Ending of Book 3
On Sunday, she played the refurbished organ for the service, had lunch in the club and spent the rest of the day sorting out her school uniform for the next morning, along with an overnight case and a garment bag with her soloists outfit for Monday evening in the Albert Hall. The first term of her third year was certainly going to start in a different way to any other term she had known. She wondered if this school year was going to be as momentous as the last one. She knew, in her heart, that she would enjoy it.
Chapter 1
Monday morning was clear and sunny, like Willow’s mindset for the first day as a third-year student. Today was going to be stranger than fiction. Today would be the morning assembly and she hadn’t been given a message to tell her to bring her blue dress. After lunch, there would be a convoy heading for London. The truck with the instruments and two coaches with the orchestra and choir.
She had her overnight case and the good dress in a garment bag when Sebastian picked her up. She said cheerio to her parents, who would be heading to London later in the day. Max helped her in, and Sebastian looked around.
“A bit like another world, after the summer you had.”
“You’re not wrong, Sebastian. Thank you for looking after us so well.”
“I wouldn’t have missed it for the world. That last show in London was something to remember all my life, along with the singing in Liverpool.”
They picked up Gina, also with her overnight bag and a garment bag, followed by Jacob with his two items as well. They talked about the tour, without mentioning that each of them were now considered millionaires. At the school, they put their things in their lockers and went to join the throng waiting to get into the hall for assembly.
There was a large group of new first-years, and Willow heard her name being mentioned, along with the names of others in both bands. The doors opened and they filed in, to take up their places by year, with the first year at the front. For Willow, this was odd, as she had always been up on the stage at the keyboard, a place where Reg now sat, doodling Bach. She followed Dianne, with Gina behind her, to find their seats.
When the hall was filled, the teachers present and the doors closed, Reg stopped the Bach as the Reverend Jack Heinrich walked to the microphone and blessed the school and the new school year. He gave a short sermon about hard work bringing the best results, led them in the Lord’s Prayer, and then they sang the hymn. Willow could see the screen above the stage for the first time and mouthed the words, along with many around her.
Then, the Head came onto the stage and walked to the microphone.
“Good morning, students, welcome to the first term of the new school year. A special welcome to the new intake of first years. Many of you are here because you talked your parents into sending you here, rather than attending a public school. I would guess that the reason that you wanted to be here is because of the popularity of the two bands, made up of our students, and wanted to emulate their success.”
She took a break to look at the front rows.
“The sermon was about hard work, and I will tell you that every member of those two bands are ‘A’ grade students, who have no fear of hard work. I have a theory, that learning music to play without looking at the score is one thing that sets all these students apart. There is no magic wand that gives you talent and success. You need to have some talent to start with and success comes with hard work.”
She took another look at the newcomers.
“There is part of our rules that comes from the Bible. It is that you should not venerate false idols. The members of those bands are here, today, and look just like you. G-Force and Summer Rose, could you please stand.”
All the band members stood.
“First years, please look behind you. These students, through hard work and talent, raised over forty million pounds for the disadvantaged over the summer break. They could have just played their tour for the money but took the hard road to help others. Their generosity allowed all of our teaching staff and over a hundred of the other students the opportunity to see their show from VIP seats and be fed before the show. Take a good look. They will be around the school as ordinary students wanting to get their marks high enough to go to university. They will be gracious enough to talk to you about their success and your dreams, as long as you follow the school rules to treat everyone as you wish to be treated yourself.”
She waved for the bands to sit, and the front rows faced the stage once more.
“You first years are lucky to be here at this particular time. The orchestra is currently a combined one and will stay that way until next term. You will all be able to nominate for the Junior Orchestra, while the current one will be the official Senior orchestra after Christmas. The reason is that they will be putting Handel’s Messiah on in the Coventry Cathedral which will be filmed by the BBC. They already have two BBC filmed DVDs on the market. If you get to see them, you’ll realise the standard we expect. Today, that orchestra is travelling to London to present a performance in Albert Hall as part of the last week of the Proms. This isn’t because they wanted a school orchestra, but because we showed them a professional group of talented musicians.”
She looked over them again.
“You young ones will have an opportunity to prove yourselves this year. You will be presenting a musical in this theatre before Christmas. You will be giving us a performance of ‘Wicked’ and providing both the actors and the music.”
She smiled.
“I have taken up too much of your time. You have a lot to do, and I wish all of you good and successful term.”
She walked off and Reg doodled while the hall emptied.
The morning lessons were mostly about looking over the various answers to the previous term’s exams and discussing why some students went wrong. At lunch, it was quite normal until a couple of girls came to their table. What was odd was that these were identical twins. One took a deep breath.
“Excuse me, can we have a word with you, Miss Rose?”
“You can, girls, but here I’m just Willow, only the teachers call me Miss Rose, and that’s usually when I’ve done something I shouldn’t. What do I call you.?”
“I’m Petunia and this is my sister, Ivy. I wanted to ask how you get into the orchestra, and how can we start our own band practise?”
“The first is easy. There are many rehearsal rooms behind the theatre stage, where the orchestra rehearse. You can nominate to join the Junior one by talking to the teachers. Miss Russell, Mister Jamieson, and Mister Bamborough. Have you played much?”
“We have been playing for the last two years. There are three others here with us that were part of our band. We did birthday parties and such. We called ourselves the Vines, as that’s our surname. Please don’t comment on that, our parents were children of hippies.”
“Petunia, we don’t laugh at people’s names here in this school. I got a lot of problems in my previous school because mine is Rose. Look, the school has a great program of putting on shows for the other students and parents. That’s how I had my first taste of playing rock music. You can see one of the three teachers to reserve a rehearsal room and ask for the equipment. If you need keyboards, amps, drums or anything else, the school has a huge store of things. I don’t think that there will be any orchestra sessions this week, except a possible session with the Messiah. Do you have the paperwork that tells you the session days?”
“I do. It told me that Junior orchestra is on Tuesday, after school.”
“I haven’t seen mine, yet, in the rush to go to London. What say I show you the rehearsal rooms and see if Mister Bamborough is in his office.”
“Will you do that for us?”
“Certainly, come along and follow me.”
She led them out of that part of the school and over to the music area, where instruments were being loaded on the truck. She pointed out where the rehearsal rooms were and took them to the offices, knocking on Mister Bamborough’s door. When he called to enter, she went in with two very surprised girls behind her.
“Good afternoon, sir. These two girls are Petunia and Ivy Vines. They’ve been playing in a small band for a couple of years, and there are three of their other bandmembers in first year. I was asked about joining the orchestra and organising a room so they can rehearse their own music.”
“Well. Hello Petunia and Ivy. I have to tell you that so far, every student that Willow has brought to me have turned out to be exceptional musicians. She seems to have second sight when it comes to spotting talent. What do you play?”
“We both play guitar, sir, and our friends play drums, bass, and one plays keyboard and sings.”
“Right. Willow, you will be doing the orchestra on Wednesdays. You’ll be back from London tomorrow. Why don’t we set up room three, where you put together the Kansas album, and we get these girls in then so that we can hear them play. How will that work for you, girls?”
“It will be brilliant, sir. We all live near each other, and our driver can take us all home. What time would we finish?”
“The orchestra sessions go for two hours, so we can say that will be how long we can take to properly hear what you can do. Willow, if you tell your driver to pick you up late, see if Gina and Jacob can stay late as well.”
“We’ll do that sir, thank you.”
“Yes sir. Thank you for listening to us and being so understanding. The staff at our last school considered that what we do was not the correct thing for young ladies of breeding.”
“A tough place, was it?”
“Yes. All study and female deportment. No thought for what we wanted out of life.”
He chuckled.
“If you have Willow and the others on your side, you’ll have no troubles like that here. We develop talent. In the past it has been mainly classical, but the last year has shown us the power of more popular music. You had better let Willow head to her locker, the coach to London leaves soon.”
They left the office and walked back to the lunchroom.
“So, ladies of breeding, eh?”
“Our parents run a big mechanical workshop. Dad was originally a mechanic for a race team. They wanted us to go to a posh school where ladies are taught to be good wives and breed like rabbits.”
Willow had to laugh.
“But you ended up here?”
“It took a lot of tears and tantrums; I can tell you. It took us ages to talk Mum into taking us to your show at the football club. We pointed out that the first band and your band were all students here and dangled the possibility of us becoming rich.”
“Well, there is a lot of money to be made, but, as the Head said this morning, it takes a lot of hard work.”
“The teacher said that you worked out the Kansas album here?”
“That’s right. We were going to present it as a school act, but it got postponed. Remember, asking questions gets you answers, and being as brave as you were today will find those who can help you. Now, go and tell your friends that you’ve set up a session to show three of Summer Rose how good they are.”
The sisters giggled and went off. Jacob looked at Willow.
“Found another massive talent, then?”
“Don’t know, love. We’ll hear what they can do on Tuesday, after school.”
Willow went to where Herb was sitting.
“When you get taken home today, can you tell your drivers that the Stoneleigh group will be later leaving tomorrow, say about two hours.”
The orchestra and choir all started to leave the lunchroom, with a lot of shouts of encouragement and many hugs. There was a lot of wonder among the new students at this display of group affection that had not been part of their previous schooling. Petunia turned to her friends.
“See. That shows that we were right to come here. This is our chance to be our own women.”
The trip down to London was quiet in both coaches, with the orchestra all hoping that nothing will go wrong. The school had them staying in a fairly good hotel, and that’s where they went first to check in. For those in the two bands, this was a normal procedure, so they helped out the other players who weren’t so well travelled. Gina, Willow, Nancy, and Vivienne were sharing a room and were unpacked and ready to go quickly.
They found themselves in reception, helping the rest of the orchestra as they came down. Gina and Willow were resplendent in long gowns, Gina in a vibrant blue, and Willow in yellow. Jacob joined them in a very smart ruffled shirt, shiny black trousers, heeled boots and a Bolero styled jacket, every inch a Spanish guitarist. The rest of the orchestra collected, and the three friends and Zara circulated and helped them overcome their sudden fears of playing such an important performance.
When Mister Bamborough finally joined them, he had been watching for a few minutes, in awe of how good these teenagers were. He clapped his hands and told them to board the coaches and make sure they all stayed clean and tidy. The trip to the Albert Hall didn’t take long, and they all went inside.
It was different to when they were there before. Now, there was bunting and flags, and several TV cameras set up. The orchestra area was already set up with chairs and music stands and a host of carefully placed microphones. The instrument cases were beside each place.
“Listen up, students! You will play something now to set the audio levels, then we all go to a side area to relax for an hour or so, taking the cases with us. There will be food and drink, but make sure that you’ve all been to the toilet before you start to play. No putting your hand up and leaving the room tonight!”
That caused a wave of giggles which helped to lower the tension. The players all went to their usual seats to find their instruments and get ready for a tune-up. The three soloists felt a strangeness to be standing to one side as their friends prepared to play. Moyra stood and led the tuning, then they waited for Mister Bamborough to lead them. They had decided on Bolero as a warm-up and sound check. Mister Bamborough had a bud in one ear, listening to the director. When he got the word to go, he tapped his baton, and they were ready. He launched them into the music and the cameramen and sound men got the sight lines or moved microphones slightly. When the Bolero finished, it didn’t take along to roll the Grand piano into place. They got Gina to play something to test the sound, with the sound man adjusting the microphone until it was just right.
The piano was wheeled away, and Jacob was sat in front of the orchestra, and they played the first few minutes of the concerto, as the sound man moved the microphone. When he was happy, he put a texta mark on the floor for the mic and the front legs of the chair. After that, Willow was asked to go to the organ to play something, playing her favourite movement of the ‘Seven Variations’. When they were happy with that, the choir was lined up to sing something at full voice.
They sang ‘In Dolce Jubilo’ that Willow had sung with them, over a year ago, and the memory brought tears to her eyes. So much had happened since then, and so much that had been planned that night had fallen by the wayside. She was supposed to have sung with the choir after that, but had only done so, officially, the once.
When everyone was happily on the same wavelength, the orchestra left for the side room, carrying their instrument cases and the violins and violas. Food and drink was waiting for them, and they all relaxed and tried to eat without spilling anything. Jacob sat to one side, playing the Martin to warm his fingers. There was a screen in the room that showed the auditorium, so they could see when people started coming in. As it got closer to the time, Mister Bamborough stood.
“Now, students. You have all played this before. We all know how to play these pieces. You are here to represent the Blue Coat School, we know. But, most of all, you are here to represent yourselves; the talented and proud girls and boys that you all are. When we go out there, you’re to look positive and walk with pride to your places. Tonight is being broadcast live on BBC Three radio and will be transmitted later in the year on TV. Good luck, everyone, let’s go and show them what Blue Coat can do!”
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As they lined up to go to their places, the radio commentator was speaking to the country.
“Good evening, listeners. Tonight, to start the last week of the Proms, we will be treated to a sublime concert of popular classics. We start with the Rodrigo ‘Concerto De Aranjuez’. The soloist guitar player is a third-year student named Jacob Epstein. Jacob is also one of the members of the successful pop group ‘Summer Rose’, and finished a summer tour, here in London, just a couple of weeks ago.”
He allowed the noise of the audience to signal that the orchestra was walking out. They found their places and tuned up, then sat. When they stood and the audience clapped, he continued.
“Now we see Jacob coming out, a Martin guitar in hand, followed by tonight’s conductor, Mister Howard Bamborough, one of the music teachers from the Blue Coat School in Coventry.”
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The audience went quiet as Jacob sat and got comfortable, then nodded to the conductor and starting to strum the opening to the piece. When they finished, the audience went wild, and he stood to bow and gestured for the orchestra to stand. The commentator was praising the performance as something that could have been played by a professional orchestra. He continued as Jacob and Howard left the stage and the orchestra sat. The grand piano was rolled into position. The commentator looked at his notes.
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“The second item, tonight, is the Grieg ‘Piano Concerto in A Minor’. This is an iconic piece of music, loved by every classical pianist. Tonight’s soloist is another student, also a member of Summer Rose. Here she comes now, followed by our conductor. The audience is giving her a welcome that is more suited to a pop star. Miss Gina Summer is waving to the crowd and about to sit at the piano. Last time I saw her at a keyboard she was playing the band’s number one hit, and tonight we will hear her show us yet another side.”
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The baton was raised, the timpani roll launched them into the opening of the first of three movements. Gina, after a long hug from Willow before she walked out, was not only ready, but was revelling in the moment. When the last notes died, Howard stood for some seconds before he lowered the baton and stepped down to congratulate Gina, then they bowed and gestured for the orchestra to stand, then they acknowledged the audience and he ushered her off, with the orchestra standing to follow. The commentator was almost speechless.
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“Tonight, has been a revelation. Usually, you get a soloist with an orchestra. Tonight, we have had two, both very different, but both world-class players. What you would not have picked up on the radio, is that both soloists performed without any music in front of them. Amazing. There is a short break before the second half, and we have some of an interview that Summer Rose gave to our friends in one of our TV studios, I’ll be back later.”
As the break came to an end, the orchestra walked out to applause. They took their seats and tuned up. As that was happening, the commentator came back on as the interview clips finished.
“Welcome back to the Albert Hall and the beginning of the last week of the Proms. We have already heard Jacob Epstein on classical guitar and Gina Summer on the grand piano. The second half is one huge piece of music, the Saint-Saens ‘Organ Symphony’. The organ will be played by Willow Rose, another member of the popular band. There are no less than eight members of Summer Rose in this orchestra, as well as the vocalist from G-Force playing the cello. Here comes Willow Rose, with Howard Bamborough. She acknowledges the applause and makes her way to the massive organ, which almost dwarfs her. As she reaches the keyboard, she turns to look out at the audience, a tiny figure in yellow. The conductor is ready on his rostrum, the choir are in place, the crowd is now quiet, and we are about to hear the ’Organ Symphony’ in all its majesty.”
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The audience, which had been bolstered by a lot of parents and other schoolteachers from Coventry, listened in admiration for their children and charges as they showed how good the orchestra could get. With the last movement, a lot were smiling as Willow opened it with the blast from ‘Jupiter’s Voice’, and many sang along with the choir. The piece came to the triumphant end and there was silence until the conductor relaxed and turned. Then there was tremendous applause and many standing. Willow came down from the organ to stand next to Gina and Jacob, in a line next to Howard Bamborough, bowing and waving at the crowd. A trio of girls came out with flowers for each of them before they were allowed to walk off, with the orchestra following. The applause continued as they came on and then left once more.
There were calls for more, which died down when Zara walked out, alone, and went to her cello, to give a heartrending version of ‘The Swan”, after which the other three came out, with Jacob holding his flowers, which he gave her as they stood in line. When they walked off again, the applause petered out and the Albert Hall started to empty. The Head was grinning. Not three soloists, but four.
The commentator could only say his goodnights from the Albert Hall. Even he couldn’t believe what he had just seen and heard. The radio program reverted to the studio and the whole orchestra were wiped out with the release of pressure. The coaches took them back to the hotel where they were all in bed and asleep inside of thirty minutes.
In the Albert Hall, the contractors used by the school started collecting the instruments to load into the truck. They would be driving back to Coventry in the night, with the truck spending a few hours in the depot, before being taken to the school that afternoon.
On Tuesday morning, many slept late. No set time had been given and there was a buffet breakfast. Willow and the other three had showered, dressed in the school uniform, packed, and were in the dining room about eight. Some were already there, and others trickled in after. They were all hungry as they raided the offered food. Mister Bamborough stood and tapped a spoon on his glass.
“Good morning, students. You were all stars last night and made me very proud to be your conductor. I apologise to you, Zara, for sending you out like that at the end, but you were wonderful, and it certainly pleased the audience. Mister Jamieson rang me this morning to tell me that he had listened to the radio broadcast, and it was all first class. Today, we take it easy, and will be going back to the school in time for the usual lunch, followed by the usual Tuesday afternoon. We don’t have a lot of time to sightsee but will stop near the Houses of Parliament for a short while, so those who want can visit the Abbey, then it’s back to Coventry.”
They all went back to their rooms to brush their teeth and collect their bags. They were at the Abbey by half past nine, with the warning to return to the coaches when they heard Big Ben strike ten. They all had a look at the plaques for the famous people and then went back to the coaches as the hour was chiming.
Back at the school, bags were stowed in lockers, and they were the first in the lunchroom. The bells went and the other students streamed in. The orchestra were the centre of attention for a while. Xavier and his friends came over to where the band was sitting to offer their congratulations, followed by Petunia, who said that she had listened to the performance with her mother, who was amazed that the pop stars were all soloists that night.
That afternoon, the teachers were all easy on them and there was only a small amount of new work. After the final bell, the three friends went to the music area, where the orchestra were busy picking up their instrument cases to take home, with the bigger ones checked before being stored at the school. They were talking to Dianne and Barbara when Petunia and her sister arrived with their three friends.
“Hello, Willow. We listened to the concert on the radio last night. It was awesome. You guys are so good. My Mum said that she had never thought that a bunch of schoolkids could make that beautiful music.”
“As the Head told you yesterday, it all takes hard work. Do you play anything else besides guitar?”
“Ivy and I both had piano lessons from an early age. Guitar was easier because you can carry one around.”
“All right. Let’s see what has been put into the rehearsal room for you.”
They all went to the rehearsal room to find three amps, a drum kit, the two Yamaha keyboards and several guitar cases. Petunia stood in the doorway, dumbstruck.
Marianne Gregory © 2025
Chapter 2
Petunia started breathing again.
“This is just for us?”
“This is something for you girls to understand. The school looks after talent. There is a lot of equipment that can come out when you need it. Last term we played a concert where we needed a glass harmonica, and one was available. Now, introduce us to your friends and let’s see what you can do.”
“OK. Girls, this is Willow Rose, Gina Summer and Jacob Epstein. May I introduce Ivy Vines, my sister; Susan Winter, our drummer, Geraldine Hogarth, our bass player; and Brenda Zachary, our singer.”
“Pleased to meet you all. Now, there are a number of guitar cases here. I’m no guitarist, so you’ll have to look through them to see if there’s anything that suits you. Susan, have a look at the drum kit. If there’s anything else that you use, make a list and we can add it next time.”
“Thank you, Willow. I can’t believe that we’ve been made so welcome. We had to hide away in Deen’s garage before. This is awesome.”
She adjusted the seat to suit and moved the drums around to suit her reach, then started playing a quiet syncopated beat that seemed incongruous for the pretty little pre-teen to be playing. The others had sorted through the cases and found guitars that seemed like Christmas presents to them. Petunia and Ivy had a pair of telecaster-style ones, while Geraldine – Deen – had discovered a genuine Fender bass. As they were getting plugged in, Mister Bamborough came in and was introduced to the whole group.
He sat, with the others by the door as the girls had a huddle and Brenda stood at a microphone.
“We sincerely thank you for giving us this opportunity. In the past, we have only played at friends parties, and that was all acoustic. We’re not used to these electric guitars, so please bear with us until we find out what we can do.”
“You have over an hour and a half, girls. We’re here to be amazed, so take your time and be happy with what you find.”
“Thank you, sir. You have no idea how different this is to the attitude of our last school.”
They started out by playing an instrumental, something that may have sounded better as an acoustic piece, then, as the guitarists became more comfortable with their instruments, they started to sound better. Susan started to play the beat that she had intrigued Willow with, and they played a sort of middle eastern tune with Brenda singing a song about girls without hope in a far-off land.
Howard Bamborough looked at Willow and raised an eyebrow, a sure sign that he was excited. Gina and Willow, however, were not just impressed by the original song, but were thinking of piano and organ riffs for it.
After that, the girls went on to play for nearly an hour of what one might call ‘nightclub jazz’, with the teacher hearing shades of Billie Holiday to Brenda Lee. When they finally stopped, the four applauded them. Willow stood and went over.
“That song about girl’s without rights. Do you mind if Gina and I play along with you? We both have ideas about keyboard sounds that go with it.”
The group all grinned. Jamming with the core of Summer Rose was a dream come true. Gina and Willow turned the Yamahas on. Willow tested the organ, and Gina tested the piano. Susan started the drumming and they all got into the groove, with the two extras adding little bits to the mix. Howard was filming this on his phone to show the Head later. When they had finished, there were smiles all round. Willow looked at Petunia.
“Petunia, you said that you and Ivy played piano. If Jacob takes one of the guitar spots, would one of you like to take over here?”
Ivy took over from Gina, giving her a hug. Jacob took her guitar and stood beside her sister, and then they played it again. Willow deliberately refrained from much organ additions, allowing Ivy to sparkle on the piano parts, adding a lot more, showing that she had thought about this in the past.
They were nearly out of time, and Mister Bamborough asked them about the other songs.
“That jazzy set, are they covers or new?”
“They’re mainly new, sir. Ivy and I have a grandfather with a big collection of older records. He’s a fan of the old jazz singers, and it just sort of rubbed off on us. We have a lot of lyrics that we’ve written, between us all, but have never had the chance to develop them.”
“Well, young ladies, you have the chance now. We can set up a smaller rehearsal room for you with what you’ve chosen here, and you can use it whenever you want until we start workshopping ‘Wicked’. Willow, I think that you’ve done it again.”
They moved the desired equipment to a smaller room, and Susan gave the teacher the list of the other items she would like. Leaving the unwanted guitars and one keyboard, they locked both rooms, with the teacher giving Petunia the key to their one.
“Remember, girls. With opportunity comes responsibility. Use the room wisely and you’ll be able to spread your wings. Never forget that there are others who can help you. I’m sure that Willow and her band can help you with creating tunes. You, Susan, can teach Brent a thing or two. Geraldine, can you bow?”
“I have played a bit of cello, for fun, but have never done so seriously.”
“All right. Next week will be the first tryouts for the new orchestra. I want you all to come along. We will just see if we have instruments for you and test your abilities. It doesn’t matter if you don’t play anything. We have plenty of triangles.”
They walked out, via the music student’s lockers where the three friends loaded up with their cases and garment bags. Brenda smiled.
“Are those what you wore at the concert? Can I see?”
Willow unzipped her bag to show the yellow dress and Brenda felt the material.
“That is so lovely. I wish that I had a chance to wear something like that.”
“Keep up with what you’re doing now, and I predict that you’ll be wearing something similar on our stage before the end of the year.”
They got to the main door where Sebastian was waiting, talking to the driver of another people-mover. The three went to get in theirs, and the smiling girls got in the other one. On the way south, Willow chuckled.
“So, Sebastian, what can you tell us about those girls?”
“Their driver is Bernie, and he used to be with us until he started to drive for the Vines. We had a chat at the dinner dance you did at the football stadium. The Vines are seriously loaded. He has a large machine shop where he manufactures very expensive small parts for car racing, including Formula One. He used to have his own Touring Car team but sold the licence to another company. He also has another company that produces carbon-fibre bodies and other parts for racing and the military. The twins are his youngest, and Bernie said that up until mid-summer, they were destined to go to a very posh college for ladies.”
“That’s what they said. They wanted to come here to be allowed to play music.”
“Can they play?”
“You bet. When it comes to pop, they’re streets ahead of where we were at their age. They just treated us to an hour of original material. All of it was sort of forties and fifties sounding, with hints of early sixties. The drummer will be the backbone of the percussion section of the next orchestra.”
“So, serious competition, then?”
“Not competition, but the next wave. I expected to hear some covers, but everything was new and different. Now, tomorrow is the new day for us to be staying behind for the orchestra. We’ll be starting to work on our project. Next week, we will need our Stoneleigh choir to be brought to the school to join us. Can you ask your boss to see if he can organise transport which is wheelchair friendly for a motorised one? It will continue until December. The first Tuesday we’ll be performing it at the school, and the following weekend we have three performances in the Cathedral.”
“I’ll talk to him. I think that we do have a minibus with a rear-mounted wheelchair lift. Anything else?”
“Not at the moment, but I believe that the work on our studio project is getting close to finish. We’ll need transport to take everyone there to have a look, including the techs. That will be a minimum of fourteen of us.’
They dropped Jacob off, after he and Willow had a kiss, and then went to Gina’s house.
“It’s odd, friend. We’re back in the old ways, but, even now, they’re new ways. It will be nice to know that I’ll be sleeping in my own bed for a while.”
“I know exactly how you feel, sister. All those hotel breakfasts and restaurant dinners have gone to my hips.”
“And very nice they look too.”
They both laughed as Gina left the vehicle. When Willow had been dropped off, she went in with her luggage to find her mother preparing dinner.
“Hello. Who are you?”
“I’m you’re daughter, Mum. I know that I haven’t been home a lot for a while, but I’m back now because I’ve missed your cooking.”
“What, not dashing off again?”
“Not that I know of, Mum, but who knows what the label is planning for us. I’m hoping that they’ll let us have some time to develop some new songs. I’ve found out that our new orchestra sessions are on Wednesdays, now that most of us are in the combined orchestra for the project. The ones not needed will be the core of the new junior orchestra until we’ve performed in the Cathedral, then we’ll revert to a junior and senior orchestra next year,”
“There was a package for you from the school last week, which is in your father’s office. You had better have a look, as it’s your new schedules for the specialists subjects.”
Willow went into the office and brought the package back to the kitchen table, where she had a look at it.
“It says here that I’m now concert master in the senior orchestra until Christmas. I knew that, as I’m sort of in charge of rehearsing the Messiah. Oh! I’ll be continuing as concert master for the rest of the school year as well. I suppose that they have decided, with the other leaders, to keep me up front where they can keep an eye on me. It does relieve me of playing big organs.”
“What does my daughter know about big organs, dear?”
“I played what was the biggest in its day last night, and I played the biggest one in the country in Liverpool. Other than that, dear mother, my lips are sealed.”
Ashley came home and walked into the kitchen.
“Who’s this then?”
“Already done that one, Dad. Tell me, have you ever heard of a guy in motorsport called Vines?”
“We do deal with Vines Precision Engineering. They provide some parts for our competition cars and special orders. Why?”
“Because his twin daughters are at our school. They started Monday. From what they said, they should have been sent to a posh girl’s school but insisted that they wanted to come to Blue Coat because of the band. In fact, the Head did speak about a lot of new students joining us because of the bands.”
“I gather that you met them?”
“They came to talk on Monday at lunch. I organised them in a visit to Mister Bamborough to try out today. They had three of their friends with them and they blew us away. They played a bunch of original material and have found themselves in the new orchestra as well as getting their own room to develop material that they were unable to work on.”
He laughed.
“Competition to Summer Rose?”
“Everybody thinks that! No, I think that they’re the next generation. Their music is based more on nightclubs at two in the morning. They’re really good. Anyway, the orchestra for me is now Wednesday, so we’ll have to see about the Stoneleigh choir. We’ll need them at the school to rehearse soon. I’m organising transport for them.”
She looked at the paperwork again.
“I now have gym on Fridays and the Music Studies has been shifted to Thursday afternoon. Oh! I’ve been designated as the artistic director of the school musical. We’re going to put ‘Wicked’ on the stage over three nights in the middle of November. That’s a surprise. I think that the Head is determined to work me to death. That will be Friday after gym.”
“I think the Head knows how good you are at managing. You can compartmentalise the two responsibilities regarding rehearsal, but I’m pretty sure that you’ll be acting as the leader with the two orchestral groups. If the first years don’t have a leader yet, who best to keep them in line?”
“Maybe you’re right, Dad. We get that one out of the way with two weeks to finalise the Messiah.”
“Before we have dinner, will you stand so that I can give my talented daughter a big hug. Last night was magnificent! All three of you were great, and Zara playing the ‘Swan’ was a beautiful ending.”
“That was a surprise to her as well. We needed an encore, and it was too far for me to walk back to the organ.”
They had dinner and she went up to her room to unload her bags and mark up her diary with the new appointments. She emailed Jill to tell her that she would be late at school on Fridays.
There was an email from Wilhelm, asking if she would be free to have a look at the Leicester project on Saturday. He would pick Jacob, Gina, and her at about ten. He noted that Jacob had told him that they had a sing-along on Saturday evening. She replied that she would be ready. She then sent an email to the real estate agent, after looking on the web, asking him to look into a large food store property for sale in Leicestershire, with a price over three point eight million pounds. She wondered if the others would be interested in a property like this. It would be an investment of around three hundred and fifty thousand if all eleven join in. It would have to be a new holding company. When she prepared for bed, she was looking in the mirror cleaning her face when she started thinking about the auditions for ‘Wicked’.
On Wednesday, they had chapel for the first time as third years. Ivy spoke to her at lunch.
“Willow, we spoke to my parents last night and they want to come to the school on Friday to see for themselves what we’re doing.”
“That will be OK. Ask Mister Bamborough to stop a bit later on the day and he’ll show them around. Tell your sister and your friends that I want you in the rehearsal room we used last night, on Friday after school, for a while. I want to start with the auditions for the first-years musical. There will be a notice for all first years to attend. We’ll be doing ‘Wicked’, and I’m sure that Brenda could be a shoo-in for one of the lead roles. That might be a good time for your folks to come.”
“OK, thanks Willow. You’re the best.”
After school, she went to the rehearsal area with her friends. The orchestra were there, along with the tenor and bass singers. Willow got them to quieten.
“Good afternoon. As you know, I’ve been given the mountain that is this project. The orchestra have already mastered the two movements where there is no singing. Today, we will start on those parts which feature the male soloists. Early in the Messiah there are two airs sung by the tenor, and two by the bass. We will all try to have these sorted before we go home. Orchestra, you will see that the first item is an Accompagnato. Please be ready to go. We will master the music before adding the vocals. The lyrics start with ‘Comfort ye, my people’.
Mister Bamborough gave her a smile after she led the tune-up, then she sat in the leader’s seat with her violin. Because they had mastered the cadence of the music before the holiday, it only needed two run-throughs before the tenor stood to sing, having followed the music. He was good on the second try, so they allowed him to sit so that they could work on the next movement, an Air, with the opening words of ‘Ev’ry valley shall be exalted.’
It went so well that Willow asked for them to work the next movement as well, which uses the choir, and has the words of ‘And the glory of the lord shall be revealed.’
After that, they mastered the music of the Accompagnato for the bass, with the words ‘Thus Saith the Lord’, followed by a later movement with him, which had the opening ‘For behold, darkness shall cover the earth’. That was followed by his next item, an Air, with the words, ‘The people that walked in darkness.’
They had used their two hours, and everyone was happy with how they had gone. Mister Bamborough suggested that they get Margaret in next week. They all packed up to go home. In the vehicle, Willow asked if Sebastian could organise the transport with the wheelchair lift for next Wednesday to pick up the choir and take them back to the club after.
When she arrived home, they had dinner and walked to the club where the choir was working with Tom. Willow played the keyboard for them and told them to be at the club around three the next week, to be taken to the school for a rehearsal with the orchestra. She assured Margaret that the proper transport will be available and that they all will be brought back to the club afterwards.
On Thursday, they had the Music Studies in the afternoon. It was a lesson in developing keyboard skills, with one of the Yamahas in the classroom. Not all of the class were pianists, so it didn’t take long for those that were to follow the hints and tips that they were given. They had a short test on notations and both Gina and Willow were given a free pass on the performance part. Some of the others played, with Mister Jamieson telling them that it would be finalised in the next session. The non-keyboard players just needed to know the technical side.
On Friday, after gym, which had the girls playing netball, Willow showered and dressed to go back to the rehearsal room to start the auditions for ‘Wicked’. There were three distinct areas. One was the make-up of the orchestra, which isn’t huge. The second was the choice of the named roles, of which there was four female and four male. Then it was volunteers for the non-speaking parts but were mostly chorus singing parts. The other thing was to get volunteers to paint the sets and man the lighting, as well as stagehands.
She found that all of the first year were keen to be part of the project, especially if it meant to be in the same room with the three members of their favourite group. Gina would be playing keyboard in rehearsals, and Jacob was now the stage manager. They had a couple of volunteers for each of the singing parts, with Willow emphasising that the two main characters carry eighty percent of the musical. She was happy that Brenda had nominated to play Glinda.
The students decided that they wanted it to be an electric presentation, so the Vines were an immediate choice for the band. With one of the first-year students an organ player, they were already on a roll. That gave Jacob some ideas for the stage set-up and backdrops, seeing that it would be the cast supplying the colour and movement. During the session, Mister Bamborough brought in a man and woman, obviously the twin’s parents. They stood for a while, as the group were in lively discussion about the look they wanted to portray. They were adamant that they couldn’t carry the flamboyant production of the stage show, and finally decided that it should be set in modern times, with OZ becoming a seedy ghetto, with the wizard now a sort of Fagin character. Glinda was a girl who had left the area and did well for herself, with Elphaba a former friend who had slipped into bad ways. Willow told them to see if they could refine the story to fit the stage show premise for next week, and the adults left the room.
The volunteers were given the lyrics for the characters and a DVD of the show, which the school had acquired, and told to come back next week with the expectation of singing their parts, with the actual performances mixing the cast so that everyone had their time on the stage.
That evening, the family sat in the sitting room and watched the DVD, with Willow taking notes. Wendy was taken with the whole show, especially the costumes. She asked Willow who was going to make the costumes and was told that it was going to be presented in modern dress.
“That will be interesting to see”.
On Saturday morning, she was by the front door when Wilhelm arrived in the new company people mover. Ashley asked if he could come along, not having seen inside the property. They went to Leicester and parked in front of the offices. Wilhelm led them into the office first, going up the stairs and showing them a totally refurbished space, with a clean open-plan and now a good kitchen and new toilet. There were two big desks, with computer screens and ergonomic chairs. There were filing cabinets, marked with the different properties. He said that he had relocated all the records here, where he could work in the quiet. One end of the floor had a huge table, with twelve chairs.
They all picked up hi-vis vests before they went out. The big roller door was gone, replaced by a wide single door that opened inwards, set in a plain wall. Wilhelm unlocked it and took one key off a ring of keys, giving it to Willow, then giving one each to Gina and Jacob. They went into a short corridor that went to the right, with the walls covered in sound absorbing tiles. Wilhelm showed them the panel of switches and turned them all on. The corridor turned left, then left again, and there was another heavy door. On the wall was a sign. It read, ‘No Smoking, no alcohol, no food or drink beyond the rest area.’
When he opened the door, the lights were on, and the space was bathed in a slightly orange glow from hidden LEDs. When they walked in and looked around, they saw comfortable chairs, coffee tables, and a kitchenette along the opposite wall with a couple of refrigerators, electric kettles and microwaves. To their left were steps leading up to a mezzanine that was over the corridor they had come through. Next to the entrance door were two other doors, with the universal silhouettes for a man and woman.
“Both are big enough to double as handicapped toilets and are plumbed to the ones in the next-door building. If you look at the two end walls, they are softwood, so you can put up your awards. The mezzanine has storage space for recordings and all the other bits needed. It doesn’t have much head height but is a useful additional space.”
There was another door on the next wall, near the kitchenette. He led them through and into the control room. It took their breath away, with the big mixing desk, secondary mixing desk, and two, big, reel to reel tapes and a bank of computers and screens, all bathed in the low light.
“The twenty-four track tapes were added as back-up. They did the business for well over fifty years, and I was told that they had got more than one studio out of a fix. The post-production is on the back wall and can take feed from the computers or the tape. All the computers are connected to a very large server for storage of work in progress. The desk at the end is to monitor the vision and there are twelve camera mounts. I’m not an expert; I was just told all this several times.”
He went to the control desk and pointed to a bank of switches and a large red one.
“This lights up the working area.”
He switched the red one and they could see the studio itself through the big window. It seemed to stretch away for ever. The walls were acoustic tile, the floor looked like a blue industrial carpet and the lights showed that the room was empty.
“Come on through. You can’t hear anything, but I turned on the air conditioning when we came in.”
There was another door to the right of the desk, which turned out to be an airlock passage with a door at both ends. In the studio they noticed a wealth of power outlets and jack plugs. He walked them through to the other end, where he slid a sound deadening door to one side to reveal heavy double doors. He used the key to unlock the deadlock holding the doors shut and swung them open.
Marianne Gregory © 2025
Chapter 3
What was the parking space had been cleaned and painted. There was a girder frame around the walls, supported by uprights on each corner, and across the back wall it supported a pair of steel doors that totally hid the doors to the lane. The single door at the other side had been bricked up. There was an industrial rack to the left, the same as used in the distribution area and big enough to take pallets.
“The steel doors are electric and alarmed. The blue switch on the board when we came in is the one to activate or deactivate the alarms, which are also linked to movement sensors throughout the studio. If you open the second door without deactivating them, there will be a noise like you’ve never heard. We can now just pull these doors open, but they are electronically secure when the switch is thrown or if the power goes down.”
He opened one to reveal the doors to the lane, now a lot thicker with a steel sheet on the inside. The key opened it, and they stepped out into the lane to see that the outer wall looked very much the same as it had been when they first saw it. They then backtracked, closing doors as they went. Jacob hugged his father.
“Dad, it’s fantastic. Thank you for overseeing the building work.”
“It was fun. I learned a lot from the specialists as they worked. They were all keen to give you the best.”
As they walked back, he pointed out mounting points on the walls.
“These are for cameras when you’re recording. There’s five each side and two over the control room window. They’re all swivel and tilt, controlled from the desk in the control room. The screens are set to each show four views. The leads all go through to one of the computers with editing software. I was told that there are ways to synchronise the sound and vision. I know that you need to get equipment and microphones, and a lot of other stuff, but I have loaded the kitchenette with tea, coffee, biscuits, sugar and milk, so we can relax for a few minutes while you young ones try to make sense out of this.”
