Chapter 11

The men all nodded and made to leave. Hugh and Sam gave Ashley a man-hug, but the others just shook hands. The four walked the visitors back to their cars and waved as they left. Wendy gave a big sigh.

“I guess that when the election’s called, I’ll have to be the ‘supporting housewife’.”

“You can still work from home, my darling. By the time the election comes around, you may be ready for some rest. We do have some holiday time in the summer, while the girls are overseas. You may come home from that not wanting to go back to the daily grind.”

“Come home! Where are you taking me?”

“I’ve booked us on a two-week cruise in the Med.”

“Leaving when?”

“A week after Willow heads for Paris. I’ve also booked a security company to install monitored cameras here next week. They don’t need to be in the house to do it, and there will be feed that I can look at on my phone. It’s a pal of Sebastian’s, and he says that he’ll oversee the installation for us.”

“I need something to wear on board.”

“You have three weeks to get it, my darling.”

They went back to the house, leaving Willow and Vivienne giggling.

That afternoon, the four of them went to the steakhouse on the way to the school, where Vivienne had her picture taken to go on the wall next to Willow, who looked a lot younger when hers was taken. They took another of her to match Vivienne.

When Willow walked out after the orchestra, there was applause, and she could see a lot of the audience were already wearing the Ego hats. That performance was the best that they had done, with the cast now using timing to make the jokes work better, and generally hamming it up, happy that it was the last time. Norman, here for the second time, was making notes with the changes. There was a party atmosphere in the lunchroom afterwards, and all the cast got cheers when they came in after changing, Garry squiring Willow and Viv.

The event went close to midnight, with Hugh and his wife both giving the girls a hug and saying how much fun it was. Hugh asked Willow to send him the contact details for all the syndicate, as he would email the paperwork next week. Jeff also thawed enough to follow his lead and hug, telling Willow that she had changed his view on pop stars. Sam and his family were there, with the twins almost hyper.

They took Vivienne home before heading to Rising Lane. Willow was bright and talking all the way, but she did sleep quickly once she was in bed. In the morning, she emailed all the syndicate to expect the papers for the property sale, and emailed Hugh with all the contact details, including hers. She spent the rest of the morning trying to get a catchy tune to go with the words she had written for her father. In the afternoon, they hosted a barbeque for the team from the electorate office, as a ‘get to know you’ affair, with most being young and drinking beer.

That week was revision and catching up with the odd lessons that had been missed. The Head called Willow and Vivienne into her office on the Wednesday, telling them that the performances had been a great success, and thanking them for the donation of the hats and conjuring sets, which had sold out, giving the school funds a boost of over ten thousand pounds. She also thanked them for the success of the deal with the ENO, and that there will be some interaction with them when they workshop the show. She told them that it was possible that the two of them will be part of the finished show, with Willow conducting and Vivienne as the leading lady.

That weekend, Willow put her case together and had all her stage outfits in garment bags, ready for the following weekend. The last week of her last term as a fourth year was exams. On the Friday, at lunch, Garry went around the room to say goodbye to his friends, making sure that he gave all the girls a kiss, but saving the best for Willow. He was also going on tour, with ‘Toxic Rocks’, and would be on the road for more than three months. He thought he may come back to finish school, but grinned when he said that he hoped he didn’t have to.

On Saturday, Willow bade her parents farewell, and her limo service took her to London, where she was to meet Vivienne at the Eurotunnel station as it was the easiest way to get to Paris. They were met in Paris and taken to a hotel. On Sunday, they had media interviews, able to answer in French. They were taken to the venue on Monday, where they met their dressers for the tour, leaving the stage outfits with them. They performed from Monday evening to Sunday evening, and then went on to Monaco. The following Monday saw them in Florence, where Gina met up with them at the hotel.

“Mum and I went to that club where you’re playing. It’s a bit different, and we had to join before we could get tickets for your show, and that was only for Wednesday. They had a video for sale, called ‘VivWillow in Heaven’. It was like our shows in the club but populated with crazy women. Surely the label isn’t happy with you doing these shows.”

“Happy enough to issue a package of that double disc, along with both of our latest albums, which are mainly songs from the show, recorded in the studio. It went on the market two weeks before we left.”

