Ending of Book 4
That week, she went shopping for presents for her parents. She had already sent something to her grandmother. They ate out, every single day, and saw the New Year in at a good vantage point, without any riots. It had been a very busy year, and Willow wondered what the next would bring.

Chapter 1

They cleaned up the apartment and left a lot more in the wardrobes than had been there before. The linen had been put into the bags and taken down to the restaurant. The main things that went in her bag were the Gold Records and her framed certificates.

The drive back to Stoneleigh, that Saturday, was spent listening to the radio and hearing either Summer Rose or Willow being played every twenty minutes. The family sang along to the tunes, much to the amusement of others on the road, seeing three people singing lustily.

At the house, they went in and opened up a few windows to let the stale air out and fired up the central heating. Ashley and Willow spent a little while putting up her new certificate and the other two certificates of appreciation. There was a part of the office wall now set aside for her various personal awards, with her second year and third-year results already in a neat line, with more space to spare. Ashley would often sit at his desk and gaze at these, with nothing but ‘A’s.

Willow went up to her room and put the few things away that she had brought back. During this break, they had found a launderette and had been able to leave clean underwear in the drawers. She put the two Gold Records in a bag to take to the studio. Then she laid on her bed and closed her eyes, thinking about the year to come.

G-Force was no longer a band, with two joining the Hikers. The orchestra was now without one of the best cellists she had ever heard, as well as a great pianist. Who knew what others may have moved on. They were all getting to an age where moves happen. Although the official leaving age was a couple of years later, there were so many ways you could bypass the system. Some of the leavers would have gained an apprenticeship or traineeship, others may have moved schools.

She was sorry that Jacob had turned out the way he had. It was such a waste! She had thought about visiting him but had decided that it may be a mistake. Wilhelm hadn’t been forthcoming, but she may learn more from Rick or Racheal. The thing that did hit home was that her best friend had left the village, meaning that they couldn’t do duets in the club, and that if any accompaniment was needed with the village choir, it would have to be her, unless she could rope Jim into it.

She roused herself out of her sad thoughts and turned on her usual laptop. There were a few messages after they had gone to London. One was a message from Peter, telling her that her future statements would now have two components. One with the rest of the band, and the other with her solo income. Gina would keep receiving her share until that stopped. Peter did make the comment that the rest of the band seemed to be having a long rest.

Another was from Sarah and the team, thanking her for the Christmas bonus that she had organised, even though they hadn’t been there long. She attached a picture of her with her family on Christmas Day, looking happy.

There was one from Terry, telling her that he planned to visit Blue Coat School, to talk to the Head about having more of her students take up a certificate course, and that he would like to see the studio. He would be at the school on the Thursday and Friday of their first week of term, before his next lectures started. She looked at her new calendar and replied that the Saturday would be good. Before she sent the email, she went down to ask her father if he could take her to the studio that day, picking up a passenger in Coventry along the way. He said that it was all right, so she went and sent the email, saying that her father would be picking him up at his hotel, around ten on the Saturday morning. She then sent an email back to Sarah, asking if all the team could be in the studio from ten-thirty, that day, as they would have a visitor, and told her, that if she hadn’t shown her family the studio, this was the day that it would be allowed.

Then she sent an email to the Leicester newspaper, telling them that on the Saturday, the Studio Technician at the Summer Love Studio would be receiving a Gold Record from Willow Rose for the album ‘A Girl has to have Standards’. She gave the address of the studio and told them that access was strictly limited to that day and asked them to turn up at eleven.

That evening, the family walked over to the club. Ashley to pick up where he had left off before the break, and Willow to see what was going on. Malcolm greeted them all with hugs. The back room was set up with a load of tables, and still had the decorations up.

“We had a cracking New Year show. The new Hikers played for us. The only thing we missed was that Zara. They tell me that she’s gone down to the big smoke to make a name for herself. Her chap certainly misses her. He came along and spent the evening drinking. We had to call a taxi for him to take him home. When are you likely to play for us again?”

“Don’t know, Malcolm. The rest of the band seemed to retire after the summer tour. They haven’t even spoken about our investment properties. With Maisie and Gina now in Italy, for good, I don’t have anyone else who would be as good. I could come along and do something solo, but, right at the moment, I can’t raise the enthusiasm. I had a big year, last year, and I may be suffering work-lag.”