They went through the control room and back to the rest area, where they found about thirty mugs and all the necessary for a drink. No-one had said very much during the walk-through, the idea that it was finished and theirs was a lot to take in. Willow looked at Wilhelm.
“What was the bottom line for the lot?”
“The studio guys went a little over. They said that a lot was made easier because of the existing wall. That ended up at six-seventy. The building work and all the doors came in at three-fifty, the air-conditioning at sixty, and the toilets were forty. So, bottom line was one point one-two. Everything is paid for. The work in the office was only twenty for the painter and decorator, and another forty for the new furnishings.”
“Thank you, Wilhelm, that was very good of you. I hope that things will be a bit easier for a while.”
“Don’t you worry your sweet brain, Willow. It’s been fun. The is one fly in the ointment, though.”
“There has to be one. Come on, spill!”
“I was talking to Mervyn last week. He told me that he needs to find bigger premises over the next few months. The delivery levels are rising, and he needs somewhere that he can have through unloading and loading, which is impossible here.”
“Did he tell you how big his wish was?”
“Yes, he did.”
“Well, we can always talk to our friendly agent to see if there’s anything available. Did he say if he had a particular area or site in mind?”
“No, but we can have a talk next week. We’ve got pretty friendly. Why?”
“Wilhelm. Each one-eleventh share of our income last month was just over a million. I’m sure that the syndicate could stump up a half a million each for a decent site with a happy tenant. If we include all eleven of us, we can drop the input level. If he moves out of here, we can just take over the empty space for parking. We could get a truck for transporting equipment and a coach to transport the band, rather than relying on our security detail. Part time drivers are available, I’m sure.”
“That’s a big investment, Willow.”
Ashley, who had just taken everything in without saying much, now spoke.
“It’s all an investment, Wilhelm. The seven of them now own this site and the other one in Coventry. As my daughter said, a tailor-made site for a happy tenant is likely to be good for years. They could get one with room to grow. If the current tenant moves from here, there’s the big shed for a small business, and the space in the long shed for car parking if they get other bands in to record. That galvanised shed out front could go to increase outside parking. The ground floor of the offices could be leased separately to something like an accountant, physiotherapist, or the like. I saw the big table upstairs, big enough for the whole band to meet in comfort. The band could actually pay the syndicate a regular lease arrangement. They have the time to continue their school and their careers, so there will be income, maybe not as much as last month, but still pretty tidy.”
“You’re right, Ashley. I’m still thinking like a farmer with one source of income.”
“Are they paying you?”
“Not as such. I do take out expenses.”
“Well, I think that you should look into what you can earn and give yourself a wage. If you haven’t done so already, appoint a separate accountant for the syndicate and any future syndicate should the whole band want to be part of it. They can be based here, in Leicester to make it easier if the control of the business is here.”
“If you all agree, I’ll get that moving.”
The three friends all agreed, and they washed their mugs and left them on the big draining board. One last look at the control room, now noting the vision control desk, and they made sure the doors were shut before going back out into the fork-lift workshop, with Wilhelm turning off all the switches and relocking the door. He gave Willow the ring with the remaining keys so she could give one each to the others. They put the hi-vis back where they found it and got into the vehicle to go back to Stoneleigh. Wilhelm drove around the corner, pointing out the nearby supermarket and two fast food outlets, which he said did on-line orders and delivered.
Back at home, Willow and Ashley were dropped off with ‘see you tonight’s’ and went in. Wendy was interested in what they had seen, so Willow left her father to describe the place, going up to her room. She added the studio key to the ring with her house key and school locker key. She emailed Jill to deliver their equipment, and to contact Wilhelm to arrange the time and location. She knew that they had the six amps. These were in three sections, two big speaker boxes and the amplifier head that went in between. There were the two keyboards, but she was unsure of what else was in storage. She remembered that on the first stage, there were three amps with ‘Hikers’ on the back, and on the second stage there was another three ‘Hikers’ and six marked ‘Force’.
She went down for lunch and then spent the afternoon working through the parts of the Messiah that they would be rehearsing with Margaret and Sally next week. Later, that afternoon, she got ready and joined her parents to go to the club for dinner and set up for the sing-along. They were warmly welcomed. Malcolm asked if they would be available for the dinner dances for a few weeks. She told him that, as far as she knew, they didn’t have anything on until the half-year holiday at the end of October.
They were joined by Gina with Maisie, and Jacob with Rick and Racheal, his old Fender in its case. Brent and his mother were a few minutes behind. After the meal, the four went to set up the stage, pausing in the store for a cuddle and kiss. They set up two amps, the two Yamahas, the drum kit and the PA. Before they started playing, Willow gave Brent one of the keys, and Gina told him about the studio.
There was a full house, and they played quieter songs for a change, moving into the usual singing numbers. Most of the audience were locals tonight, along to see their local stars and happy that they were back and seemingly unchanged. They stored all the equipment again, pleased that they had done a good job after so many weeks.
Sunday morning, Gina played the church organ and Willow sat with her parents. They went to the club and the two friends sat to talk about the studio. Now they had it, they needed to get all the other equipment. After lunch, Willow collected the awards that she had amassed, and the family went to the hardware store to get a small stepladder, hanging hooks, thin chain and tacks. They drove to Leicester and went into the studio.
Willow switched on all the lights and showed her mother around, then Ashley opened his toolbox, and they ran string across one wall of the rest area, making sure it was level. Willow added the chain to the back of the awards while her father hammered in the nails holding the hanging hooks. When they finished, there was a neat row of awards. Before they left, Ashley had added a second row of hooks. Now it was beginning to feel like home.
Wendy had taken stock of what was in the cupboards and the fridges, and had walked to the supermarket, coming back with long-life milk, dry biscuits, chocolate bars, tea towels and sponges for the kitchenette, as well as a block of toilet paper, soap and towels for the two toilets, as well as a half a dozen cans of air freshener. They closed up and went back to the club for dinner, as Ashley was on duty that evening.
On Monday, lessons began to follow the normal route of new material. At lunch, Willow went around the others in the band, giving everyone a key and telling them that, if they go to have a look, to make sure that they turn on all the switches just inside the door, or else they may have to call Wilhelm to find out how to turn the noise off.
She gave a key to Xavier, telling him the same thing.
“If you do go, see about the microphones and stands, please. When you go in, the board is powered up if you’ve turned all the switches on, and the air-conditioning would have kicked in. There is a twenty-four-slide mixing desk and a secondary mixer, which looks like it can be fed to number twenty-four. There are also twelve camera mounts which tilt and swivel. I’m hoping that we’ll have our stage gear delivered this week, so we can set things out. Whatever you buy, send the invoice to Wilhelm to pay.”
“Is it worth the money?”
“It’s your wet dream, Xavier.”
He grinned.
“I’ll get Franks’ dad to take us there tonight.”
As she left him, she saw Petunia gesturing for her to come over, so she went and sat in a spare chair at their table.
“How are you girls, today? I gather it was your parents who visited us on Friday.”
“It was, Willow, and they were impressed with what we were doing. Mum said that she had seen ‘Wicked’ and wondered how we could present it here, but seeing the theatre and hearing what we were planning, she thought that it would be an interesting variation. Mister Bamborough opened up our rehearsal room and showed them the equipment we had to use, and Dad told me that we’d better be good or else we’re headed for the other school.”
“You’d better show him how good you really are. Did you sort out any new material over the weekend?”
“We sure did! We have told our driver to be an hour later tonight and also Wednesday and Thursday, so we can get in there and work on the songs. Tuesday and Friday are orchestra and the musical. We never thought that we would have the opportunity to have so much music as well as a good education. The normal lessons are so much more structured than what the posh school had offered.”
On the way home, that afternoon, Gina remarked that they seem to have added the group of first years to the circle of friends.
“No bad thing, Gina. It will keep us grounded if we mentor another group. They may end up playing dinner dances in the club during the year. Who knows, by next summer, they may be opening for us on stage. If there’s one thing I’ve learned this last year, is that nothing is impossible.”
On Tuesday, at lunch, Xavier came over with a big smile on his face.
“You weren’t wrong. Willow. That set-up is absolutely fantastic. We did everything as you said and took a camera that I had bought, with remote control. It fitted beautifully and we tested the screens and the control stick. I’ll get more during the week, and get the other stuff delivered to my home. Brent said that he’ll get his dad to pick it up and take the lot there on Saturday with his van. All we need then is something to record.”
“Hopefully, the stage gear will be there by then. I’ll get Sebastian to organise a coach to take all of us there. Only the three of us and you have seen inside, and I’m keen to walk everyone through.”
“It needs a name, with that on the wall separating the rest area from the control room. Any idea what you’re calling it?”
“Well, the syndicate name is Summer Love Properties, so ‘Summer Love Studio’ will be all right. It’s not as if we’ll be advertising it for general usage.”
Wednesday was another session for the Messiah. The Stoneleigh group had been brought to the school and Sally had come with Tom for the session. Willow waited until everyone was settled.
“All right. Today, we are going to work on the alto and soprano movements. In the first part, the alto has four, plus a duet with the soprano. The soprano has two others. If we can crack these, we’ll be really ahead of the game, so let’s buckle up and make these fly! The first item is an Air, which has the words ‘But who may abide the day of his coming’. Are you ready, Margaret? If the orchestra nails it first time, feel free to sing.”
The orchestra were now more confident with the way the music should be played, and Margaret sang with the first playing. They moved on to the next movement, which was with the choir, and had the words ‘And he shall purify the sons of Levi’.
This was followed by a Recitative with Margaret, one of the key ones of the first third. It had the words, ‘Behold, a virgin shall conceive and bear a son’. Then came the first of the movements where the chorus worked with a soloist. It was for the alto, again, and was another key movement with the words, ‘O thou that tellest good tidings to Zion.’
Willow could see Mister Bamborough with a big smile as they worked. This was the orchestra that had played the Prom, the best school orchestra in the country. The more they had played Handel, the easier it became.
Willow asked if they could run through the four movements in a single go, so they went back to the first Air. When they ended, Margaret was sipping water and could hardly wipe the smile off her face, her friend Sandra, in the chorus, having the time of her life as well.
They had a short break and then it was the turn of the choir, with one of the most memorable items from the opus, with ‘Unto us, a child is born’. Then it was the turn of Sally as the soprano, with the movement about shepherds abiding in the field, a short chorus item singing the ‘Glory to God’.
Sally was up again with the next piece, an Air with the words, ‘Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion’. They were on a roll, so Willow got them to carry on with another Recitative for Margaret – ‘Then shall the eyes of the blind be opened’, followed by the duet with Margaret and Sally with ‘He shall feed his flock’, followed by the final part of the first third, a chorus item with, ‘His yoke is easy.’
What had been evident was the work that everyone had put in prior to this session. The orchestra really had the style nicely, Margaret and Sally showed the work they had done with just the organ in the club. Willow stood, looked at Mister Bamborough, who just nodded.
“Thank you for that, everyone. This has been a great session. Next week, I want us to work through the complete first third of the concert, including the bass and tenor movements. If that works out, we’ll move on to the next third, which ends with the blockbuster movement of the Hallelujah Chorus. Those who may not know, this is traditional for the audience to stand, as if they’re in church, which guarantees a standing ovation. We can do what we’ve done today, by working each movement in order. See you all next week.”
The orchestra and other filed out with big smiles. Mister Bamborough stood next to Willow as the others left.
“That, young lady, was a very professional session on your part. I think that you could be a good conductor, it you wanted to.”
“Thank you, sir. Now that they have reached this point with the interpretation, I’m starting to think that we may be able to have two sessions where we do the full opus, before we put it on for the school.”
Margaret and her friend were leaving to go to the coach, and Margaret asked Willow if they would see her tonight, to which told her they would. Mister Bamborough waited until they had gone.
“Are you working with those out of hours?”
“I’ve been working with the choir in Stoneleigh for over six months, sir. Tom came and started to help when I had reached the limit of my knowledge. We’ve been working on her parts of this for a couple of weeks, with either me or Gina on the keyboard.”
“That does explain a lot. I was sceptical about having Margaret making a mini comeback, but today has shown me what an asset she’ll be. Sally has a great voice as well.”
“If we work the full third, next week, can we get Xavier in to record it, please. If we do that with each third, he could put together a CD of the whole thing for sale on the night we perform it here. The Cathedral concert will be a BBC DVD later, but it would be awesome if we had something for the school website.”
That evening, there was an email from Wilhelm, saying that a load of stuff had been delivered and stacked in the studio for them to sort out. She answered with her thanks and told him that she was organising a coach to take all of the band there on Saturday. She composed an email, and sent it to all of the band, as well as the three techs, to see if they could all be available on Saturday to see the new studio, with her being picked up first at ten.
When that had been sent, she did a little research on the web, finding a couple of larger warehouse properties for sale, both in Birmingham. She emailed Mervyn with the details and asked him if he could have a quick look to see if either would be suitable for his expansion. She told him that all the band should be looking at the studio on Saturday. After that had been sent, she went and asked her mother if she could organise a box of notepads and another of pencils, so that the band could take notes.
“Are you having a meeting?”
“I hope so, Mum. I’m trying to get us all at the studio on Saturday.”
“Can I come?”
“Of course. I’m organising a coach to take us. There may be other parents who want to have a look.”
Later, she was at the club with the choir. Margaret was glowing, happy in being able to sing again, the one talent that her disability hadn’t been taken from her. They did a few more of her parts with just the organ. Tom and Sally hadn’t come, so the others in the choir sang a few of the songs that they had been learning, just happy to be out with friends.
Thursday morning, she asked Sebastian if he could organise a full-sized coach on Saturday morning, to pick her up at ten, then go through Coventry before heading for Leicester.
“Are we looking at the finished studio?”
“We sure are. I think that you’ll be impressed. I’ve been told that the tenant is looking for a bigger building to cover his expansion. If he goes, we can use the large shed for parking, which might be helpful.”
“I’m sure you have some ideas to retain some income if that happens.”
“There are some things being thought about.”
They picked up Gina and Jacob and arrived at the school, with the day being fairly normal. At lunch, all the band confirmed that they would be waiting on Saturday, all keen to see the studio, especially the four wind players, who had never seen the site.
After dinner, she sat and looked at a DVD of the Messiah, to gauge the timing. If they worked the first third, they would be able to start with the second third, which could get them ahead.
On Friday afternoon, Willow was put through a whole series of gym exercises to test her stamina. This was related to the harder games that she was expected to play in the next netball season. The three friends went to the rehearsal room with the first-year musical group. They had the band equipment set up, so they started working through the songs, all the singers having a turn, as well as the chorus, or Ozians. It was a good session, with Gina playing a keyboard and Jacob working with the set volunteers, drawing out simple designs that could hint at what the story intended to convey. The singers were keen to make it work, and their enthusiasm was contagious.
That evening, there was an email from Mervyn, to tell her that a site at Small Heath was perfect, but twice the size needed. She answered that it looked like the building could be split in half and another tenant accommodated. She said that, if he was around on Saturday, she wanted to have a meeting with all the band, to see if they were interested in buying a property that size.
On Saturday morning, Ashley was out in the shed working on his model car, while Wendy and Willow waited for the coach. They had a big bag with notepads and pencils, another bag with new hi-vis, as well as a folder of photos that Willow had downloaded from the internet. When the coach arrived, they boarded and set off to pick up the others.
Gina was with Maisie, Jacob had Rick, and the coach filled with band members and parents. The last pick up was Xavier, Frank, and Dave. Sebastian knew the way to the factory site and made good time. He went into the car park and pulled up close to the galvanised shed, keeping as far out of the way as he could. There were four band members who were surprised at where they were but trusted the others not to be playing games.
Willow handed out the hi-vis that she had brought, then went to the office to get some more, coming back with Mervyn.
They got on the coach.
“Can I have your attention, please. This is Mervyn, the manager of this site, and he wants to give those who haven’t been here before a quick safety lecture.”
Mervyn explained about what went on, and to stay to one side if there was a forklift near them.
“Please be careful. Willow will lead you in, and I’ll see you all later.”
Before Willow stepped out, she asked Max if he could stay outside until a van arrived with equipment for the studio, then come in to grab a few helpers to carry it in.
Mervyn stepped out and helped the older passengers down as they got out and followed Willow into the long shed. A few of the parents were really not sure of what they were here for. Willow stopped at the door of the studio and waited for them all to gather round.
“This is the way into the ‘Summer Love Studio’. The first room isn’t big, and there are rather a lot of you, but it does open out further on. Welcome to our home away from home.”
She unlocked the door, went in and flicked on all the switches before leading them through the short corridor.
Marianne Gregory © 2025
Chapter 4
Actually, twenty-five or so people in the rest area wasn’t as crowded as she thought it would be. Some of the parents were looking at the display of awards, and others looking around at what looked to them like a big lounge/diner. Willow went up a few of the steps to the mezzanine.
“Can I have your attention, please. We are now in the rest area of the Summer Love Studio. There is a kitchenette with tea, coffee, and plenty of mugs when you want a drink. There’s more than one electric jug and also microwaves if you heat your water that way. Xavier will now open the door to the control room. I ask you please not to fiddle with anything in there. Frank, could you please go first and switch on the studio lights and open the doors. The rest of you; it is not a big space, but the studio is, so, when you’ve seen the mixers and other things, please go through. There will be time for the tech-savvy to be told what you’re looking at. If anyone needs a toilet stop, there are both male and female ones under the mezzanine with the usual signs.”
As the other door was opened, Frank went through and Xavier followed, with a line forming to inspect the new equipment. Max popped his head in.
“Willow, the van’s arrived.”
Willow saw that the guitarists were still waiting, along with Rick.
“Lads, the microphones and other things have arrived. Can you help Max bring them in?”
She watched as they brought in boxes of microphones, stands, booms, and then boxes of cameras, stacking then by the wall to the control room. With the last item carried in by Brent’s father, Willow asked him if he was parked out of the way of moving forklifts. When he said he was, she closed the outer door, cutting off the sounds from the outer world. With the inner door shut, they were in a world of their own.
They followed the rest into the control room, where Xavier telling Rick what was here. Rick wanted to know when the Hikers could record. Willow laughed.
“We haven’t even tried it ourselves. You carried in the microphones and stands just now. We’ll need to set things out and test drive it ourselves first.”
She looked through the big window and saw the band and the parents wandering around in the studio.
“Oh, good. The stage gear has arrived. I need to see what we ended up buying.”
She walked into the studio, noting that there were twelve speaker boxes and the six heads lining one wall, with the two keyboards in their boxes with the frames and seats next to them. The rest of the band were sorting through guitar cases and other cases. Vivienne came over.
“It looks as if we had back-ups for the back-ups. I knew that the guitarists had spares, but we now have another two of our instruments, which can stay here. Brent’s happy; there’s a second set of drums for him as well.”
Willow grinned as she looked at the surfeit of gear. Then she caught sight of an aluminium case. She went over to open it up, to find boxes of the pink earbuds they had used, and a sender unit which could be jacked into a mixing board. She picked up the case and carried it to the control room.
“Xavier. Is there a jacking point for the buds?”
“There is. Let me jack it in and we can test it if you put a pair in.”
She did as told and went back into the studio, with his voice in her ears. When she had been to the end and back, she told him that the sound was clear as a bell, and put the buds back, after wiping them with a wet wipe from a box in the case.
Frank and Dave were at the vision consol, with just the single camera view, practising tilting and swivelling it and zooming in on various people in the studio.
“The other cameras have arrived, with the microphones, if you want to get them inside.”
They jumped up and went to get them, coming back with boxes. The step ladder had been left under the first camera position, and it didn’t take long before they had all twelve installed and plugged in.
In the studio, the amps had been reassembled and plugged into the power sockets. The wind section had found all their spares and were trying them out. The guitarists had found the effects boxes, still with their names on, had plugged in and were playing some bits and pieces with the guitars that they hadn’t had a chance to use before. Gina and Maisie had taken one of the Nord keyboards out of its box, assembled it and was pulling the second one out. There was more than enough rolled up leads to get everything working. Willow had an idea.
“Xavier, tell me that we have speakers as well as the buds.”
He pulled the sender jack out.
“We have now.”
She leaned toward the microphone.
“Give me some sound, please.”
He moved a slider, set to one side of all the others.
“Can I have your attention, please. If we want to have a bit of a play, there are a big bunch of microphones and stands still in the rest room. Can some of the band go and get them in so we can set them out. Jacob, can you open the slider and unlock the back door so we can get all these cartons out into storage, please. Parents, if you can help, then please do so. When we play, we need you all back here in the control room if you value your hearing.”
Rick helped sort things out once the back door to the storage had been opened. The movers had left the pallets on the rack, so there were places to put the Nord cartons, the boxes for all the cameras, and the boxes for the microphones and such. The guitarists put the cases and extra guitars behind the amps. Brent set up one set of drums and got some parents to put the other set in the storage room. When there was order, the back door was closed and locked, and the slider pulled back into place. Xavier readied the board for recording, using all the skills he had learned during the tour, and Willow joined the band with the case of buds as the parents and others drifted to the control room, to stand at the back.
She handed them out and put a set in her own ears, then took the case to the control room where Frank put it next to his consol. She saw the twelve pictures on the three screens as she gave him a wink and went back into the studio, closing both doors as she went.
She sat at her keyboard and played a few notes, hearing them in her ears, along with the guitars tuning. They had set out microphones in front of the amps, around the drums, and four in front of the wind section. All four guitarists, and both keyboard players, had them, with the keyboard ones on booms so they didn’t have to lean to sing. It was what they had used when they played on tour. The voice in her ears was the same that they had heard in the latter stages of the tour. Xavier was now in charge.
“Can I have individual sound checks for amp and microphone, please.”
One at a time, they played or sang until he was set. Then, for the first time, the big tape reels started turning and he told them that they were clear to go. Of course, there was only one song they could play for the first time in their own studio.
Standing behind Xavier and hearing her daughter’s voice from the speakers, Wendy had tears in her eyes as ‘We’ve only Just Begun’ became their first home recording. It was followed by ‘Dust in the Wind’, ‘Nights in White Satin’ and ‘Dummy Spitter’. When that one ended, Willow called out.
“I think that’s enough to try the system. Time for lunch.”
She could see a line of smiling faces in the control room and looked around to see the smiling faces of the band. They left the guitars on stands, turned off the amps, and went back to the control room. They each took out their buds, gave them a wipe, and put them in the boxes as they were all hugged.
They all went back to the rest room and Willow asked if everyone was happy with pizza. She rang the pizza shop and asked for twenty assorted to be delivered to them on the second floor of the offices, paying with her debit card. Then she called out.
“We’ll eat in the office. Follow Gina and she’ll show you the way. There’s a box for your hi-vis when you get over there. The pizzas will be delivered. There’s a kitchenette over there as well. The big table is for the band.”
She turned to Xavier.
“All right if I leave you to switch off and close up?”
“No problems, Willow. This has been a wonderful day, so far. I can hardly wait to be back again to record your next album.”
Before she could leave, Mervyn came in.
“A good day?”
“A very good day, Mervyn. If you would like to join us in the upstairs office, we’ll have a meeting and give you some direction before we go home. What do you think of the place, now?”
He looked through the window into the studio.
“It looks a lot different now to when you first saw it. Are you going to play anything today?”
“We’ve just played four songs, including quite a loud one.”
“Wow! I didn’t hear a thing.”
Xavier cut the power to the studio and turned out the lights. He had a disc which he slid into a plastic holder.
“The first recording. I’ll copy it tomorrow and give you all one at school.”
He followed them out, made sure there was no one in a toilet, and closed the door to the rest room before switching everything off and locking up, smiling as he walked over to the office, his key to heaven on earth in his pocket.
Willow stood with Mervyn in the car park, waiting for the pizza delivery.
“Did you get a chance to look at the properties?”
“I did, thank you for sending the details. That one in Small Heath is perfect, but far too big for me.”
“Can it support a second tenant?”
“Yes, if you separate some areas to give two offices and workspaces.”
“Would you be happy sharing?”
“Not a problem. They’re asking five million, though.”
“So, the likely return on the whole site should be around three-fifty a year. Would you be happy with a five-year lease, starting at one-fifty and rising by five a year?”
“We could live with that. I’m sure my company would be agreeable. Do you think that you can push this through?”
“I don’t push. I lead.”
The pizza delivery arrived, and they helped the lad take them upstairs. Willow gave him a tip and told him that there may be more orders to come in coming months. The band were all sat at the table, and Mervyn and Willow took up the two remaining seats while the others spread themselves around the office. They all took slices of pizza and there wasn’t much talk for a while. When they were finished, Willow stood.
“Thank you all for being here today. This has been the beginning of a great future in the studio. Xavier has been our sound man today, just as he was during our tour. I’m sure that we can all agree that he should be designated the manager of the studio and the one to talk to about using it.”
There was agreement and a short round of applause.
“We don’t have employees, so will pay him, and his helpers, by the hour when we record. Rick, that will go for you and the Hikers as well. You don’t need to talk to us if you want to go in there to record. We bought a system that can record in twenty-four track, with video, and has all the post-production software to produce an audio album and a DVD for sending to the production company.”
“Got that, Willow. That’s great, especially dealing with friends.”
“Now. We have more serious business to discuss. Firstly, for those who aren’t aware, back when we were starting out, the seven of us formed a property syndicate. We have been putting a hundred thousand a month in. That has bought us a property in Coventry with a good tenant, and it brought us this property, with the surprise that was the old cold store, now the studio. Everything is paid for, and we don’t owe anybody anything, except our heartfelt thanks for jobs well done.”
There was murmuring and smiles.
“We are coming to another fork in the road, as our tenant here has a need to expand. Mervyn is the manager of this site and has been told to find somewhere else. He has looked at a site in Small Heath that is big enough for his needs as well as being big enough for a second tenant. I know this news may be a shock to some of you, but I’m proposing that we create another syndicate. Our wind section are now full members of the band and I’m offering them an opportunity to invest some of their last month’s earnings into property. I won’t go any further until the four of you confer with your parents. I’ll pop over the other side and bring back some mugs.”
She found a tray in the kitchenette and Jacob went with her into the studio, where they loaded it with mugs and had a kiss or two.
“You have a plan, my love?”
“Not a plan, darling, a proposal.”
“You want me to marry you?”
“Maybe, my darling, but not today!”
They carried the mugs up to the office, where the two girls and two boys were in a huddle with their parents. Willow and Jacob started making teas from the supply of bags and opened a carton of milk. They were handed out. Sebastian took his with a smile.
“Up to your tricks, Willow? This is turning out to be a real day of learning. That studio is going to be very popular if you want it to be.”
“Our approval from the council is on the basis that it’s not a commercial business. If some of our friends want to make a record and pay the technicians, that’s their business. If we get control of the whole site, then we can think about taking it further.”
Nancy came over.
“We’ve talked it over and want to be a part of this. Do you want to tell us what you have in mind?”
“Right, we can talk business.”
Willow went back to the table and pulled the file out of her bag.
“I want to let Mervyn tell you what happens here and what his orders are, then we talk money.”
He stood and explained that they were a distribution centre for a mail-order company.
“We get bulk deliveries, sometimes a container from the docks or by airfreight from Manchester. We break it down into the required orders. Some get picked up by couriers, some get taken to the mail centre for posting, and some larger orders within fifty miles get delivered by our own truck. This site is now too restricted for us, even with the use that the studio might have given us. I have looked at a site in Small Heath which will give us drive-through supply and delivery, with space to off load a container inside. It’s close to major highways. I see Willow has some pictures to pass around.”
The pictures went around the table, and everyone had a good look. Nancy’s father asked the obvious question.
“This looks almost new. It’s huge so must be several million?”
“The asking price is five million. If each of the band put in half a million from last month’s earnings, we can buy it outright and still have enough left in the kitty to make any changes. At the moment, the seven of us add a hundred thousand a month to the current syndicate to fund the studio development and any new projects. If the new syndicate does the same, we will have one point one a month, plus the income from the lease. So far, we have been building a portfolio for life, rather than a profit-making operation. None of our properties are liable to be less than we paid if we move them on.”
“Who is handling the portfolio?”
“That position has been a volunteer job by Jacob’s father, Wilhelm. I believe that we’ll be paying him a small stipend to continue. This office is the centre of operations, and he has been doing very well with it. If we have a new, and expanded, syndicate, there can be a place for others to oversee its operation. None of the band are old enough to make decisions, just to agree to a course of direction that the adults around us can follow through on. The current syndicate has an accountant as the registered business address, and all payments are made known through a monthly email. I’m sure that the other parents can verify this.”
Brent’s father spoke up.
“I’ve looked at Brent’s paperwork. The way the syndicate works is all above board and very tightly controlled. Brent’s share is through a company we set up with me and his mother as the oversight directors. The two properties bring in over a hundred thousand a year. What do you think the new one will return?”
“I’ve spoken to Mervyn, and he’s happy to start at a hundred and fifty, rising to a hundred and seventy-five over a five-year period. That’s for only half the site. The other half would be similar, depending on the usage. So, we’re talking about a bit over thirty thousand each, every year, for as long as we hold on to it. That would be a full return of the investment in about twenty years. That is, of course, projecting that we stop earning from today. With the albums we have on the market, and the ones swirling around in our brains, that’s never going to happen. We now have somewhere that we can be creative, without any need to ask to borrow a lock-up to practise in.”
Nancy’s father, who seemed to be taking the lead, then looked at Willow.
“What are your plans, Willow. Are you going to go solo and leave the others in limbo?”
“I find that offensive, sir. My own plan is simple, and I cannot speak for any of the others. I see me staying at the school and having good enough grades to go to university. When Gina and I were at Cambridge, recording a double album with the Kings College, we were taken around the different colleges. I expect that we, as the full band, will be producing music throughout our time at the school. We will come to a stage where we all will have to decide where we go in life then. I expect that we may tour during the holidays, especially the summer one, as long as we make albums and people buy them. I have no plan to go solo, and I’m extremely happy at being on stage with my friends around me. Does that answer your question?”
“It does, Willow. I’m sorry I sounded a bit strong, but this is the first time that I’ve been in the one place with all of you without sitting in a seat in the audience.”
“That’s alright, sir. Can I have a show of hands from the band, please. Those in favour of us forming a new syndicate?”
All of the others put their hand up.
“Do we have any dissenters among the parents?”
There was silence.
“All right. We will get Wilhelm to talk to the accountant about setting up a new syndicate with a bank account that we can seed from the current one. Once that is done, you will all receive an email with the account numbers to send the half million to, with a possible hundred thousand a month after that. With the existing syndicate, we can have another meeting to talk about leaving that one as it stands and just paying into the new one or supporting the two. Thank you all for being so supportive, and, unless there are any other matters to discuss, I think we can go home. It’s been a big day.”
Everyone agreed that they could go home, so the pizza boxes were collected for disposal in the big bin in the car park. They tidied up and neatened all the chairs. Jacob and Herb took the mugs back and rinsed them out. Brent’s father had already left with him, and the rest all settled in the coach. Sebastian backed out with Max guiding him, and then they were heading home. Willow leaned over to Jacob, across the centre aisle.
“Can you give your father a call and get him to the farm when we arrive. We have a bit to talk to him about.”
She sat back and Wendy cuddled her.
“What are you going to study at uni, love. Music?”
“I’m not sure. If I do, it would be working towards being a conductor or composer. The nicest place we visited was Newnham College. It’s all-female but they only accept two undergraduates in music in any one year. The facilities are great, and the rooms are good. It’s non-denominational so doesn’t have a chapel, so I wouldn’t get roped in to play an organ.”
“That would be a minus, wouldn’t it?”
“Actually, Mum, it would be a plus. I’m only in churches to play the organ. The rest of it has no meaning to me. There are a lot of good people who believe, but there are also a lot of bad people who do as well. I count myself as a good person who doesn’t need it.”
“That’s why I never hear you sing unless you’re in a choir.”
“That’s the music, Mum, just the music.”
“So, how do you reconcile with your friendship with Reverend Russell, or even the Bishop?”
“They’re good people at heart, that’s all that matters. Actually, the Coventry Uni offers a master’s degree in popular music, which I think might be nice. That’s only a one-year course, and they do a three-year course for a Batchelor of Popular Music and Songwriting. They may be easier to get into. Other than that, they also have a three-year course in business and marketing.”
“Who knows what you’ll want to do when you get to that point, and what qualifications you’ll have by then. You may not even have the time for further study if the band is going strong and if you’ve developed a reputation for directing.”
When they arrived at the farm, there was only the five of them left on the coach. Wilhelm was there and offered to take the ladies home in the people mover, so they thanked Sebastian and Max and went into the farmhouse. Racheal had made cake, so they all sat at the big kitchen table and Willow showed Wilhelm the folder.
“This property, Stella House in Small Heath, is on the market for five million. We had a meeting with all the band and decided to set up a new syndicate with all eleven of us, putting in half a million each. Mervyn will need to properly inspect it and get his company’s approval, and it will take a while to get him moved. We think that we’ll have to look for a second tenant, who is willing to pay a hundred and seventy-five thousand a year.”
“That’s a big step, you know.”
“We’re aware of that, but all the band had one parent or relative with them, and it was agreed unanimously. We will have another meeting of the ‘gang of seven’ to talk about carrying on with that syndicate.”
“All right, I’ll get this moving with our agent and accountant. I already have contact details for all eleven of you, and you’ll have to get the responsible adults to sign. It’s just these numbers keep getting bigger!”
“As long as they do, Wilhelm, we’ll be all right.”
Marianne Gregory © 2025
Chapter 5
When Wilhelm dropped them off, it was still mid-afternoon, so Willow walked to the church to check the hymns. It was soothing to be sitting at the keyboard, doodling Bach. She thought about the morning and the joy of having the band around her. They hadn’t played as the full band since the last show in London.
The label had been quiet, and she hadn’t heard from Jill in a couple of weeks. Not that she minded having some time off, after all, they had worked through most of the summer holidays. As she followed that line of though, it occurred to her that when you’re an adult, there are no long holidays, just forty-eight or more weeks a year of working.
She stopped playing for a few moments as an idea grew in her mind. When it gelled into something you could write down, she smiled and started playing again. This time, it was the slow and quiet Saint-Saens. When she left the keyboard, she walked home and found Wendy sorting out some laundry.
“I’ve made a decision about my future, Mum.”
“Oh!”
“I want to have a life where I work when I need to and visit other places.”
“How are you going to do that, love?”
“I’m going to perform, whether it’s with the band, another band, as a solo, in an orchestra, conducting, directing, or organising. I want to travel the world and be happy. I don’t want to be bound to office hours for ninety percent of my life.”
“And where would Jacob fit in with those lofty ideals. He doesn’t seem like a lad who would venture far from where he grew up. I can’t remember a time when he wasn’t just following your lead.”
“I’ll just have to draw him out, I suppose.”
“What if you do that and he turns out to be pushy or develops a mind of his own?”
“Then we’ll just have to work it out when that happens.”
“Has it allowed you to decide what you’ll be doing at university?”
“I’m not sure if conventional university is in my future now. There may be places where I can hone my skills. You never know, there may be an opportunity to go on stage as an actor. The thing is, that if I go to uni, it would be to learn how to do a job, and I want to work for myself and if I have to employ others, I will.”
“That’s entirely possible, seeing the way you’re going now. Look, it’s good that you’ve decided, but you still have some years of school left. Things may be different for you then. Just remember, your father and I will be behind you, no matter what you decide.”
“Thanks Mum, I love the two of you. I’ll try to not let you down.”
“You will never let us down, love. Make mistakes? We all do that sometimes. You’ve been on track so far, and good things have happened. Once you have this term out of the way, you might be able to coast for a while next year.”
She played the organ in the church the following morning, then went over to the club afterwards. What had begun as a hot drink to warm you up was now, in the last heat of summer, a cool drink to cool you off. After lunch, she walked home with her mother and pulled out her notebook and her laptop.
“Mum. Can you check the uni account for me please? There’s an email from Wilhelm with the current balance of Summer Love Properties, and I want to see where I stand, overall.”
Wendy checked the account on her phone.
“It’s showing sixty-seven thousand, love. With what you spent in the early days, it dropped quite a bit, but’s still good enough for a three-year course fully covered. You’ll have enough of your own to cover living expenses.”
“Thanks, Mum. The syndicate is sitting on a bit over one and a half million at the moment, with everything paid for and some months still to go on our property insurances. If we all chip in, as usual, it will be up to around two and a quarter million, just shy of what we had before the studio.”
“What about the account with Peter, that should be pretty big by now.”
“I’ve been pulling money out of it to add to my own company account. At the last month, it was down to a bit under a quarter of a million.”
“What about your personal account? I know he’s been putting a thousand a week into that, and you haven’t gone out and spent a lot.”
“That’s now at twenty thousand. You’re right. I haven’t had to spend a lot because a lot of what I get comes through the band purchases. Our company account is sitting at two point three, but I’ll have to send a half a million to the new syndicate when that’s set up, so it’s effectively one point eight. It will be interesting to see the next statement, without the huge windfall that was the tour.”
“You still have over two million, even after buying into all that property and paying off this house! That’s amazing.”
“Wait until the accountant has worked on it and the taxman has had his share. It does have to pay company tax. I’m not sure what that would be, as it’s only been money paid in from outside without any trading done. The syndicate hasn’t shown a profit and is likely never going to do so until we sell off sites.”
“So, what are you going to do with that money?”
“I was thinking of an investment on my own, without any others. I looked at shops, but you can easily end up with an empty one and a lot of back rent owing. No, something where the tenant has a good reason to look after the place and pay their way. I’ve looked on the net, and there is a building in London with the lower floors used by a restaurant, two apartments sold on a hundred-year lease, and another two that are just leased. If I bought that, I may have somewhere to live if one of the leases ends. I could afford it next month. It’s only a short walk to the University of London.”
“That way you could eat well and walk a lot of the excess weight off.”
“Like we do here, you mean? Home to club, then club to home.”
They had a quiet evening, with Willow thinking hard about her finances and future.
Monday morning, she was picked up and started another normal week. Xavier handed out the four-track CDs at lunch. Willow played the organ on Wednesday morning and took the orchestra through the complete first third of the Messiah in the afternoon, with Xavier and the others recording it. On Friday, the Keyboard session was fun, with Willow learning something from the lesson and the two girls imparting tips that they had learned from performing in front of sixty thousand fans. After school, they set up the Vines in the rehearsal room and worked some of the songs with the main singers in ‘Wicked’. As far as she was concerned, it had been a good week.
On Saturday, she spent a lot of time in her room, working through songs that the others had sent in, especially some that Vivienne had produced, adding her input and sending them back. She also made notes for herself; titles and scraps of words for songs which she gave a group name of ‘Working Girl’. It had a single theme, all the bad things that can happen to a ‘working girl’ in different jobs, based on TV shows she had seen and magazine articles she had read. It bore about as much similarity to real life as Dolly Parton’s ‘Nine to Five’.
The family walked to the club for dinner and were entertained by Zara and the G-Force. Now with several new songs. In a break Zara came over and sat with them for a drink.
“Great set, Zara. Some new music tonight?”
“Yes. Gerry and Victor have been busy writing. You like?”
“I do. When are you recording a new album?”
“I don’t know. Peter is off on a tangent again, and we haven’t heard from the label for a while.”
“I haven’t had a word, either. They must be allowing us some leeway. I was wondering if they were working on a lightning tour during our half-term holiday at the end of next month.”
“Could be. I’d better get back to work.”
On Sunday morning, the family was in church to hear Gina playing. The two girls sat on the bench as the rest of the congregation went to the club.
“How are you feeling, Gina?”