On Tuesday and Wednesday, Gina took them around her new home, seeing the sights and visiting her music school, where Willow was asked to play something on the Grand Piano. She played an etude from the latest Chopin album that she had bought, and the teacher told her that he could have her playing with orchestras inside a year, alongside Angelina Summer.

On the Wednesday, Maisie and Gina came along to the show, and stayed to the end, hugging the girls afterwards. On Thursday, they went to lunch at the new home, meeting Maisie’s man friend and the family. Gina had a Steinway in her lounge, and they had a laugh with the two of them playing sing-along music for a while, before the girls needed to be back at the club to get ready for the evening show.

Gina was to be in Rome that weekend, to play a concert with an orchestra, so they all had a lunch in a restaurant on the Thursday, before hugging farewell. On the following Monday, they were in Zurich, the Monday after was Prague, and the next was Berlin, which was the one that had been moved from the actual club to a sports area. That one was a day less than the others, giving them the Sunday to fly home.

When Willow was dropped at home by her limo, she was enveloped in the loving arms of her parents. She had a long shower and gave out the various curios that she had picked up on her tour. She was shown the pictures from the cruise, and they went to the Punchbowl for dinner. Ashley told her that he had met with a lot of the other donors and supporters, with acceptance from the first six being a key to open many doors. Wendy had started working from home, three days a week, taking home the raw material on Monday and taking back the finished product on Friday. Willow was given her unopened letter from the school, with the usual results listed. Ashley took it so he could frame it and add it to his new wall of her achievements.

School didn’t start until the Tuesday, so Willow slept late and relaxed on the Monday, before making sure that her uniform was ready to go. Assembly was interesting. After the blessing, the Head spoke about the previous term and the various things that had happened. Once again, Willow was with a larger number of students who were asked to stand. There were no surprise announcements and they started fifth year without a crisis in the making.

When she had looked at her schedule for the Music Studies, she had found that she had been given a pass on the two segments in both terms. They covered Composition and Listening assessments, which she, along with Vivienne, had already achieved. That didn’t give them free time, however, as they were to attend the lessons as teachers’ aides. That would finish that part of the courses, but they could move on to Music Technology, which included mixing and recording.

As this year was aimed at passing the big exams, to allow them to move to the higher studies, it was mainly academic. The Junior Orchestra was on Tuesday, with the Senior still on Thursday. As they were looking at the display of photos from the operetta in reception, Miss Russell found them and told them that the Head wanted a word. They were beckoned into the office, where both Mister Bamborough and Mister Jamieson were already sitting to one side of her desk. They were asked to sit on the other two seats and Miss Russell closed the door.

“Welcome back to school. I suppose that you noticed that there were no big projects for you this year.”

“Yes, ma-am.”

“Well, that isn’t quite the case, but I wasn’t going to talk about it until we had a discussion. We know that you’ll be going for the exams this year, but we have been approached by the Football Club to see if we can organise another show for charity towards next summer.”

“We don’t have the band any longer, ma-am.”

“They know, but they have seen your latest DVDs and have asked if we could organise the two of you with an orchestra.”

The Head grinned.

“Your task, should you accept it, will be in two parts. You now have a wealth of knowledge and experience that is unique. We would like you to work with the Junior Orchestra, and Mister Jamieson, to work up a show that you can perform in our theatre before Christmas. It can be a mix of your old and new material. Willow, you can have the choice of conducting from the rostrum or playing the piano, with Mister Jamieson conducting.”

“If I’m on the rostrum, I can’t sing.”

“Exactly. Vivienne, you will, of course be up front and singing.”

“And the second part, ma-am?”

“You work with the Senior Orchestra to produce a similar show, but six months later at the football ground and it would be good if there are new albums that can be sold at the performance. They have spoken to your label and the BBC about televising it. We’ve run it by Peter, and his answer was that if you two agree, he’ll place his order for a new Rolls Royce.”

“What about the scores?”

“That’s where we win on another count. The Senior Orchestra can be tasked with writing them out as you work. That will give those in the Music Studies course a project that will fulfill their requirements, with you working with them in lesson time. The other non-playing students will have a project of their own, and that will be devising a pyrotechnic, light, and projection set-up for the big show. Or should I say shows, because the club want to have them on Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights. You will, of course, be paid for your appearances then.”

“No pressure, then!”

“No more than nailing that operetta in less than eight weeks. You know that you can do it, and it will have some recommendations added to your school record, on top of the ones you already have.”