“You did work hard last year. Don’t be hard on yourself. Give yourself a break before you burn out. We don’t need you as a headline these days, we’re getting a regular two hundred plus on Saturday evenings, and we have a new chef starting this week to create something different for us. We’re getting queries for weekday events, so the kitchen is working a lot more. Studio Two is the place to be. I’ve even put a charity box on the bar in front of those records of yours, asking a pound for charity if they take a picture of them. We gave over four hundred pounds to the Old Peoples Home before Christmas.”

They had a meal, and Willow and her mother went home again.

“You seem down, love.”

“I am, a bit. It’s the changes. My best friend has left the village and I’m feeling alone. I know that she’ll be back, now and then, as they didn’t sell the house, but there aren’t any others in the village I know that are my age, anymore. I realise what Gina must have felt.”

“You’ll be better when you get to school, with all your friends there. Talking about school, I was sorting the post that had come while we were away. There’s one for you from the school.”

She went and fetched it, giving it to Willow, who opened it.

“It’s my class schedule for the rest of fourth year. I see that I get gym on Thursdays, followed by the Orchestra. We’re into some heavy stuff with Music Studies, and that’s now every week, instead of every two weeks, on a Friday afternoon. I’m listed as the leader of the Senior Orchestra until summer. Hello! There’s a note here that I’m to see the Head after assembly on Monday, to discuss what we’ll be doing this term. By the way, Dad’s taking me to the studio on the Saturday, picking up my uni lecturer on the way, to show him the studio. I’ve made quiet arrangements to have Sarah there, hopefully with her family, and a local reporter, to give her the Gold Record. It will be lovely for her, and good coverage of the studio if we want to make it a success.”

“Do you mind if I come along? I’d like to see how your team have settled in.”

“That’s OK. Maybe I’ll feel better when I start doing things again. I don’t even have any songs in my head at the moment. I suppose it will come back, but I’m afraid it won’t.”

Wendy held her daughter and rubbed her back.

“Even if it doesn’t, love, you still have a lot behind you, and a brain just doesn’t shut down, especially in a fifteen-year-old. You’ll get your mojo back, I’m sure.”

In bed, that night, she hugged her two furry friends and told them that it was all right, she wasn’t going mad. In the morning, she felt a lot better.

They didn’t go over to the church that Sunday morning, as it had snowed quite a bit during the night and was bitterly cold. The family made ready for their new year at work and school. Ashley made sure his working suits were ready to go, Wendy double checked her skirts and blouses, to make sure she hadn’t left anything in London that would be needed. Willow laid out her school uniform and checked that her warm pullover hadn’t been riddled with moths since last winter.

She thought of where she had been to last year and sent an email to Evelyn, wishing her a Happy New Year and a good start to her term, and asked her how the modelling session went. While she was about it, she started an email to Gina, and then deleted it as being too clingy.

Monday morning, Sebastian arrived in a normal car to take her to school. That, alone, almost made her cry, and it was only his banter along the way that cheered her up. When she walked into the school, she was immediately greeted by her classmates and orchestra members, many saying that they had received the solo Willow album for Christmas and had loved it. She didn’t want to appear stand-offish, so joined in the conversation, which helped her a lot.

The assembly was another moment of feeling lost, until Dianne stood on one side and Barbara stood on the other and put their arms through hers. Jim was on the organ and the Head’s address was pretty much a carbon copy of this time last year. Afterwards, she went to the admin offices and waited for the Head to come back from the theatre.

When she arrived, she beckoned Willow to follow her into her office.

“Good morning, Willow. I hear that you got another Gold Record for your solo album. I have it at home and it is very good. Quite an adult album. No wonder it’s selling well.”

“Thank you, Ma-am. It was just something that came to me as I was thinking about all the dance music we had played. The rest of the band seem to have given up, so I thought that I’d lay it down to test my new team in the studio.”

“Who will be teaching here in the evenings. That Sarah brought the other two in before the break and they’ve been taken on as teaching assistants. Thank you for that, it was a shock when Xavier left, but he had a good job to go to and had turned sixteen, so there was nothing I could do to stop him.”

“He had become very good at what he does, I expect that Mister Withers had made him an offer he couldn’t refuse.”

“Talking about offers that cannot be refused. There aren’t any big shows planned for this year. The BBC have told us that we don’t have a place in the Proms, so we get some breathing space. One thing that has come out of our appearance, last year, is that a few of the ENO bought our DVDs of the orchestra performances of ‘Messiah’ and ‘Creation’, including the small-run copies we made of the sessions in the recording studio. One of their management is coming up to Coventry and wants to see it, to talk about getting their people in to finalise shows. He’ll be here on Friday.”