“I’m not sure, friend. I feel as if we’re just spinning our wheels. I know that we’re building another album with Viv’s songs, and maybe yet another with the other ones, but we did have a busy holiday and it’s hard coming back to earth.”
“I know the feeling. How about us getting the band into the studio next weekend, even taking the two days. We have everything we need to make a full day of work. We could get Sebastian to take us there in the morning and pick us up late in the afternoon. If we do enough on Saturday, we could get Xavier in on Sunday afternoon to record some new work.”
“I’m already feeling better! Let’s do that. We can arrange it with the others at school.”
“The Gees had a lot of new songs that they played last night. We could get them to follow us on Sunday and record them as well.”
“That would be nice. A bit like our recording session in the club. That kicked off a big move, this may do the same.”
That afternoon, Willow sent an email out to the band, asking if they could find time over the weekend to attend a full day at the studio on Saturday, followed by a recording session on Sunday, with another to Xavier about Sunday. It didn’t take long for a full set of agreements to come back. It looked like they were all feeling in need of some creative time.
On Monday, at lunch, Willow went and spoke to Geoff and Zara.
“Good show on Saturday night. You get better every time you’re on stage.”
“That’s a big compliment, coming from the superstar herself.”
“Do you remember our recording day in the club?”
“How can we forget it. It was the turning point for all of us.”
“Well, we have created a little hideaway. It’s where we keep the gear that we ended up with after the tour. We’re planning a session on Sunday afternoon, and I wonder if you all want to come along. Max knows where it is, so he can pick you up after lunch. Sebastian will take us in a minibus.”
“Sounds good. Do we need to bring anything?”
“We have the amps, the keyboards and the drums from the tour. I’ll give you one tip; bring the buds that you were sent after the show.”
Geoff grinned.
“This sounds like the ‘hideaway’ is more serious than just a shed, somewhere.”
“You’ll find out how serious it is when you get there.”
Monday evening, there were a few emails on Willow’s laptop. One was from Geoff, confirming that the G-Force would be waiting for picking up from one on Sunday, and that they would spend Saturday perfecting an album-ready set.
One was from Peter with the statement. The ‘Journey’ CD had sold around two hundred and seventy thousand copies. The DVD had sold two hundred and twenty thousand. ‘Homegrown’ had moved over three hundred and thirty thousand, with the DVD at two hundred and eighty thousand. The ‘Carpentry’ album had been on a rebound with a hundred and twenty thousand, and there had been sixty thousand in merchandise sales.
His costs had added up to sixty thousand, and the label’s had come in at twenty-five thousand, some of that the extra instruments. Willow’s share, with the commission taken, was four hundred and fourteen thousand. She smiled when she saw that he was still taking fifteen percent.
There was a note on the bottom, telling them that a lot of the new sales had been in Europe, with a lot of fans who would have seen the Manchester stream. She saw that her previous balance with him was over two hundred thousand, so she replied, asking him to transfer half a million to WR Holdings. That was her side of the new syndicate paid for.
There was another from Wilhelm, telling them all that the new syndicate had been set up, with the name being ‘Legs Eleven’. A new bank account will be running next month to pay into. The estate agent had been in touch with the vendors of the Small heath property and had made an offer of four and a half, cash purchase. There would be a lot of costs involved with taking over something that size, so any extra left over would be good. He reminded the seven that their payments were due, so Willow transferred a hundred thousand and replied that she had done so.
Wednesday, the orchestra started on the second third of the Messiah, now working a lot faster. They were all in the rehearsal room now, with every session, and the preliminary work was paying off. Friday, the ‘Wicked’ sessions were gaining pace as well. The students, never having been totally involved in something so difficult, were really excited. They had decided on a modern story that fitted the songs, with a bit of tweaking of the words. The Wizard was now the Father, and Elphaba was now coloured, but not green, with a delightful, coloured girl well suited to the part. Jacob was in the school workshops, with his crew, busy making the scenery which indicated the run-down city where they were setting the story.
On Saturday morning, Willow was the first to be picked up and then the others were picked up in the coach. They were dropped off in the road outside the site, and Sebastian continued on to head home for the day. The band went and collected their hi-vis and then made their way into the studio. After switching everything on, they spent the rest of the morning working through Vivienne’s songs until they had them sorted out. After that, they had the pizza delivered to the site gate, with Willow waiting for them. It was the same lad who delivered.
“Hi, ten assorted, as ordered. The workers here must be well looked after.”
“They are, I can assure you of that.”
“Are you doing anything tonight?”
“It’s nice of you to ask, but I live south of Coventry, and already have a boyfriend.”
“Lucky guy. You know, you look a lot like Willow Rose.”
“I get told that many times. See you another time.”
She was smiling when she carried the pizzas into the rest area. Gina looked at her.
“Something funny?”
“Something male and cute and he asked me out tonight. He told me that I looked like his favourite singer.”
They had their pizza lunch, brewed some drinks, and relaxed for a while. Herb gave out a big sigh.
“This is already feeling like home. Everywhere we had practised before had others looking on. I miss the idea of having an audience, but it’s nice to be able to work things out without them.”
In the afternoon, they worked on some of the songs that had been exchanged via email, before taking another break. Then they ran out of those, finding that they now had ten of Vivienne’s and ten of the new ones. Before they were picked up again, they had a brainstorming session about names for the two albums.
The ones by Vivienne ended up as ‘The Magic Laptop’, as the clown that won the lady’s hand won by bypassing stupid dances and pet videos on Tic Tok, going to YouTube with a longer post where he did magic tricks. He then turned that into money by being contracted to do his magic on stage, creating a solid fan base.
The other one was more difficult. There wasn’t a theme to the set, so they finally decided that it would have to be called ‘Greenhouse Varieties’. There was one of Herb’s songs that sounded like hit material. He had called it ‘Lit Up’ and was about a lad meeting the girl of his dreams. When it was time, they all tidied up, took the hi-vis back and gathered in the car park until Sebastian pulled up. They all boarded and he could see the grins.
“Good day, then?”
“Sure was. We’ll record them all tomorrow. It was good to be creating something new?”
Willow was dropped off at home, in time for her to stop for a comfort break and walk over to the church.
“A bit late, Willow. Were you busy today?”
“You can say that Reverend. We’ve been working on new material.”
“That’s good. I can’t wait to hear what you will come up with next. How’s the orchestra going?”
“Really good. Next week I hope to finish off the second part, and that includes the big one at the end, so we may run late.”
That evening, she had dinner in the club with her parents and friends. After that, she sat in her room, working on the sections of the second third that they hadn’t done, as well as trying to pick holes in the ‘Wicked’ story.
Sunday morning, she was in the church playing the organ, allowing the music to wash through her. After playing the Bach when the church emptied, she was in a good frame of mind. She sat in the club with Gina and the parents, when Jacob came in with Rick.
“Willow, Rick wants to come along today to see how the studio works. He wants to check with Xavier about recording an album.”
“That will have to be in a few weeks’ time, won’t it, Rick?”
“Why is that?”
“How’s your maths. It’s almost exactly nine months since that song of yours went viral. Have you forgotten what you did then? Or didn’t you remember much of that night.”
“You’re right, Willow. I’ve got so used to Rach moving around slowly, it’s felt like it would carry on for ever.”
“If I were you, I’d stay close to home for the next couple of weeks and make sure the car is ready for a trip.”
“Yeah, yeah. I get you. The label wants us to do a tour in Spain. The streaming of the show from Manchester seems to have created a bit of interest. I was hoping to get an album ready to issue for that.”
“When is the show?”
“Three weeks in November.”
“Why don’t you talk to Xavier to spend some evenings with you. Get Racheal’s mother to stay with her while you’re not in the house. You might even get it in the can before the end of the week.”
“Can you get Xavier to give me a call. I’d better head back to the farm now. Thanks for reminding me of my responsibilities as a married man.”
They had an early lunch and went to Willow’s house to be picked up. Sebastian had a coach, so they went off to pick up the rest of the band and Xavier, who had Frank and Dave with him. When they arrived at the site, Sebastian dropped them off, telling them that he would be back at about five-thirty. They collected up the hi-vis for moving around the site, and Willow waited outside, with more, for when Max arrived with G-Force.
When he arrived, they all got out, carrying their guitar cases, to be issued with the vests.
“Welcome to our hideaway. Please wear the vests while you are moving around the site, even if it’s only a short walk. Being Sunday, it’s a bit quieter, but this site operates seven days a week. It’s a distribution centre, and goods are moved from the shed that we are going into, to the big shed behind me. The forklifts are electric, so quiet. No messing about, stay to the edge of the walkways, and keep your wits about you. Our transport will be back at around five-thirty. Now, follow me.”
She could hear the comments as she led them past the pallet racks, then into the workshop. The door was unlocked, so she opened it and told them to enter. When the last one was inside, she shut the door and that was the first indication that this wasn’t a wind-up, as all the outside sound was cut off.
“Around the corner is another door. Head on into the rest area.”
There were comments and a little laughter when they saw the comfortable room, with the kitchenette and the awards on the wall. Willow grinned when she saw what Frank had been carrying when he boarded the coach. On the other wall, previously unadorned, was a painted sign that read, ‘Summer Love Studio’.
“Toilets to the right, drinks and biscuits to the left, and Xaviers wet dream through this door.”
She opened up the door to hear the sound of the band coming from speakers. The others filed in, and mouths were agape at the sight in front of them. Geoff was the first to gain his voice.
“How on earth did you find this?”
“We bought the site as an investment, and this was unused. It was a cold store, so the four walls and ceiling were filled with expanded plastic, and eighteen inches thick. The studio was about two months in the making, and yesterday was the first time we’ve used it seriously. If you guys make yourselves comfortable, I’ll join the band and we’ll record an album that we’ve put together. Then you get the chance to make one of your own. Did you bring the case with the buds?”
Victor held it up.
“Good. We have the same system as the tour. There are twelve cameras, which Frank and Dave are controlling. We don’t plan to use the vision for our DVDs, but it’s handy to have one for a keepsake. Xavier can tell you what’s happening, so I’ll go and join the band.”
She stopped to pick up her buds, put them in and went through the two doors to the studio. Over the next hour, they recorded ‘The Magic Laptop’ in almost a continuous wall of sound. When they had finished, and confirmed that it was all good, they came out and the Gees went in. Most of the band went through to the rest area as the Gees tuned up.
Willow stood behind Xavier as he unplugged their communication transmitter and plugged in the one for the Gees.
“Can you all hear me?”
There was a chorus of yeses.
“All right. Seeing that it’s your first time, play something for me to get a sound check and then I’ll play it back to you.”
Leaving them to enjoy their time, Willow went to the rest area, had a comfort stop, and asked the band if anyone wanted an ice cream. With the numbers jotted down, Gina joined her to walk around the corner to the supermarket. With two dozen ice creams in a box, they went back to the studio, handing around the ordered ones and putting the remainder in the freezer. She ate hers, and then went through to see what the Gees were doing.
She sat on a roller chair next to Xavier. The Gees were playing one of the new songs that she had heard at the dinner dance. It sounded so much better with more amplification and a good mix.
“They’re four songs into the album. It’s good.”
“What we can do is to give them CDs and DVDs of the songs, and a stick with the digital recording. That way, they can do with it what they want. I guess that the label will want another take, for the saleable DVD, but this would hopefully be good enough for manufacture. Can you do copies for them while we’re doing our second album.”
“Frank has the skill for postproduction. The unit here is easy enough to use if you’ve done it before. We’ll give them a dozen CDs and can produce a DVD on the synchronised audio and visual. We’ll do the same for you, if you want to wait a little while. It depends on how quickly you get the second album down.”
“That will be great. I’ll get Peter to pay you for the afternoon. The three of you will be on two hundred and fifty an hour, including travelling time.”
“That’s better than the tour. The organisers only paid us fifty an hour, plus the accommodation. Just being here and working this board is almost payment enough, but we’re not refusing any money.”
They looked at each other and grinned, then concentrated on the recording. When the Gees finished the set and were putting the guitars back in their cases, Xavier played a couple of the tracks back to them, through the speakers. He took the transmitter out and replaced it with the one with a big, pink circle.
“Give us ten minutes and have a break. There are ice creams in the freezer when you come out. I was talking to Rick, and he wants you to call him to set up a recording session. Don’t let him spend too much time in here, as Racheal is due.”
“Thanks, Willow. You really do think of everything.”
As the Gees came out, all sporting huge smiles, Summer Rose went in to get ready. Willow followed then in and spoke to them before they inserted the buds.
“Just a word, please. Xavier is taking a short break and then we’ll record ‘Greenhouse’. While we’re doing that, Frank will be producing a set of CDs for us with ‘Laptop’, as well as a few DVDs to show people. He will also be producing a set for the Gees. When we finish this one, I’ve been promised a set of CDs before we close down. Let’s get the show on the road.”
Marianne Gregory © 2025
Chapter 6
They got into tune and played one of the Carpenters numbers until they saw Xavier waving to them. Then they put the buds in and waited for his word. Nearly an hour later, they finished the last song and closed down all the equipment. Most of the band went into the rest area and sat around with the Gees, talking about the tour and any likelihood of another.
Willow stayed in the control room, watching as they created the CD of the last set.
“Frank, does this equipment have all the bells and whistles to enhance a recording?”
“Sure does. What do you want? Echo, reverb, Leslie, sustain, fuzz. It’s all on tap.”
“You can apply that to different tracks?”
“Sure can. Which one do you want to jazz up?”
“Do you remember what Abbey Road did with ‘Dummy Spitter’? I’d like us to do the same sort of thing with ‘Lit Up’ but more bluesy. The sort of guitar that Herb played at the end of the Liverpool show, and a bit of a live feel. I think it would make a great single for the download.”
After he had started the CD burning, he went back and picked the number from the master file, then proceeded to ‘jazz it up’ to Willow’s specifications. It took a couple of tries before she smiled.
“Can you give me that on a few CDs only and play it through the rest area speakers.”
She went out to the others as it started, instantly grabbing all their attention. When it finished, Geoff asked if one of their songs could get the same attention. Willow looked at her watch.
“We have about twenty minutes before we’re picked up. Go and ask Frank if he’ll do one for you if you pick the one you like as the download single.”
At half-past five, the two vehicles pulled up in the road. Willow took all the hi-vis to take back to the office, with Gina taking her bag with her to get on the coach. When they were all aboard, they set off for Coventry.
“That single take was brilliant, friend. And so was the one that Geoff picked. What’s the plan?”
“Well, you all have a copy of the two albums, as well as the two DVDs. I’m going to package a set, including a CD of the single, and send it to Jill. Geoff told me that he was thinking along the same lines. If we have something on the market in the next few weeks, they may organise a tour. It would be just the two bands, as the Hikers are heading for Spain, but they might organise something in our breaks. I’ll include the days of the half-term break and the Christmas one. We now have enough for a good show, and then some new songs from both bands.”
“Kick-starting the system again?”
“Well, it worked last time.”
When she arrived home, her parents were out, so she had a shower and changed before going to the club for a meal with them. That evening, she packaged up the two DVDs and three CDs. With the names on the cases in texta. She added the note, sealed the package and addressed it. She took it through to the sitting room.
“Mum, can you please send this by priority to the label when you’re in town tomorrow. It’s a couple of sets that we recorded today.”
Her mother took the package as her father turned off the show that they had been watching.
“That was an episode of ‘Midsummer’ that we’ve seen three times already. Are you just going to stand there or are you going to show us your latest creations.?”
“If you insist, Dad. These were shot in the Summer Love Studio this afternoon. The vision is OK, but I expect that they’ll want to record something suitable for the market. We did the ‘in studio’ thing at Abbey Road, and you can’t do any better than that.”
She slid the first DVD into the machine and sat with them to watch it. When it had finished, Wendy went and hugged her.
“Now that was something out of the ordinary. That one is worthy of an award. You used most of the band, had a story woven into the tracks, commented on the modern world and produced an album that can stand alongside others, especially the Moody Blues first one. That really showed how good your teaching was, with the classical bent. I think it was an opera, wasn’t it?”
“It’s Vivienne’s version of the ‘Magic Flute”. It was originally a single song, but we all worked on it, with her coming up with the single song expanded.”
She ejected that DVD and replaced it with the other one.
“This, I think, will be the bones of our next album. It’s more to your liking, Dad.”
She sat down and, as the tracks started, Ashley moved to cuddle his wife. When it finished, the two were grinning.
“Another hit in the making, my darling. That one about being lit up was really good.”
“If you liked that version, this is what Frank produced for me. I think that it will be great live, and also the hook for the download single. She slid the CD into the slot and played them the enhanced version.
“Wow! That makes it something else. The guitar sounded like Clapton in his best days.”
Before she went to bed, Willow sent Peter an email, asking him to pay Xavier, Frank and Dave fifteen hundred each, for ‘services rendered’.
On Monday, it was back at school. Wednesday was the session where the orchestra finished working on the second part of the Messiah. They had completed two-thirds of it the week before, but Willow wanted to allow extra time for the last movement. She stood up and addressed the orchestra.
“As you can see by the music and the songbooks, we have arrived at what everyone thinks of as the highlight of the opus. The Hallelujah Chorus is hard, and it has the sopranos getting to the highest notes in the whole thing. I don’t want anyone to strain their voices with this. Drop out if it’s got too high. I expect that you younger girls will be the stars here.”
They spent half the session on that one movement, improving each time they played it, with more soprano voices as they went along. At the end of the session, they were all getting excited about playing to an audience. Willow arranged for Xavier to record it the next week, then they would start on the last third. Mister Bamborough gave her a smile before they left. He had kept back as he had allowed Willow to control the rehearsals and was glad that he had done so.
On Thursday, the Music Studies was all about the development of the musical. On Friday, Willow was deep into producing a musical herself. They had rehearsed most of the solo songs, and completed those, then started with the ones that had the chorus. Soon, they would be including the dialogue that rounds out the story. As far as Willow was concerned, they were on track for the performance in a month’s time. Jacob was well along with the backdrops, and Gina was with some of the other girls designing costumes to fit the revised story. So far, they had been left to do their own thing.
On Saturday morning, while she was having breakfast, her mobile rang. When she answered, it was Jacob.
“Good news, Willow. Racheal gave birth at midnight. Mother and baby are well, and I have a niece called Rebeccah. Rick wanted to call her Angel but was howled down because the name would be easily changed when she got to school. Rach reminded him of his surname, and said that she would end up as Anglo, as in Anglo Saxon. They’re at the University Hospital.”
“Good catch, love. When can we see them?”
“Visiting today for her is between two and five. She should be able to say hello then.”
“Right! We’ll be there.”
She ended the call and smiled, sweetly, at her mother.
“Mum, can we go into Coventry today?”
“Why is that dear?”
“Racheal and Rick have a daughter, named Rebeccah, born last night.”
“Absolutely! We need to get a nice card and a small toy. We’ll both need a new dress for the visit. You get yourself dressed and we’ll head into town. Hubby, dear, you can potter in the garden for the day, us girls are getting clucky.”
Mother and daughter went to town, literally, ending up with three new dresses and a few skirt and top outfits. Willow paid with her debit card, and Wendy paid for lunch, both being careful not to mar their new dresses, after the shopping bags had been put back into the car. The highlight, for Wendy, was when they walked past a record shop and saw a life-size picture of Willow. She had her daughter stand next to it and pose while she took some pictures on her phone. That slowed them down, as a queue of fans wanted Willow to sign their CDs that they just had to get with the star there with them.
Willow took it all with good humour, posing with the odd guy with one arm around her shoulders and the other around the photo. When they did manage to break away, citing another place to be, the manager told them to pick anything from the racks as a gift. Willow chose an album by Amy Winehouse, while her mother grabbed one by AC/DC. Oddly, one had a song on it named ‘Back in Black’, while the other had ‘Back to Black’.
The CDs joined the other bags and they headed for the hospital. When they arrived at Racheal’s room, Rick was there, looking haggard.
“Not much sleep, Rick?”
“No. My darling wife decided to go into labour at dinner time, and we’ve been here since. That’s after three late nights with the Hikers in your studio. Xavier told me that you pay the guys two hundred and fifty an hour, and they’re well worth it. We ended up with a great album, with a performance DVD, and a ripper single. That Frank can make a Christmas Carol sound like Led Zepplin.”
“I’m glad that we could help. Have you sent it anywhere?”
“It went by priority mail on Friday. I sent it directly to Clive.”
Just then, a gurgling sound interrupted as the baby was brought into the room by a nurse, who laid it on Racheal’s chest. Other conversation was stopped by praise of how sweet the baby was, and how well Racheal looked. They sent Rick off to go home and shower while the three of them talked. Racheal asked them if they wanted to hold the baby. Wendy was first, and Willow took a picture of her.
When Willow was handed the baby, she looked down at the cute little face and her heart melted. She had a feeling that rocked her to her toes. The feeling of love for a helpless infant and the feeling of sadness that she could never hold one of her own. Wendy took a couple of pictures, and Racheal got them to find her bag and pull out her own phone.
“Why would you want a picture of me holding your daughter, Rach?”
“Because I still hold you responsible, young lady. If you hadn’t added that killer organ, the song would never have been a hit. Then Rick and I wouldn’t have got drunk enough to disregard any safety measures and little Rebeccah wouldn’t be there in your arms. On top of that, the organ also gave us enough money to buy the farm and be happy. Will you be her godmother?”
“Will they allow me into a synagogue?”
“Probably, but you’ll have to be in a separate area with me, unless they’ve changed the rules.”
They spent a pleasant couple of hours until Wilhelm and Rosalie arrived. After that, they went back to Stoneleigh to join Ashley at the club for dinner. They left him working and went home. Willow put her new things in her wardrobe while Wendy did the same in her room. They met in the kitchen over a hot chocolate.
“So, Mum. Akadaka? I suppose I’ll have to put my earplugs in after Dad watches that one. Don’t you think that it’s just a bit dangerous?”
“I suppose that you’re right, darling. Just wait until you find what turns your lover on. It can be very exciting and satisfying.”
“I’ll just have to wait a while, then.”
“You can’t lie, love. You’ve had the attitude of a girl who knows what it feels like for months. Just make sure that you clean properly. You can’t get pregnant, but you can get nasty diseases.”
“It’s the ‘pregnant’ part that made me sad, today. Holding the baby today was a wonderful feeling. I’ve been able to hold it together, but that made me realise that I’ve been living a lie. I’m not, and never will be, a complete woman, and it means that I can only maintain the appearance.”
“Don’t say that my darling. You looked like a girl the day you wore that skirt, and you’ve been totally a girl since that first operation. So, you can’t have children, but that puts you in with the thousands of women in the same situation. Don’t ever put yourself down. You’re Willow Jean Rose, the leader of a successful and popular band. Did you think that any of those boys who had their arm around you thought that you were anybody other than their favourite girl singer.”
“I suppose that you’re right, Mum. I do tend to get a bit controlling, though, maybe a bit of maleness showing through.”
“Nothing wrong with that, it takes a bit of that for a woman to make it in the world, and there’s no way to say that you haven’t made it!”
On Sunday, they sat in the church as Gina played the organ. Afterwards, they all went over to the club. Willow, Gina, and Maisie were talking about the costumes for the musical. Wendy was listening.
“Wait a minute. I thought that you were doing ‘Wicked’. Where’s the pretty Glinda dress, where’s the black witches costume and pointy hat?”
“The kids are doing it in modern dress, Wendy. Gina told me that the first years had decided how they want it to look. Willow has helped them alter the words to be more modern. It’s going to be an interesting performance if they bring it off.”
“Willow, does the school know this?”
“Not yet, Mum. We’ll invite the teachers to the first dress rehearsal, but it will be too late to change it by then. Actually, I have had an idea about that, to let Mister Jamieson into the secret.”
On Monday, it was back to the usual school day, something that Willow enjoyed. The lessons gave her that little bit more confidence with learning. On Wednesday, the orchestra performed the full second section of the Messiah, with it recorded by Xavier.
On Friday, they worked on ‘Wicked’ and were able to perform every song as it would be performed. It just needed the acting part and to have a proper dress rehearsal. Willow took the email addresses of all the players and singers, telling them that she needed them in case there were any problems.
On Saturday, there were emails. One was from Wilhelm to tell them that the Small Heath property was now theirs. The vendor had accepted the offer with a quick sale. He said that he had advised Mervyn that the property was available and to contact the agent for the keys. The accountant will be drawing up a lease agreement with it commencing on January the first, giving two months to fully transfer the business. The lease at Leicester will be paid to December the thirty-first. The acceptance left them a million for other costs and any alterations that may be needed.
There was an email from Mervyn, just to Willow, thanking her for her care and attention to detail with the business dealings. He advised her that he was commencing the shift as soon as he could, with new pallet racking being installed soon. He expected to be out of the main building by the first week of November, with just the office remaining until the new one had been set up with the latest in communications and computers to handle the bigger loads.
There was another email from Jill. It had been sent to all the Summer Rose and G-Force, as well as Xavier, Frank, and Dave.
‘Hi, band members. Sorry about the short notice but we have been held up with getting confirmation of venues. During your half-term holiday, you will be on a lightning tour to cater for the growing popularity of both bands in Europe. On the Saturday and Sunday, you will be playing at the Bella Centre in Copenhagen. It will be to around thirty thousand each night. You will be staying at the Bella Sky Hotel, just a stroll away, from Friday night to Monday morning. On Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday, you will be at the Paris La Défense Arena and staying at the Citizen M Hotel, again just a stroll away. The arena will seat forty thousand. Robbie Williams and Taylor Swift have performed there. On Friday morning, you will be taken to Berlin, to play at the Uber Arena, with a capacity of seventeen thousand, on the Friday and Saturday nights, staying at the Hotel Indigo, close by.
All venues are indoor and purpose-built. All equipment will be supplied by music stores in each place, so only your favourite guitars and effects boxes will be needed. All travel by air and coach connections. All hotels are four-star with individual rooms, all doubles. G-Force will open all shows, but the sets are of equal time, so ninety minutes each. Both the Paris and Berlin shows will be filmed, with the plan for a ‘G-Force Live in Paris’ and a ‘Summer Rose Live in Berlin’ DVD. The stages will be similar to the ones you’re used to. The tech team is the same as the previous tour and asked for your three techs to be part of this.
This was in train before I received your new albums. The G-Force album will be released in conjunction with the DVD. Summer Rose, your ‘Greenhouse’ one will be released with your DVD, and the ‘Magic Laptop’ will be held over until close to Christmas. There was a suggestion, here, to add ‘A Hint of Musk’ to the name but that was quashed.
Anyone without a passport should contact me directly, so I can organise temporary performers papers. This is not a charity tour, so profit will be divided equally between the total band members, after costs. Tickets average out at two hundred Euro each, so the expected total will be over thirty-five million pounds. Your flight out leaves Manchester at seven on the Friday.
As a footnote, I see that all three bands have sent me DVDs of their albums, all looking amazingly similar. You need to tell me where the albums were recorded, as the quality is first-class. We can go into production with all four CDs as is. Certainly, a lot better than the good quality of your previous home sessions.’
Willow printed that one for her parents to read. Wendy read it out to Ashley over lunch. They both gave Willow a hug.
“Looks like you’re being treated like royalty, darling. Air travel, good hotels, you’ll hardly have time to look around, though.”
“Plenty of time, later, Mum. This is a working week. We will have some time during the days, if anything is organised. It’s a big logistic problem, shifting around twenty of us around, but we should be home in time to have a short break before going back to school.”
Ashley snorted.
“All of Sunday afternoon!”
“It’s OK, Dad. Just a shower, put my used stuff in the hamper, a good night in my own bed, and it’s back to normal for a while. The Leicester site should be pretty well vacant by then, as Mervyn is keen to move to Small Heath.”
“What do you plan to do with it?”
“We were thinking of leasing the ground floor offices to an accountant or something similar. If we clear the pallet racking in the long shed, we could repurpose it for an extension of the studio space, maybe an entertaining area. I’m thinking that we could use the big shed as parking and storage. We don’t have our own PA system, and we may need to have our own stage that we can erect. The cost for the tour was a quarter of a million per venue, so it may be a money saver if we had our own.”
“That would make the site the home of Summer Rose.”
“It sure would. Amazing, when you come to think about it.”
After lunch, she walked to the church to check the hymns. The weather was now cooling again, but the church would be a warm place this winter. That evening, they had a big table with Maisie and Gina, Rosalie, Wilhelm and Jacob. The adults all sat at one end, talking about new baby and the amazing tour, while the younger ones sat together and discussed the individual rooms. Gina had looked each hotel up and showed them pictures of the rooms, with big beds, just waiting for some use.
Monday, at school, Willow went to see Mister Jamieson.
“Sorry to bother you, sir. Are you nominally in charge of the ‘Wicked’ group?”
“I am, Willow. I’ve been staying away to see how you’ve been getting on.”
“We’re very close to a dress rehearsal, but I want to ask if we can get the cast into a recording studio, so that we can have a CD soundtrack to sell at the three shows.”
“How much will that cost?”
“Nothing, sir. I can get us time in the studio, and Xavier will handle the recording. I would say that we could do it over the holiday, but Summer Rose will be playing in Copenhagen, Paris and Berlin. If we can take a little extra time on Friday, we can take the cast to the studio. It’s about a half an hour away. I have all the emails and can warn them that it will be a latish evening, unless you can organise a special early leaving, which would be good for me, because I’m flying out later in the evening.”
“Look, leave it with me. They’re up for Music Studies that afternoon. I’ll check with the Head to see if they can leave after lunch. Can you organise your security to have a coach?”
“Can do, sir. It would be great if we can work it that way.”
“How’s the Messiah coming on?”
‘Two-thirds rehearsed, just the last third to go. It is the shortest part, so I’m hoping that we can get it sorted out before the holidays. After that, we have four sessions before the performance in our theatre, then the three nights at the Cathedral. It would be nice to have that behind me.”
“From what Mister Bamborough has told me, you’ll be pencilled in to direct the performances that might come up next year. Who knows, after the Messiah, the Bishop may want something else, maybe one of the requiems.”
“Please don’t wish that on us!”
“I’ll let you know what the Head decides before you leave, today.”
“Thank you, sir.”
That afternoon, heading home, Willow asked Sebastian if he could organise a full-sized coach for Friday afternoon, to go from the school after lunch, to Leicester and return. Gina and Jacob were brought into the scheme. That evening, she sent out emails to all the singing and playing members of the cast, telling them that they would be recording a soundtrack album on Friday afternoon, and to let their parents know that they would be dropped off at home when they had finished. She also emailed Xavier that he was required, and she would pay him, even though it was a school project. She also emailed Jill to tell her that if she wanted to see the studio, to be at the school around noon on Friday.
On Wednesday, they started with the last third of the Messiah, now with the expanded orchestra that included timpani, trumpets, and French horns. It was, thankfully, only nine movements, and they all breathed a sigh of relief when they had finished the last ‘Amen’. It was the usual time for the session to end. Before they all left, Willow looked at Mister Bamborough, who nodded. She stood and called out.
“Please. Listen up. Thank you all for your hard work on this. It has been hard for everyone. We have the half-term holiday next week, and you can have an early finish on the first Wednesday back. It does leave us three sessions before we present this to the public, in the theatre. I’m going to see if we can set up in the theatre on the second week, to run through the whole opus. That will give us another long session to sort out any wrinkles. The last Wednesday of the month will be a full-dress performance for the Head and invited guests, probably the Bishop to see how we’ve got on. After that, the following Tuesday is a full performance in the theatre, for parents and friends, then we’re off to the Cathedral for three nights. Again, my congratulations to you all for all the work you’ve put into this. It’s just the final things to get done and you’ll be able to bask in the applause that I’m certain you’ll be getting. Have a good holiday, and we’ll see you all in November.”
Marianne Gregory © 2025
Chapter 7
On Thursday, it was the last of the Music Studies with the Musical. There was some listening to snippets of various performances and discussion on them, with a question-and-answer session that everyone had to be part of. That evening, Willow packed her case and filled a garment bag with her four stage outfits.
Friday, she saw Jill poke her head into the lunchroom so beckoned her over.
“Welcome to the zoo feeding time, Jill.”
“It’s much nicer than the school I went to. What are we doing this afternoon?”
“We are going to record the first-year musical project. We’re performing a modern version of ‘Wicked’ in the middle of next month.”
“What part do you have with this?”
“I’m the director, Gina is in charge of the costumes, and Jacob has a team making the backdrops. They will be with us this afternoon, and Xavier is coming along to run the desk.”
“That lad, and his friends, have made some serious friends during the tour. There are some very respected producers who have them pencilled in when they leave school. They would be fifth form now, wouldn’t they?”
“Yes, same year as the Gees. I think it might be time to get the crowd together. Come and meet Petunia and Ivy, twelve-year-olds with a huge future ahead of them.”
The three friends collected up Xavier, the singers, and they all collected their bags to take home afterwards. The guitarists had their cases with them. It was an excited group who went out of the main doors to get in the coach. They were joined by both Mister Jamieson and Mister Bamborough, as well as the twin’s father, and a few other parents. There was plenty of room in the coach, and they left the school. Willow stood at the front with the microphone.
“Good afternoon, and welcome to the Magic Bus. Today, we are going to a very private recording studio in Leicester. So far, it has only made albums for three bands. It is not, and I repeat that, not a commercial studio, so we will be the only ones there. The site is a working distribution centre, although the company is in the process of moving out. When we get there, I’ll go and see what the state of play is. If they are still in full operation, we will all have to wear hi-vis vests outside of the studio.”
When they did arrive, the car park was almost empty, and the big shed was open and looked like there were no workers. Sebastian pulled into the parking area and stopped. Willow jumped out and went into the office, coming out a few minutes later with a smile. She looked into the coach.
“All right, Xavier, do you want to go and open up, please. Everyone else, you can get out and stretch your legs. There are no forklifts operating today, but there will be a couple here on charge.”
They all got out, with the adults having querulous expressions, especially Mister Vines, with a daughter on each side of him. Willow told them all to be careful and follow her, leading them into the shed. A lot of the racks were empty, and there were some pallets on the ground, but it was a clear path through to the workshop and the open door to the studio. Gina led them in, while Willow waited for Sebastian, who had locked the coach. When he was inside, she followed, closing the doors as she went. The students were looking at the awards with excitement. Willow stepped up a couple of rungs of the stairs.
“Can I have your attention, please. This is the rest area. While the students are recording, all of you adults are welcome to use the kitchenette. There’s tea and coffee and should be long-life milk in the fridge. There are toilets to the right, both male and female. If the cast can follow Gina and Jacob, they’ll get you through to the studio proper. Be prepared to be amazed.”
The students followed the others through, with those left hearing exclamations of wonder as they went through the control room. When they had left, Willow went and spoke to the adults that were left.
“Before we go any further, I have some explanation. This site is owned by seven members of Summer Rose and was purchased with money we had earned from record sales. We bought the site because of where we’re standing. It was originally a cold store for vegetable distribution. Overall, it’s over a hundred feet long, with eighteen-inch insulated walls, so perfect to turn into a recording studio. We’ve produced well over a hundred decibels inside and the people in that big shed didn’t hear us. When we move to the next room, please do not touch anything. It’s a state-of-the-art recording desk and has recorded three albums in the last two weeks that will be on the market next month. I’m sure that your children have talked about Summer Rose, G-Force, and Rick Sacks and the Hikers. This is our home away from home. If you follow me, we can stand and watch as your children make music.”
She led them in, and they all stood in line, looking at the wonderful vision of the mixing desk, and through the glass to all the cast sorting out leads to the amps, and microphones, while Gina and Jacob handed out buds and told the students how to put them in for best effect. When they were ready, Gina gave Xavier a wave and the two came out into the control room. Willow sat next to Xavier, and he switched on the microphone.
“Can everyone hear me? Wave if you can. Good. With this as your first time in the studio, we want you to get used to it. When you play, you will hear the mixed result in your earbuds. There will be a short while as Xavier gets the mix right, so, Vines, do you think that you can play some of your own music. If you can do that middle eastern song second, I want to get it onto tape so we can give you all a keepsake. When we’ve finished recording the musical, we will be able to produce a CD for everyone. You’re good to go.”
She went over to Gina and Jacob, messing around with the camera vision.
“If you want to get serious, get one camera showing the whole group, and have that one picked when you press that record button. That will be the base vision. Then you move the others by selecting the number to control that camera. There’s a button marked ‘change’. If you press that, it will then use that vision. You can then go back to the base vision or pick another one. It will give you a pre-edited recording for a DVD.”
She left them being creative and stood by the teachers. Mister Vines joined them.
“You never fail to surprise, Willow. This would have cost a bit.”
“About one point two, all up. If the album we recorded last weekend takes off, that will return about the same amount. It was a win-win and something we all agreed on.”
“So, what do we get out of today?”
“When they’ve recorded the songs, we can let them play a bit of their own music for us to record while the rest of the cast can relax. There’s a supermarket around the corner. I could go and get ice creams. It’s warm enough in here to make an ice cream enjoyable.”
Mister Vines smiled.
“I’ll help you, Willow. I’ll buy them. This has been an interesting experience for me, and I’d like to talk to you, if you don’t mind.”
“I don’t mind. Xavier, I’ll be back in a few minutes.”
“No problems, Willow. These students are really good. I can see them on the theatre stage next year, after the Head hears them and sees the show.”
Howard Bamborough laughed.
“She’s already been told that there’s a new supergroup that’s only been in the school for half a term. She’s quite pleased.”
Willow and Mister Vines left the studio. On the way to the shop, he chuckled.
“I’ve always thought that my daughters were just playing around with the guitars. Today has opened my eyes to how good they are. What do you think of their band?”
“The first time we put them in a rehearsal room with the equipment, they impressed with most of an hour of jazz-based songs, and one with a middle eastern beat that could be considered as chart material. You have two incredibly talented girls, Mister Vines, along with their talented friends. They are so far ahead of what I could do at that age, it’s not funny.”
“Look. I’m only Mister Vines to my bank manager. I can see that you have a big influence on my girls. My name is Samuel, or just Sam. I’m interested in this site you’re at. What’s the situation?”
“Seven of us formed a syndicate, pooling some of our earnings. We bought a commercial factory in Coventry, and then looked around for something bigger. This came up, and when we saw the cold room, we bought it. We have only renegotiated the lease a few months ago, but the head office of the company wanted this site to increase the flow-through. We found another site in Small Heath which the manager thought would be perfect but would only need half of it. We formed another syndicate with the entire band and bought it. He’s in the process of moving.”
“Was that Stella House?”
“It was, why?”
“I was looking at that site, myself. The thing was that it was too big for me as it was and would stretch my assets. Do you have an agent?”
“We do have one that looks after all three sites. This one will probably stay vacant for a while, as we make changes to suit what we want. If you still want half of Small Heath, the lease will be five years, starting at one fifty, and increasing to one seventy-five over that lease time. What do you want to do with it?”
“We’re in a number of older buildings and I want to consolidate those under one roof, starting with the installation of more modern machines and a bank of 3D printers.”
“That may need a bigger power supply than what’s on site. We could come to the party there, as long as it’s still in place should you move out.”
They got to the shop, and he paid for three dozen assorted ice creams, and carried the box as they went back.
“You seem very assured for a teenager?”
“I suppose it’s standing on a stage in front of sixty thousand screaming fans. Next week, we’ll be in Europe playing to a total of over two hundred thousand, and then I’m back in school getting the cast ready to perform the musical.”
“My girls used to think that you were wonderful, now they tell me that they know you’re wonderful.”
“Oh, lovely. I got the ‘Wonderful Willow’ nickname last year and hoped that it would just die out.”
“They told me that you were in charge of another big project.”
