millward asked, "Cavis what's in the box?"
"Well, in this modern age, it isn't enough to just have a great story," Cavis explained. "No! You need to show the audience something they've never seen before!"
"You've got a monkey that can yodel?" Millward asked.
"No, Millward. Electric lights! Spectacle's the name of the game!" Cavis explained.
But Cavis knew it wouldn't be enough to just have spectacular lights for the big show. He knew that any show worth seeing in London was attended by Prince Frederick. Not only was Frederick heir to the throne, but he was also London's number-one theater critic! A good word from him and the show was sure to be a success.
Cavis and Millward stood back to stare up at the marquee of the theater. They were mesmerized by the bigness of what they were about to do-tell London a wonderful story about a sad princess and a kindly plumber and the power of love!
"Wow!" Cavis said as he backed right into a lamppost with a poster advertising another Christmas program. This other program was going to be held at Saint Bart's, a local church. It was a new Christmas production at Saint Bart's, and it was also going to be performed on Christmas Eve.
"I'm going over to Saint Bart's and see what's going on," said Cavis as he hurried off.
Cavis stood in the back of St. Barts and watched as six-year-old Edmund Gilbert was busy getting ready for that Christmas pageant. Reverend Gilbert, Edmund's dad, also watched as his son barked out orders and tried to corral all the manpower he could to make his production bigger and better than ever! But his dad explained that the show didn't have to be a huge spectacle, because the story of Christmas is so simple and powerful all by itself. But Edmund wasn't so sure. He had twenty pounds of glitter to make sure his message shone through.
When Edmund's dad explained that there was a family across town who needed help, Edmund was quite disappointed that his dad couldn't stay around to help with the pageant.
"Helping people in need is more important, Edmund. That's what God did on Christmas. He came to Earth to help us and to show us how much he loved us. `She will give birth to a son ... and they will call him Immanuel-God with us,'" his dad explained. "I need to help this family first; then I'll be back."
"Oh! By the way, the church committee decided that you can use the Star of Christmas in your program if you're very careful with it," Reverend Gilbert added as he turned to leave. "You'll find it in the cabinet by the communion supplies."
Cavis laughed; he'd seen enough. "It's just a bunch of kids, puttin' on a church play! Don't know why I was so worried," he muttered as he turned to leave. "But I do wonder what the 'Star of Christmas' is!"
Cavis didn't have to wonder for long. The next day the London Post Gazette read: "Saint Gregory the Great gave the Star to the monks at Canterbury on August 14, 592. It is a very special star, and it hasn't been publicly displayed for years."
"Wow! We should go!" Millward said when he and Cavis saw the story on the front page of the Gazette . This was big news. He had forgotten all about their own show.
Cavis tried not to worry. After all, the prince was still coming to their show. And any show worth seeing in London simply had to have Prince Frederick in attendance.
But just then the phone rang. It was the prince informing Cavis and Millward that he would no longer be attending The Princess and the Plumber because he was going to see the star.
Cavis began to panic. "We need a lot more lights!" he declared. But then he got another idea ...
After Reverend Gilbert left the church and the church caretaker went to bed, a red shape slowly rose up between two pews and whispered, "Okay, Millward. I think it's clear!"
"I don't feel very good about stealing the star," Millward mumbled as they made their way over to the cabinet where the star had been stored.
"Oh no! We're not stealing the star. We're just borrowing it," Cavis said. "Besides, we're doing this for London! They're practically begging us to borrow it."
"I don't hear them," Millward said as he looked around to see if someone was talking.
"M-metaphorically speaking," Cavis said, nervously.
They carefully pulled a case out of the cabinet that held the star and gazed inside. "It looks like a ... turtle," Millward said.
"Well, yes, I suppose ... if you look at it that way. But back then, I'm sure it was quite exquisite!" Cavis answered.
"It looks like a turtle," he said, trying to look at it from a different angle.
"I don't care if it looks like a chicken on a bicycle! This is what the prince wants to see, so this is what we're putting in our show!" Cavis whispered as he helped Millward slip it into his bag.
Silently they crept back toward the door. Then it happened. "Crash!" The cloth holding the fancy communion plates caught on the bag they were carrying. The communion plates clattered onto the stone floor and wobbled about. Cavis and Millward jumped.
"Who's there?" came a voice from the back of the church building.
"Let's get out of here!" Cavis and Millward shouted to one another as they ran for the door.
When Cavis and Millward discovered the back doors of the church were locked, they made a mad dash up the stairs. They hurried through an area covered with scaffolds, ladders, and winches being used to refurbish the bell tower.
"You're gonna be singing out the other side of yet nose when I'm through with you, you slimy sea-donkeys!" the caretaker bellowed after them.
As they reached the landing, Cavis spotted a wooden platform hanging from a rope attached to a pulley hanging from the tower. This must be an elevator, Cavis thought as he hopped up onto the platform. But the block of wood that kept the platform from falling popped loose and the rope began to spin! Cavis plunged down the tower, screaming for help.
A red blur whooshed by the caretaker, causing him to do a double take, spin around, and head back down the stairs. "You can't get away from me, wee tomato! I'll chase ya all the way ta Yorkshire, if I have to!"
Cavis hit bottom with a loud "bang." A big cloud of dust billowed up around him.
Are you okay, Cavis?" Millward called, leaning over the railing. But Millward leaned so far over the rail that he knocked a board out from under a shelf holding three huge bells! Millward ducked as the bells whizzed by his head and landed heavily in a basket tied to the other end of Cavis' rope!
Now the heavy basket plunged down the tower, pulling Cavis skyward with incredible speed! Once again, the caretaker caught sight of a red blur going up as he hurried down the stairs.
That's the last straw, yo-yo tomato!" he called after Cavis.
At the top, Cavis jumped off the platform and landed right next to Millward.
"Cavis! Are you okay? You fell down! And then you fell up! Speak to me!" Millward wailed.
Cavis was amazingly unhurt! He quickly shook off his wooziness as he and Millward headed toward a ladder propped up against a wall. They scrambled up the ladder with the caretaker close behind.
"Don't even think you can get away! Yer trapped like a bug on the queen's sticky buns!" he called after them. "Yer trapped like me mother's meatloaf at a church picnic!"
As Millward leaned back to look at the caretaker, the ladder began tipping away from the wall.
The caretaker's eyes followed their flight backward from the wall and right out the window of the bell tower!
"Aaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhh!" Cavis and Millward screamed.
With a loud "thud," Cavis and Millward landed in a laundry cart resting at the bottom of the tower walls. As they lay beneath the laundry, catching their breath, the cart began rolling down a steep, winding hill.
"Are we moving?" Cavis asked as the speeding cart disappeared around a curve in the road.
His question was answered with a thunderous "crash!"
The next day, the cast of The Princess and the Plumber stared at Millward and Cavis as they entered the theater. They were bandaged and bruised.
"Okay, everybody!" Cavis called out, pretending not to notice that everyone was staring at them. "I want to see the final dress rehearsal of the spectacular closing number with lights and the 'you-know-what'!"
Everyone scurried into position as the music began. Slowly, and quite dramatically, the Faerie Peas were lowered on tiny swings covered with little lightbulbs.
"With her crown and with his wrench ... he a Brit, and she so French! Nevermore to smell the stench of plugged-up love!" they sang, as Cavis watched excitedly. "They will come from near and far to see a love shine like a star!"
Excerpted from The Star of Christmas by Cindy Kenney Copyright © 2002 by Big Idea Productions, Inc.
Excerpted by permission. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
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