“My university lecturer will be in town at the same time, Terry said that he’s got an appointment to talk to you about having more of our students take similar courses to the one I took. My father will be driving me to the studio on Saturday morning and will pick him up at his hotel. He’s staying at the Brittania.”

“That’s handy. Let’s make a different arrangement. If you organise your security to pick you up with a people mover, you can all go in that.”

“That’s doable. I’ll talk to Sebastian tonight and let my father know that we’ll be driven there. My mother wants to come along as well. I’ve organised a little ceremony for Sarah, to give her the Gold Record as producer of the album, and I hope that the local paper comes along. I’ve let them know that it’s happening, as she’s a local girl.”

“All right. That sounds like it’ll work. Now, there’s one other thing that I want to talk to you about. The Music Studies for this, and next, term will be all about composition. It requires the students to write a piece of music to be played at the end of the summer term. It’s not something that has been fully successful in past years, usually ending up with a couple of movements. This year, with your skills as the leader, as well as your proven songwriting skills, I wonder if you would take on the task of helping this year to create a full orchestral piece that we can perform for others. You will have close to six months and the lessons are now every week.”

“Is there any expectation of what it should sound like?”

“No. You went along with what the first years wanted for the musical, so why don’t you sit down with the others on Friday afternoon and see what they have to say.”

“All right, I’ll do that. Who knows what we’ll come up with.”

“Thank you, Willow. If anyone can do it, you can. I hear that you did very well with your course. The University sent me a letter, telling me that you were an honour student.”

“That’s a surprise. When I get home, I’ll have to read the certificate more closely. When it was given to me, it was just a great relief that it was over. I’ve been a little separated from things over the last week or so. We had a great time in London, but coming home to be without my constant companion has been a bit of a shock.”

“You created her chance to make her own way, Willow. She blossomed under your guidance and belief in her. I’ll make sure that when she is a soloist in a big London orchestra, I’ll be there, probably sitting beside you. That girl had a talent that she had hidden until you pulled it out of her. Whatever you do in life, my girl, you are going to make people happy. Now, run along to your first class and tell them to blame me for your lateness.”

When lunchtime came around, she approached her usual seat to see that there wasn’t an empty one beside her. She sat down with Dianne on one side and Vivienne on the other.

“How are you, Viv? Are you enjoying your rest?”

“No more than you, Willow. I don’t have the writing skills that you have or else I may have cut an album. Yours was an absolute knockout.”

“Thank you. Don’t say you don’t have the writing skills; you wrote the bulk of the ‘Magic Laptop’.”

“Only with your help and the rest of the band.”

“Who have hardly spoken to me since Australia. It’s as if we’ve all decided to break up.”

“I know, and it makes me mad. Herb, Roy, and Victor are talking about going on as a straight electric group, and Brent, now that Gina’s gone, has decided to join them. I expect that they’ll work up a set that has some of our old songs and some new. I did hear one of them mention having you out front as a singer.”

“Not going to happen. If anything, I’ll continue as solo if that’s the way they want it. They won’t be able to use Summer Rose, as the band name has been trademarked for quite some time.”

Dianne leaned over.

“You could always record with a small orchestra, Willow. Everyone has been holding their breath waiting for you to ask. We’re all jealous of Viv and Nancy.”

“I’ll need some songs before that happens, but I’ll keep it in mind. It would be a good project for this terms Music Studies but would be too short.”

“Tell all, Willow. You obviously have more knowledge than we do.”

“The Head spoke to me this morning. The object of the rest of the school year is to compose something for presentation before the summer break. She said that previous years have not been successful in getting anything completed. She asked me if I would be the director, like I was with ‘Wicked’, and talk to you all in that class at the end of the week about what we could do.”

“Is there any set type of work? A concerto, symphony, or something like that?”

“No, it’s up to us to come up with something of show length, say two hours.”

Dianne laughed and put her hand on Willow’s arm.

“You don’t have to look far, my friends. When we were in Albert Hall, I was talking to one of the ENO, and they told me that the ‘Magic Laptop’ was almost good enough to be an opera. Why not take that as the base and build it into a full opera. We have the singers; we have an orchestra. All we need is to create the story on stage, write some dialogue that becomes a song, and you already know Tatiana’s songs.”

The other two sat there, stunned, and then the three stood to have a group hug, much to the amusement of those around them.

Vivienne grinned.

“Dianne, you’re brilliant! We’ll see what the rest of the class think about it on Friday. There aren’t enough singers or players in the story, but they can all have walk-on parts. What do you think, Willow?”