“Yes. A couple of weeks after their show, we’re performing the Messiah at the Cathedral. That made ‘Wicked’ feel like a walk in the park.”
“Not much organ in that one.”
“No, they got me in the hot seat as leader and first violin. Before we go to the studio, I know the manager is in the office today. He should have the cards for the agent, if you want to get serious.”
They went into the office and Mervyn looked up. A smile appeared on his face.
“Grape! It’s been a long time.”
“Perve, you scoundrel. It’s good to see you.”
He put the box on a desk and the two had a man-hug. Mervyn turned to Willow.
“We met while we were in the army, after high school. It wasn’t a good time, but we got through it in one piece.”
Willow picked up the box.
“I’ll leave you two to talk and get these into the fridge before they melt.”
She grinned as she went back to the studio, to load the fridge and put the box aside for wrappers and other rubbish. She went out into the control room where the adults remained as they had been, no doubt mesmerised at the sound of their children through the speakers. Willow stood beside Jill.
“What do you think?”
“I think that you’ve built one of the most remarkable studios I’ve ever been in. I think that Xavier has a fantastic career ahead of him as a producer. I think that what you sent us is worthy of platinum awards, and the mini opera is going to be mentioned on several awards nights, even if it doesn’t win. Oh! I also think that those kids in there are brilliant, especially the band. What can you tell me about them?”
“The twins are daughters of the man I went to fetch the ice cream with. He’s a very successful motor engineer with workshops in Coventry and was going to send them to a posh college before they dug their heels in. The rest of the band are friends, and the singer is the one playing Glinda. Actually, one of the ones playing Glinda. We have most of the stand-ins here today, so should let them get some of their own time out in front.”
“Some of the words are not as I remember.”
“We’re doing it in the current day, in modern dress, and Oz is a condemned building in a seedy city.”
“What did you think about the tour?”
“It looks really good for a week away. My mother picked up on the good hotels.”
“You’re stars now. We can’t put you just anywhere. Expect that sort of accommodation in future. There’ll be a hairdresser, a cosmetician, and three dressers with you for the week. All had been on the previous tour. Are you bringing the outfits that you wore last summer?”
“I’ve put mine in a garment bag.”
“There are a couple of good places in Paris who want to dress Zara and the four of you for the shows there, so you could wear the other four in Copenhagen and Berlin, and theirs in Paris. If that’s all right, they can fit you on Monday afternoon or Tuesday morning.”
“That would be different. We could wear them for the Berlin show that’s going to be filmed.”
“That’s a good idea. There isn’t much time for sightseeing, I’m afraid, but we have organised a trip to the top of the Eiffel Tower and a morning at Versailles. There will, of course, be photographers present. It can’t be helped, but both bands are growing in Europe, while the Hikers are bigger in Spain.”
They stood and watched until the group finished the last of the songs. Willow sat next to Xavier, and he turned on her microphone.
“Well done! We’ll take a break now. There’s ice creams in the fridge. When you’ve had a rest, I’d like all the stand-ins to sing at least two songs before we close down. When you take the buds out, give them a wipe with the towelettes that Gina will give you before they go back into the box.”
The adults made a move to the rest area to brew hot drinks as the children came out from the studio. When the twins had wiped their buds, they both hugged Willow.
“That was brilliant! We felt like pop stars with those big amps. This has been the best day ever!”
“I can tell you that you made your father proud today. If I’m not mistaken, he’ll be more supportive in future. Keep your marks up and the idea of that posh school will be forgotten.”
When the others had gone through, only Jill remained to watch as Xavier talked the other three through the process of outputting two dozen complete CDs, after trimming the two ends of the file to get rid of unwanted silence. Then, they made another dozen of the single song. Jill asked for a copy of each, to play to Clive, purely as an idea of the sort of talent coming along in the future. She asked if she could have a still from the recorded session, and Xavier showed Jacob how that was done, printing off one of the whole group.
They joined the others in the rest area, Mervyn and Sam with the twins, in conversation. Willow went around giving out CDs. She texted an ‘S’ on the twelve singles, and only gave these to the Vines. She had an ice cream and joined the queue for the toilet. After that, she called for the band to set up again, and the stand-ins to take centre stage. Most of the adults remained in the rest area as they recorded the main stand-ins. That was almost all of the songs again, and then Brenda went back into the studio, and it was just the Vines recording their own songs for about half an hour before Willow called for a halt.
It didn’t take long for Xavier to output a dozen copies of the CD, with Willow and Jill taking one each. Sam Vines asked if he could have a photo, so they found one from the previous session with Brenda out in front and printed it for him.
After that, they were ready to leave. The others went out towards the coach while the four made sure the studio was tidy and all of the visitor’s guitars had been removed. They checked that all the buds were back and then made sure that the equipment was off before they closed the doors.
The rest area had been tidied up, and someone had emptied the bins and taken the box away. The three friends had a last look around and had a silent group hug before leaving, locking the door as they went.
On the way back, Sam Vines spoke to Willow.
“I’ve got the details from Mervyn and will take my operations manager to look at the site during next week. We’ll let you know if we move forward. This has been a good day and a great experience. They only downside is that the girls have spoken to that Jill, and now I’m being pestered to take them to Europe to see you on stage there.”
“If you give Jill your details, she can organise ‘All Areas’ passes for you, so you can come backstage and sit in the VIP seats. We had well over a hundred schoolfriends at the shows over the summer holiday.”
“I’ll do that. It will make their day, that’s for certain. Thank you for that.”
Jill came over to her as well.
“My car is at the school. If I follow the coach when he drops you off, can I leave it at your place? Then I won’t have to put it in the car park at the airport.”
“That’s all right, Jill. I think that we’ll need to pick up my bags and start picking everyone up so we can get there in good time.
While Sam was talking to Jill, she went to the front of the coach.
“Sebastian, are you taking all of us to the airport?”
“I am.”
“When we get to Stoneleigh, Jill is going to park her car and we’ll get our bags to begin the pick-up. I just need to change from this uniform.”
There were hugs and thanks at the school when they got there. Jill followed the coach as they headed south, and they dropped Jacob at the farm on the way. Gina was dropped at home and then they arrived at Willow’s home. Willow got out with her bags and Jill parked on the front lawn. Willow went inside to change out of the uniform, put her collection of new CDs on her desk, take a comfort stop and come back downstairs to find Jill talking to her parents. She had a hessian bag and reached into it.
“Willow, before I forget, this is for you. I’ll give the others out at the airport. They only came in yesterday.”
Willow was given a new passport that the label had arranged, with Willow filling in the form that Jill had emailed her and sending it back in the post with a copy of the birth certificate that her mother had created. It was just one of the passports that members of both bands had never had a need of. As she put it in her bag, Wendy gave her a wink.
She had her roller case and garment bag, so hugged her parents and went out to the coach to add her baggage to Jill’s in the compartment. Sebastian reversed up the road to the tee-junction, and then they were off on the pick-up run. They arrived at the airport in good time, and checked in. The four of them had something to eat while they waited to board, the others having eaten at home.
That night, the two bands were settled into the Bella Sky hotel, fast asleep in the big beds in individual rooms. In the morning, they all had a buffet breakfast in the dining room, then assembled in a function room for a meeting.
Clive told them that they could relax for a couple of hours and then had a lunch meeting with the media. They were big news here in Denmark, so this was a friendly way to let the reporters ask their questions. In the afternoon, they had a sound check, then dinner with the VIPs before the show.
Summer Rose had a meeting of their own after breakfast to discuss what they were going to play. They decided to use the format from before but leave out much of the Kansas material to give time for some of the new songs. They would still have ‘Spitter’ as the encore.
The day went as planned, with the lunch allowing easy talk with the media. They walked to the performance space in a well-designed complex and did the sound check. The set-up was good, and everyone was happy. The dinner was interesting, with a large group of VIPs, including their first contact with royalty, the young Prince and Princess and their children all considering themselves as fans. Willow had a lovely talk with the Australian-born Princess and the media were on their best behaviour.
That night, the Gees were well received with their set, then, after a short break, Summer Rose had a very loud welcome to Denmark. They were happy to be back in front of an audience again. Every member of the band had crossed a line during the previous tour and were happiest on stage with fans in front of them. It lifted them as they worked through the set, with examples of every album, so far, and a few new ones from ‘Greenhouse’.
On Sunday, they were given a coach ride around the area to see the sights, which included a stop at the music store that had supplied the equipment, where there were group photos, and they all signed a poster that advertised the show. Willow noticed that Jacob seemed somewhat distant. That night was a repeat of the show and Monday morning they were back at the airport for the short flight to Paris.
The weather in Paris was crisp but sunny, and they were taken to the Citizen M hotel and checked in by late morning. Today was the one free day in the city, but the afternoon was taken up with getting outfitted. The four girls and Zara were taken to a dress shop, where they were outfitted for the shows. For Zara, it was easy, good gowns in different colours, with the Gees all in denim. For the girls of Summer Rose, however, there was a fashion show for them to choose the styles that they were happy with. For the first show, they picked a harder look, with black leather jeans, red blouses and leather bolero jacket, teamed with red ankle boots, which they thought would also go well with the filmed show in Berlin. When Jill saw them dressed, she was on her phone to Clive, telling him what he should organise for the boys.
The other two outfits were more ladylike. Cocktail length dresses in a range of colours where it didn’t matter who wore what, it would all look good. The boys could wear smart casual and it would appear designed. They all met up in the late afternoon for a quick visit to the Eiffel Tower. After dinner, they had a free evening, and some the group took taxies to the Folies Bergere. Willow, Gina and Brent, were in one, while Nancy and Herb, and Vivienne and Roy were in another. They had an interesting evening, being entertained for a change.
When they arrived back at the hotel, Jacob was waiting and took Willow to his room. For Willow, it was less than satisfying. She wondered if her realisation of being unable to conceive had lowered her enjoyment level. Jacob was forceful even squeezing her breasts painfully. Back in her own room, she wondered, until she went to sleep, if Rick may be a bad influence.
Marianne Gregory © 2025
Chapter 8
After breakfast on the Tuesday, they were taken to see Versailles, as promised. What hadn’t been said was that they would be followed around by photographers and posed beside wonderful artworks and, as a group, on the sweeping staircase. They weren’t alone with this, as G-Force were putting up with it as well. Jacob seemed angry about the imposition on his time but went along with it.
Finally, they were taken to a restaurant where they had a private room to relax over lunch. They were told that the dinner before the show would have a number of ‘captains of industry’. Clive warned them that many could claim to be nobility, but none will, because the French upper crust tended to fly under the radar, never forgetting how many lost their heads in the revolution, so just treat them as rich industrialists.
“Tonight, the first half will be filmed for the G-Force DVD, which will go on sale in November, along with the album. Bring your main game tonight. Needless to say, the audio has to be spot on. This afternoon, the sound check will be doubly important, so Summer Rose will go first and then the Gees will be playing with the set mix. Tomorrow, it’s looking after the sponsors, with a visit to the music store who have supplied today’s equipment. Then we have a tourist boat booked for a trip on the river, with lunch. Our venue here is sold out on all three nights. It’s well used to hosting big shows as Taylor Swift performed here on her Eras Tour.”
The dinner was pleasant, and the first half of the show went well. When Summer Rose took to the stage, everyone was on a high, and their set created a lot of audience noise. That night, everyone was too tired for sleeping in a different bed.
On Wednesday morning, it was the trip to the music store, with lots of pictures, lots of fans wanting signatures on their new instruments. Willow and Gina signed their names alongside Jim’s on at least six Nord Stage Threes. The river trip would have been better if they could have gone out on the deck to see the scenery, but the wind was bitter. That night, they all did what they were being paid for, and at breakfast, on Thursday, they were told that the sudden freeze had caused the planned trip to be cancelled. They all spent the day relaxing in various places around the hotel, with some in their rooms. The five girls all got together for a talk and a laugh. The show, that night, was a lot of fun, as the majority of the audience took to their seats rugged up, and divested clothing as the bands warmed them up. Jacob still seemed angry and not his usual self and Willow wondered if he was ailing from some virus.
Friday was a very busy day. After breakfast, they were checked out and on the coach to the airport. A flight that was shorter than their waiting time in the terminal landed them in Berlin. They were all taken to the Hotel Indigo, just a walk to the Uber Arena. The city was a winter wonderland, but the snow had stopped. The lunch was at the hotel, and there was a session in one of the function rooms with the local media. They walked in the slush to the venue and the Gees did their sound check.
Tonight, Summer Rose were all in the black leathers and red shirts, the girls with the added red boots. They had a photo session for the press and then went up to do their sound check. For some reason, they sounded more like a hard rock band with their later songs. Willow wondered if it was the outfits that made the difference. This venue was the smallest of the tour, at only seventeen thousand, but when they went on stage that night, it sounded as loud as the any of the previous shows that week.
The early material was welcomed, but when they launched into material from ‘Homegrown’ and ‘Greenhouse’ the fans went wild. Willow played the keyboard and looked out at the crowd and realised that their choice of outfit was totally in step with the majority of the audience. When the stage lights went down and the house lights came up, they were all high on the adoration, and took a while to come back down as the dressers helped them change.
They walked back to the hotel, happy that the DVD would show an energised band, looking like they meant business. They all stayed in the hotel the next day, relaxing and thinking about the last half of term that lay ahead of them. At lunch, they met the Vines family in the dining room, with the excited twins. Sam sat with Willow in the lounge.
“I’ve seen the agent and signed the paperwork for Stella House. Mervyn and I will be working together to create a sound barrier between us inside, and we have to install quick-roll doors to allow access. That was already factored into Mervyn’s budget. I’ll be able to bring the bigger equipment in and we’ll then seal my part off. I’ll bring in offices and amenities so that we’re self-contained. There may be an extra cost for plumbing, but the half I’m taking will last me many years. The agent told me that the lease doesn’t start until the first of January, the same as Mervyn. That’s very generous.”
“I’m glad that you’re happy, Sam. How are your girls, now. Have they been playing their CD to all their friends?”
“We had a party on Tuesday, and that was all we heard all night. I’m sure that a lot of their friends have already been to see ‘Wicked’ as they were all singing along. I really thought that the music was just a hobby for them, and now know that they’re serious. I’ve had a good look at the lessons that they’ve signed on for, and it’s great training in all aspects. Actually, I’ve never seen them so happy. Ivy told me that they had considered running away, rather than going to the school that we had planned. We’re looking at the school website, so that we can get tickets for the show, as well as getting tickets for all of us to be at the Cathedral. How is this tour going?”
“Pretty good. We sold out at every venue and we’re looking forward to being home in our own beds on Sunday night. I have to admit, this week has been good for us with the development of the band. I think you’ll see a bit of difference tonight. Here, we’re Sommer-Rose and a bit more hard-edged.”
The dinner, that afternoon, was full of praise for the two bands and how they had come to the party with some new material, as well as taking everything in their stride. That night, they rocked! Willow had asked the dressers to give them the black leather outfits again, which the audience appreciated and allowed the band to let their hair down. That night, Jacob wanted Willow to join him for a while, but she declined.
Sunday morning, after breakfast, they were checked out, in a coach and off to the airport. They arrived back in Manchester at one in the afternoon, and were all dropped off at their homes, with Jacob just grabbing his bags and getting out without a kiss. Willow and Jill arrived at her home around three. Willow took her bag and bulging garment bag up to her room and Jill loaded up her car. They sat with Wendy and Ashley for a while and talked about the tour before Jill left to go home.
The last thing she wanted was yet another meal out, but she joined her parents to go to the club for dinner. She told them more about the tour, showed them some of the pictures on her phone, and walked home with Wendy to unpack and have a shower to sleep in her own bed.
It took an effort of will to be up and dressed in the school uniform on Monday morning, but she was ready when Sebastian pulled up in the people mover.
“Good morning, Sebastian and Max.”
“Good morning, Willow. I wondered how you would bounce back, you looked shattered when I dropped you off yesterday.”
“What you see is a robot, the real Willow is still in bed.”
They were all quiet as the others were picked up. At the school, they went in, and the receptionist told them that the Head wanted a word. Gina knocked on the office door and it was opened by Mister Bamborough.
“Come on in, you three. I gave my copy of what was recorded on that Friday to the Head, and that’s why you’re here”
They went in and sat down on the seats in front of the desk. The Head looked at each one in turn.
“This recording that was made of the ‘Wicked’ cast singing. It doesn’t sound like anything like the stage show?”
“The whole group had a discussion and decided that they wanted to perform it in the modern day, ma-am.”
“How much input did you lot have?”
“None. They made up their minds and we went along with it. I’ve been working with the cast, Gina has been working on the costumes, and Jacob has a group workshopping the scenery. The band all joined the school this year, and Mister Bamborough heard them in the first week of term. The leaders are Petunia and Ivy Vines, and their father was there at the recording.”
“He was also a big supporter of the Bishop’s charity event. He was one of those who I said, on the night, would be unlikely to send his children here. Changing the show is risky, but that recording has shown me that it’s going to be a success.”
“I think that we’ll be able to show you a dress rehearsal at the end of the week, if we can set up the stage.”
“I’m looking forward to it. Now, this recording studio. How does one book time?”
“You can’t. It’s registered with the council as not a commercial venture, so we can’t, legally, charge for its use. Other than the band, the only other keys are held by Xavier, Frank, and Dave. If you want to use it, just talk to Xavier to run the desk. He did have the Hikers in there for three evenings that week, recording an album. We pay each of the techs two hundred and fifty an hour when we record an album for general release. The ‘Wicked’ recording was done with no cost to the school as a school project and a favour to friends.”
“So, what do we put on the notes if we get copies made to sell in the school?”
“Other than it was recorded at Summer Love Studio, just the singers names and Xavier as the producer.”
“What about having the orchestra there to record the Messiah?”
“We will need some time to set it up. There is a storeroom behind the far wall where we can put the big amps. We did buy a lot of microphones but may need more. We can record in twenty-four channel and could add small mixers with up to six mics fed into them and the total only using one channel. We may have to get a few more booms to get an overall sound. We don’t have a load of chairs or music stands, but we can get them in or take them from here in a truck. With out tenant now out, we have plenty of parking.”
“Would you be prepared to do that as a special project?”
Willow looked at the others, Gina nodded, while Jacob was silent.
“We would, ma-am. It would be a pleasure.”
“Right. Work with Mister Bamborough when you’re ready. I’m prepared to allow the orchestra a day away from school, along with the three techs. I believe that you can produce a video as well, which we could keep in the school library. Now, off you go and learn something new.”
That lunchtime, Gina and Willow spoke to the rest of the band about the session. The four wind players and Brent were happy to go along with it. Willow spoke to Zara and then sat back at their table and broached the idea with Dianne and Barbara. They were the only ones who thought that they were going back to Abbey Road, and were disappointed, at first, when told that it was another studio, much closer to home.
On the way home, Willow spoke to Sebastian about transporting the entire orchestra and the large choir to Leicester for the day. That evening, she emailed Wilhelm to see if he could be available at the site if there was a delivery of stackable chairs that would need to go into the store at the back of the studio. While she had the computer on, she noticed an email from Peter, with her latest statement.
The ’Journey’, Homegrown’, and Carpentry’ CDs had sold six hundred and ten thousand copies, the ‘Journey’ and ‘Homegrown’ DVDs had moved four hundred and thirty thousand. This was four point two-seven million pounds. With the usual expenses, as well as the four and a half thousand to the techs, and the fifteen percent commission, it left her with her one-eleventh share at just over three hundred and fifty thousand.
She transferred a hundred thousand from WR Holdings to the syndicate with a note to Wilhelm that she had done so and asking him if any decision had been made about feeding the Legs account. She then replied to Peter’s email, asking him to transfer four hundred thousand to the WR Holdings account. She then emailed the estate agent to look into the building in Fitzrovia, London, asking if he could get the details of the current leases and making an offer.
The rest of the week was normal until Thursday. She had notified the ‘Wicked’ cast about a short session after school to be fitted for the costumes. Maisie came in with Frankie and a pile of clothes. The girls went behind screens to change, and then the boys. When everything was checked and found good, they were allowed to change back and take the costumes home, with the news that they would be having a full-dress rehearsal after school on Friday, with teachers in attendance. On the way home, Willow asked Gina about the outfits. Gina told her that she had paid for them, and it was Frankie and her mother who made them.
On Friday, the three were allowed time off to prepare the stage for the show. The girls helped Jacob put out the first backdrop and then set the subsequent ones in order in the wings. Mister Bamborough helped bring up three smaller amps and a drum kit, which was all set up behind the backdrop. They prepared a number of clip-on microphones and tested them through the PA. When the final bell went, the cast and helpers arrived to change into the costumes and sort out the order of scene changes. It was a lucky thing that this show had most of the cast with unchanged outfits.
Willow had a final pep talk to the cast and then left them to it, going to join Jacob and Gina, as the teachers, the rest of the Music Studies class, and quite a few parents that had come in, including the Vines. She could see some movement of the curtains as the audience settled, and then the band started with an overture, similar to the opening of the show. The curtains opened and they were into the first act.
For this performance, the stand-ins took the stage in a couple of acts, without it detracting from the flow. At the end of the show, there was hearty applause and the whole cast came out on stage for a bow, joined by the band members. After the curtains closed, the Head, who was seated behind Willow, leaned forward.
“I wasn’t sure what to expect with this, Willow, but these students have done a great job. Leave the stage set up and be ready to have them perform on Thursday evening. We have about ninety percent filled for that one, and the Saturday one is booked out. Let the stand-ins carry the show on Friday, you’ll have to make that announcement beforehand. We can have Xavier and the others record those two shows. We have three thousand copies of the CD being delivered next week for sale at the door. I expect that we may need to take orders for later delivery by Saturday evening. If we get requests for the DVD, we can make a list.”
The three friends went and congratulated the cast and helpers, telling them about the arrangement for next week. Then, they found Max and Sebastian at the rear of the hall and went out to the vehicle.
“That’s a cracking show. Can’t say that I liked the film, too cheesy, but that had a real punch.”
“It was all their idea, Max. They didn’t want to set it in the Wonderland theme, and the story does have a different point set in modern times.”
Jacob was sitting by himself, so Gina spoke to him.
“Are you good for the sing-along tomorrow night, Jacob?”
“Sorry. I’m going to a party with Rick and the boys. They’re flying to Spain on Sunday to start their tour.”
“Just be careful with what you drink. We don’t want a repeat of that last party.”
“Yes, mum, I’ll be a good boy.”
Gina looked at Willow and raised an eyebrow.
“Looks like the two of us will be holding the fort tomorrow, friend.”
That evening, and all of Saturday, Willow worked through the remaining movements of the Messiah. On Saturday evening, the family had dinner in the club and the two girls set up the Yamahas as pianos and worked through their repertoire of drinking songs. On Sunday, it was Gina on the organ, and they spent some time talking about the two performances that were coming up. Willow sent an email to the school, to notify that the orchestra session, on Wednesday, will be the complete Messiah, and to warn any pick-ups that it would be close to a three-hour session.
On Monday, she told Sebastian that the recording of the orchestra would be the following Wednesday, so to pick them up in a coach, and have a second coach for the overflow. On Monday, during lunch, she phoned a furniture store and ordered a hundred and twenty stackable plastic chairs, and fifteen eight-foot plastic tables to be delivered to the Leicester site, texting Wilhelm with the news.
On Wednesday, she spoke to Mister Bamborough about having chairs, so just needing the music stands and the larger instruments to be taken to the studio. She also spoke to Xavier about getting forty clip-on microphones and a twenty more of the kind they already had, along with some booms, and some small mixers, to be delivered to the site, and to email Wilhelm when they would be delivered.
That afternoon, Margaret and Sandra arrived, as did Sally and Tom. The four soloists were in their places, the full choir was on their chairs, and the orchestra had all the instruments. Willow led the tuning, and when they were ready, she stayed standing.
“Next Wednesday, the Head has given us all a full day to record this opus. We will leave the school as soon as everyone is ready. There will be two coaches outside, and the school truck for the big instruments. The recording studio is in Leicester, and our producer will be Xavier. There is no rush to get it right, first time, as we have full use until we’re happy. You will all be delivered back to the school, and we’ll be able to have pizza or fish and chips for lunch.”
Then, she sat and nodded to the conductor. With a tap of his baton, he led them into the full performance for the first time. It wasn’t totally flawless, but good for a full work-out. They had a comfort stop after the first and second parts, and then brought it home to the final Amen.
Before they left, they arranged for Margaret and her friends to be picked up on the following Wednesday, and for Sally and Tom to have the Cathedral choir at the school ready to go.
That evening, Willow had an email from the estate agent. He said that he had checked with the leaseholder of the two apartments. They were both in a company name, and further enquiries found that they were for visiting executives from head office in the USA. They had asked if it would cost them much to pull out of the lease early, as the head office had just filed for Chapter Eleven protection. He had gone back to the vendors agent, pointing out that half of the accommodation would be vacant, and asking if an offer of one point seven would be acceptable. He suggested that they may take one point eight, or under, and if he should make an offer under the name of Summer Love Properties. Willow replied that up to one point eight would be acceptable to her and that it would be under WR Holdings, with payment to be made inside a week, with the break of lease to be without any charges.
On Thursday, it was full on for the ‘Wicked’ first public performance. None of the cast and helpers would be going home after school, with the lunchroom staying open for the show. The cast were excited, with the twins smiling like suns. They all had a light meal before going to get changed and to make sure everything was ready to roll. The audience started to arrive, and Jacob made sure that his crew were ready, then went off to the main entry. There was a table, loaded with CDs, at the entry to the theatre, and Willow went to buy one for herself, noting a nice picture of the whole cast on the cover, and a full listing of names inside. She was there as producer, Gina as costume supply, Jacob as scenery manager, Xavier as record producer at the Summer Love Studio.
Willow gave the excited cast a pep talk and had several hugs, with many thanking her for the great direction. She went to the curtains and had a peek out at the audience. There were a lot of the students with parents. Xavier had a mixing desk on a table to the side, and Frank and Dave were checking their cameras.
She was just about to step back, when she saw all of the Gees, with Zara and Geoff come in together, and the rest of the band with girls. Then she saw Jacob following them with an older blonde on his arm. She watched as they found their seats and made themselves comfortable. Once was enough. This time, she decided that if he wanted out, she wasn’t going to stand in the way. In one way, it was something of a relief, as she could now plan her future without wondering about him.
The show was a great success, with applause afterwards that went on for a while. Willow was in the front row, Gina on one side and the Head on the other. Brenda gestured for her to come up and get some applause, and she dragged Gina up with her. After the audience had left, there were hugs all round as the cast changed into their normal clothes, catching up with parents to go home. Gina and Willow were alone in the vehicle going home.
That night, Willow hugged her furry friends and told them that they were alone again but didn’t shed any tears. Jacob had been her first lover, and she hoped that he could remain as a friend and in the band. If he did drop out, then he would still get payments from the albums he had been playing in. They could probably be good without him, as Herb or Roy could have a second guitar with them, on stage, to use on the songs that required a semi-acoustic. If they moved into hard rock, and dropped all of the early material, he wouldn’t be missed.
Marianne Gregory © 2025
Chapter 9
Next morning, Jacob avoided looking at her when he got on the vehicle. She wasn’t going to let him get away with it.
“Enjoy the show, Jacob?”
“It was all right.”
“How did your new girlfriend like it?”
Gina looked at Willow, eyes wide. Jacob looked around, his face glowing.
“Her name is Anita. She is the younger sister of one of the Hikers. I was rostered on as her escort, as she wanted to see the show and her brother is in Spain.”
“Pull the other one, young fellow. I saw her all over you as you came into the theatre. There’s more to it than just escort duty.”
“All right. She was at the party that Rick took me to last weekend. We hit it off in a way that you and I don’t anymore.”
“That’s nice for you. I don’t like being lied to, but I won’t stand in your way. At least she knows about the music business from her brother. Make sure that you let us know before you elope, so we can work out a set without you.”
When they arrived, he was out of the vehicle before Max could move.
“That got him, Willow. I saw them meet up in the foyer, and was keeping my mouth shut, but she was all over him when she arrived. I wonder how long he’ll be travelling with us.”
The two girls got off, and Gina linked her arm in Willow’s.
“So, what happened? You’ve been getting on so well.”
“We were all right until Paris. He was a bit moody that I noticed, and the last time we went to bed he was ‘wham, bam, thank you, ma-am’ and left me hurting. I think that he’s been given bad advice from the Hikers when they’ve been practising in the barn. They’re all a bit older and have had a different upbringing. I refused him in Berlin, because he had hurt me and I just didn’t feel like another round, and he uses that against me. As they say, there’s plenty of fish in the sea and we have a bucket full of bait left.”
They went in for the Friday classes, with the two of them allowed to finish early to prepare for the performance. Gina checked over all the costumes, while Willow went on stage and tested the microphones. When the bell signalled the end of classes, the cast and helpers all came in to make sure everything was ready. Gina and Willow were sitting with the twins when Willow got a text.
She read it and showed it to Gina, who nodded. It was simple, but long.
‘Am using Uber for transport now. Will not be playing triangle next week. Thinking about the rest of things. Will let you know. JE.’
There wasn’t much to be done now but get on with things. After tea, the cast all went to get changed, with the stand-ins singing tonight. Willow and Gina made sure the costumes were properly buttoned up and all the singers had their clip-on microphones on and tested. They went around and gave hugs where needed as they could hear the audience arrive. Willow looked out and saw the attendants closing the doors, so she went to a microphone and welcomed everyone to the performance, stating that the cast will, tonight, have the stand-in singers, but that it did not detract from the performance.
Tonight, the two friends left the stage by a back door and went around to the foyer, slipping into the back of the hall as the overture was finishing. They stood with the attendants for the entire show and applauded the performance. They were beckoned up on stage and bowed with the others.
That evening, there was just the two of them in the vehicle on the way back home.
“So, young Willow. Love doesn’t run smooth.”
“It doesn’t, Sebastian. This is the second loss. The first was whisked away by his mother, and the second by a blonde bombshell. I’m not going to get him out of this one, as it looks like he was sober at the time.”
“Not even going to try?”
“Nope! Not bothered. I thought that he should be given some chances to be manly, and then he turned all neanderthal. Mind you, it was in Paris and Berlin, so he could have been channelling his ancestors who may have lived close by. My mother thought that he was following my lead, but now I know that he’s too easily led. It’s having Rick and the Hikers so close.”
“So, what’s next?”
“Next, good Sir Sebastian, is the last performance of ‘Wicked’, with many dignitaries in the audience for a Saturday night out. Then, next week we record the Messiah, and then we have the shows in the school and the Cathedral. After that, it’s revision and exam time. Who knows where we’ll be over Christmas. Tomorrow, my parents are taking us to the school, so we’ll see you Monday morning.”
That night, she revisited her ‘Fractured’ song, adding a verse about when you say ‘no’, it’s not always for ever. She did shed some tears then, but not for long.
On Saturday morning, when she checked her emails, there was one from Racheal asking if she would like to visit the farm for lunch, with Wendy. She answered that she would be happy to. She told her mother about it before walking to the church to check the hymns for the next day. The Reverend was pottering around in the new kitchen when she walked in.
“Good morning, Willow. How are you?”
“All right, I think. Have you seen the show yet?”
“We’re going tonight. Hilda tells me that it’s a bit different but has about as much to say as one of my sermons. I’m not sure if that’s a complement or an insult.”
“It’s set in modern day, so relates to modern times, about good and bad, rich and poor. Taken out of the fantasy world, I agree that it does sound like what you might say in a sermon. I believe we’ll have the crowd from the Cathedral tonight.”
“You look like you’ve had a bad night.”
“I’ll look better later on, when I’ve sat at my vanity. It could be the amount of work I’m doing at the moment. Getting the show to this stage has been good, but adding the work that we’ve all put into the Messiah has added a lot more stress. We’re taking the orchestra and choirs into a studio next week to lay down a recording of the work. That has added some more complexities to the mix.”
She sat at the organ and played through the hymns, then sat for a good twenty minutes playing Bach. The Reverend knew better than to disturb her while she was settling her nerves. He knew that there was more to her problems than schoolwork.
When she went home, she joined her mother in selecting something nice for visiting, but washable in case of baby spill. They told Ashley that there was ham in the pantry for a sandwich, and Wendy drove them to the farm. When Racheal opened the door for them, there were hugs and air kisses, and then they had to inspect little Rebeccah in her crib.
“She’s just had a feed and is settled, so we can wait until she wakes up before you can have a cuddle. I’ve made a stew, so come into the kitchen and tell me what’s happening. Rick is busy with band stuff and rang from Spain this morning to tell me that the shows have been going well.”
They sat and talked, some about the tour in Europe because Jacob had been tight-lipped about it. Some was about the ‘Wicked’ show. When Wendy mentioned the Messiah shows coming up, Racheal smiled.
“Oh, yes. Jacob made me laugh when he told me that he had a very important part to play and showed me his triangle.”
“Not any longer, I’m afraid. He texted me that he was resigning from that instrument, so all the Messiah concerts will be without him.”
“Did he give a reason? He has appeared a bit angry, lately.”
“Her name is Anita, and I believe that she is a sister to one of the Hikers.”
“Oh dear! I saw them talking at the going away party last week. Come to think of it, they did disappear for a while. She’s seventeen and Alex, her brother, has given her a car. I saw it in the yard this morning, very early, but isn’t there now. Alex is a bit wild, a hard drinker when he gets going. He also dabbles in weed and has asked Rick if we could plant some on the farm. I put my foot down with that one.”
Wendy looked at Willow.
“Is this why you’ve been a bit down the last couple of days?”
“He was at the Thursday performance with her, and she was all over him. I helped him last time, but this time he’s going into it with his eyes open, so he’s on his own. I’ve decided that I’m my own woman, and I can get through this.”
Both Wendy and Racheal gave her a hug. Wendy then turned to Racheal.
“What do your parents think of this?”
“They won’t be happy, especially when they find out that she’s been sleeping here with him. But what can they do? He’s grown up in the last six months to the point where he can act like an adult and has the money to just walk away from the farm if he wants. I have no control with his life. If he wants to throw it away, that’s his to do. Just lately, if I offer a suggestion, he just tells me I’m not his mother.”
“He said the same thing to Gina the other day.”
“How does this affect the band?”
“I’ve thought about that. If we move towards a more ‘hard rock’ set, then he won’t be missed if he’s not there. The only ones that would miss him would be some female fans. When you get to see the DVD that was shot in Berlin, you’ll see what I’m talking about. If we do any of the old songs, Roy can play a semi-acoustic to get the sound. It may make things complicated for your father, Racheal, if Jacob isn’t part of the syndicates, and Peter will have to separate income with a ‘Jacob playing’ and ‘Jacob absent’ division.”
“That’s a bit cold blooded!”
“That business, Mum. The band is fun and makes money, but it can change overnight. There’s hardly a band in the world that’s been the same line-up throughout their time.”
They heard the baby cry, so went to the crib and Racheal lifted her out. They took it in turns to cuddle the baby while Racheal ladled out the meal. When the baby was quiet, once more, she was put back into her crib and it was put next to Racheal at the table. They ate the meal, had a cup of tea, and cuddled the baby again before they left. On the way home, Wendy turned to her daughter.
“Are you really all right, love?”
“Yes Mum. It does make the future that we were talking about a lot easier. I should be getting the keys of a building in London soon. That one I told you about near the London University. Perhaps we can go down to see the Christmas lights this year. It all depends on what state the apartments are in.”
“That would be interesting. Didn’t you say there was a restaurant on the ground floor. All we’ll need would be breakfast makings. Can we go and have a look before then? We could do it in a day, if we can’t stay overnight.”
“I’d like that, Mum. Two women with money in London on their own. What can go wrong?”
That afternoon Willow took her time getting ready, and then the family went to the steakhouse for a meal, before going to the school. Her parents mixed with others in the theatre foyer while Willow went backstage to see the cast, meeting Gina making sure that all the costumes were correct.
“Looking good, Gina.”
“And you, friend. I suppose we have to sit in front again, with the VIPs.”
“As expected of the director and costume manager. I wonder what the reception will be, tonight. So far, it’s been good. I did see Bruce on Thursday night, so it looks like there’ll be something in the Observer.”
As they were getting the cast settled for the final performance, Mister Jamieson joined them, raising his voice to be heard.
“I have come backstage to tell you that all of the cast and helpers will be getting full marks for this production. The first two performances have been recorded and filmed, so there will be a DVD available through the school website, marked Cast A and B. The CD that you made has been selling like wildfire, and we’re likely to have sold out tonight, with another thousand to be ordered. There will be some important people in the audience tonight, supporters of the school, but I’m sure that Willow can tell you that they’re just more people who are there to be entertained, so just do what you’ve done before, and you’ll be the topic of conversation in households other than your own. Good luck tonight.”
While the theatre was filling, the twins stood with Willow, peeking through the curtains and asking who certain people were. Willow was quite surprised that she could name most of those who stood out. Ivy asked her if this was like going on stage in front of huge crowds.
“It’s not the size of the crowd that counts, girls. It’s how happy they are to see you. You have to remember the one constant in entertainment. The audience has paid good money to be in those seats. They have done that in order to be entertained by you. They have already made the commitment to be your friend, so you’re more than halfway to making them happy. You, and your band, made me and the teacher happy back at the beginning of term, the cast made a lot of people happy when you recorded the soundtrack. When you bow, tonight, to applause, you would have made four and a half thousand people happy over the three nights. It just gets more exciting the bigger the crowd. We played to audiences of sixty thousand in the summer, but the thing was that we did what we would normally do playing to six. Now get yourselves ready for the overture.”
She stayed by the curtain until it was just stragglers coming in and the doors were being closed, then went to a microphone.
“Good evening, ladies and gentlemen. Welcome to this performance of ‘Wicked’ by the first-year students here at Blue Coat School. Please make sure that all mobile phones are set to silent. There will be an after-show party in the lunchroom when the cast have changed into normal clothes, so please stay and congratulate these talented boys and girls.”
She left the stage as the band started with the overture, the twins giving her a big smile as she left. She found her seat next to her parents, with Maisie and Gina and most of the senior teachers and the Bishop with his party. The show was smooth and professional. Willow thought that if they hadn’t got full marks already, this one would have nailed it. When the cast were all on stage, making their third bow, the Head stood and pulled Willow and Gina up on stage with her, finding a spare clip-on mic and attaching it to her dress, holding the sender in one hand. She took the two friends to the edge of the stage.
“Ladies, and Gentlemen, distinguished guests. Tonight, you have seen a performance which has smashed several records for this school. Usually, the first term musical has been something traditional. This year, it was a leap of faith to offer the first years the ‘Wicked’ show. Not only did they accept something that takes months for a professional cast to master, but they gave it a modern setting and, doing so, made a powerful statement about the world of good and evil, something that this school has a lot of interest in. Not only that, but they never sought the help of any of the teachers, and followed their Director, Willow Rose, to produce something outstanding. Normally, we have to go begging for costumes, but these, on stage, were supplied by Madam Francesca without any need to ask her. Our thanks to Gina Summer for this. Lastly, they wouldn’t have known this, but every musical put on, in the past, has been to a backing track, pre-recorded by the school orchestra. This is the very first time that the performance was totally live, and we have to give a special round of applause to the Vines for the music.”
There was applause, and Willow could see the Vines parents with big smiles.
“Now, as Willow told you at the beginning, the cast will be circulating when they have changed. Finger food and drinks are available in the lunchroom.”
The curtain closed and the cast all set off to change, leaving the Head with the two friends.
“Looks like you two have done it again,”
“Just doing what we were asked to do, ma-am.”