Willow looked at the two teachers.

“Are you all right with this, sirs?”

“All the way, Willow. It’s going to be a lot different from the stuffy things we normally do, but we’ll both benefit from being inside the creation of something worthwhile.”

The two girls looked at each other and Vivienne laughed.

“It looks like VivWillow with the Blue Coat Orchestra have a booking. If we get the Juniors working well, we can record the album with them next year, and the show DVD will be the Seniors, so everyone will get some credits. So, twelve class weeks before the school show, and another twenty, or so to the big show. I like it!”

“Thank you, girls. I’m almost sorry that you’ll be moving on. I wish I could keep you for ever.”

The girls left the office and made their way to the first lesson. When they got to lunchtime, they sat with the other orchestra members, but didn’t say anything, saving it for the proper time on Thursday. When they looked around the lunchroom, they noticed that where the boys normally sat, there was another group. Nancy was sitting next to Vivienne, so Willow asked her where the rest of the old band were.

“Over the summer, they hooked up with Geoff and formed a new band called Blue Day. They got Peter to get them bookings, and they would be somewhere around Skegness at the moment, going anticlockwise around the seaside towns. As they’re all sixteen, with a steady job, they were allowed to leave. It doesn’t matter to them that the pay isn’t great, but they do have their own nest-eggs and are doing what they like. Mainly covers, and some of the G-Force songs that Geoff wrote. The new Hikers were going around the country in the opposite direction.”

“To paraphrase an old saying, ‘We may be among the few, but we seem to be getting fewer’. Of the seventeen that did that short tour, there’s just the five of us here.”

“At least this is going to be an easy year.”

“In your dreams, Nancy. All will be revealed on Thursday, at Senior Orchestra. You’re going to love it.”

“I’ve seen your show DVD in Heaven. Are we going to be playing ‘Danse Macabre’ with naked men cavorting around us?”

“Not quite that bad, you perverted madam, but interesting, all the same. Wait until Thursday, with all the others. That will give us some time to work it out.”

Being the first day of the term, the junior orchestra wasn’t meeting, so the girls had time to work out the speech for next week. On Thursday afternoon, they all assembled in the rehearsal room. Mister Bamborough welcomed them all to the last year of their orchestral endeavours and thanked everyone for the fantastic performances that they had performed over the last few years.

“This year, we have something special for you. I know that the Head didn’t announce anything, but you will find out what’s coming up from my two assistants, Willow and Vivienne.”

Willow stood in front of them.

“Last term, you all worked a minor miracle by scoring a full concerto of ‘Laptop’. It is that, I think, that has made some impressed teachers set us a new task. At the end of the Summer Term, we will be on a big stage at the Coventry City Football stadium, playing a show that will consist of some of the Summer Rose back catalogue, some of the current issues, and a lot of two new albums yet to be written. I’ll be singing and playing piano, and Vivienne will be singing. The shows will be three nights, and the stadium will be able to seat sixty thousand. The concerts will be to raise money for charity, but there will be some for us, for all our hard work. A lot of you saw the shows we did there, and there are five of us that were on that stage. We know what it takes to please the customers.”

Vivienne took over.

“Willow and I will be working with the Junior Orchestra, on Tuesdays, to put together a similar show, without the new stuff. That will be performed before Christmas, in our Theatre. Next year, we hope to record an album, each. One with them backing us, and one with you. It means that you need to know our old repertoire and to be able to write out an orchestral score for some. Those of you in the fifth-year music studies will have it registered as your input for that.”

Dianne put her hand up.

“Doesn’t that disadvantage the others who don’t play, Viv?”

“You don’t think that this school would disadvantage a student, do you? No, the technical guys and gals will be working on an addition to the big show. They will be attending a special school to learn pyrotechnics, adding their back and front projection skills, and also being taught how to create stadium light shows. They’re going to have a ball; I can tell you.”

They didn’t play a note in that session, but talked about the older albums and chose the ones that would work with an orchestral backing. Some Carpenters stood out, along with the two hits from the ‘Journey’ album. The two Willow albums had some on the list, as did Viv’s latest two. The three songs that Vivienne sang in the operetta were also included, which already had a score written.

On Friday, the others from the Music Studies were told about the project. Willow had been talking to Clive and had been given contacts where the tech group could get experience, by being added to crews that were working with current shows, to soak up the techniques. They were excused the actual lesson times, as they would be learning out of school hours.