“It does take a load off my mind, Viv. I was wondering how we could do something that takes experienced writers months to do. We can put it to the rest on Friday. Thank you, Dianne. Who, from the band, would be in it, Viv?”

“Well, beside you and me, Nancy would be keen, as she’s no longer going out with Herb. Bryan and Edward would join us, and I’m sure that we could get a good singer to play the internet baron.”

“Garry is free now, after the Gees broke up. He might like to play a madman on stage.”

“Then there’s the two lads who sung in ‘Creation’.”

“I think that there’s enough skill in the class to put together visual backdrops. That would make it an interesting show without needing scenery, just a few props.”

Willow ate her lunch, feeling better than she had all day. She had a project, as long as the others went along with it. That afternoon, as Sebastian was driving her home, she asked him if he could organise a people mover and pick her and her family up on Saturday, around ten, for a trip to Leicester, via the Britannia in Coventry to pick up a couple of others.

“I’ll get a minibus, Willow. You don’t know if your extras have brought partners with them.”

“Good thinking, we’ll do that. You don’t mind, I hope.”

“Not if I get to see inside that studio again and see what you’ve done with the rest of it.”

That night, she emailed Wilhelm, telling him what she hoped would be happening on Saturday morning. She also had a new statement from Peter. Her share of the band income was higher, at five hundred and twenty thousand, due to Christmas sales. Her income for her solo album was just over two million. She got him to transfer two and a half to WR Holdings. She also went into her father’s office and looked at her certificate more closely.

Ashley came in as she was reading.

“What’s up, love, looking for a spelling error?”

“Very funny, Dad. No. The Head told me that she had been sent a letter to confirm that I had passed the course, and she mentioned something that I hadn’t picked up. What do you see on this certificate?”

He looked closely at it, and then hugged her.

“It says that you completed the course with Honours. That’s amazing but deserved. You must have done a few things for that, and those other certificates of appreciation.”

“I think it’s safe to say that my projects weren’t just hypothetical, with one saving a very large company a lot of money.”

Over a cup of hot chocolate, she told her parents about the change in plans for Saturday, and the project she had been given in the school.

“That’s why you’re a lot brighter tonight, love, you have something for your brain to work on.”

“You could be right, Mum. The other girls were all very careful to include me in discussions today. The Head told me that it was all my influence that has sent Gina to Italy and a career as a piano soloist, so I have to admit that I’m the creator of my own sadness and should feel good about it.”

“Your Headmistress is a very learned woman and has a lot of experience with teenagers. If that’s what she thinks, then believe her. What does she say about your project plan?”

“Don’t know. She hasn’t been told yet. It’s not even been discussed in class. They may want to do something else altogether.”

“If you think that, you’re dumber than your Shauns.”

“Hey, don’t knock the Shauns!”

Tuesday and Wednesday were straightforward school days, with her brain seeming to clear, the more information it was given. Thursday was gym, followed by Senior Orchestra, with Willow taking her violin to school. They worked through some of the items that they had done before, without any piano or organ, so ended up playing Bolero a couple of times to get warmed up. Mister Bamborough told them that he would look for pieces where there could be a solo piano for Willow to play but would stick to mainly string-based works.

On Friday afternoon, Mister Jamieson introduced the class to the project that would take their time through to the end of next term, with no after-school effort needed as they would be having three hours a week in school hours to complete it. He asked if anyone had any idea of what they would be doing.

There was quiet, and Dianne looked at Willow, who winked. Dianne stood up and went to his desk, turned and faced the others.

“We have to come up with something that we can put on in the theatre. It will have to be something as meaty as a concerto, or like the junior’s musicals. However, it has to be new. We have, in our class, Willow and Vivienne, both talented songwriters, and they have already released an album, called the ‘Magic Laptop’. Has everyone heard it?”

There was a chorus of ‘Yes’.

“What I’m proposing is that we develop that album into a four-act operetta, with a small orchestra, adding an overture, some dialogue, and some extension of the existing songs, with a few extras. We have a few here that could create scenery by projecting onto a gauze curtain.”

She waited for anyone to tell her it couldn’t be done. When all she could see was smiles, she nodded to Mister Jamieson and walked back to her seat. He grinned.

“Are you all happy to do this?”

There was a chorus of ‘yes’.’

“Willow and Vivienne, do you sanction this? It is, after all, your copyright property.”

“We do, sir. We think it could be fun. And, best of all, we think that we could pull it off inside the time limit.”

“Alright! The ‘Magic Laptop – the Operetta’ it is. I’ll let the Head know. She’ll be tickled pink.”

Marianne Gregory © 2025