“More than was asked, Willow. I know how much you’ve put into this, giving the cast tips and hints, without yelling at them. With that, alone, you will make an excellent teacher, if you want to go that way. And you, Gina, I am fully aware that you paid for the costumes, but we do have to make our outside supporters feel good. The CD is almost sold out, so we don’t have to order more, but we will, for the website. Our thanks to you for the use of the studio, it really made a difference. I’ll be joining you with the recording of the Messiah, I’ve heard so much about how good the studio is, I have to see it for myself.”
“It will be interesting as we try to fit everyone in. The biggest crowd there has been the cast, so we’ll have to be very inventive to get the orchestra in. We don’t have the space that Abbey Road has. We built it for pop groups.”
“You’ll all have to be very friendly, then. Now, let’s go and press the flesh with the happy parents and even happier guests. I know that the Bishop was impressed by the way you all turned a vapid, but entertaining, show into a moral observation.”
They went through to the lunchroom, with the Head telling them to stick with her, and met up with several civic dignitaries, a couple of local politicians, and the Bishop, who hugged all three of them and told them that they were all wonderful. The cast started to come in, to be hugged and kissed by parents and friends. The Vines family came over to Willow and the others.
“Headmistress. I wasn’t going to let my girls attend this school in the early part of the year, but they were insistent about coming to where their favourite band were students. Tonight showed me that they were right. I’m totally happy with the way things are done here and will recommend the school to anyone who asks. My girls, and their friends, have shown everyone how good the environment is here. Anytime you’re looking for help, just call.”
“Thank you, Mister Vines. Your girls impressed our Head of the Music School in the first week they were here and haven’t disappointed since. I can tell you that if they do reasonably well in the end of term exams, they will both be ‘A’ students, along with Willow and most of the other music students. It’s something about learning to play music without it in front of you that improves the retention of facts in other subjects.”
In the meantime, the twins had introduced Willow and Gina to their mother, who gave them both a hug. There was more talk and then the room started to thin out. Gina was talking to her mother and Frankie, and Willow was waylaid by Tom.
“Just asking, Willow. This recording studio. I don’t know of any in Coventry that are big enough for an orchestra.”
“It’s in Leicester, Tom, and I don’t know if we’ll all fit in. The internal space is thirty-seven wide, by seventy or so deep. It should be all right, and we have microphone jack points down the whole length, so it’s only getting the seating right. We’re getting over a hundred seats in.”
“We?”
“Well, yes. You’ll see on Wednesday. It’s a new studio that we’ve developed in an industrial site. The whole site is owned by the band. It’s not a commercial venue, so don’t ask to hire it, but it will be available to friends, say, a choir wanting somewhere to sing church music for an album.”
“Since when have you been able to read minds! That was something that crossed my mind, with our organist. Do you have any organs there?”
“We have two Nord Stage Three keyboards which can emulate a pipe organ. If you have a copy of the show soundtrack, it was recorded there a couple of weeks ago. We have twenty-four track on the desk, and plan to use some small mixers to give us a full mix with the orchestra and choir.”
Eventually, Willow caught up with her parents and they made their way to the car and Ashley drove them home. It was late when they arrived, but they changed into nightwear and had a hot chocolate before going to bed. Ashley had a copy of the soundtrack, which he got Willow to sign, then put it with the others in the music centre.
In the morning, Willow was showered, dressed, and had breakfast before she walked over to the church with her parents, arm in arm, and their breath clouding in the cold morning air, the first cool snap of the winter. In the church it was warm and cosy. Willow went up to the organ as the bells started, playing Bach and thinking about the night before. Especially the fact that the Head had introduced them to all of the dignitaries that had stayed, as ‘my two brightest students’ and not as the founders of Summer Rose. It made Willow wonder if, indeed, she could make a career as a teacher of music and theatre.
After the service, they all went over to the club, where an urn of hot water had replaced the icebox. The Reverend was quite sure that the original premise of the play and the film was that dark magic is to be avoided and found it hard to believe that very little change had been made to the school version to turn it into a modern parable. They had lunch there, and Willow asked her father if he could take her to the studio, so she could start moving things around. Gina wanted to come as well.
When they got to the site, Willow produced a set of keys that Mervyn had given her. One opened the padlock on the gates, and one was a universal one for the office and both sheds. They opened the side shed and slid the doors so that there was light inside. The pallet racks had all been taken out, just leaving screw holes in the concrete. There was, however, twenty-four stacks of five plastic chairs and the tables leaning against the wall. Before going further, she relocked the gates.
In the studio, they switched on all the lights and the air. The studio, itself, was as they had left it after the soundtrack was recorded. Willow went to the end and opened up the sliding door and then the double door to the store. Gina was unplugging the amps and the cables to the speaker boxes. They had a sack truck with a wider than usual base, so were able to take the speakers to the storeroom and stack them in four piles of three, adding a stack of the six amplifier heads. The extra guitars and other instruments went out on the pallets. The two keyboards stayed where they were for the moment.
Some of the stacks of chairs were carefully brought in, with negotiating all the twists and turns taking time. Gina and Willow discussed how the orchestra should be laid out. The best positioning for the choir would be across the back, and there was only one way to do that, and that was along the side wall. So, a line of forty chairs were set out. The cello and basses were usually to the conductors right, so they set out six chairs for the cellos. The double bass players would need to bring their stools. Willow made a note for those to be in the truck. She also made a note that the conductors rostrum would have to come.
Marianne Gregory © 2025
Chapter 10
They decided that the timpani, trumpets and French Horns should be in front of the big window, then the violins, of which there were nine firsts and nine seconds, angled at forty-five degrees so they could see the conductor. The leader was placed close to where the rostrum would be, and they set out three lines of three, side by side, and then another three lines of three, staggered to the others.
One keyboard and stool were in front of the seconds, and the other was put next to the cellos. The nine violas went in front of that, with the bassoon, which left a good space left in the middle for the soloists, with a walkway for access, with space to spare.
Gina sketched the layout on a notebook to double check that they had enough room, then they closed up the back door. They knew that it would take a while to set all the microphones needed. Where they could, they set out the stands and booms that they already had. Gina pointed out that the two keyboards would need small amps on the day. Willow made a note to get them from the music store and get them delivered to her mother’s workplace to bring home. They would only need to be about twenty watts to produce a full sound.
They left a few extra chairs in a corner, and then went out into what used to be the workshop. It had better lighting and floor than the pallet rack area, as well as some heating. They set up all the tables and the remaining chairs for the breaks.
Back in the rest area, they put a kettle on and made another list of what supplies would be needed on Wednesday. Willow opened the fridge and found the remaining ice creams. They sat with the ice creams and cups of tea. Willow had a thought.
“There used to be a big bin outside that was emptied once a week. It was usually filled with opened cartons. We need a couple more small rubbish bins and a big bag of bin liners for inside. I’ll get a big bin for outside that can take everything and get emptied on order.”
Before they went home, they walked around the corner to the shop, buying a load of things that they thought they would need. Luckily, the store had some plastic kitchen tidies, so they bought three and a roll of bags. They stocked the cupboards and fridge, put one bin in the control room and two in the rest area, used the toilets and shut everything up to go back to Stoneleigh.
That evening, Willow went on a contractor’s supply site, and ordered a large bin, with a lid, that could be emptied by one of those trucks with a fork-lift that took the bin over the cab. She paid for it to be delivered in the week, and sent a copy of the order to Wilhelm, also telling him that the school orchestra would be recording on Wednesday, arriving a bit after nine, and to please have the doors of the big shed open for parking. She also ordered two Fender MD20 mini amps from the music store and asked for them to be delivered to Wendy’s workplace ASAP marked attention W Rose, paying with her debit card.
Monday was just the two of them going in, and the day was fairly normal, except for Jacob sitting with the other boys for lunch again. There was a lot of talk about the show, and how great it was. Willow could see that the table where the Vines sat had plenty of visitors. That evening, she had an email from the agent, telling her that the vendors had agreed to a million and three-quarters. Also, that the leased apartments would be left furnished, as it would be an unwanted expense to clear them, seeing that all the furnishings had been written off. He would need the responsible person to sign the papers for WR Holdings, so that the title could be transferred. Willow asked him if he could come to their home in Stoneleigh with the keys and that her father would sign.
He came to see them on Tuesday evening, with Ashley signing the paperwork and Willow transferring one and three-quarters of a million to the agent’s trust account while he was there. He left a bunch of keys with labels. After he had gone, Ashley asked the question that was on his mind.
“What have you bought this time, my daughter, and why on your own?”
“It’s a building in London, Dad, near the University. It has a restaurant at street level with a long lease, two apartments that had been sold with a hundred-year lease, and another two apartments that had been leased to a company but are now vacant and fully furnished. Malcolm has booked the Gees for Saturday evening, and it’s Gina’s turn in the church on Sunday. It may be nice for us to go to London on Saturday and stay overnight if there’s bedding left behind. It will be a base for us there, and home for me if I go to the University of London. It can be resold if we don’t need it.”
“That transfer has just about wiped out your company account.”
“It’s almost time for another statement, Dad. The week in Europe wasn’t anything to do with a charity. We took over thirty-eight million in ticket sales. I don’t think the company account will be low for very much longer.”
He looked hard at her.
“Surely you’re joking?”
“No joke, Dad. There will be a lot of expenses and the profit will be split seventeen ways, but that, added to our record sales, should be enough to build up the bank balance.”
On Wednesday, she had her violin and two mini amps when the coach arrived. Her bag had all the keys to the property. Max put the amps in the storage and helped her in.
“Big day, today.?”
“Sure is, Max. It’s going to be a first for the studio, that’s for certain.”
They picked up Gina and then went to the school. The rest of the band members had been picked up by another coach, along with Xavier and his two helpers. The truck was being loaded with the larger instrument cases, and the timpani’s. There was a big stack of music stands to go in, as well as the four stools for the bass players. The rostrum had been dismantled for transport. There was also four, big, cool boxes, with notes on. Willow looked, to see that they held two different types of sandwich, and two held cakes.
Willow went around the crowd, firstly finding Xavier.
“Xavier, here is a keyring with the key to the gate and one that opens the sheds. You may need them now that Mervyn is gone. Did you get the extra mics and stands?”
“Thanks Willow. I wanted to talk to you about keys but that can wait until later in the day. I have the mics, extra leads, stands and booms, as well as ten small mixers with six in and one out.”
“Right. Frank, can you go with the truck and show them the way around to the lane and the back doors. Hopefully, we’ll have time to be there and open up. By the looks of what they have to load, they’ll be behind us.”
“Right-ho Willow. This is going to be interesting.”
It didn’t take long for Willow to check that all the orchestra were present, along with the school choir. The minibus with Margaret and the others from Stoneleigh arrived, followed by another with Tom, Sally and the Cathedral choir. The Head, Miss Russell, and Mister Jamieson were in a car with Mister Bamborough. He led them out with the two minibuses, and the two coaches following. The truck was nearly loaded when they left.
When they arrived at the site, the gates and the sheds were open. Mister Bamborough parked to one side, and the larger, vehicles were taken into the large shed, now just an open space. Wilhelm came out of the office to greet them.
“Good morning, Willow. That big bin arrived. I put it in the side shed. It’s on wheels, so can be rolled out when it’s ready to be emptied. I see that it’s going to be a big day.”
“Hopefully, it will be a successful one. I need to go through and open up the back. I’ll talk to you later.”
She went and put the heaters and lights on in the workshop, then opened up the studio and switched everything on. Going through and leaving all the doors open, she rolled the back screen aside and unlocked the back door, then went to the steel doors, opening them and then the doors to the lane. The truck was just entering the lane and pulled up with the rear next to the doors.
When the guys saw where things had to go, they had a routine which they had used in many places where the orchestra had played. Willow went back to the studio, where the players and singers were finding their places. Mister Bamborough was putting them in their places and smiled when he saw Willow.
“Good layout, Willow. This is cosy, but not cramped. What about the two keyboards?”
“There are two Mini Fenders in the coach, both twenty watt. Xavier has a load of microphones and more booms. I think that, once we had everyone in their seats, we can lay out the mics and start setting the mix. When the rest of the stuff is brought in from the truck, we’ll close up the back.”
She went through the control room, where Xavier was showing the Head the mixing desk, and found Miss Russell in the workshop area, supervising the players with putting coats and bags on the tables. Outside, Max had pulled out the amps, so Willow carried them back to the keyboards. Dave was creating a pile of boxes by the other coach, which the security guys carried through to the studio, going back for the stands and booms.
Willow went back to the carpark and found Wilhelm.
“Thank you for all that you’re doing, Wilhelm. I hope that Rosalie doesn’t miss out on your companionship.”
“She’s in the office. She’s keen to see what you end up doing once the madness has been defeated.”
“It is a bit mad at the moment and will be for a little while. When the school truck comes in, why don’t you lock the gate and bring her in. There’ll be plenty of room in the control room once we get ready for the actual recording. Xavier can pipe the sound to speakers in the rest room, so she can sit in comfort to listen.”
She went back to the studio, where Gina was setting up the two amps and testing the keyboards. The Head had taken in what was being told her, and Xavier was busy, with Dave, laying out the microphones and the various stands and booms. Margaret was parked in her place, with Sally, the tenor, and the bass beside her. The choirs were all sitting quietly, some looking at the songbook, with their clip-on mics and the senders clipped to the waistbands.
The rostrum was erected, and Willow went through to the back, where all the big cases were now in the store. She told the driver how to go around and enter the front area, and he closed up the truck as she was closing and locking the back doors, one set at a time. Once the sliding screen was back in place, she stood and looked at the scene in front of her.
The only movement, now, was Xavier, Frank, and Dave, setting out microphones, helped by the teachers and Tom. She went to Tom.
“Tom, would you like to sit with the songbook and make sure the choir stands at the right time? I can get you a chair and a music stand.”
“That will be good, thank you. I see a spare stand.”
“I put a few chairs in the corner, I’ll go and get you one.”
When he was set, she got him and Mister Bamborough together, and took them to the control room.
“You may have never used these before, but we usually use buds to hear what’s going on. With these in, you will hear the final mix in your ears, as it will be on disc. There are also messages that will come through from Xavier. He will tell you who he wants to hear when we get to setting the mix and will also tell you when he’s ready to record and when the session has ended. I’ll have a pair, myself. When we finish, they get wiped before going back in the box. They are very good, and, if they’re in properly, you won’t hear anything else.”
They took a pair, each and went back to the studio. The Head smiled.
“I don’t know what I expected when I was told about this place. It’s absolutely wonderful. I can see how you made that soundtrack CD so great. What else have you recorded?”
“Xavier worked with the Hikers on their next album. The Gees and Summer Rose recorded in here, with the Gees album to be released along with a DVD of them live in Paris. We recorded two albums; one will be released along with our DVD of a show in Berlin. The other will be released later in the year. That one’s a bit different.”
“How so?”
“It’s an idea from Vivienne. It’s loosely based on the ‘Magic Flute’, set in the digital age. The clown ends up with the girl. I’m not sure how well it will sell, but I’m told that it will receive good reviews from the purists. It looks like they’re almost ready to set the mix. I’ll just check that Wilhelm is coming in and close the doors. You will notice a sudden dampening of external sound when I do. The guys who built this really know their game.”
She went out as Rosalie was coming into the rest room, so went and closed the two doors to the workshop. She went to her own seat, collecting her violin and bow on the way, along with the soft cloth that she would drape against her neck. At her seat, she stood and looked over the orchestra. She oversaw the tuning, while the setting up was happening, to save time. Xavier came to her.
“All set up. We’re running the choir through the receivers in the jack plugs. Each one of the string sections are being fed into the small mixers, two to a section. When you have the buds in, I’ll tell you which section I need to hear.”
Willow stood up again.
“Please listen carefully. We are about to set the mix. I will be wearing buds and will be able to hear what Xavier hears. As I point to each section, please play or else stay quiet. Any discussion will be picked up by these microphones. We will take each movement at a time and can take a break at any time should you need it. We have our conductor, who will also have his buds in, as well as a conductor for the choir.”
She heard Xavier, starting with the double bass. They worked through the different sections, and the different voices of the choir. Lastly, it was the instruments that had their own microphone, the two keyboards, the timpani, bassoon, horns and trumpets, followed by the four soloists. Xavier told them that he was ready, so Willow sat and looked at Mister Bamborough, who was grinning. He called out that they would start with the first movement and Willow heard his voice in her buds. He tapped the baton and guided them into the first part of a long day.
That morning, they worked through the first third, and part of the second third. They stopped for lunch, emptying the cold boxes of the sandwiches and cake, drinking teas and soft drinks, and finishing off all the ice creams. There was a queue for the toilets, so Wilhelm took some out to the other shed and the toilets there. Rosalie helped out with Miss Russell, to make sure nobody went hungry, or were holding on to a full bladder for fear of upsetting anyone or missing anything.
The whole orchestra were keen to get it all good, knowing that there would be a CD that would have them playing an iconic piece, in their private studio, and with the Head present. The Head was really getting involved, talking to individual players and giving out hugs as needed. Willow found herself at one of the tables, with Wilhelm and Rosalie sitting with her. He cleared his throat.
“So, Willow. Can you tell us what’s going on with Jacob?”
“As far as I know, he is now going out with Anita, a sister of Alex, one of the Hikers.”
“Did you have an argument?”
“No. He just went to the band’s going away party and turned up at the ‘Wicked’ performance with her.”
“You’re just letting him go?”
“Yep! I got him out of trouble with his cousins, and I know that he’s doing this without any loss of control. He is the one who has broken it off. He should have been here today, playing a triangle. It was a nominal position but made him part of the orchestra.”
“I have to tell you that he has asked me to organise his pay-out of the two syndicates. I hate to think what he’ll do with the money, but, at least, I can pay it into the account that I’m still the controller of. We have been paying some into his personal account, but he hasn’t had access to the rest.”
“I wondered if he would do this. I suppose that we’ll get an email that he’s dropping out of the band. Peter will have to draw a line under the albums he has played in and only pay him his share of those. It will make that difficult for a good six months.”
“You’ve obviously expected this?”
“From his attitude last week, yes. I was wondering if we had moved the band into a type of music that he isn’t happy with. He was always a folk player first, and we became a heavy rock band on tour. When you see the Berlin DVD, you’ll know what I mean. If we have to stay behind, can you take Gina and me home?”
“Of course. By the time this winds up, it will be our time to leave.”
Xavier came over to them.
“I think it’s time to start them getting back in. Can I have a private word, Willow?”
“If it involves Jacob, his parents and I have probably guessed what you’re going to tell us. Has he booked the studio for non-band use?”
“I don’t know how you read minds, Willow, but yes. He wants studio time on Friday evening, and all-day Saturday.”
“Make sure he knows what you get paid for any non-band, or non-school time. Let me know by email what he got up to. We were just discussing him pulling out of any ownership of this site, so we will let you know when to change the locks.”
They all went back into the studio and settled down, resuming from where they had left off.
For Willow, their version of the Hallelujah Chorus was as good as it gets, with the top note that the sopranos hit enough to raise the hairs on your arms. After another short break, the extra players had their time in the spotlight, with Nancy and the trumpet sounding in the bass air. At the end, when Xavier said that all was good, the door opened, and the Head came in to shake Mister Bamborough’s hand and then hug each of the soloists. There was a distinct sense of satisfaction, tinged with relief that it was over.
Willow stood and called loudly for some quiet.
“Today, we have done well, but we now have to repeat it in under two weeks in the school theatre, then three times in the Cathedral. You have all done an excellent job. There will be a complete performance in the theatre next Wednesday afternoon, after school. With that, I expect that we can repeat today’s effort, in a seamless performance with just two breaks. Take a rest, and our techs will see about giving us CDs of today. They will need to work on the vision to synchronise with the music, so a DVD and proper CD may be a few days.”
She went and collected the buds from Tom and the conductor, taking them into the control room to wipe over and put in their boxes. Xavier saw her.
“Thanks for giving us some time. I’ll bring Frank and Dave with me on Saturday, and we’ll work on producing the DVD. This is as long as three albums, and the linking silence has to be carefully set. We can put together a CD, but it won’t be perfect today. I’ll give the Head, you, Mister Bamborough, Mister Jamieson and Tom one today. The one to go to the manufacturer will be ready next week. I’ll download today to my laptop and work on it at home with the new software.”
“All right, I’ll tell the Head. What’s the vision like?”
“Good, we have multiple views of the whole ensemble, and were able to utilise most of the cameras.”
Wilhelm went out and opened the gate, the drivers went and opened up the vehicles. Slowly, they cleared the studio. The truck was brought to the lane. Willow and Gina opened up the back doors for them to collect the big instruments and the music stands. Willow told Sebastian that they would go back to Stoneleigh with Wilhelm but to get the others home. She saw the Head and told her about the delay in getting a saleable CD. The Head hugged Willow and told her that just getting one would be a true gift. The orchestra and choir went to the coaches, the Cathedral and Village choirs went to their minibuses, with Tom expressing his thanks for the opportunity to be part of this and commenting on the extra dimension that the buds gave.
Wilhelm, Willow, and Gina helped the guys load the truck, and then had a walk through to make sure that nothing was taken that shouldn’t have been. The truck left, and they closed up the back doors, leaving the chairs and keyboards where they were. There was a mass of mics and cables to tidy up. Willow picked up her violin, put it in her case, and got her bag. As they moved towards the exit, they tidied up and filled the small bins, carrying them to the big bin to empty.
Turning off the lights to the studio, then turning of all the switches on the way out, it felt a little bit of an anticlimax. Still, it was another hurdle jumped. Wilhelm had closed the doors of the main shed and locked the office. His car was outside the gate, so they slid the shed door closed, locked it, and closed the gate to lock it before getting in the back seat.
On the way back to Stoneleigh, they spoke a little about Jacob, bringing Gina up to date. After they had dropped Gina at home, Wilhelm was driving to Willow’s house, when he asked the one question that Willow really didn’t want to answer.
“Willow, I really have to ask if Jacob is now sexually active?”
“Yes, he is.”
“Do your parents know?”
“My mother guessed it some time ago. She may not totally agree with it and has told me to be careful. It’s not as if we went at it like rabbits, I think that you could count the total times on one hand. To be honest, I think that he wanted it more than I did, but that’s being a boy.”
“Thank you for your honesty, Willow. We both think that you are an exceptional girl, and that he’s a fool for dropping you. I’m going to make it my business to be on site on Saturday, to meet this new girl. Today has been very interesting. That music and the strength of the words have triggered something in the two of us. I think that we might see if we can find a synagogue. We need to get one for Rebeccah to be named. Perhaps that’s where we went wrong with Jacob, no moral compass.”
They dropped her off at home, and she went up to strip and have a shower. It had been quite a stressful day. Dressed casually, she took the CD that Xavier had given her and wrote the title and date on the cover. Then, she started preparing the dinner, with the cutting and dicing helping her to settle. That evening the family sat in the sitting room and listened to the recording. Except for the odd spacing between the tracks, it sounded pretty good. Her parents didn’t worry about the spacing and thought that it was great.
Marianne Gregory © 2025
Chapter 11
That night, Willow took a little while to drop off to sleep, snapshots of the day in her brain. But sleep she did, and she woke, refreshed, in the early morning. She went to the bathroom, then showered and dressed for school. On the way, the two friends spoke about the strangeness of yesterday, with them hosting the entire orchestra in the studio.
“We’ll need to go in one evening and tidy up”
“If your father can take us, pick me and Mum up on the way. We put the chairs out, so it shouldn’t be too hard to put them away. If we make a bit of room to get the amps and other things into the studio, they can go out into the store.”
Willow rang her father, who was still on his way to work.
“Dad. Can you take Gina, Maisie and me to the studio this evening, please? We need to tidy the mess after the orchestra session.”
“Sure thing, love. Will it take long?”
“Not too long, just moving the band gear in from the store and then stacking all the chairs and tables out there. If we put our vacuum in the back, we can give the floor the once over.”
“All right, I’ll give your mother a call to bring home fish and chips so we can be away by a bit after six. She’ll want to come and there’s room for three in the back seat. Have a good day.”
When they went in, the receptionist told them that the Head wanted a word. They went and knocked on her door and went in when they heard her call.
“Ah! Good morning, you two. I just wanted to tell you how much I enjoyed yesterday. It was a pleasure being close to so many hard-working students. Too often, I just get to sit and listen to the final performance, not really experiencing the dedication that goes into producing it. That studio of yours is a masterpiece, and I’m sure that it has the biggest space in the local area. We spoke about things on the way back to the school, and we want the two of you to be part of school events while you’re with us. You’re both so good with first year students and impart your knowledge with a quiet assurance that helps them do their best.”
“Thank you, Ma-am. We just did what we can do. These students are all very bright, and having a ready-made band made it so much easier. I know that most of our band will be happy to help in any way we can.”
“When we get the final mix from Xavier, we’re going to get two thousand made to sell through the website, and to give out to all that participated. I was looking at Frank and David working with the vision from the cameras, and the resulting DVD will be on the site as well. We were thinking of paying those three lads an amount to be the audio-visual group in the school while they’re here, with us equipping one of the small rehearsal rooms as a post-production office, instead of the cramped room that they’ve been using. We also hope that they will help train future students in what they know. It will be added to the Music Studies and the first one being taught will be Jim Jamieson, who had had a sudden desire to join the current century.”
“I think that he had his eyes opened when he came to Abbey Road with the band.”
“Now, something completely different. Some of the teachers have remarked about a change in Jacob Epstein’s attitude. What can you tell me?”
“I have the idea that when we played in Berlin, we became more of a hard rock band, and it’s not what he signed on for. He had only played acoustic before we had him play in the orchestra. He also has a new girlfriend, three years older, who is the sister of one of the Hikers, and I think he may be growing up faster than he should. But that’s only conjecture.”
“You’re not a couple any longer?”
“No. He sent me a text to tell me that he wasn’t going to be part of the orchestra, and I spoke to his parents, yesterday, who told me that he wanted to leave the band syndicate that we’ve been paying into. So, I really don’t know what he wants to do any longer.”
“Thank you for that. It helps me to monitor the situation. He can’t leave school early but can apply to leave if he gets private tuition, which he can afford. We’ll just have to wait and see.”
The rest of the day was normal, with the orchestra being given notes for what they had missed the day before. Jacob sat with the boys at lunch. That evening, the Roses had fish and chips, then she and her mother put on jeans and old tops. With the vacuum in the back, they went and picked up Maisie and Gina.
At the site, Willow opened the gate and her father drove in, with the gate shut and locked behind him. Gina opened up the sliding door and turned the lights on in the long shed. They walked through to the workshop and then into the studio, turning everything on. With fresh eyes, the whole place was a mess, after over eighty people having spent all day there.
Willow went and opened the slider and the doors at the end. They made some space in the studio, then moved the amp stacks and speaker stacks into the space with the sack truck. Wendy and Maisie were folding the legs on the tables after wiping them down. Willow and Gina started moving the chairs, while Ashley took the sack truck to bring the tables through the studio. With the five of them, it was about an hour and all the chairs were in the store, along with all the tables. The extra microphones were collected and put on the pallets with the guitar cases, while all the stands and booms joined the tables and chairs.
Maisie was vacuuming the rest area, and Willow went over to the offices, finding a cleaning cupboard with a couple of brooms. She took them back to the studio and the two friends started at the bottom and swept towards the window. They moved the keyboards to be near the pile of amps, and set the two, new, amps to one side. When they were finished, the vacuum was used to gather all the dust and was emptied into a bin bag.
With the vacuum and small amps in the back of the car, the brooms returned to the office, everything turned off and locked up, Ashley backed the car out and Willow locked the gate behind them as they went home.
“Thanks for all your help, I didn’t realise what sort of mess they left.”
“It’s all right, love. It’s a bit like taking care of a second home. It’s been good to have been there, as it is becoming more like a place that is part of us.”
“Hopefully, it will be a part of us for some time.”
Friday, Xavier was told where everything was, and that they had cleaned the studio but hadn’t touched the control room equipment.
“I was planning to take a few cloths and some cleaner with me tonight. The set-up can wait until Jacob tells me what he wants. That was some session on Wednesday, I know that I learned a lot. I had Jim Jamieson over my shoulder the whole time, and he told me, yesterday, that we’re going to get a new post-production room. I suppose that the school has the money after all the sales through the website. I know that they’re getting a cut of the two BBC DVDs and the orchestral double album. He also asked me if I would become a teaching assistant in the processes until I move on. I’ll be leaving when I can, as I might have a job waiting for me with the company that supplied the sound for your tours. Frank and Dave have also been offered jobs.”
“That’s fantastic, Xavier, congratulations.”
“It’s all down to you guys for letting us be part of what you do. The experience of the two tours, and running the desk, have given all of us so much basic knowledge. The sound guy on the tour told me that I had the one attribute that was needed, and that was being unflappable.”
“I know that it was your voice we heard in the buds from Liverpool on. He must have decided that you were up for it by then. I hope to be hearing you again, as we move forward.”
“As a ten-piece, I expect.”
“That’s to become clearer after this weekend, I think.”
On Friday evening, Willow played her keyboard through the new amp, with a lot nicer sound than her old one. She expected that Gina may be doing the same with the other amp. Saturday morning, they had breakfast, put overnight bags in the car, and set off for London. They found the address and some parking in nearby Foley Street. They carried the bags up to the door next to the restaurant and Willow opened it to see a flight of stairs. At the top, there was a landing with a corridor and a sign that read ‘Apartment one and two’.
Another flight of stairs, doubling back on itself halfway, took them to apartments three and four. These were the two that she had the keys of. She opened apartment three and they went in. They all stopped and took it in. It was fully furnished, with modern Scandinavian furniture and a huge TV on the wall. The kitchen was equipped with good cookers and oven. There was a bedroom that looked out over the road junction outside, with a big double bed, fully made up, and an ensuite. Wendy gasped.
“It’s like a hotel suite! I love it.”
There was an odd door in the kitchen, and when Willow opened it, she saw a set of stairs. At the top, she walked into a full master bedroom in the attic, with a view out to the junction, a walk-in robe and an ensuite. There was a sitting room next door. Wendy had followed her there.
“It’s another hotel room. It’s all beautiful. How on earth did you get the lot for the price you paid?”
“It was on the market as a fully leased property, with the ones downstairs sold with hundred-year leases, so, they would have made around a million, each. These two were leased to a company as somewhere for visiting executives. I suspect that the vendor had an idea that the company would have to try and break the lease agreement as the parent company is in big trouble in America. The place was an investment property, so the wrangle of getting the lease money, or taking them to court to vacate, would have been a deciding factor. Luckily, we were able to let the lease lapse without any charge, and the furnishings were left as being written off on their books.”
They went back down the stairs, to find Ashley looking at papers that were on the kitchen table.
“With this being for executives, there is paperwork here for a parking station reserved space, not far away. I’ll get the car and park it there overnight. There’s a card for the payment boom, in their company name. There’s also a menu for the restaurant, with another card in the company name. I suppose that we should go down and tell them about the new ownership.”
“Let’s have a look at the other apartment, first.”
They went next door, to find an identically furnished apartment, in the mirror image, but without the corner window. They had a quick look around, with Ashley going up to check the attic suite. They took all the paperwork from this one, locked up, and went back to the first.
“OK, who wants the upstairs?”
“You can have it, love. It’s too risky for us old folk.”
“I know. It’s just that you’re afraid the bed creaks. Let’s check the kitchen for the breakfast makings. If the restaurant doesn’t do breakfast, we will have to get something in.”
“I’ll move the car first. My phone shows me that it’s not far away, a Q-Park near Harley Street. Just down the road and over Langham Place.”
“Hold on, Langham Place is where the Broadcasting house is. We ate at the Langham when we were here with the band. I didn’t realise that we would be so close. You go and park the car, Dad. There should be another space next to it. If you can find out when the rent’s due, we can pay for another year. Mum and I will be in the restaurant, seeing what we want for lunch, and finding out if these cards have any credit left.
Ashley went off to get the car and find the parking station. He had a smile as he thought of weekends he and his wife could have, here in the big city. Willow could look after herself if she was home. If she was on tour, that was another matter.
With the two apartments locked, Willow and her mother went into the restaurant, breathing in the smell of freshly cooked pizza. They went to the counter, where Willow showed them the two cards.
“Yes, ladies. Are you here for the company? They usually have guys in smart suits staying in the apartments.”
“I’m from WR Holdings. We bought the building last week.”
“Welcome, new landlords. We knew that the place was for sale. How did you get the cards?”
“The tenants have given up the lease, as the parent company is in trouble, so we’ve kept their two apartments for our company.”
“Right. Give me those cards. I’ll see if there’s anything owing on them.”
He came back with a smile.
“The debt on these was cleared last week. If you give me the new address to send invoices, whatever you order will go on your tab, paid monthly. I’ll take the details and there will be new cards for you when you come in next. How many will you want?”
“Can you give us eight, please. I don’t know who else will be staying here at the moment. This is the first chance we’ve had to have a look. Our agent should be getting in touch about where to pay the lease payments.”
“You look familiar, young lady. Have you been on the TV?”
“Only for a couple of interviews, one down the road at Broadcasting House. I’m Willow Rose, and this is my mother, Wendy.”
“Willow Rose! Oh my. Hey! Julia, come and meet our new landlady, your favourite singer.”
The waitress rushed over and was flustered at meeting Willow, but Willow assured her that she was just a normal girl and would be eating here whenever she stayed in town. They were shown a table, telling Julia that Mister Rose was off parking the car. They were brought drinks and the menus. They sat, sipping the drinks and thinking about things, until Ashley came in and sat down.
“I saw that Langham as I walked back. That’s one posh place. This is a handy area, just a walk to Oxford Circus and the tube. I had to go to Mortimer Street to get across Regent Street but walked back through Riding House Street and back up Langham Street. There’s a Victorian style pub down the road, with lead-light windows. This is a great place to stay. What’s happening with the cards?”
“We’ll get a bunch of new ones under WR Holdings, and there’ll be a monthly invoice. That means that you and Mum can have a romantic weekend with all food and accommodation supplied. Did you find out about the parking?”
“I did. I gave them our address to send the invoice when the next year is due in January. Have you ordered?”
“Waiting for you, Dad. Here comes Julia, now.”
They ordered a meal, and her parents had wine. They asked Julia how to get from here to good places to see.
“The guys that used to come to town always wanted to see the Tower of London and the Bridge. To get there, just go a couple of blocks north-east and get on the tube at Goodge Street to Embankment. If you come up there, you can visit the big gallery, but if you take the District line, you get off at Tower Hill. If you’re into history, you can just walk almost due east and you’ll find Bedford Square and the British Museum. That one will take you weeks to see all of it.”
Well filled with the knowledge that they could have breakfast as well, they took the walk to Mortimer Street and then down Tottenham Court Road to Bayley Street, so into Bedford Square with the imposing sight of the British Museum in front of them. On the way, the passed a clothing store and a nail salon; a large cosmetics store, and a breakfast café called Eggslut, which Ashley wanted to try one day.
They spent the afternoon in the museum, seeing the Rosetta Stone and the Elgin Marbles, having afternoon tea at the Great Court Restaurant. When they were tired, they walked back to the apartment, to unpack and freshen up. Willow sat on her bed and looked out on the hustle and bustle, so different from Stoneleigh. With all the places she had seen, home was always the quiet haven, but this could run a close second. They had dinner in the restaurant. It was quite noisy, but the food was good. Willow tried some seafood on pasta, and quite liked it.
They went up to the apartment and looked at what was available to watch in the DVD rack. Oddly enough, most were action movies, featuring mafia gangs in smart suits and lots of guns with seemingly endless bullet capacity. They did find one of the Die-Hard franchise that none of them had seen, and the huge screen almost felt like they were at the movies. There were some bottles of wine in the cooler, so her parents had a few glasses while Willow stayed on the cola she had found. After the film, she said goodnight and went up to her suite. There was enough light from the street to cleanse by, and she changed into her nightie and got into the big bed, falling asleep with just one thought, that she needed another Tiger to cuddle.
In the morning, they had a cooked breakfast in the restaurant, then found the tube station and ended up at Tower Hill, joining the throng that were there to see the Tower. Ashley said that he had always wanted to tour the Bridge, so they paid for the Bridge Tour, being shown the huge space that the counterweights filled when the bridge was open, other places, and the walk across the top span with views up and down the river. For Willow, this was the best part of the weekend. A place that isn’t usually open to the public, with views of the Tower on one side, and what used to be the Millennium Dome in the distance on the other. This was the middle of what people imagine when you say Britain. They ate chips from a street vendor, looking over the Thames.
They took the river trip to the Westminster Pier, had a look at Parliament and stood in wonder as the refurbished clock struck four, with Big Ben making their insides vibrate at such a close distance. They got the ferry back to the Embankment and took the tube back to Goodge Street. On the way back to the apartment, they stopped at a restaurant called Gaucho, a steak house which Ashley thought was the best he had eaten, outside of home, of course.
They went to the apartment, freshened up and packed the bags, taking them down to the street. Willow checked through the two apartments and made sure that everything was off, then locking up and joining Wendy to wait for the car. When Ashley arrived, it didn’t take long to load up and get strapped in. GPS helped them leave the city, and they were on their way home.
Willow turned on her phone for the first time in two days and saw that she had a few messages. One was from Xavier, which said ‘JE & bimbo sung folk, but paid well.’ One was from Wilhelm that was short and sharp. ‘J to be paid out, will send email with details. Walked in studio to find them smoking pot. Not happy.’ There was another from Peter. ‘Jacob has advised he is leaving band. Please call to discuss.’ Yet another was from Jill. ‘Launch on show next week. BBC to record. Will need you and a few others to talk.’
As they were cruising on the freeway, she rang Jill.
“Hi Jill, it’s Willow.”
“Yes, thanks for calling. The album and DVD will be in the shops on Monday, and we’ll send some to you by courier. BBC want to record an interview with you next Saturday afternoon. Can you get down here?”
“I have just bought a place within walking distance of Broadcasting House. I can bring another four, if we get my parents to drive both of their cars. I think I’ll be able to get Herb, Nancy, Brent, and Gina. That’s most of the front line plus another girl.”
“That must be some place you have.”
“It’s two apartments, sleeping four in each. With a restaurant on the ground floor.”
“Is there parking?”
“The previous tenants left cards for two parking spaces in a Q-Park, a stone’s throw from the BBC.”
“All right. Email me with the details, you’ll need to be there by lunch.”
“If you want, I’ll book a table for us downstairs, will it be just you, or you and Clive?”
“Make that for the two of us. See you for lunch on Saturday.”
She ended the call and Wendy turned to look at her.
“What’s up, love?”
“Jacob and his girlfriend recorded folk music, and his father walked in to find them smoking pot.”
“That will put the cat among the pigeons.”
“Peter has been told that Jacob has left the band. I’ll need to call him next.”
“And that call?”
“There is to be an interview to launch ‘Greenhouse’ and the ‘Live in Berlin’ DVD next Saturday. If you can drive us, we can all stay in the two apartments on Saturday night. I’ll see if Herb, Nancy and Brent can join us, along with Gina. You can go off and do your own thing or sit in a radio studio to see us interviewed.”
“That will be nice. I like that big bed. We’ll have to get the laundry done after that. I didn’t see a washing machine.”
“I saw a note in the kitchen. There’s a laundry service that the restaurant uses, we just leave the sheets and pillowcases in bags, and they’ll be ready a couple of days later. I’ll call them to ask about the procedure when I book a table for nine.”
She rang Peter.
“Hi. Peter, it’s Willow.”