On Saturday, Willow looked at her laptop for the first time in months, having been a bit busy in the intervening period. There were a few from Peter, the oldest going back to the beginning of July, with a statement. Her earnings at that time was two hundred and eighty thousand. The next one was at the beginning of August, after the package had been released. Peter advised that the bulk of the profit for the show DVD was going to the Alliance, but she would be getting her four pounds for her album, as usual, and five for her DVD in the package, with another two from the show DVD. That would give her seven for each of the packages sold. Her back catalogue had sold enough to give her two hundred and ten thousand, the new CD had sold two hundred and eighty thousand in the three weeks, so giving her one-point one-two. The package had sold two hundred and ten thousand, so giving her one point four-seven. Her total, after the commission and costs, was two point three million. She replied to that email with the request that he transfer three million to the WR account, leaving a quarter of a million with him.

There was an email from her accountant, telling her that the one point two for the sale of Small Heath was now in the account. The latest email was another from Peter, with her earnings from the August period. She had been paid the hundred and eighty thousand from the Alliance for all the shows. Her album had hit Gold with three hundred and ten thousand sales, giving her one point two million. The package had sold big across Europe, selling three hundred and fifty thousand, so giving her two point four-five. With back catalogue sales, less costs and commission, she had cleared three and a half million. She replied to get him to transfer it all to her company account.

There was an email from Gina, with an attachment. It was a copy of the revue for her first solo concert in Rome, with glowing praise for ‘this new star in the piano world’. She answered with her own congratulations and told Gina about the latest school project.

On Sunday, the family attended a picnic in Stratford, organised by the electorate office, funded by Ashley, and put on for all the volunteers who handed out the papers at the polling stations and did the doorknocking. It was a big crowd, in a public park, and many found out that the Ashley Rose that they would be working for was the father of Willow Rose, the entertainer. She signed a lot of tee-shirts that afternoon.

Tuesday, after school, Willow and Vivienne walked into the Junior Orchestra, to the amazement of the players and the glee of members of the Vines. Mister Jamieson welcomed the players to the new school year, all of the orchestra being new second year, except for Abbie, the leader. He asked for quiet, and deferred to Willow, who explained that they would have a special project, leading to a performance in the theatre at the end of term.

“The brief that we have been given is to create a show, based around the music of Summer Rose and beyond, with full orchestral scoring. We’re not here to tell you what to do, but to be part of the performance. You are the ones who will decide what it sounds like, be it close to original or else a lot slower, faster, whatever Those of you doing music studies will bank some experience for later years. Next year, you will accompany us on a new album. That will be a collaboration.”

There was a buzz in the room, and then Vivienne took over.

“At the same time, the Senior Orchestra is working towards a similar performance. That one, however, will be on a big stage at the football ground and will be for charity. They will also accompany us on an album, with both being released before the show. We discussed the list of songs with them last week, and these are the ones that they decided on. Mister Jamieson will read them out and you can comment on whether you agree, and if you would do any of them differently. We’ll just take notes and answer any questions you have.”

As they worked through the list, Willow needed to sit at the piano to play, many in the room too young to have heard the earlier tunes. When they were walking out to their rides, Vivienne laughed.

“I wonder if the Head gave us this to show us that we’re getting old. Most of that orchestra would have been ten when we started playing the dinner dances.”

“I know. I sometimes feel as if I’m trapped in a time warp by knowing so many songs. I once thought that my retention was an asset. Now I’m wondering what the limit is.”

Over the next few weeks, the two concerts began to take shape. The Seniors taking the original tunes as the yardstick, as it was to be presented to a big audience, the Juniors playing around with tempo and timing, as a demonstration of their own way of thinking. The twins were the powerhouse behind the changes, and the girls left a lot to Abbie to keep her orchestra in some sort of line.

Willow and Vivienne were going through their old notebooks to find snippets of songs that they had started but never completed, trying to get a theme for the new albums. It was browsing her laptop, one evening, when Willow saw her ‘Fractured’ file, and realised that the sounds she thought could be made by a synthesiser could be also made by an orchestra. She listened to what she had previously recorded, and then sat at her desk, writing out the most experimental score she had ever imagined, wondering if it could just be stupid. It would take a single play to prove if it would work.

Marianne Gregory © 2025