“What happened, Willow. Jacob is bailing out.”
“We became a true hard rock band in Berlin. The DVD and the latest album will be in the stores Monday, and we have an interview for the BBC on Saturday. Jacob was always a folkie, and the new look doesn’t suit him. It won’t matter with the line-up, as we can rock it without him.”
“So, how do we work it?”
“Draw a line under ‘Greenhouse Varieties’ and the DVD and pay him one eleventh from all album and DVD sales up to then and split it ten ways after that. There may be a problem with an album we did record with him but hasn’t been released yet. We can work that out at the time.”
“All right. As long as the rest of you keep up the good work.”
When they got home, they unloaded the bags and went inside. They changed for bed and sat in the kitchen with hot chocolate. Ashley grinned.
“Well, that was an interesting time away, and we get to do it all again next week. I could learn to like this life.”
“At least we had plenty of walking to get rid of all that rich food, hubby.”
In her room, Willow turned her laptop on. Wilhelm had calculated that Jacob had paid seven hundred thousand into the original syndicate, and there had been no sales that would add a dividend. So, if each of the ten paid him seventy thousand, he would be paid his due. There was over two million in the account at the moment, so he was going to transfer the money from the syndicate account. As far as the bigger syndicate was concerned, he would transfer the other five hundred thousand from the smaller syndicate and give them a free month from any input. It would still leave just over a million in the account without having to worry the new members. Willow replied with her agreement.
Marianne Gregory © 2025
Chapter 12
On Monday morning, they talked about Jacob’s melt-down. Gina had received the email from Wilhelm and the one from Peter. Willow stayed quiet about the drugs. She did ask Gina about going to London during the next weekend and told her that accommodation had been organised.
Jacob wasn’t at the school that day, and Willow went to speak to Herb, Nancy, and Brent about going to London for a launch interview. They all agreed that what Wilhelm had suggested was the quick and easy way to see Jacob leave. She also went to see the Gees, who had also been contacted and would be staying at the Langham for the interview. Not all were going, only Geoff, Zara and Garry.
Monday, when she arrived home, there was a box on the porch. She took it in and left it on the kitchen table as she went up to her room to change into something casual. Back downstairs, she opened it up. There was a copy of the Gees album and the ‘Live in Paris’ DVD. There were six copies of their album and six of the ‘Live in Berlin’ DVD.
A note told her that all the band members had received the same package, with the Gees getting a single copy of Summer Rose discs. She put a copy of the album and DVD aside for her grandmother, and another of each in the sitting room, next to the music centre, along with the Gees products. Then she put the other four copies of each in her bag for tomorrow.
She started peeling and dicing for tonight’s meal, checking what they had in the fridge. There were half a dozen pork sausages, so she cut up the potatoes to cook as mash. When her parents arrived home from work, they cooked the sausages and veg. After the meal, Willow gave her mother the two discs to send to her grandmother, then suggested that they may like to see the DVD.
They took their mugs into the sitting room and Ashley turned the TV and music centre on. Willow slid the DVD into the slot.
“Now, you did hear the album in its original form, so we don’t need to hear it again. This DVD was filmed in Berlin, at the end of the short tour. Berlin was odd, because the audience were all hard rockers, and looked like it. We reflected their own likes, and it made us play a bit differently. I have to warn you, this is Summer Rose like you haven’t heard before.
She sat down and pressed the play button, keen to see what had been produced. The show opened with vision of the crowd arriving. Ashley chuckled.
“I see what you mean. This looks like a massive biker convention.”
“That venue only held seventeen thousand. At times, it sounded like a hundred thousand.”
There must have been a cameraman behind the stage, but Willow couldn’t remember seeing one. There was vision of the band getting ready for the performance, with each one named. Then, they were heading for the stage and the scene became the audience, chanting for Sommer Rose, until there was a big cheer as the band walked out on stage. From then on, it was the full ninety minutes of the show, with no breaks and no lessening of the high pressure. Ashley and Wendy were cuddled on the sofa, agog at what they were looking at. Willow was looking very closely at the scenes that showed Jacob. To her, it was obvious that he was well out of his comfort zone, while the rest of the band was finding theirs.
When the final notes of ‘Spitter’ died and the crowd roared like wild animals, the credits rolled as the band took their bows, with Jacob only half-hearted. He was the first to start heading for the rear of the stage, while Herb, Gina, and Willow were still waving to the fans. When the screen went dark Ashley stood to hug her, and her mother asked if she still had that leather outfit. Before they went to bed, Willow asked her mother if she could pick her up after school, the next day, because there were a few things she wanted to get for her suite in the attic.
On Tuesday, they spoke about the power of their performance. Gina had also seen Jacob’s attitude. Willow went to give a copy of the DVD to the Head, who thanked her for it, telling her that Xavier had delivered the two master recordings the day before. At lunch time, most of the band had extra albums and DVDs to hand out to their friends. Willow gave a DVD to the twins, to remind them of the show that they had seen. She asked Jim about playing at the church on Sunday, as they would be in London. Xavier gave her three copies of the Messiah CD for her collection. After school, she waited for Wendy, and they went into Coventry and spent a little while in the shop where she had bought Tiger. There wasn’t one on the shelves, but there was another Shaun. She came away with some posters and the Shaun. That evening, she rang the restaurant and booked a big table for lunch on Saturday.
On Wednesday, Jacob still hadn’t shown, and Gina, Willow, Nancy, and Zara spoke about what they would wear for the interview. It may be for radio, but you have to make an impression. They decided on the cocktail dresses that they had worn in the Paris show. After school, they had the orchestra session to play the Messiah right through. All the soloists, and all the choir were there, and Mister Bamborough had organised for the stage to be set up in the same way that they had recorded. By the time that they had set up and tuned, there were quite a few interested teachers in the stalls, along with most of the cast of ‘Wicked’, with the parents who were picking them up.
Willow didn’t give any instructions, just sitting after they had tuned, and waited for the conductor to set them off. They all knew what they had to do, now, and did it well. With a short break for a comfort stop, they moved into the second part, with the audience all standing for the Hallelujah Chorus, as is the tradition. That does have one advantage, as the audience are on their feet at the end of that section, so the applause is magnified. After another break, they played the last part, and every voice gave their all with the extended Amen.
The stage was left set up for the following week, when there would be a paying audience and some invited supporters of the school. Willow left her violin in her locker for then and joined Gina to leave. It was quite a while navigating all of the teachers and parents who wanted to congratulate all the players, including the Vines. They finally found Sebastian, who told them that they had really nailed it.
On the way home, he told them that they had expanded his musical knowledge since he had started driving them, and Gina had a copy of the Berlin DVD for him, to expand his mind even further. On Thursday morning he had it with him so they could sign it for him. He told them that it must have been good to be there, and that it was far better than even the shows earlier in the year.
On Friday, they arranged the pick-ups for the next morning. Wendy would follow Ashley in her car, both with a card for parking. That evening, overnight bags were packed and in the back of the car, with Willow’s containing a city Shaun and a few rolled up posters.
Saturday morning, they left home, in convoy. Stopping at Gina’s home to pick her up, she got in with Willow, her bag and garment bag in the back. They went into Coventry and picked up Herb, Brent, and Nancy. Brent got in with Gina, while the other two were in the back of Wendy’s car. The drive down to London was easy, until they reached the city. Wendy stayed close and Ashley drove with one eye on the mirror.
They stopped in Foley Street and the band got out, the boys carrying Wendy and Ashley’s bags with their own. It was a quick operation, and the two cars left as Willow was leading them to the door, opening it with her key.
“Go on in, right to the top. We have number three and four.”
When they reached the top landing, Willow went to the front and opened number three, putting her bag, and garment bag inside, with her posters. The boys put her parent’s bags on the floor.
“Right, thank you, lads. If you follow me, I’ll open number four. This will be your apartment for the night.”
She opened that one up and gave Gina the key.
“There are two double bedrooms. As far as anyone else is concerned, the boys are doubling up down here, and the girls are in the attic. How you sleep is entirely up to you. For the weekend, Gina has the key, so my mother will have to knock. If that happens, make sure that you’re presentable. The bedroom is through here.”
She opened the door to the bedroom and pointed out the ensuite.
“There’s a door in the kitchen that goes up to the other suite. That has ensuite and a sitting room. There should be some drinks in the fridge, but you don’t need food because we eat in the restaurant downstairs. There should be cards waiting for me when we go in. There is a monthly invoice for our meals there, so order what you want.”
Brent and Gina found the door to the attic and went up with their bags, coming back later with big smiles. Willow went back to her apartment and put her parent’s bags in their room. She took her things up to the attic and hung the garment bag in the wardrobe, next to the dressing gown she had left behind last week. Putting City Shaun on the bed, she went back to the next door. Gina wanted to know all about the apartments, so the five of them sat in the kitchen and Willow explained how they came to be here.
“We are only a couple of hundred yards to Broadcasting House and a half an hour stroll to either the University of London or the British Museum. There are lots of other places nearby, and a tube station which can get us into the City. We went to the Tower last week when we came down to see what I’d purchased.”
“Did you buy the two apartments?”
“No. I bought the whole building. The restaurant is leased, and the two other apartments were sold with a hundred-year lease. These two used to be leased by a company to house visiting American executives. That’s why they’re so well furnished. We’re having lunch downstairs, with Jill and Clive, before we head to the BBC. The Gees are staying at the Langham. Now, I’ve been a bit naughty, and booked seats at the Novello, tonight, to see Mamma Mia. I did book ten, so the three Gees can come as well. Is that all right?”
Brent laughed.
“Do you think that anyone would mind if we sang along?”
“I’m sure that a lot of the audience will be singing along.”
They heard her parents arrive, so Willow left them to unpack and went to unpack her own things. Wendy was happy that she had driven down without any problems, and that the two cars were inside and under cover. Willow went down to the restaurant to speak to the owners about the new cards. On the middle landing, her phone buzzed, and she stopped to take the call.
“Hello, Willow, it’s Jill.”
“Hi Jill. We’ve all arrived and settling in. What can I do for you?”
“I’m with the three Gees, and I wonder if we could add them to the lunch. Have you booked anything for dinner?”
“Not yet. I’m on my way down to see the restaurant, now. I’ll add another three, if I can. I can book for ten for dinner, if they want to eat with us. I’ve got ten tickets to Mama Mia, so they can stay with us this evening. It’s an easy tube ride to get near, with a short walk.”
“All right. I’ll get them dressed for the interview and bring them to the restaurant. They can stay with you after lunch, and they have transport home tomorrow afternoon. See you for lunch.”
As Willow was standing there, a man came out of one of the apartments. When he saw her end the call, he spoke.
“Hello. Are you visiting? You look too young to be an executive. They always look like something out of a mafia movie.”
“That accounts for all the DVDs that we found. We watched a Die-Hard last week. No, I’m the new building owner, bought through my holding company. I plan to use the two upper apartments as a London base. There’s quite a crowd of us there this weekend. We have an appointment at Broadcasting House this afternoon. How are you finding the life here?”
“It’s very handy. I’m a lecturer at the University of London, and the other apartment is another of my colleagues. It’s a nice walk, most mornings. My wife works in the City, and his works as a PR Consultant. You look like you’re still at school?”
“I’m in third year at the moment. So are my friends. My parents drove us down from Coventry. I’m just going down to see if I can expand our table for lunch, we have three others joining us, who are staying at the Langham. What do you teach?”
“Business Studies and Management. My colleague teaches courses on promoting and advertising. I’ll join you on the way down, I’m going to pick up the bags for the laundry service. Carlo, in the restaurant, has those, and puts them on the landing when they’re returned.”
“That’s something that I needed to sort out.”
She led them down and into the restaurant. As they walked in, Julia saw her and came over to give her a hug.
“Willow! I got the DVD of the live show in Berlin. It was fantastic! I’ve almost worn it out by playing it so many times. I also got the Paris show by G-Force. That Zara has a wonderful voice.”
“You can tell her that when she joins us for lunch, that’s what I want to change.”
Her companion looked embarrassed.
“I’m sorry I didn’t recognise you. One doesn’t expect to leave your apartment to find Willow Rose on the landing.”
Willow chuckled.
“It’s perfectly all right. We had a short time where we were two normal people. I’m all right at school, with the people that I know, but it sometimes gets odd when little girls want me to sign their tee-shirt.”
The manager come out from behind the counter.
“I see that you’ve met the Professor. Are you looking for laundry bags, Prof?”
“I am, Carlo. Willow wants to sort some out for her floor as well.”
“If you can give me a few minutes, I’ll write out the tags. Both apartments for you, Willow?”
“Yes, Carlo. We have a full house today. There are four others from the band in number four. I did book for a table of ten, can I make that twelve, please. We will be joined by three members of another band for lunch and dinner. Would you like to join us, with your wife and friends, Prof?”
“If it’s all right with you, Willow. Both our wives have the two early albums, so sitting with you would make their day. I’ll try to get them to act like normal people.”
“Just like adults would be good. With a lot of ‘normal’ people, the result is usually tears and hyperventilation.”
He grinned.
“OK, adult mode initiated. My name is Theodore, usually Ted, unless you’re a student, when it’s sir. My colleague is Kevin, and our wives are Alicia and Hazel.”
Carlo rushed off to move tables around. When he came back, he had four big plastic bags, two blue and two green. He gave the green ones to Willow.
“Just bring them down when you leave, and I’ll put them aside to be picked up. I have the door key, so will leave them on your landing when they come back. It will be just sheets and pillowcases, I expect.”
“It will, Carlo. Do you have those cards for me, please?”
“They came back yesterday. I put them by the register. Eight cards in the name of WR Holdings. If you’re covering today’s meals, it will be on the invoice at the end of next month.”
“That will be good. Where are you putting us, today. Last week was a bit noisy.”
“I’m setting you up in the cellar. It’s a lot quieter with the curtained wall and no windows. You would know all about echo reduction, I expect.”
“OK, I’ll see you, with all the others, for lunch.”
She picked up the cards and followed Ted up the stairs. At his landing, he stopped.
“Do you mind me introducing you to the others? It would help them get over the shock.”
He opened his door and called out.
“Alicia, darling. You would never guess who I met on the stairs.”
His wife came to the door and saw Willow. Her face was a picture of surprise. She rushed forward and gave her a hug, squashing the bags between then. When she stepped back, there were tears in her eyes. Willow grinned.
“Well Professor, I think that this proves that Alicia is normal.”
He laughed as he went to knock on the other door. When it was opened, a woman stood there.
“Hi, Ted. What can I help you with? We’re all out of sugar.”
“Hazel, I just want you to meet our new landlord. We’ve been invited to have lunch with her and some friends today.”
Hazel looked out at Willow, and she looked as if she was trying to remember something.
“Hello. You look familiar. Did you come around selling things for Guide Week?”
Alicia giggled.
“Hazel, my scatty friend. This is Willow Rose, leader of the Summer Rose band.”
“Wow. What are you doing on our landing with laundry bags in your hand?”
“I bought the building, and I’m staying upstairs tonight. We have an interview at the BBC this afternoon.”
“Did you bring that lad, Herb? If he was five years older, I’d leave Kevin for him.”
Willow turned to Ted, and he laughed.
“By your gauge, Willow, my wife is normal, and Hazel is adult. Who would have thought it. We’re invited for lunch in the cellar, Hazel. Then you and Kevin can try and work out how Willow and her band have gone from unknown, to the biggest names in the country in less than a year. It could be a good case study for Kevin.”
“You will be able to talk to Jill and Clive, from our label. A lot of our fame is down to them with the tours they’ve organised.”
She went up to the upper level, finding her parents had arrived. She gave her mother a bag.
“Sheets and pillowcases when we leave. One bag for us, and one for next door. We’re in the cellar for lunch, and we have added the Gees and our neighbours downstairs. Both the men are lecturers at the University of London.”
“That could be handy in a few years.”
She took the other bag and knocked on the door. Gina opened it.
“Got a bag for all the sheets and pillowcases tomorrow. They will be brought back in the week and left on the landing.”
“After all night with Brent they may need washing. I think Herb and Nancy have already been at it.”
“I just met one of our downstairs neighbours who told me that if he was five years older, she would leave her husband for him. They’ll be joining us for lunch. We know their type. Both men are lecturers, and their wives are an office worker and a PR Consultant.”
“Lunch with them will be barrel of laughs, I’m sure.”
“I had a call from Jill. She’s bringing the three Gees for lunch. They will be glammed up for the interview, so I expect that we had better be ready to go around to the BBC as soon as we finish lunch. I hope that the napkins are big enough to protect our dresses.”
“All right. I’ll tell Nancy when she surfaces. I’ve been looking at that big TV. It has normal signal and a satellite dish. I may have to look for one at home.”
“Don’t bother with the movies. Everyone has told me that the guys who used to stay here looked like extras for ‘The Godfather’. All we could find, last week, were movies that they may have even had parts in.”
She went back to the other apartment and up to her own room. The shower was luxurious, and she felt good when she dried off. She had brought underwear suitable for the dress. She thought it was good to be able to wear a stage item for normal use. It needed tights and heels, and she looked in the mirror and smiled at her reflection. She was good looking, rich, and free. What on earth could go wrong?
Back downstairs, her mother saw her and patted her shoulder.
“My talented and beautiful daughter. I hope that they have big napkins.”
“I thought that myself, Mum. Are you and Dad coming to the interview? You may find it interesting to see a well-oiled show being put together.”
“Of course we will. What have you planned for dinner?”
“I’d booked downstairs for ten, now more with the Gees and our neighbours. I do have ten tickets for Mama Mia but can’t be certain to get others.”
“That’s all right. Your father is taking me out, and we’re going to see if we can get late tickets for ‘The Mousetrap’, so the ten of you can have dinner and a night out by yourselves. Just be careful, you don’t have any security to look after you.”
“We’ll tube down, and Uber back. Nothing has been planned for tomorrow, yet.”
When they all went down to the restaurant, Jill was already at the table with the others, including their neighbours, and they all sat down. Clive commented on how good they all looked, for radio. Hazel laughed.
“There will be photos taken. You don’t want your stars to look dowdy.”
She then introduced Kevin to them, and then went on to introduce Ted and Alicia to those who hadn’t met them yet. The Roses had naturally arranged themselves with the other adults, and soon talk was flowing about work and the state of the world. Clive was telling both bands about today’s interview. It would centre around the latest tour and both DVDs, which were already selling well in both Britain and Europe. Nothing was mentioned about Jacob until they were walking towards the BBC.
Jill had lagged back with Willow as she was talking about things. Willow gave her a copy of the Messiah session, and then Jill brought up what was on her mind, quietly.
“I had a CD sent to me this week. It was directly from Jacob. He played acoustic guitar and sang duets with a girl called Anita. It wasn’t bad, just so last century. I didn’t want to upset him, so haven’t done anything yet.”
“If you look at the Berlin show, you will see that his heart wasn’t in it. He has asked to be paid out of our two property syndicates, which has happened. He has told Peter that he isn’t part of Summer Rose, and that recording was done with him dealing with Xavier directly. He hasn’t been at school all week, and his father walked in on that recording to find him smoking pot. Anita is a sister to one of the drinking members of the Hikers, who is known to deal in weed, or so Racheal told me.”
“Right. So, it wouldn’t bother you if I sent it back with a note that it isn’t commercial. I thought that you two were a couple.”
“For a while, we were. He went all ape-man in Paris and that’s when the rot set in. He says he met her at the going-away party that the Hikers put on and turned up with her at the opening night of our ‘Wicked’ show. I’m wondering if he’s been on something for a while.”
“Could be. If a question is asked today, is there part of the DVD that shows him looking different?”
“Just watch the end of the final song, to the end of the credits. He looked as if he wanted to be somewhere else. Now, he has the opportunity to be there!”
Marianne Gregory © 2025
Chapter 13.
The new neighbours had expressed a desire to see inside Broadcasting House, so it was a big group who were escorted to the studio where the show was to be recorded. It was set up for TV, and the presenter apologised for the change in format.
“Since you were last here, you’ve all gone from strength to strength. This will be a special on both One and Three, as your appeal covers both demographics. If you can go with our make-up girl, she’ll give you the matt skin that looks better.”
They were taken away, while the adults sat in the front row. After about five minutes, the other seats were filled with people who had either paid for a seat or had won it on a radio promotion. Jill and Clive were filled with dread, as this had been organised without their knowledge. For the other six, it was all new and very interesting. Eventually, the floor manager called for quiet and laid down the ground rules to only applaud when the sign was lit, and to stop when it went out. Then the doors were closed, and the director counted down to the opening of the show. The presenter looked at a camera and spoke.
“Good evening, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to our special interview with members of two bands who have shot to prominence this year. Over summer, they toured the country for charity, raising over forty million pounds for the disadvantaged in the cities where they performed. Recently, they had a lightning tour in Europe, taking in Copenhagen, Paris and Berlin. Both bands have released DVDs of shows, recorded during that tour. Please welcome members of G-Force and Summer Rose!”
There was prolonged applause as the eight of them came out. There were two long couches, one each side of the presenter. The three couples sat, with Garry sitting with Geoff and Zara, leaving one only other seat next to him, closest to the presenter, so Willow sat there. The interview was mainly about the latest tour, and the making of the two DVDs, which were held up for all to see. Everyone had a say, with Zara saying how she started singing with G-Force having been in the school choir. Nancy spoke about starting to play in the dance band and how things had moved on from there. They had been talking for over a half an hour. Then, the presenter asked an interesting question.
“I know that you all go to the Blue Coat School in Coventry, but there must have been a single moment that changed everything, to find you where you now are.”
Garry chuckled.
“One moment, you say. Well, it all started in the summer before last. I was playing bass with my friends, Geoff, Gerry, and Grant, as the G-Force. One of the lads in our class played organ and suggested that we put on a show where we played Deep Purple numbers. On the day before we were going to perform, he went down with measles. Willow was being shown the school, not even having started there, and she stepped in to play organ for us the following evening. As they say in the classics, the rest is history.”
There was applause, and then Herb wanted to continue the story.
“After that, G-Force was asked to play again in the next year. I wanted to put together a show with my friends, who are now the front row of Summer Rose. Willow stepped away so that Jim could return, and worked with us on a set that was all Moody Blues. We also worked on what became our Kansas album. The G-Force set, and the Moody Blues set were recorded by the school technical guys, and a mistake was made in the ordering, with hundreds more turning up at the school. We put that show on, in the school, before Christmas, with G-Force playing blues, and us playing Moody Blues. We were just six of us at that time, with Willow and Gina providing the full sound like an orchestra.”
The presenter looked at his notes.
“And now, G-Force has Zara singing, very beautifully, and Summer Rose is now eleven strong, with a very hard-working wind section. I believe that most of you are in the school orchestra. We did introduce two BBC DVDs that have been produced with most of you in the line-up. One was shown on New Year’s Eve, last year, and the other was recorded at the Proms and is scheduled for a viewing in the run-up to Christmas, this year. You have all been very busy. Your label has released a CD of the orchestra recorded at Abbey Road, and I’ve been told that there are two more albums of organ music about to be released, with Willow Rose and Gina Summer playing organs at Kings College, Cambridge, and York Minster.”
Zara laughed.
“Don’t forget that we’re performing the Messiah in the Coventry Cathedral next weekend. We recorded it a week ago.”
There was more applause.
The presenter looked at them as a light came on over a band set-up, with amps, a keyboard, guitars on stands, and a drum kit.
“I hope that you will allow us a little more of your time. Last time I interviewed you, Willow gave us a wonderful solo rendition of two of her hit songs. I know that we don’t have either full band here, but can you indulge us, please.”
Both Jill and Clive had dry mouths. This could be where everything unravelled. The eight stood and walked over to the instruments. Garry suggested that they should do something from the very beginning, and Herb said that he knew ‘Smoke on the Water’. Willow went to the organ, Brent sat at the drums, Geoff and Herb put on the guitars and Garry strapped on the bass. Nancy, Gina, and Zara went to a microphone. Geoff spoke into his microphone.
“This is something from the very first show that Garry and I played, with Willow on organ.”
He hit the first notes of ‘Smoke on the Water’ and then they recreated that iconic piece of music, with Garry playing rumbling bass, Brent thumping out the beat on the drums, Willow doing her best Jon Lord, Geoff and Herb swapping riffs, and the three girls adding backing to the title phrase.
When they finished, the audience couldn’t wait for the sign and were on their feet and shouting out. Willow’s parents, and the two from the label, had heard it before, but it was something totally new for the other four. Jill and Clive looked at each other.
“They’ve gone and done it again. That will make the music media when the show is aired.”
“I know. Why on earth were we worried. What’s the story with this Messiah?”
“Willow gave me a copy of that, recorded in a beautiful work of art that’s up to the minute. There will be a recording on the school website. The BBC will be recording the show in the Cathedral, but I suppose we could issue a CD.”
“Bring it to work. We can get Abbey Road to make it saleable. We could put it on the market in a couple of weeks before the TV show goes on. Knowing the BBC, it will be three or four months before they issue the DVD.”
“You’re wicked, Clive.”
“You’ve said that before.”
The studio slowly cleared, as the eight went off to be cleansed, with four getting fresh make-up. The presenter told them that it was a fantastic show, thanking them for their informative and interesting stories. When they returned to the studio, Wendy gave Willow and Gina hugs, and Hazel singled Herb out for a special hug, much to Alicia’s delight as she captured it on her phone.
They left Broadcasting House and strolled back towards the restaurant. Kevin asked what the station would do with the interview, so Clive enlightened him.
“Right from the beginning, there are places where they can fit in clips, some of the charity tour. When someone mentioned a moment in time, they can fit something in then, say, when Gina spoke about Willow writing ‘Finding a Friend’ for her. When he held up the two DVDs, they can play part, or a full, song from each show. We went in there expecting a radio interview and were surprised when it turned out to be for TV. It makes the interview ten times the punch, so it turned out well. If you want to see a twelve-year-old Willow playing that Deep Purple, all the shows can be bought through the Blue Coat website. That finish will be in the final cut, be sure of it. If I’m any judge, I’d expect the credits will be during the last couple of minutes of the song, with it clear for the final. I expect that there’ll be several seconds of the audience going mad.”
“I teach business promotion and advertising skills, and that session had everything in the course, do you train them up, beforehand?”
“Kevin. There is no way we could train Willow. She’s a force of her own. She has done things, in the past, that would make you run for the hills if you knew about it before. She hatched a plan, with Zara and Herb, to get sixty thousand singing ‘You’ll Never Walk Alone’ after the encore of the show in Liverpool. It made your hairs stand up, and I’ll never forget it.”
Back at the restaurant, the eight band members went down to the cellar to relax before dinner. Jill and Clive congratulated them on a job well done, Ashley and Wendy went up to change for their own night out, and the other two couples went to one of their apartments to discuss what they had experienced that day. One topic was the sweet and polite girl who turned into a banshee behind the keyboard.
The ten had a dinner, said goodnight to Jill and Clive, and then the eight walked to the tube station to head for the theatre, looking just like four couples out for the evening. With all the others paired off, it was natural to walk with Garry. Some people took second looks, but who would consider that a group of pop stars would be riding the tube. At the theatre, Willow showed her paperwork to the ticket office, and they received the ten tickets. Willow got Garry to give the two they didn’t need to a forlorn looking couple looking for a scalper.
The show was cheesy but fun, and the audience sung along with almost every song. When they came out, Geoff used his phone to call up a couple of Ubers, with four in each one. Willow and Garry were squeezed in with Zara in the back seat of one. He had his arm around her shoulders. She chuckled.
“What’s so funny, Willow?”
“I’m thinking back to that first time we were on that stage. You were so friendly and supportive, and the first guy to give me a hug.”
“That’s because you were such a great performer, and you came alive that night. How could I not hug you. What you’ve done since has been amazing.”
“What we’ve all done since has been amazing for a bunch of schoolkids.”
“Don’t sell yourself short. You have more talent in your fingers than most of us have in our whole body. I’m just proud to know you and be your friend.”
“Thank you, Garry, that means a lot to me. I enjoy having friends as nice as you.”
They arrived at the restaurant and Garry got out and helped her get to her feet.
“Thank you, kind sir. It’s been a fun evening, where we were entertained, rather than being entertainers. I’ll see you in school.”
She went up on her toes and kissed his cheek. He then bent down and properly kissed her.
“I’ve been wanting to do that for months, but there was always another guy in the way.”
“Well, there isn’t now. Perhaps we can have other times out.”
“That would be good.”
He kissed her again and then she opened the door and gave him a wave as he got back in the car. As she stood, the other Uber arrived with the other two couples. Herb paid the driver, and they all went up to the apartments. Gina and Nancy gave Willow hugs and said goodnight. She told them that breakfast will be in the restaurant, and they entered the apartments.
Willow saw that her parents weren’t back yet, so she went up to her room and made ready for bed. She didn’t pull the curtains as there was enough light from the street to see. She got into bed and cuddled City Shaun, and told him that another guy had kissed her, and that she liked it, a lot.
The next morning, she had jeans and a jumper to wear, hanging the dress back in the garment bag. She took care with her make-up, wanting to look like any other girl, and went down to fetch the laundry bag. She stripped her bed and put everything in the bag, then had a little look around, finding clean bedclothes in a drawer in the wardrobe. She remade the bed, ready for when she was back again.
She put the bag by the other bedroom door, hearing her father’s soft snoring. She let herself out and went down and into the restaurant, where she found Kevin and Hazel, Ted and Alicia having breakfast.
“Good morning, Willow. Would you like to join us? This is a common sight, a sort of Sunday ritual to have breakfast together.”
She sat at their table and Carlo came out to take her order.
“How did you enjoy the show, yesterday?”
“Very interesting to see how they put together a show. Clive told us how they would beef it up with clips. It will be good to watch it, knowing that we were there.”
“You may even see yourselves, Ted. There was a fixed camera on the wall behind the presenter, so they would have audience shots.”
“How many times have you played that Purple song? It was fantastic.”
“Twice, I think. The first on the day before the show, and the other in the show itself. We never put it into our act, as we were much quieter for the first albums.”
“How on earth do you remember all the songs?”
“I have the ability to be able to remember almost everything I’ve ever heard. When we play for a dinner dance, we can play for up to four hours without repeating anything. Our Headmistress thinks that it’s an aid to retaining knowledge. Most of us in the band are ‘A’ students.”
“Was buying this building your first foray into property?”
“My first on my own. I love it here, being so close to everything. We have a syndicate in the band, where we pool money for property. We have a small factory in Coventry, the site in Leicester where we’ve built our studio, and we’ve not long bought a big place in Small Heath where we have two tenants. I have got interested in property management and was thinking about taking it when I get to University, instead of concentrating on music.”
“You could do courses with us, as long as you’re eligible, before you finish High School. We do have on-line access. If you let me have your email, I’ll send you the details and an entry exam. Pass that and you can study, after we get a letter of recommendation from your Head.”
She pulled he notepad out of her bag and wrote the WR Holdings address.
“That’s my company. My parents and the accountant are the responsible adults. If you have any problems here, just let me know. My own email can get a bit clogged with unwanted rubbish, and I could delete something accidentally.”
The others walked in and joined them. Hazel pretended to be grief-stricken when she saw Herb and Nancy holding hands, much to her husband’s amusement. He asked them what they were doing that day. When they said that they hadn’t planned anything, he asked if they would like a guided tour of the University.
They agreed that it would be interesting, so, when they had all finished breakfast, they went up to put warm jackets and beanies on. Willow found her parents in the kitchen, greeting the morning with a hot cup of tea. She told them where she was going, and to drop the bag with Carlo when their sheets had been added. Ashley told her that if they had seen everything by one, to meet them at the Gaucho Steakhouse for lunch before heading home.
They all went to the university area. Kevin explained that there were seventeen colleges that made the whole, with outlying colleges as far away as Paris. The central college here was where humanities were taught. Kevin taught courses at the Birkbeck College, over a range of studies in Consumer and Buyer Behaviour, Digital and Social Media Marketing, and degree lectures in Marketing. After looking around that building, Ted led them to the building behind it, the SOAS University, where he taught courses in Business and Financial Management. He explained that this campus taught a lot of students from different ethnic backgrounds, with a view that they would go out in the world and improve their home countries.
“One of the other colleges linked to the University is the London College of Music, if you want to take your music studies to the next level. That’s some way to the west of us, and you would need to take the tube. It’s not hard once you’ve got used to it.”
They all left with lots of literature. Willow told the others about Gaucho’s, so they walked there to find Wendy and Ashley saving a big table. Willow found herself sitting between Kevin and Ted. Ted was asking her about what she really wanted to do for further studies.
“That TV presenter said that the two of you had made an album with Kings College. Did they show you around?”
“They did. We were there for a few days and got to see several colleges. They have a couple that are female centric, and we were urged to consider going there. I have grandparents who live nearby and my parents both went to Cambridge, so it was assumed that I would follow in their footsteps.”
“But you’re finding an independent streak?”
“Good Lord, Professor. You’re so erudite! Yes, I am finding my own way to do things.”
“We were told, yesterday, how you got sixty thousand singing the Liverpool club song once.”
“That was funny. It was three times, actually. The second had all the first team on stage with us, and the third had all the women’s team on stage. It made the newspapers.”
“So, why business studies when you have a great future in the music?”
“I want to learn how to make what I earn work for me. I want to be independent and live my own life, taking up offers to play that look good. Being at school has removed us from the constant grind of tours and having to keep producing hits. We’ve been lucky that we’ve made albums that sell, but, after a while, that will become work. Being a pop star isn’t all beer and skittles. You have to go where your manager gets you work, be happy and cheerful all the time, and there are no ‘down’ days. One bad show and you’re talked about as fading.”
“That’s a cynical view, but true. There are some that stay popular and draw the crowds, and some who end up playing at the end of some forsaken pier in summer. At least you and your band are investing in property. Look, I’ll send you the paperwork. Fill it in, do the assessment and get a letter from your Head. We may be able to start you off with a certificate course on-line, which would be a certain entry to study here after you leave school.”
“Thank you, Ted, or should I now say Sir. That would let me see what I’m happy with. The Head has told me that I’m pencilled in to take next year’s first-year musical again. We just presented a modern version of ‘Wicked’. It should be available through the school web site.”
“I’ll look that one up. I’m keen to get a copy of that show where you played Deep Purple.”
“That one also has me playing violin in a quartet. I’m sitting in the Leader’s seat next week when we perform the Messiah.”
“Is that also on the website?”
“Yes. You will have to be quick if you want seats, as we are filling fast.”
After lunch, they walked back to the apartments. For Willow, the weekend had been far better than she could have hoped. The occupants of number four had filled a plastic bag with linen and had all found fresh to make up the beds. Willow had to show Wendy where the clean sheets were and helped her make that bed. Gina went to give Willow back the key and Willow handed her one of the restaurant cards, and a key to the front door.
“Keep the keys, friend. You and your mother may like a weekend here in the future, so consider it a home away from home. I think that we may come down over Christmas to see the lights and do some shopping in the New Year Sales.”
They waited, with the bags, while Ashley and Wendy collected the cars. Willow told Gina that she was going to have to get new parking cards in the name of her company, so will get extra then, so that Maisie would have somewhere safe to park. When the cars arrived, it didn’t take long to load up, and they headed back to Coventry. On the way, Ashley commented about the version of Deep Purple.
“I saw the original show, but you weren’t the drummer, Brent.”
“I wasn’t, but I also saw the show, along with my friends. It was that show which pushed us to ask about doing something ourselves. Up to then, Herb and Roy were in the guitar group, but it made us want to play as a band. I never thought that it would lead to what it has, though. Other than Herb and me, that front line was as it was back then. It was a real blast!”
“Herb is as good as Geoff, I think.”
“Not as good as Gerry, he is out of this world. He was second fiddle to Geoff for a long time, but I think that the encore with ‘Lazy’ made them both realise what he could do, if allowed. His blues guitar is as good as anything I’ve heard.”
Gina giggled.
“Alicia told me that she and Hazel have our earlier albums but will go out to get later ones after seeing us play. She said that the four of them wondered what you became after midnight, Willow, seeing you turn from angel to banshee when you play.”
“I don’t know what I become, friend. Either I’m just asleep, or else I wander the streets looking for blood but don’t remember it.”
“You wouldn’t find much in the way of blood in Stoneleigh, after midnight, although it never really became totally quiet last night. That area is so exciting. I was never keen to hit a city, but with the places we’ve been to, this year, it’s opened my eyes to the wider world.”
“Did you think about future study while we were looking around, this morning, friend?”
“Actually, the idea of the College of Music sounded good. I want to continue to study piano, now. Maybe become a soloist for hire. Dress beautifully, play great music, be taken to exotic places and stay in swanky hotels, and get paid for it. Sounds good to me.”
“What about you, Brent?”
“I’ll follow Gina wherever she goes. That College teaches percussion, in all its forms. If Gina plays and sings in night clubs, I could be her drummer.”
Marianne Gregory © 2025
Chapter 14
Back at home, that evening, Willow opened her laptop to find some emails. One was from Wilhelm, showing the balance of the SL Holdings account at just over a million after Jacob had been paid out.
He also told them that Jacob would not be returning to the school, as he was currently in a rehab clinic, having spent some days in hospital after Racheal found him in his barn, having OD’d on heroin. Anita was in another ward in the same clinic. He said that the prognosis for Jacob overcoming it was good, seeing how short his time with the drug was, but there would always be a possibility that he would return to it.
One was from Jill, telling them that they had been great with the interview, and that she had been asked to take the Messiah recording into Abbey Road to see if it could have the silences clipped to be a commercial issue, and that the school would be consulted if it was good. She also told them that no tours had been planned for the Christmas break, but that there were a few requests for interviews and promotional visits that were in the pipeline.
Another was from Peter, with the statement. The tour was broken into the three different venues, with takings and costs subtracted, then each venue taking ten percent of the box office. Copenhagen netted nine million, three hundred and fifteen thousand. Paris netted eighteen million, nine hundred and forty-five thousand, and Berlin had netted two million, three hundred and fifty thousand. That was a total of thirty million, six hundred thousand to be shared between the bands, giving each one of the seventeen a payout of just over one point eight million.
With the sales, ‘Journey’, ‘Carpentry’, ‘Homegrown’, and the new ‘Greenhouse’ had sold a total of eight hundred and five thousand albums, with the DVDs selling a total of six hundred and forty thousand copies. With the merchandise sales added, Summer Rose had earned six point three eight five million. After costs, which included flights and hotels, each of the band had another five hundred and seventy thousand. Willow’s share, this month, totalled just on two million and fifteen thousand, after management commission had been taken out. She replied to Peter, asking him to transfer two million into WR Holdings.
There was another from the label. This was to all Summer Rose, as well as Xavier, Frank and Dave, inviting them to a Christmas party, on the Saturday night after term finished, at the Dorchester Hotel. Everyone would be accommodated at the hotel, along with partners or parents, and the label was picking up the bill for it all. They just needed to get there and get home. It also told them that the ‘Journey’ album, and the DVD, had both reached the dizzy heights of Double Platinum. The ‘Homegrown’ DVD had also reached Platinum, and the album was only ten thousand shy of going Double Platinum, so they were going to award that with the expectation that it would pass the mark in the next two weeks. The awards will be made at the Dorchester, and the event will be ‘black tie’. It was signed by Clive, with a postscript that said that there would be other artists from the label on hand. She printed that one to show her parents. At this rate, they would have to get some more hanging hooks for the studio.
There was another from Wilhelm, timed after he would have read the one from Peter. It asked Peter to draw a line under this month, in Jacob’s case, and to divide future income ten ways, as Jacob now had enough to be sure of his future and pay for private tuition and guitar lessons. He pointed out that he would be administering Jacob’s affairs until he turned twenty-one. Willow did a quick mental calculation and thought that Jacob probably had over five million after this dividend and the payout from the syndicate.
Her computer showed an incoming email, and she looked at it. It was from Gina, and just said ‘All that money – Wow! All those awards – Double Wow! Can we organise ourselves to stay in the apartment for a few days after the event? Mum can follow your father down.’
Willow grinned as she answered. ‘Why not. We can Uber to the event with an overnight case and gowns in bags. I’m sure the label will put on a make-up artiste, although the hotel has a spa and hairdressing salon. We can get more from Jill before the event. If you want to stay for Christmas, you can do so. You won’t get the tan you got last year. I’m looking forward to seeing Dad in a bow tie and dress suit.’
She took the email to show her parents, who needed to look up what a ‘black tie’ event entailed. She also mentioned Maisie and Gina staying at the apartment over Christmas, and they discussed the possibility of them all spending some time there, depending on what holidays Ashley and Wendy would have.
Monday morning, it was back to school and a very busy week. The friends spoke about obtaining red-carpet quality dresses, and Gina said that her mother would be researching a good place to get them. They knew that long was usual, along with jewels. Neither girl had considered expensive jewellery before, as they really hadn’t been anywhere as celebrities.
At lunch, the main topic of conversation among the two bands was the influx of money. The consensus was that they had enough, between them, for a serious property, perhaps a small shopping centre. Willow stayed quiet as she had ideas of her own. She had decided to sit on her earnings until she could get something substantial that would be interesting to own.
That evening, she had an email from Ted, with an application form for applying for an on-line certificate course, and a basic entry paper with questions designed by a specialist to see what sort of person you are, mixed with questions about your knowledge of business and finance. There was also a form letter, for her to give to the Head, asking for a letter of confirmation of suitability, attitude, and scholastic achievements. She put that one in her bag for tomorrow. What she did see, was that there was a deadline of December the ninth, to apply for the course that began in February, so she had just on a week to get it in.
Tuesday morning, she knocked on the Head’s door. Sitting in front of the desk, she explained that she had met the Professor who taught at the University, who had told her that she should try for an on-line certificate course, which would give her a certain entry to an undergraduate course when she was able to attend. The Head looked through the letter, and told Willow that she would write her recommendation, email it and then send the hard copy to the address by registered post. She then commented on Jacob’s downfall, asking if Willow had seen any sign of his drug taking. Willow had to own up to Jacob getting very pushy and aggressive in Paris and then in Berlin. After the tour, she really hadn’t seen much of him at all.
That afternoon, Willow was given an early finish to go to the theatre to make sure things were good. She, and Mister Bamborough, checked out all the player’s seating, the score on the music stands, and anything that they thought was needed to look at. They worked together, as equals, to ensure that tonight would be a success. Willow told him about the recording going to Abbey Road to see if it could be made a commercial issue. He told her that he had listened to his CD, and that the music was perfect, and if they clipped the silences, it would be a great feather in their cap to have it joining their other discs for public sale.
He then told her something that he had been told by the Head.
“The Head and I, with our partners, have been invited to a party on the Saturday after we break up. It’s in London, and it’s hosted by the label. I haven’t worn a black tie since I got married. I wonder what it’s all about.”
“Has the school been getting good payments for the classical CD we made in Abbey Road?”
“Yes. It has been what has allowed us to work towards setting up the post-production suit to teach advanced courses.”
“Summer Rose has been invited to that party at the Dorchester. I’ve been told that we’ve achieved some more awards for our albums. May I suggest that the orchestral recording may have passed a half a million sales, and that the school is in line for a Gold Record.”
“Do you really think so? That would be a great honour. Of course, half the album is you and Gina, so they may be buying it for that.”
“We were there as orchestra members, not fly-in celebrities, so any award is the orchestra success.”
“I suppose you’re right. The reviews that I’ve read have all been positive about the quality of the whole orchestra. It will be an interesting evening.”
They took a break and went to the lunchroom for tea with the rest of the orchestra. After that, everyone went to the lockers and changerooms to change into the black outfits. Willow had left hers there yesterday, and her violin had been there since last week. She had the usual long skirt, but had brought a better blouse, with some sparkle, so that she stood out as the leader.
It seemed to work, because, as soon as she was on the stage, she was being asked questions. Most of the questions were due to first-night nerves, so she was able to keep the questioners calm. The Cathedral choir arrived, Margaret and Sandra arrived. Margaret was particularly excited to be singing to a paying audience again. Xavier and the assistants got busy, fitting microphones and testing the PA system.
Xavier went to his station beside the stage, where the new recording equipment was powered up and ready to go. Frank and Dave flitted around the stage, with their cameras, filming the orchestra settling for the show. The doors were opened, and they could hear the audience take their seats. For Willow, this had always been that time when you know why you spent hours in practise, the calm before the musical storm. Only, this time, the piece was more of a tempest.
They tuned up, and, at the allotted time, the curtains opened with the orchestra all seated, with them getting applause, which grew as they stood and the conductor led Willow to her seat as leader, before mounting the rostrum and acknowledging the audience. Silence fell as he turned and raised his baton
Two and a half hours later, there was a standing ovation after the final Amen. The soloists had been magnificent, the ‘Chorus’ had everyone on their feet to end the second part, with the sopranos in the choir climbing higher and higher. Mister Bamborough pointed to various players for recognition, finally going to Willow to get her to stand with him as the whole ensemble bowed before the curtain closed.
The gathering in the lunchroom was joyful. The Head basked in praise from the city dignitaries that had attended, the orchestra were hugged and kissed, Margaret and her friends were cornered by some press who had come just to hear them sing. Harold Withers, from Abbey Road, cornered Willow and Howard Bamborough to tell them that he had tidied up the recording he had been given by shaving the breaks, and the label would be in touch about issuing it. He had a notebook and was writing down all the names of the ensemble. Willow told him that it had been produced by Xavier, so he thanked her and went off to find ‘his protégé’.
The Vines had attended, with Sam saying that he wanted his daughters to learn more of the classics, especially after seeing such a professional performance. Willow found Gina, with her parents and Maisie, and they slid out of the room. Gina and Willow went to their lockers to get their school uniforms, and Willow retrieved her violin. They all went back to Stoneleigh in the company car.
Wednesday should have been anticlimactic, but the big event was the next day. The classes were getting towards revision time, so were easy enough to relax in. Lunch was a lot of hugs and congratulations from the other students who had experienced last night, many of the more faithful ones declaring that it was like being in church. That evening, Willow prepared her outfit for the performance in the Cathedral, opting for a different look, a long dress with three-quarter sleeves and black sequins around the neckline. She also polished her violin and treated the bow. Then, she sat quietly at her desk and filled in all the forms and the questionnaire. Scanning and emailing them to the university, before sealing them in an envelope and taking it down to her mother to post on Thursday, priority mail.
On Thursday morning, she had her garment bag, shoulder bag, and violin case when she got into the vehicle.
“Big show, tonight, Willow.”
“It is, Max. We did get it right on Tuesday, so we should be able to do well tonight. We’ll be filmed and recorded for this one, so you may get to see it on TV at Christmas.”
They picked Gina up, with her own garment bag. At the school, they hung them in their lockers and went to the classes. Lunch was full of expectations with the upcoming performance, with this particular opus creating a lot more interest among the students. Howard Bamborough went around the room, picking out all the orchestra members, saying kind words. None kinder than when he told every one of them that they had Friday off school, as the performance was paramount, but to be at the Cathedral by six on Friday night.
When he got to Willow, he told her to be at the school entrance after lunch, with her violin and outfit, as she would be joining him as leader, to supervise the setting up in the Cathedral. At the end of the lunch break, Gina gave her a hug.
“See you in church, friend leader.”
As the others headed for classrooms, Willow went to her locker to collect her things. When she got to the entry, the truck passed by, heading for the Cathedral. She didn’t have to wait long before she was joined by Miss Russell. Then Mister Bamborough pulled up in his car and they got in. At the Cathedral, there were already cars and vans with BBC-OB logos, and lines of cables were snaking towards the entrance.
Willow put her things in the Chapter House, noting two long tables with chairs, and then they worked to set out all the chairs and music stands. Tom was already there, with Sally, to set out the choir seats and put out the song books. Along with the BBC technicians, they made order out of the chaos. The orchestra were set out so that the conductor could see every one of them, the larger instruments were in place, the microphones for the soloists and choir were placed in position and tested. The cameras and boom microphones for the recording were set in place and checked.
When the rest of the orchestra and the school choir arrived in two coaches, they all sat down in the Chapter House for a light tea. Then they all took turns behind screens to get changed, with the girls lining up for the mirrors in the toilet. The soloists arrived, and they were followed by the Cathedral Choir.
The performance was to start at seven-thirty, the audience started to arrive, and the tension built. The Bishop came into the Chapter House and led everyone in a prayer and blessed the ensemble before going out to take his seat. Finally, it came to the moment when the show was about to commence.
The door to the Chapter House was opened, and the assembled choirs walked out in single file to take their places. The rest of the orchestra were led out by Willow, to take their own places. There was applause as they settled. Willow stood and oversaw the tuning, then sat down, only for the whole ensemble to rise as the soloists came out to take their places, with Margaret in her wheelchair getting some cries of encouragement. Then Howard Bamborough, resplendent in tails, came out and stood beside the rostrum to applause. He went up to his place, tapped his baton for quiet, and then raised it to commence the performance.
They had a short break after the first part, with drinks and comfort stops, then repeated the entrance for the second part. When they arrived at the Hallelujah Chorus, the audience were all on their feet, and Willow could see some singing, although she couldn’t hear them from the sound of the orchestra and the power of the choir.
For the third part, the entrance differed slightly, with the extra players walking on with them. Brent had been waiting for his time in the spotlight, and Nancy was ready with her trumpet. Willow realised just how many of the band were on stage tonight. With her and Gina, there were these two, Edward on French Horn, Herb, Roy, and Victor in the choir. The only ones missing were Vivienne and Bryan, and that was only because the piece didn’t have flute or saxophone in it.
The final, triumphant, movement was full of joy and power, and there was almost a collective indrawing of breath from the audience as the final Amen faded, before rapturous applause. The orchestra were allowed to leave early, while the adults stayed for an after-show chat. Willow picked up her bags, leaving her violin case with all the others, and went back to the school in the coach, where Maisie was there to take the two of them home.
She slept late on Friday and spent the day thinking about her developing plans for the future, as well as tinkering with ideas for another album. In the afternoon, she had an email from Ted, to tell her that the administrators had read her application, telling him that they were impressed with the knowledge of someone so young, and that the Head’s letter had sealed the deal. She would be getting a letter of confirmation, along with a parcel of her course notes and the schedule of submissions for marking. The course would be mainly Zoom lectures in the evenings, two a week, on Tuesday and Thursday nights, with them available as a download afterwards, should she be unable to be present.
Later on, she dressed for the performance, and Maisie picked her up. She was going tonight, and Willow’s parents were going on Saturday, so would take the two girls in. Friday night was a repeat of Thursday, with even louder applause at the end. Maisie took the two of them home, full of praise for the wonderful evening. She also told Willow that she would pick her up on Saturday morning, to go into Birmingham to a shop where the two of them could choose evening gowns for the Dorchester.
On Saturday morning, Wendy joined them, and they had a wonderful time buying very expensive, but beautiful gowns. When they had finally made their choices, they needed the perfect shoes to go with them, then the perfect jewels that matched the dresses. In every shop, they were treated like royalty and spent a small fortune. Willow and Gina used their company credit cards to pay for their, and their mother’s outfits.
In the afternoon, Willow wore a skirt and top for the performance, and the four of them had a meal in the steakhouse before going to the Cathedral. Today was different, as the OB vans had left, taking all their equipment with them, and the playing area was much easier to navigate. Gina and Willow went to the Chapter House as the rest of the ensemble arrived. The audience were better dressed, with many of the city dignitaries and local celebrities present. The Head was there, with her family, as well as several of the teachers.
By now, the ensemble were old hands at this, and there were no fears about the performance. As they entered, there was even some standing ovation, before they had played a note. Tonight was the culmination of a lot of hard work and dedication, and they didn’t disappoint. As the final Amen faded, there was a standing ovation and they took several bows, with one of the Cathedral staff coming out with bunches of flowers for Margaret, Sally, and Willow. With the stage close to the level of the audience, tonight had them mingle, with the Head hugging everyone she could find.
It was a good hour before Willow could put her violin in its case and collect her bag. Gina joined her and they found Ashley and Wendy talking to Sam Vines and Mervyn, then taking their leave and going out to the car, where the truck was waiting to clear the Cathedral for the Sunday services. On the way home, the girls relaxed. After this, it was just revision time, the exams, and then the party in London. They had reached the end of the first term of their third year, and all was good.
On Sunday, it was Gina playing in the church, and they all went to the club afterwards. Reverend Russell had been at the school and the Saturday performances and raved on at how good they were, with Saturday even better. They had a quiet lunch, and then left for home. Willow sorted out her wardrobe to make space for her good dress to hang without creasing, then sat at her keyboard, working up tunes for some lyrics in her head. The album concept was a continuation of the story of ‘Journey’, after the wedding, with a lot of partying and some drug use. She didn’t have any titles, yet, but saved what she had done under a ‘Project next year’ file.
On Monday, she got an email from Jill, with just her and Gina on the receipt line. It told them that they would be flying to Sydney, Australia, on the twenty-seventh of December, with a couple of days there recording a TV show. The TV station will be broadcasting a two-hour show on New Year’s Eve, with the Berlin show taking up ninety minutes, and them talking about it and the formation of Summer Rose for the rest of the time.
They would be part of the local show before the big fireworks display on the Sydney Harbour, then flying home on the first of January. The outward flight would leave in the evening of the twenty-seventh, with a day in Dubai, and an overnight to Sydney. The flight back would be in the opposite direction, leaving in the late afternoon of the first. One companion was allowed, and the flights would be in first class.
She printed that one off and took it down for her parents to read. Ashley told Wendy that she would be the best one to go and look after her daughter, as Maisie would probably be with Gina.
Gina was really excited about the trip on Tuesday morning. At lunch, they went to talk to Jim, getting him to play the organ in the church after the school broke up, with them in London the next weekend and beyond. At lunch, Willow rang Jill to confirm that she was good for the flight, with Wendy and Maisie travelling with them. Jill told her that they would have their own hairdresser/dresser/make-up artist travelling with them so that they would look good, even after fourteen hours in a plane.
Willow also told Jill that the two of them would be staying at the apartments for the party, with them just bringing overnight bags to the Dorchester. She was told that the dresser was staying at the hotel to prepare them for the event.
That evening, Willow told her parents that Maisie would follow them down to London, on the Friday after school finished, and then they could stay in the apartments until the four of them took an Uber to the airport for the flight. Ashley could stay on or come home. If he came home, Maisie would drive them home when they returned.
Revision continued through the week, and Ashley went into Birmingham on Saturday, to get himself kitted out for a black-tie party. That evening, they all met at the club for dinner, and the two girls thought that they would be playing for a sing-along. However, when they saw the stage, there was a big TV set up, with the PA amp plugged into it.
Marianne Gregory © 2025
Chapter 15
After the food had been eaten, Malcolm went to the stage, asked for quiet, and then smiled at the full house.
“Tonight, it should be Willow and Gina playing honky-tonk piano for a sing-along. However, tonight, we’re giving them the night off. Many of you have been here, in Studio Two, to see G-Force playing, and many have danced away the evening to Summer Rose. Tonight, we bring you both these bands. Not on this stage, but in Europe. First will be G-Force in Paris, and second will be Summer Rose in Berlin. The shows go for three hours, and we’ll have a break between them, so be prepared for an entertaining night.”
He stepped away from the stage as the first DVD started. Willow and Gina both watched the show, having been backstage when it was happening. They were pleased that the Gees had moved on, with a lot of original material for Zara to sing. They sipped their lemonade and thought back to that week, now six weeks in the past.
In the break, they tried to answer the questions that were mainly about their own group, but also about Zara. There was about a quarter of an hour of that, and then their own DVD started. Through the PA, the sound of the crowd was almost feral, and the music was loud and proud. At the end of the ninety minutes, the questions came thick and fast. Mainly about the new direction and some bemoaning the move away from the soft rock.
Willow gave her stock answer to those.
“Do you think that we would have filled seven nights in those stadiums if we were singing Carpenters songs? Big venues mean big music. Berlin was the smallest place, with only seventeen thousand. When we played to a big crowd in Coventry, for the first time, it was under nine hundred with a full house.”
Someone asked what sort of money were they earning, so Willow gave them some details about the summer tour.
“When we did the tour around the Midlands and ended in London, last summer, the box office takings were over eighty million. We were paid twenty-five thousand per band, per show. That’s for the band, not each. After the costs, the charities received over forty million. When I say costs, I don’t mean just food and drink. The stages we used cost a quarter of a million to build in each venue, on-ground staff for every show was around a hundred thousand each night. There’s an awful lot of costs that go into putting on a single show, which is why we don’t do it every weekend.”
There were a lot who wanted signatures afterwards, and the younger ones with their parents all wanted a hug. When Willow and Wendy walked home, they were quiet until Willow broke the silence.
“Was that our two DVDs that were shown tonight?”
“No, Malcolm is now one of your biggest fans. He went out and bought those, just to show tonight. I suspect that he may be in there, alone, with your show and the PA turned up during the week. Did you make any arrangements for the church this Christmas?”
“I’m playing tomorrow, and then Jim will take over until we get back from Sydney.”
Sunday morning, Willow was up early to check the hymns, staying in the organ loft to start playing Bach as the bells started. It allowed her to think about the exams to come. Next year, she had given herself an extra load with the certificate course, but there wouldn’t be a first-year musical until after summer. She thought about Jacob, feeling both sorry for him, and also angry at him. She wondered about Garry, who was nice but would be out of the school before her. His kisses had been different; less lust and more loving.
After the service, she went home to work on her books for the exams. Sebastian would be picking the two of them up in the mornings, but they would call an Uber to get home, seeing that the timings were dependant on the exam finishes. Sebastian would be taking the rest of the band to the Dorchester on Saturday morning in a coach and bringing them home on Sunday.
Monday was typical of the rest of the week. Get to school, look at the books for the exam, do the exam, have a break looking at the books for the next one, and so on until it was time to go home. Some days there was only time for two exams, others had four. When Friday came around, she only had one in the morning, but waited in the lunchroom for Gina to finish her last one. Mister Bamborough saw her and sat down.
“A busy year, Willow.”
“It certainly was sir. We got through it, though, didn’t we?”
“We did. And I have to say that ‘we’ included you and Gina, who have done so much more than is usual for a student. It has been a roller coaster ride with that musical and the Messiah. The Head tells me that you’re taking an outside course next year.”
“I’ve been accepted to study Business and Financial Management through the University of London, on-line, with two Zoom lectures a week, in the evening.”
“Not advanced music?”
“No. I have no desire to be ordered around by promoters. If we can keep Summer Rose going for another year, with tours in the holidays, I’ll have enough money to invest in more property and then I can pick and choose what I play and when, should anyone want to hear me.”
“An admirable plan. Are you resting for the holiday?”
“Actually, sir, Gina and I are staying in London after the party, and then fly to Australia after Christmas to record an interview and do some sightseeing, coming back in the New Year, with a day off until school starts.”
“My! That’s a long way for one interview. I hope that they think it’s worth it.”
“We’ll enjoy it. I may start the first day back with a tan. I might bring you back a boomerang for you to conduct with.”
He laughed and stood.
“Have a good trip, Willow. I’m looking forward to seeing what we get up to next term. If nothing else, having you around has made this teaching game a lot more interesting.”
“A Merry Christmas to you and yours, sir. We’ll see you tomorrow at the party. I doubt that you’d look any more dapper than you did in tails last week.”
He was still smiling as he left the room. Ten minutes later, Gina came in and they had lunch before calling for their Uber driver to pick them up outside the school entrance. That afternoon, Willow made sure that her bags were all right. She had an overnight one with underwear, shoes, and a clutch for the party, along with nightwear. She had another with a range of outfits that she was going to leave in the wardrobe in her apartment, and a roller case with enough for a few days in Sydney, knowing that she could buy more on the way there. Her mother had much the same set of cases, and her father had just the one. His PJ’s would be in Wendy’s bag for the night in the hotel, along with his shaver. They all had a garment bag, with Wendy’s and Willow’s being much longer than Ashley’s.
When her parents got home, with both leaving early, they quickly changed, loaded up the company car, and went to collect Maisie and Gina in their car. Willow had called Carlo to book a table for dinner, tonight, so they didn’t stop for any food on the way. The two cars were stopped near the restaurant and unloaded, then Maisie followed Ashley to the parking station as Willow opened up and they put all the bags inside. They carried them up to the apartments, one at a time, and they were all in the rooms by the time the drivers got back.
Maisie was amazed at the quality of the fittings in the apartments as she put her things away in the lower bedroom. Gina, like Willow, liked the upstairs suite better. She didn’t have Brent to keep her warm, but she did have a little friend that had been purchased on-line.
They all went down to have dinner, and then back up to watch a bit of TV until bedtime. Next morning, they had breakfast and got their overnight bags and garment bags, calling an Uber people mover to take them to the Dorchester. When they arrived, the concierge opened the doors and helped them out, snapping his fingers for a couple of uniformed lads to carry the baggage for them. Inside, they were given room cards, and the lads were instructed which rooms the luggage was destined for. They had two suites, side by side, so it was an easy job, and the lads were happy with the notes that Ashley gave them.
The rest of the band, and their parents, arrived before lunch, and they all gathered in the dining room to eat, at a table reserved for them. They were joined by the girl who was in charge of getting them ready for the evening.
“Hello. I’m Lauren, and I’m your queen of all things beautiful. This afternoon, I’ve been given a room in the spa to get you all ready. Well, all the girls. I’ll work with all the mothers first, because I know that you can stay looking elegant longer. Then we’ll work on the four girls in the band. Any gentleman who wants some help in looking good can see me after that. I can tie bow ties. We don’t have time for any of you to use the spa, as it’s by subscription and they take over six hours with a full service.”
After lunch, the first mother went to get her garment bag and followed Lauren from the room. Twenty minutes later, a very elegant woman came in, told her husband that he needed to change, and another mother followed Lauren to be transformed. One by one, the eight others went off to me magically turned into goddesses, with the men and boys going off to their rooms. Then it was Maisie’s turn.
“See you later, Mum.”
When she came back, it wasn’t the careworn mother that had left. Wendy muttered to herself as she stood.
“What was that, Mum?”
“I said that this was going to be a bit different to the hairdresser near the warehouse.”
When she returned, she came back as a heartbreaker angel, in the black off-the shoulder dress with the split up one side, waggling a finger at Ashley to follow her. Then it was Nancy’s turn, followed by Vivienne. The two friends went to their rooms to get their garment bags and underwear, going back to wait their turn. Jill came in.
“How are you two. Waiting for Lauren?”
“Yes. She’s worked on all the mothers. It’s just the two of us left.”
“She’ll be calling the two of you in together. She’s been told to make you look something similar, as the guests of honour.”
“Can you get her to work on the Head and Mrs. Bamborough?”
“I suppose that will be all right, I’ll give their rooms a call to bring their things down and wait to be worked on. We do owe it to the Head, with the way she has been helpful all year. Is everyone here?”
“All except for Jacob. If there are any awards for him, Roy can collect them on his behalf.”
“Didn’t he want to come?”
“He can’t. He’s in a clinic. He picked something up in Paris and got quite sick after we got home, about the time he made that folk album.”
“Oh! I’m sorry to hear that. Any idea when he’ll be back in the band?”
“He’s not coming back. His father has put his foot down and Jacob will be under parental control until he turns twenty-one.”
“So, by ‘sick’ you mean something self-administered?”
“You may say that. I could not possibly comment.”
“Ah! So, the band is now a ten piece. I’ll adjust all the bookings to reflect the new look. It won’t affect the sound, from watching that show. He did look a bit seedy at times. We’ll run with the sickness story if anybody asks.”
She went off, and Vivienne came back, with Lauren telling both of them to follow her. By the time she had finished with them, they looked almost like sisters, but a good few years older than they were. Their ordinary clothes were in the garment bags, on a rack with all the others and a room number marked on them, to be delivered to their rooms before the party.
They went up to their rooms, getting looks along the way. When Willow went into the suite, she saw her father looking like someone in a movie with Fred Astaire.
“Wow, Dapper Dad!”
“Who are you, young lady, and what have you done with my daughter.”
They sat, quietly, until a housemaid knocked on the door and handed Wendy the two garment bags then wheeling the rack off towards Gina’s room. Wendy gave Willow her bag, and they went to hang them in the room. Willow got a text on her phone, telling them to head for the dining room and to leave all phones in the rooms. Wendy and Willow put on their new jewellery and the three of them strolled to the lifts and went down to the floor where the dining room was. They were directed to a separate function room, which looked like a gathering of supermodels and their rich husbands.
The room literally sparkled with jewels, in the band’s case, all of it new. There were singers and members of bands that they had seen on television, but all were keen to meet these new kids on the block who had turned the business on its head during the year. There was a lot of introduction, talking, and swapping of stories of happenings while on tour, and then they were all called to the tables that were set with genuine silverware. The places were set with names, and the parents found themselves at one end, while their children were scatted among a bevy of stars that none of them could have ever dreamed that they would meet, let alone share a meal with. The Head and Howard were in the middle, on opposite sides, with their partners.
At the head of the table were the bosses of the label, with Clive, Jill, and Harold Withers. Xavier, Frank, David and their parents were just on the band’s side of the Head. The meal was wonderful, and all were very careful with eating, and had the napkins spread over their laps to catch any drops.
After the coffee and cheese was placed on the table, and anyone who wanted a different drink catered for, the CEO stood and tapped his spoon on a glass.
“Good evening, everyone. Tonight, we are here to acknowledge those in the room who have made our label one to be envied by others. We are going to hand out some awards. Please come up when your name is called and pose for the official photograph. These will be featured in the reception of our offices for the following year.”
He stood by a table with a cloth over it, removing the cloth to reveal a lot of Gold and Platinum awards. Clive stood by him and started calling out names, along with the winning song, with each one standing, accepting their award, and posing for the photo. For the big group of parents, it was songs and stars they had heard on their radios over the year. Each one received generous applause.
The awards were taken back to the table and proudly exhibited. Then Clive called out the first one that Willow had been waiting for.
“We now have a very rare occasion. Earlier in the year, we had the Orchestra from the Blue Coat School in Abbey Road. The double CD that was recorded has achieved Gold record status. We have three awards here, the first goes to the Orchestra, and will be presented to their headmistress.”
The Head went up and took the award, posing for the camera. The CEO asked her to stay with him, while Clive read out the next name.
“We have another award for the conductor of that fine orchestra, Mister Howard Bamborough.”
Howard went up and received his award and posed, then there was a picture taken of the two of them, smiling broadly. They went and sat down, and Clive carried on.
“The producer who recorded the album is Harold Withers. Come on up Harold.”
Harold took the award, posed for his picture and then turned to the table.
“I have to say that this was the easiest recording session with an orchestra that I have ever had the pleasure to oversee. I will ask that the members of Summer Rose who were in that orchestra to put your hands up.”
There were gasps from the other pop stars when seven of the band put their hands up. The Head had a big grin. Harold went to sit down, and Clive carried on.
“We discussed how to do this before tonight. We will give out all the awards to each person and a photo taken. There are ten of Summer Rose here tonight, and we’ll start with the production crew first. There are two Double Platinum awards for production, to be given to Xavier for recording both the ‘Journey’ album and DVD.”
Xavier went and collected his awards and returned to the table.
“For the vision of the DVD of the ‘Journey’ album, we have one Double Platinum award for both Frank and David.”
The two boys went and collected theirs, posing together.
“For the recording and vision of the album ‘Homegrown’ we have Double Platinum awards for Harold Withers.”
Harold collected his awards, posed for the camera and then spoke again.
“For all you other members of our profession, this album was recorded in real time, in a single take. The recording time was the same as the album time. Please try to emulate these talented youngsters and leave your egos outside the door when you next visit.”
The table was now bare, but the CEO went to another table and pulled the cloth off, revealing another load of awards. Clive smiled.
“Now, to keep things moving along, we will present these to each member of the band, individually, and could you please stand here until everyone has been presented. Then we will take a band picture. There are Double Platinum awards for the CD and the DVD of both ‘Journey’ and ‘Homegrown’, as well as a Gold award for the DVD ‘Live in Berlin’, which passed the mark during the week.”
He called up Bryan, then Edward, Vivienne and Nancy. Then it was Brent, Herb, Victor and Roy. He announced that Jacob’s awards would be collected by Roy, afterwards. Then he called up Gina. She was standing with the others when he looked at his notes. Willow could see six awards left.
“I call on the most talented teenager I’ve ever met to collect her awards. Willow, please come and collect your Double Platinum awards for the two albums, the two DVDs, and the Gold award for the live DVD. There is also another for you. We did overlook the fact that you were the main writer of the entire ‘Journey’ album, so there is a Double Platinum for you as composer.”
Willow went and collected her awards and then went to stand with the others, with the photographer taking several pictures, before they were allowed to return to their seats.
After that, there was a lot of talk, some drinking for the adults, and some discussion between the band and the other stars, being asked how on earth they could record a complete album in one take. The entertainers grouped together, and it wasn’t long before some acapella singing of the various awarded songs broke out as the older ones got slightly inebriated. There was a lot of laughter and smiles, but it did peter out as the stars left. The band and their parents went to their rooms, with fathers helping to carry the awards. When they arrived at their rooms, each one had a big hotel carry bag at the door, so they could carry their awards away on Sunday. Wendy turned her phone on and got Willow to take a picture of her and Ashley looking good, then took pictures of Willow with all the awards for her own album.
The next morning, they were all back to looking like normal people and having breakfast. The atmosphere was happy, and they were all looking forward to Christmas. Jill came in as they were finishing.
“Congratulations to all of you. It was one of the biggest award parties I’ve been to. Now, the back catalogue of albums are taking off around the world, and that’s probably due to the effect of the Manchester and Liverpool overseas fans. The ‘Homegrown’ album has been selling well in Australia, with the ‘Greenhouse’ album starting well. The live DVD has been released, and Willow and Gina will be going there in the New Year on a short promotional tour, getting back in time to go back to school. I’ve been told to go with them to smooth any problems, so we’ll see the New Year in on Sydney Harbour. Thank you all for your hard work, and thank you, the parents, for the support of your children. I’ll see you two at the airport, and I wish the rest of you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.”
They all wished her well and she left. Herb laughed.
“The things that you two do for the band. It will be hard to be on the beach, in your bikinis, while we shiver in the snow.”
“It’s all work, Herb. If we do our job right, we’ll all be down there in summer. It’s their winter, but I’m told that their winter is about as bad as our autumn.”
They all went back to their rooms and packed to leave. They carried their bags down to reception, where some were waiting for the coach. Willow and Gina talked to the other band members, and the parents, while they waited. When Sebastian arrived, everyone got on board and the friends waved them off as their Uber people mover arrived to take them back to the apartments.
They relaxed in the apartments until it was time for lunch, then went down to the restaurant to eat. They took the tube into Regent Street to look at the shops until the lights came on, three adults with a couple of teenage girls in hoodies. They looked, tried things on, and all bought things that they couldn’t have afforded this time last year. That became their next couple of days, meeting up with Ted and the others. Christmas Eve, the restaurant was closed, but the apartment dwellers had a private dinner that Carlo put on, with them watching the Messiah on the big TV over the counter. When the camera panned along the choir, Hazel screamed.
“That’s Herb, right there.”
On Christmas morning, Maisie and Gina joined the Roses for breakfast in their apartment. They gave out small gifts, mainly jewellery, with nobody being left short. The next day was the Boxing Day sales, so they were in the city again, ready to buy up big. In the afternoon, Ashley went and got his car, parking outside as they loaded it with extraneous luggage, keeping the cases and carry-on’s that were going to Australia. Maisie and Gina’s extra things went on the back seat, and Maisie went back to the parking station with him to load them into her own car, ready for when they returned.
The next day, they all had lunch and talked about things for the upcoming year. In the late afternoon, they called for an Uber to take them to the airport, with Ashley waving them off. He had planned to go and see some movies that he wanted to see, and some pictures in art galleries. He would then see in the New Year in Trafalgar Square, having bought a money belt to wear under his pants. It was something that he had always wanted to experience since he had seen a report on TV when he was young. Then, he was going home, via Oxford, to see if that cowboy outfit was anywhere.
Marianne Gregory © 2025
Chapter 16
When the four arrived at the airport, they went to the Emirates desk to check in, to find that they needed to check in at the first-class desk. There, Willow showed the paperwork that Jill had sent her, and their cases were tagged and put onto the conveyor. They went through emigration and a bag Xray, then they were directed to the Club Lounge, where they found Jill and Lauren waiting for them.
“I hope this isn’t going to show up on our next statement as an expense.”
“It won’t, Willow. The four of you have been paid for by the TV station in Sydney. The label has a membership with British Airways, which has a reciprocal agreement with Emirates. Any expenses on this trip will be counted as advertising and promotion by our accountants, so sit back and enjoy the flight.”
They settled in comfortable seats, with the adults enjoying the free wine. Jill made a comment about the party being special.
“How was it special, Jill?”
“In other ones I’ve been to, the pop stars have usually got high as a kite and bad-mouthed each other. I’ve never heard them laugh so much and sing together before. Also, you wouldn’t know this, but we’ve never had a classical album go gold before.”
“Mister Bamborough seemed to think that it was being bought because we’d played organ on it.”
“That may well be the case, but it’s still exposing a whole new demographic to classical music. It will be different when we release the Messiah album, that will be one for the purists. The two albums you recorded in Cambridge and York will show if you’re the magnets that attracts the customers pound. We held back the ‘Musk Rat Quest’ until February, seeing how the Berlin show is selling.”
“It’s not called the ‘Musk Rat Quest’ and you know it!”
“It’s what our promotions people have called it, ever since they listened to the CD. It’s got it’s hook into them. There’s a couple of songs that have been hummed around the office for weeks. These will be the ones pushed to the radio stations.”
“That’s odd. I suppose that I’ve only considered it as a concept album in its entirety.”
When they were called, they followed the other passengers to the plane, where they were settled into the plush seats that would stretch out to be a proper bed. Once they had gained altitude, they were served dinner and given PJs. The seats were far enough apart to have a curtain between, allowing for privacy in changing. Willow didn’t find it hard to get to sleep, even considering how high they were.
They were woken with a breakfast, some five hours later, and the sun was shining in a perfectly blue sky. They ate and washed before changing back into their previous clothes. The plane started to descend towards Dubai. They had taken off at eight in the evening, and they were now arriving in Dubai at just after seven in the morning, so had lost four hours.
When they disembarked, they were led through to a transit lounge, where they were given the choice to stay, or take a guided tour as temporary visitors. They took the tour and were taken into the city in an air-conditioned coach. During the day, they saw various sights, went up to the observation deck at the Birge Khalifa Level one hundred and forty-eight. They ate lunch in a restaurant under an aquarium, and shopped in an arcade that made where they bought their party dresses look like an op-shop. Maisie was looking in one window.
“Good God! Look at that outfit, they’re asking fifteen thousand for it.”
Gina peered at the mannequin.
“That’s just for the skirt, Mum. The top has a tag which says that it’s another ten thousand.”
The coach took them to a posh restaurant where they had dinner, and then it was back to the airport. They were due to take off around half-past nine, and glad to be inside and under cool air, as a TV screen showed that it was twenty-four degrees ‘C’ inside, and still thirty-four outside.
Back in a plane, they were going to be in the air for close to fourteen hours but would be landing at six-thirty in the evening, so losing another five hours. Jill told them that she had spoken to the contacts in Sydney, and it was, indeed, eleven hours ahead of London. On the way back, she said, they would be chasing the sun and with twenty-one hours in the air, in clock time it would only be a ten-hour flight and a very long night.
It wasn’t long after they took off when they were all snug in bed after an exciting day. It was bright and sunny when Willow woke, and she gazed out of the window to see clouds below them, and the sight of water in the clear spaces. They got themselves clean and tidy and redressed. She could see some who had different outfits on this morning. That was something to think about next time. They ate, read the airline magazine, looked at the films on the screen. They looked at the map with a line between Dubai and Sydney, with a red dot that showed where they were. In the end, Willow resorted to laying back and thinking about songs in her mind.
They were given lunch, and then dinner, and then they started the descent into Sydney. By this time, Willow had decided that, if she ever took the trip again, it would be in first-class and never mind about the cost. Lauren came and made Willow and Gina look like stars before she was asked to return to her seat.
Before they landed, the captain thanked them for flying Emirates and that the time on the ground was half past six in the evening, and the temperature was a warm thirty-two degrees. When they disembarked, the airbridge was hot, but the terminal was cooler. They went through customs and immigration, to emerge into the concourse and bright lights of a TV camera, and the sound of some screaming girls.
They were blinking with the light when a man came over with his hand out to shake.
“G’day. I’m Barry Boysee, the host of the TV show. Welcome to Sydney, the beating heart of Australia.”
Jill took his hand.
“Hello, Barry. I’m Jill and we’ve spoken by phone.”
“G’day, Jill. I guess the two young ones are our stars. Let’s get you through this mob and into the cars. You must be knackered from the trip.”
Willow was looking past him at the crowd. She started to make out details, and saw that there would have been about twenty, or so, and all looked about her age. She thrust her case into her mother’s hand and walked towards them.
“Hello. Thank you for coming out this evening.”
The crowd of girls quietened, and one, wearing black jeans and red shirt, stepped forward.
“Hello, Miss Rose. Welcome to ‘down under’. We’re the Summer Rose Fan Club here.”
“Well, that’s a bit different. We’ve never met anyone from a fan club before. In England, we just go to a venue and perform, with some fans wanting to meet us. I suppose we may have a fan club, but the record label would see to that. What’s your name?”
“I’m Evelyn, and I’m the Founder and President. It’s such an honour to talk to you, most pop stars just wave as they breeze through.”
“I’m not a pop star, Evelyn. I’m just a schoolgirl, like you, who just got lucky and worked hard to make things better. I see you have a medallion around your neck. That doesn’t look right.”
“I’m sorry, but it’s plastic from the cheap import shop. The ones on the website would cost seventy-five dollars to get mailed here, and this one was only five dollars.”
Willow delved into her bag, where she still had a few of the real ones.
“Here, Evelyn. These are genuine and my gift to you and your friends for coming out to say hello.”
She gave the packets to the startled girl and pulled her notepad and a biro out of her bag.
“Look, if you write your name and address on this, I’ll send you a box of medallions to give out to your members when I get back home.”
“Would you do that for us, Miss Rose?”
“I certainly would, Evelyn and friends. It’s lovely to be met by friends when you arrive anywhere. So far, the only other person to speak to us was Barry.”
“Him! He’s a right wanker. The current one of a long line of TV pop show wankers. We only watch his show for the stars, even the adverts are better than his blather!”
“I’ll keep that in mind when I speak to him on air. Look, add your email address and I’ll let you know what we’re doing here. Even I haven’t been told that.”
Evelyn added her email and gave the notepad back to Willow, who put it in her bag and reached out to hug the girl, with her friends gasping.
“Thank you, again, Evelyn. I hope we can meet up in the next few days. I’ve got to get back to the others. As they say, the show must go on, and I think I might have put someone out by talking to you.”
She went back to the others, where Barry and Jill were discussing the schedule and hadn’t even noticed she had gone. Willow winked at the others, took her case back, and the five left the two to their business and walked past the bewildered cameraman, to be joined by the fan club.
“Evelyn, this is Gina Summer, my best friend for life. It was us getting together that started Summer Rose.”
Gina had watched Willow, so stopped and gave Evelyn a hug.
“So, Evelyn. Where can we stop for a chat before we get whisked away? I need a cup of tea.”
They were led to a café area, where Wendy and Maisie organised tea for them and drinks for all the girls. That’s where Barry and Jill found them, in conversation with the fans, talking about where they went to school and what they did for fun. For Willow and Gina, it was such a different life, filled with tennis and the beaches. The girls couldn’t agree on the best beach, as there seemed to be half a dozen along the coast of Sydney. The one thing that they all agreed on was that Manly was ‘naff’ with all the tourists.
When Barry and Jill got to them, he looked a bit angry.
“Come along. We have a hotel to get you to.”
“Sit down, Barry. We’re relaxing after that long flight and talking to friends. Your urgency is not our concern. The hotel isn’t going anywhere.”
“But I’ve organised a few of the press to interview you.”
“Let them wait. We’ll tell them the plane was delayed, turbulence can happen, you know.”
“What about my reputation?”
“Reputation? I’ve just spoken to twenty ordinary TV viewers who tell me that they mute their set when you’re speaking. If you’d done any deep research before you got us here, you should have known that I sometimes do things out of the box, and that we’re all still in third year at school, so are normal people and not vapid pop stars with egos the size of this country. Now, sit down and tell us what you want us to do, and I’ll tell you if it’s agreeable.”
He looked bewildered and sat, as his cameraman couldn’t hide his grin.
“All right. We will take you by limo to the hotel on Darling Harbour, where there was an interview session with the local music reporters. Tomorrow, it had been planned to take you on a tour around the Hunter Valley, with a visit to a winery or two, with lunch in the Blue Mountains at Katoomba. Then we will record the show in the afternoon. Your bit won’t take long, as it will be some talk, before we show the entire Berlin DVD, and some more after the DVD to round out the show. We were planning to show the interview you did with the BBC recently, but talking to Jill, here, about using it, we found that the two of you were available.”
“I can tell you that the wineries are off the table. You seem to forget that we’re only fourteen, not twenty-four. Girls, where do you think we should go and have fun?”
There was a chorus of, ‘Luna Park’.
“What’s at Luna Park, Evelyn?”
“It’s lots of rides and fun things, just the other side of the bridge.”
“All right. Barry, tomorrow morning, after a late breakfast, you will take us to this Luna Park. Jill, I’ll pay for any of the fan club that come along. Put it down on my account.”
Gina chimed in.
“Split it between us, Jill. I didn’t spend over twenty hours in a plane to then spend six hours being driven around in a car.”
“Now, Mister Boysee. What are we doing on New Year’s Eve?”
“You have a free day, but we have you as part of our count down to the fireworks show. There’s actually two shows, one for the young ones earlier in the evening, and the big one at midnight. You will be part of the hosting team, along with some station regulars and a popular duo called ‘Funbase’.”
Willow was looking at the expressions on Evelyn and her friends faces.
“What do you think of ‘Funbase’, girls?”
It was one of the others who answered.
“They’re a couple of stuck-up failed uni students who play electropop. They think that their shit doesn’t stink, they’re very Sydney, and they’re both as bent as a paper clip. We give them about three months before they’re forgotten or in rehab.”
“Looks like you’re not the only one around here with a false impression of your reputation, Barry. We’ll go along with that, seeing that you’ve paid for us to be here. Now, we’ll allow you to take us to the hotel. We’ll see you tomorrow at Luna Park, girls. Tell Jill where we can meet.”
It was the cameraman who led them out to the waiting limo. Their luggage went in the back, and they had some hugs with the fans before getting in with Jill. Wendy, Maisie, and Lauren were in another limo.
They sat with the air-conditioning going. Willow asked the driver why they weren’t going.
“We have to wait for Mister Boysee, young lady.”
“Do you know where we have to go?”
“Yes, but…”
“Barry can get a cab, take us there.”
She saw his grin in the mirror as they pulled away from the terminal. He looked in the mirror and saw her looking.
“Barry was getting into the other car with the cameraman as we had left, Miss. He’s not going to be happy at this.”
Gina laughed.
“No happier than when Willow put him in his place in front of those fans of ours. I thought some of our pop show hosts in Britain were bad, but he’s really the dregs.”
“He’s not the first in this country, not by a long way. It will be fun driving you two around tomorrow.”
“We’re not going far, just to Luna Park to have a bit of fun with our fans.”
“What, no wineries?”
“We’re fourteen, sir, and not allowed to drink yet.”
“I’ve seen the Berlin video; you looked a lot older there?”
“The magic of cosmetics is a wonderful invention. It even made the guys look older.”
“I brought my daughter’s copy of the Berlin show with me. She insisted that I try to get your autographs. I told her that talking to the customers doesn’t usually happen, but she insisted.”
“Sounds like your daughter has done more research than Barry ‘G’day’ Boysee. Bring her along tomorrow, there’ll be at least thirty teenagers there to have fun with us on the rides.”
“Oh, dear. The other presenters won’t be happy. They put on a show for teenagers but have no rapport with them, too busy trying to get promoted to more mainstream shows.”
“We’ve been told that the viewers mute the blather, and just put the sound on for the video clips. The station could save money by just showing back-to-back videos. It does happen in other places.”
They arrived at the hotel, and he pulled up by the main door. The other limo pulled up behind them. Their luggage was whisked away by uniformed lads, and they thanked the driver for a safe trip. They all followed Jill into the foyer, where she collected all their room cards and gave them out. They were in three suites, each with two bedrooms. The luggage had already gone up and Jill asked the reception where the reporters were. The receptionist grinned.
“Two have spent some time in the bar, madam. There is one in the lounge reading a book. He is more of a classical reviewer than a pop reporter.”
“Thank you. We’ll just go and see him.”
In the lounge, they saw him on a seat, reading a book, with an empty cup and saucer on the table in front of him. Willow told Wendy and Maisie to go and rest, and that they would join them in a little while. Jill went up to him, introduced herself and then introduced Willow and Gina, then left them to handle the questions, knowing that they could hold their own.
The friends went and sat down on the two seats opposite him. He gazed at them for a few seconds, and then spoke.
“Why are a couple of good classical players wasting your time with this pop nonsense?”
Willow laughed.
“Perhaps because it makes people happy, we’re good at it, we have fun, and it makes us a lot of money. Pop has always had a use-by date, and it will allow us to spend the rest of our lives in the way we want. How much of our classical work have you heard?”
“A friend of mine has sent me the double CD of an orchestra, with you two playing organ solos on one of the discs.”
“Do you have a shop in Sydney that sells BBC products?”
“There is one, yes.”
“Then have a look for ‘Coventry Classics one and two. One is that orchestra in Coventry Cathedral, with the final piece as Saint-Saens Organ Symphony. Two is also in the Cathedral with the final piece as Beethoven Nine. If you can’t find them, go on-line at the Blue Coat School in Coventry, which has links to all the works that the orchestra have done. The latest is just about to go on the market with us performing the Messiah, which was a BBC show Christmas Eve in Britain. There will also be a BBC product of us with the orchestra with a performance in the Albert Hall as part of the last week of the Proms. That one had Gina playing Grieg.”
“That’s an impressive resume. I’ll have to look at these and write a story based on your output. What do you play?”
Gine answered that one.
“I’ve played piano since I was seven. My mother would drive me to the teacher and leave me there for a few hours. I’ve played piano in the Junior Orchestra at Blue Coat since I started there. It was Willow who introduced me to the organ, by getting me to try out the organ at the church in Stoneleigh, where we both live, and that led to us alternating for services there, which led to us alternating in the Cathedral for about four months.”
“You’ve played hymns and church music a lot?”
“We both have. There are two albums that Willow didn’t mention, as we both recorded double albums at the end of our summer. One with the Kings College Choir, and the other at York Minster, which is religious music and some historical madrigals. Actually, we have both recorded one-hour episodes for ‘Songs of Praise’ at Saint Martins in the Fields church in London. We did that after we recorded our ‘Homegrown’ album at Abbey Road. That was the week after we recorded the orchestra album that you have.”
“What about you, Willow?”
“I’ve played piano and violin since I was in primary school. I also play clarinet, which is my usual seat in the orchestra. I did act as first violin and leader for the Messiah. The organ playing came about as a strange situation before I started at the Blue Coat, and it’s been my main instrument since.”
“How much further are you going to take it?”
“I’m not studying music after high school but will concentrate on business and financial management. That’s not to say that I won’t do further studies along the way. Gina has set her sights on being a soloist pianist.”
“I’ve looked at the Berlin show a couple of times before I came to talk to you. Are any of the others in the orchestra?”
“All of them. The four wind players are regulars, Brent, our drummer, is a percussionist, and plans to do that as further study. The three guitarists have all performed in the Messiah as part of the choir. Jacob, who played the semi-acoustic in the show, has performed the Rodrigo concerto, and did so at the proms. He is sick, at the moment, and unlikely to be playing with us again.”
“Yes, I noticed that he didn’t look happy. I believe that you have a recording for the two-hour show tomorrow, and that you’re going to be part of the team to count down to the fireworks. Then what?”
“Then we get on a plane and go home. We start our second term on the fifth. It’s only a short holiday in Britain. If there’s enough interest, we may be back down here in our summer holiday, which starts at the end of July.”
“Look, I won’t hold you up. It’s been a long day for you. Thank you for being so forthright with your answers. I’ll look at the rest of your impressive careers and will write a piece which will reflect your obvious classical training that allows you to be the pop performers with that slight difference that makes it commercial. Now that you’ve told me this, I’m remembering why some of your music sounded interesting. It’s the infusion of old masters that makes them better. I wish you goodnight.”
They all stood, and he shook hands with both of them, before they went off to their room for a well-earned sleep.
Next morning, they had a large breakfast and felt better after it. None of them could be certain of the time, and the waitress told them that jetlag was usual travelling in the opposite direction to the sun, and that they would have a better time when they go the other way. They had all bought summer dresses which made them feel a bit better when they went outside to the limos. There was a teenage girl standing with the driver.
“I took your advice, Miss Rose, and brought my daughter along. She’s been to Luna Park several times, so can show you the ropes. Samantha, this is Willow Rose and Gina Summer.”
The friends broke the ice by giving the unsure girl a hug.
“Come and sit with us in the back, Samantha. Jill, what are you doing for the day?”
“I’ll come to the park with you to pay for everyone, and then your mothers, Lauren and I are going to do that winery tour that’s been organised. We’ll see you back at the hotel, after you’ve done the recording. Remember, treat young Barry gently, as you may have broken him yesterday.”
Marianne Gregory © 2025
Chapter 17
On the short trip to the Luna Park, Gina gave Samantha a medallion that she had in her bag, and they both carefully signed her copy of the Berlin show. They did a loop around to take the road over the bridge, and then another loop on the other side to arrive at the entrance to Luna Park. There must have been about fifty teenagers waiting for them and they cheered as the three got out of the car. Barry was there, with a grinning cameraman, and a sour-looking woman, made up as if she was a teenager.
Jill went over to Evelyn and made sure of the numbers that were joining the other three and went to pay for four hours of entertainment for all of them, giving Willow, Gina, and Samantha a lanyard, and then going to the others to hand the remainder out. When she had finished, she came back to Willow.
“There you go, you have a lot of friends for being in the country for less than twenty-four hours. Me and your mothers are heading to the hills to try out the local beverage and see if we can get pissed. Have fun. Oh! You have my permission to break that lemon-faced bitch. She wasn’t very nice on the phone, but Clive will be upset if it’s me that broke her. You, you have a free pass. See you later.”
With that, she went to the car and left, with Wendy and Maisie waving as they were driven off. Barry and the woman came over.
“Willow and Gina, this is Meryn Tolberry. She is a co-presenter of the show and was looking forward to showing you the Blue Mountains.”
“Nice to meet you Meryn. If you want to join our parents and get pissed, I did see a radio in the limo, I think that the other car wouldn’t have gone far. We could always get it back for you.”
“I beg your pardon!”
“I can repeat it if you want. The longer you wait, the further that car will be away. Make up your mind. Wineries or some fun with the ones who actually watch your show, if only for the videos.”
“I’ll stay, for a little while.”
“Well, you’d better go and get a lanyard, we seem to have run out. Come on Samantha, we’ll go and meet some more fans.”
The driver said that he had a book to read, so Samantha gave him a hug and rushed after Willow and Gina, who were going over to the big crowd. Willow called out in her leaders voice.
“Now, listen up. You all have four-hour passes. We will be here all morning but have to go back to the hotel to get ready for the TV show.”
She turned to Barry.
“Do you have a live audience?”
“Not usually, what are you thinking of?”
“If you can organise a coach, we could transport a lot of teens to be a captive audience in the studio. That way, they may even listen to the two of you, as long as you don’t do the usual blather and stick to the facts.”
“I don’t know. It would be something different. We could shift studio where there’s seats. What do you think, Meryn?”
“I think that this girl has you around her little finger, Bas. I’m all for it if it means that you get thrown off the show. Don’t worry, Willow, if he’s too chicken, I’ll organise it. We’ll even give you and your pals lunch. You look good enough to go directly on the screen already, so you don’t have to go back to the hotel.”
She went off to one side and rang a friend in the studio, another one with little respect for Barry. The cameraman had all the previous talking recorded for private use, once he and his friends got together in the pub. Willow and Gina went to tell the fans that they would be taken to the studio by coach, given lunch, and would be in the studio for the interview. There was another cheer and a lot of smiles. Then, they all trooped into the funfair to test out the rides.
Over the course of the morning, Willow and Gina rode the rides with most of the group, ate things that were never designed to let one lose weight, and helped Barry and Meryn become less stressed. The cameraman was everywhere, filming the hosts and the stars as they interacted with the teens. As far as he was concerned, the arrival last night would be a great snippet in tonight’s news hour, as well as added to the countdown show. He knew that the news hosts that night would be keen to feature Barry and Meryn with actual smiles on their faces. The two of them would find it hard to live this down, and it couldn’t have happened to two more deserving people.
By the time the coach arrived, all of the teens had phoned home to tell their parents where they could be picked up, later in the day. They all crammed onto the coach, now firm friends, and the limo followed it to the studio, where they were welcomed in and shown to the canteen by Meryn’s friend who had to ask which ones were Willow and Gina. The driver sat with his daughter, Willow, Gina, and Evelyn at a table. They were all given soft drinks and then trays were brought out with plates of pies and chips.
When they were led to a studio, there was a tier of seats, which the fans went and sat on. Willow and Gina were led through to a room to be prepared for TV, something they were now used to. When they came back, there was a cheer from the fans, and then they joined Barry and Meryn, with them on one couch, and the friends on another. Barry opened the show with the welcome and introduced the two stars. The discussion was almost interesting. He had obviously made a major decision and done some quick research, and was aware of their situation at school, their involvement in the orchestra and even the extra albums they had made.
The longer it went on, the sourer Meryn got, and the more she showed herself up with questions about their favourite food, clothing, and even boyfriends. Willow could see Barry quietly enjoying her trying to derail the interview, as he stayed with his notes. Then he said.
“Well, this show is all about the new DVD, ‘Live in Berlin’. We’ll play it first and then come back to Willow Rose and Gina Summer.”
The director called cut. Meryn stood up.
“I’ll be back in a few minutes, and we can finish this.”
Barry looked at Willow, grinned and then called out.
“Does anyone want to actually see the show?”
There was a roar of ‘Yes’, and he turned to Willow.
“Looks like my co-host is going to have to delay her nastiness.”
They had a projector that showed the video on a plain wall of the studio, and good audio, so it was like being in a cinema. They sat and watched the show, with Barry coming to sit next to Willow, and her pointing out moments in the show that made him realise just how professional the band was, having been used to bands with small repertoires and big egos.
When the show finished, Meryn hadn’t returned, so they finished the show, with Barry able to ask questions based on the information Willow had imparted. She was able to expand on the look of Jacob, explaining that he was currently in hospital and that they would carry on as a ten-piece. With the final cut, the director came over and asked Barry if he wanted to help out for the countdown, tomorrow. When Barry said ‘yes’, the director turned to the teenage audience.
“You have been a great help today. We have room for you to be in the background of our live show tomorrow night. We will have the coach outside at seven, so any of you that are allowed to join us should be here by then, and you’ll see the fireworks from our commentary position. The coach will bring you back here for your parents to pick you up at about one in the morning. I know that there’s several cars outside, so go and see if you’re allowed. Thank you for making the show something better.”
Willow and Gina were taken off to be returned to normal look, and then they joined an excited Samantha and her father, to head out to the limo. Outside, the friends spent some time being introduced to a lot of parents, by their excited children. Samantha looked on, alongside her father, and then turned to him.
“Daddy, those two are so sure of themselves. They’re the same age as me but seem years older. I wonder if it would help if I took up an instrument. Gina told me that learning to play music without reading the score helps the brain, everyone in Summer Rose are ‘A’ students and heading for university.”
“We’ll have a look in the music shop and see what we can find. You do realise that it would be a lot of practise and some extra tuition.”
“That’s all right, Dad. I’ll stop playing video games, none of the band do much of that.”
“It’s a pity we don’t have a school here that’s as good as the one they go to.”
He had a little smile. He had been trying to wean Samantha off video games for several months. Perhaps this could be the turning of that particular corner.
He took the girls back to the hotel. The other limo was in one of the carparks, so he parked his and escorted his passengers into the hotel. The other driver was sitting with the four women when they went into the lounge. Jill stood up and came to give Willow a hug. Willow could smell a little wine on her breath.
“Welcome back. How did the show go”
“Ask Samantha, she was in the audience.”
“Audience! Barry told me that they did the show in an empty studio.”
“Not today. That Meryn ordered up a coach for the fans, and we were all taken to the station for lunch and then to a studio with seats for the fans. I thought that Barry was very different and had done some homework. Meryn got more and more pissed off and didn’t return after we saw the video. That would look great in a cinema.”
“Let me get this right. You broke her and mended him. We’ll have to ask Evelyn what she thinks, sometime.”
“You can talk to her tomorrow night. The whole group have been invited to attend the countdown at the commentary site. The station is putting on a coach to take them there and take them back.”
“That’s not what I had been told. That Meryn said that she was getting a load of trendy friends to look cool as the backdrop.”
Samantha’s father was asked if he would like to join them for dinner, so he rang home to tell his wife that he, and Samantha, would be a little late. So, it was nine of them who sat down for dinner. There was a TV in the corner, and the news came on at six. Jill gestured to the waitress to put the sound up for a few minutes, as the screen showed an Emirates plane touch down, and then a crowd of teens in the terminal. The voice-over spoke about two British teenage pop stars arriving, and then spoke about the unusual attitude of the stars as Willow went over to speak to them. It went on to say that the pop stars took time out to enjoy the delights of Sydney, with some great footage of them all having fun on the rides, with close-up pictures of Barry and Meryn smiling among a bunch of teenagers. The waitress was watching and snorted.
“That’s one reputation in the bin. That Meryn has built a persona as a sophisticated mentor of older teens. Those pictures are going to kill her.”
She went and turned the sound down again, and Jill smiled at Willow.
“The smiling assassin strikes. All done with a minimum of violence.”
They had the dinner and said goodnight to the drivers and a sleepy Samantha, then went up to their rooms. Willow sat and looked out of her window, across Darling Harbour, to the Opera House, looking exactly like it did in pictures she had seen. It had been a good day, with a lot of fun at Luna Park. It was an experience that had evaded her in her younger days, and the joy of being on the rides with a load of friends was something she had often wondered about. She watched a little TV and went to bed early, after a shower. The travel had caught up with her.
Next morning, they walked around the Harbour to the City and wandered through the shops. It was so much similar to what you see in Britain, and it felt, at times, as if they hadn’t left home. What was different, was one shop that sold a lot of New Zealand products, and she bought a few pure merino sleeveless tops for when she got home.
They had dinner in the hotel, and then went to change for the show. It was going to still be hot, but they needed to look like pop stars, so had brought light shifts that were all right with open sandals, but flashy enough to stand out. The two limos picked them up and took them to a place closer to the mouth of the harbour, where they had a good view towards the bridge. It was an iconic view that they had seen on TV before. They met the other presenters.
Barry was there and hugged the two friends.
“Thank you for yesterday. I’ve been trying to live up to Meryn and her ‘cool’ for some time, never realising how hard she’s been working to prise me out of the show. The director has told me that he was appalled at her attitude in the first part of the interview, and is being moved to commentating on sport, something she hates with a passion.”
He introduced them to Bluey Jones, a gruff New Zealander who was on another music quiz show, and his co-host Maddie Parker, a vivacious late twenties with a sparkle of fun in her eyes.
“The news is racing around the business about Meryn. Three studio friends have already rung me to tell me the news, as well as how good Barry is now. Who would have thought that he had it in him.”
The duo from ‘Funbase’ was everything that had been described. Vacuous, totally gay, and with egos as big as the bridge. Willow decided that she was going to stay well away from them during the night. The coachload of fans turned up and the atmosphere became party-like. There were several monitors, which showed what was going to air, and it was getting towards the end of the news, with a picture of this part of the country with several numbers in the high thirties and low forties for tomorrow. Following was the two-hour show which was timed to finish for the nine ‘o’ clock fireworks. There were plenty of seats, so everyone just relaxed and talked.
The director gave Jill a DVD of the edited show for her records and told her that the money they had spent had been well worth it, if not in ways that they had thought. Some of the fans sat at the monitors and watched the show, squealing whenever they thought that they saw themselves. When it finished, the hosts were ready to go live, introducing themselves and the guests. The half an hour before the first fireworks was made up of chat, and some prerecorded music from local singers.
They all laughed and clapped with the first session of fireworks, a brighter effect to counter that it wasn’t fully dark. Willow suspected that it was aimed and those watching the show at home, because there didn’t seem to be many leaving the vantage places when it had finished.
After that it was work for the next two and a half hours, some of it trying to stop ‘Funbase’ making silly remarks and giggling. By eleven, the two of them were stretched out on the grass and snoring, which forced the director to get some help to take them away. He apologised to Jill and wondered if it had upset any of the fan club. Jill told him that the fan club had told them, soon after they had arrived, that ‘Funbase’ would be forgotten or in rehab in a very short time.
Willow and Gina were sitting with Evelyn and Samantha when the cameraman came over with Bluey and set up to film them from their level. Bluey sat on the grass, and, when they went live, started to talk to them as if they were friends at a picnic. They compared the English school life with the Sydney version, with Evelyn and Samantha being quite open with him. Gina had to tell him that they had been transported to and from school with security, and they spoke about the summer tour, laughing about getting the Liverpool audience singing the club song.
Bluey suddenly face-palmed.
“I remember that. It was six months ago. I saw it on Liverpool TV. I thought that it had to have been part of the set. You’re telling me that it was a spur of the moment thing?”
“We had talked about it during the day, while standing beside the Mersey, after visiting the British Music Experience. The next night, we repeated it and had the entire first team on stage with us, wearing their jerseys.”
“What about this other band that toured Europe with you, G-Force?”
“They are all fifth formers at our school, and Zara, the singer, plays cello in the orchestra. We did the Monday night of the last week of the Proms, in the Albert Hall, and we needed an encore but didn’t have one. She went out and played the ‘Swan’ and it was beautiful.”
He then said that it was time to see a clip of G-Force, and they went to part of the Paris show. As it was playing, he wondered if the two bands would come down and play for them. Gina just said that if it’s organised, it would be nice, as long as it was at a time when it wasn’t so hot, but still nice enough for them to play big venues. He smiled.
“Leave that with me, I have friends.”
At midnight, they saw the main fireworks, and it had been worth waiting for. When it finished, the hosts signed off with a thanks to all their guests, and people started to leave. Willow glanced at the monitor, to see the clip from the BBC interview playing, with the credits rolling. She looked over to the bridge and decided that ‘Smoke on the Water’ fitted quite nicely.
The fans were all teary at saying farewell, and Willow promised Evelyn that she would be in touch, with Evelyn hugging her hard enough to make breathing difficult. They were taken back to the hotel in the limos, with Samantha very sorry to see them go. Gina took her details and promised to be in touch. She hugged them both, with tears in her eyes, at the hotel, and her father thanked them both for such an uplifting couple of days as her made sure his daughter was strapped in.
They slept in, as the flight out wasn’t until a quarter to ten that night, to arrive in Dubai a bit after five the following morning, after fourteen and a half hours in the air. They remembered what they had been told. It was going to be a long night. They were having breakfast and talking about what they could do on a very hot day. The hotel was part of a long row, so they could walk quite a way, and look at lots of shops, while still inside. They came to a shop, on the ground floor, that sold boat tours of the harbour, with a tour starting in five minutes and the boat moored ten yards away.
They bought tickets and walked across to the boat, going inside where the air was much cooler. There was a small crowd of sightseers when the boat cast off, with the speakers immediately coming to life with the captain telling them about the Opera House as they edged out into the harbour. From a side window, they could see the bridge looming over them, so Willow and Gina went to a little shop that sold expensive souvenirs, buying big hats with a picture of the bridge on them, and going up on deck to look up as the boat passed underneath. Willow also had bought a small boomerang with a picture of the Opera House on it for Howard Bamborough.
The breeze across the water was almost refreshing, so they stayed on the deck as they went past Luna Park and a little way further, before the boat made a wide turn, to head back. As they went under the bridge again, they thought that it might be a very short trip, but they carried on towards the mouth of the harbour, reaching the open sea before turning back and heading for the dock once more.
All the way, they were talking about the events of their short stay, and the effect that having a fan club around them had on the way they thought. Both had lived almost solitary childhoods, and being among so many of their own age, just having a good time, had been cathartic for them. As they went back up the harbour, they went and joined the others inside.
“Jill, do we have a fan club in England?”
“We do get a sackful of mail for you every couple of days, Willow. They are usually gushing praise and a request for freebies. We have a stock of photos, done at the Abbey Road session, which have been overprinted with your autographs. We generally send back the band picture, with an individual picture if asked for. As for actual fan clubs, there have been a few that have sprung up, and these are listed on the label website, in a list of all the fan clubs which our other artists have. I am aware that there have been a few that have sprung up in Europe, but this was the first I had heard of anywhere else. What do you want to do about it?”
“I promised Evelyn that I would send her some medallions to replace those tacky plastic ones, and I thought I would get Peter to send her a bunch of posters as well. I have her email address, so I’ll send her a message when I get home, to tell her I’ve arrived, and I’ll ask her if she knows of any other clubs in Australia. That Bluey, last night, asked us if we’d play a tour and told us that he had friends, so you may have somewhere for us to go next summer.”
“It would have to be worth it because of the logistics. Getting ten of you here, with the extras, can be expensive. It would have to be a multi-city tour to make it worthwhile. Ticket prices here are a bit cheaper for new bands, so we’ll have to be playing big venues to make it work. We’ll wait and see what happens. Last night was a blast, in more ways than one.”
When they got back to the hotel, there was a message for them at reception. The director of yesterday’s show wanted to talk to them, and asked if they could call. Jill rang him, and he told her that he would send a minibus to pick them up and take them to lunch. They had time to go and freshen up and were in the reception when a minibus, with the station logo on the side, pulled up. Barry got out and came into them.
“Good morning to you, my friends. It is a good morning, as it’s the first day of the year and the first day of my new contract. I have a music show to host, with a mainly teenage audience, and have been instructed that if I carry on like I did with you, the contract has no limit. I, and the station, am pleased to take you for lunch before you go home.”
Marianne Gregory © 2025
Chapter 18
He helped them into the minibus, and they settled as the driver took them towards the city but took a road that put them on the New South Head Road, back towards the site of last night’s commentary position. Eventually, they arrived at Watsons Bay, and stopped outside Doyles on the Beach. At first, the friends thought it to be just a fish and chips café, but inside, when they met up with the show director, the Head of Entertainment, and Bluey, they found that it was much more than that.
They had a table that looked up the harbour to the city skyline in the distance. The food was sublime, with Willow being beaten by the size of her ‘surf and turf’ plate, never having so much meat on a plate before, not forgetting the king prawns and the chips she had asked for.
The talk was about last night and the show. Everyone at the station was happy with how it progressed, with a lot of phone-in comments on how friendly the later part was, with interesting conversation, rather than tipsy socialites gibbering. The two-hour show was slated to be repeated in other states during the next month and had already been syndicated to a station in New Zealand.
Of course, they wanted more, only to be reminded that the band were still at school and unable to dash around the world at a moment’s notice. Jill stated that any visit by the full band had to be linked to a tour, or else it wouldn’t be viable. The friends and their mothers listened as the talk flowed to and from, with the upshot being that the station would back a promoter, should one eventuate, with free advertising and a promotional show, filmed by the BBC, in Britain, to be shown a few weeks before any tour.
Lauren was quietly recording the conversation, to be played to Clive and others when they got back to London. Bluey asked the girls if they would have any new material by then. Willow told him that there was already an album that hadn’t been released yet, and that she was thinking about a sequel album to the ‘Journey’ one, that took the newly married girl beyond the wedding and into real life. She didn’t tell them that last night, before she went to sleep, she had written the title of every song in her notebook, all names of various fireworks.
The lunch was a protracted one, with conversation filling the period between the main meal and dessert, which gave Willow stomach space for some tiramisu. The adults drank wine, and the girls had ginger beer. They did find out that Meryn had been offered a new role in a commentary team for the upcoming tennis season, starting with a junior role with the Australian Open. Although it would include a lot of overseas travel, she had taken a few weeks off ‘to consider her options’. Barry was now the ‘King of the Kids’ and there would be clips of him on the rides to prove it.
Jill asked the question about whether showing the full Berlin show was wise, considering that people could have recorded it. She was told that everyone at the fireworks would have left the TV off as they were there, and it was unlikely to affect the sales. When the lunch wound up, the visitors were thanked for their professionalism and friendliness, as well as their honesty and ability to round up so many of the show’s demographic at a moment’s notice.
Barry stayed with the others, to talk about future directions, as the minibus took them back to the hotel. The rooms had been booked until the following morning, so there was no rush to pack. They were all too full to eat, knowing that there was likely to be a snack on the plane. Gina and Willow found an ice-cream shop near the hotel and sat in the shade with ice creams in tubs, as cones would have melted too quickly.
“So, friend. We may have a tour down here in the summer. That would be interesting.”
“Yes, it will. It will longer distances between shows, and there are only a small number of places with a big enough population to play at, if you include New Zealand, so there may be time in between shows to sightsee. I believe that there are big enough sporting venues in each city, so we could be playing outdoors again, and I think the only difference will be that some grounds might be ovals, rather than rectangles. But that’s for others to work out. For us, it’s getting home, sleeping in our own beds, and going to school to start another term. I wonder what the Head will say at assembly?”
“I wonder what the Bishop will want at Easter!”
Back in their rooms, they all packed for the return. It would be the long fourteen-hour trip to Dubai, with a long night, and leaving again for London after two in the afternoon, to arrive, after a seven-hour flight, just three and a half hours after they had taken off. In Dubai, Jill had told them that they would spend the time in the International Lounge, with a café and shower facilities, so to pack something to change into in the carry-on.
They checked out, and a stretch limo took them to the airport, the last gift of a grateful Barry. There, they went through the usual procedure to end up in a lounge, being looked after. Some of the other passengers were businessmen and women going to London to see various companies, and the girls had polite requests for autographs in the new diaries, with nice comments about the show last night. It was certainly a different fan base from the last couple of days. The first flight was, as they had been told, a very long night, as it dark when they took off, arriving as the sun was rising over the desert. They enjoyed a late-night snack, a long sleep, a ‘midnight’ break, more sleep and a very early breakfast as they began the long descent.
They landed after five in the morning and were due to leave after two that afternoon. They took their carry-on luggage to the first-class transit lounge, where there were comfortable seats, air-conditioning, showers, and a view out over the airport. They all took showers and came out in new outfits for the trip to London, having learned a lot on the way out. They all sat in the comfortable chairs and spoke about the trip. Jill and Lauren were upbeat about the whole thing. The pre-fireworks show looked good, the fireworks were fun, with the overall show coming out as positive. The talk about the tour was something that had been hoped for, without any real thought that it could happen.
Wendy and Maisie had enjoyed a great holiday, in a place they never thought that they’d see, had met a lot of nice people, and had a great deal of pride in how their daughters had behaved. Jill asked the girls about the interview with the reporter. Gina laughed.
“He tried to get us off-balance by insulting us, and ended up telling us that he had to do a lot more research before he wrote anything. All he had heard was the school orchestra album and the Berlin show. He thought that we were selling ourselves short with the rock.”
They ate lunch and then prepared for the next leg of the trip. They would be landing before six, that same day, and it would be dark by then, but over six hours would have the sun shining on the wings. They had time to watch a movie, and eat a good dinner, before the descent started. They were coming home and looking forward to sleeping in the apartments that night.
They were met by Ashley, with a limo waiting outside and sporting a bandage around his head. Wendy hugged him.
“What on earth happened to you? I can’t leave you alone for a couple of days and you’re injured. Does it hurt?”
“Not as much as my pride, darling. Let’s get heading home and I’ll tell you about it.”
They had hugs with Jill and Lauren, who had called for an Uber to take them to their homes and went out to the waiting limo.
On the way, Wendy touched his arm.
“Now, you bad boy, tell all!”
“Well, I had a nice couple of days going to see a couple of movies I wanted to see. I decided that I wanted to see the fireworks along the Thames. I had originally thought about going to Trafalgar Square but ended up on the Embankment; just the right time and place to be involved in a battle between two warring street gangs. I only had a money belt with some cash, and a wallet with a twenty-pound note, in case I was robbed. I was trying to get out from the melee when the boys in blue arrived, not in the mood to be nice. I copped a baton to the head, and woke up in a van, heading for Charing Cross police station.”
“Why didn’t you tell them who you were?”
“They wouldn’t listen. A lot of the protesters looked just like me and only a few had whatever tribal outfits they usually wear. It took until morning before I was allowed a phone call, and I called Carlo to ask Ted to come down and vouch for me. They didn’t even let me out for that and just showed him my mug shot!”
“That would be difficult, seeing that you look like a serial killer on your passport.”
“Thank you, my darling, I love you too. Anyway, he confirmed what I had told them, and they allowed someone to look at my head and dress it. He took me to the apartment, where I’ve been living on paracetamol before coming to pick you up.”
“Have you kept the mug shot? It would make a great Christmas card for your parents.”
“Who stole my loving wife and sent me this comedian? I didn’t even get to see the fireworks.”
Willow grinned.
“But you did see stars, Dad, didn’t you?”
“Not you as well. What happened on your trip that sent you here with such cheerfulness? There I am, injured and hurting, and all I get is jokes. It’s enough to take all the fun out of being a loving husband and father.”
“It’s OK, Dad. We’re just happy to be home and to see you alive and mostly well. We had a big few days. Your wife went off and got pissed in wineries while Gina and I saved one career, while destroying another, and hosted fifty teenagers in a funfair. We also made a two-hour TV show and then spent over five hours as hosts for the Sydney Harbour fireworks. Nothing out of the ordinary, for us.”
He smiled, for the first time in a couple of days.
“That’s something you’ll have to expand on when we drive home. We’ll leave when you all wake up in the morning, so you have a day at home before you start school, and we go back to work.”
When they arrived at the apartment, it was a bit like coming home for Willow, to be able to snuggle with City Shaun tonight and have time for herself. Ted came out of the restaurant as they were unloading the bags.
“Welcome home, International Ladies of Mystery. I suppose that you’ve been told about my mission of mercy, saving Ashley from the dark cells of the local plod? He certainly saw in the New Year in an interesting place, not usually seen by us pillars of society.”
“It’s all right, Ted. They’ve already given me heaps on the drive here. I’m genuinely sorry for myself, but I will rise above this!”
He put his fist up in the air and staggered a bit. Wendy took his arm.
“Come on, Sir Knight, let’s get you upstairs, unless you want to stay down here, and we’ll join you for something to eat.”
“I’ll sit with Ted and wait for you, darling. Just one climb up the stairs will be enough for today.”
The women carried their luggage up to the apartments, had a comfort stop, and then went back down to join Ashley and the other two couples for a meal. Over the course of the dinner, the others were treated to a potted version of their time in Australia. Even though they had a lot of sleep in the plane, the effect of night falling was enough to send them all for some more slumber after dessert.
After breakfast in the restaurant, the girls waited by the door as Wendy, Ashley, and Maisie went off to get the cars. They loaded the luggage in the cars, now a lot lighter as they were leaving things behind, and then said cheerio. The friends had a hug before getting in to go home. Maisie followed Wendy out of London, with Ashley helping with instructions until they reached the motorway north. Willow sat in the back seat, eyes shut and dreaming about being on tour, and playing Sydney with her new friends in the front row.
It was nice to arrive at their house, but a little odd as well. They hadn’t been here since the last day of the school term, and so much had happened since. She had her bags to take up to her room and unpack, she had the pile of awards to take in, and she needed to have a look at her laptop, so put it on to charge.
First was unpacking and putting the clean things away, putting the dirty in for the laundry, and adding any souvenirs to the top of her desk. She hung her Luna Park lanyard with her Abbey Road and tour ones and then stripped off to shower and wash her hair with her own shampoo and conditioner.
By the time she had dressed, the laptop was fully charged, and she grabbed her notebook and went downstairs to the kitchen, joining her parents. When she turned the computer on, she saw that she had emails.
There was one from Peter, congratulating the band on all the new awards they had gained and wishing them a good festive season, as well as saying that the next statement would be later, as the label and his office would be closed until the second week of January. Willow composed one to him, asking him to send a box of the gold medallions and a stack of posters to Evelyn, the President of the Summer Rose Fan Club in Australia, and gave her address and email address. After she had sent that, she sent an email to Evelyn to tell her that they were back home. She hinted that there had been talk about a tour in the middle of the year, and asked if she knew of any other Summer Rose Fan Clubs in Australia.
Before she sent it, she noticed one from Jill dated before the trip, which had attachments. When she looked, it had some photos taken at the award presentation, with a nice one of her with her awards, as well as one of the whole band. She saved all the photos to a separate file and then added the two to the draft, adding the note of what the awards were, and that there would be a package from her manager late in the month. After she had sent it, she showed the photos to Wendy, who got her to email them to her so that she can get them printed at work and laminated. The one of the whole band would look good, she said, on the wall in the apartment.
Wendy had taken pictures of them in their finery and said that she would get them printed and buy frames, as they showed the Rose family looking like royalty. After that, Willow looked at a lot of other emails, mostly from the band, wishing her and Gina a good trip. To save time, she went into Word and wrote a precis of what had happened, transferring her phone pictures to a separate file, and adding a few to a group email, then copying and pasting the message. She also sent the same message and photos to her grandmother, after thanking her for the Christmas card that had been opened by her mother, just ten minutes before.
There was one that she hadn’t opened, and that was from Wilhelm. She hoped it wasn’t bad news and was pleasantly surprised that it was a statement of accounts for the end of the year for the two syndicates. The Summer Love had received a payment from the estate agent, with the fourth quarter lease payment from the Coventry property and also the Leicester property, while the Legs syndicate had received the lease payments from both tenants at Small Heath for the full year to come. Wilhelm said that he would wait a while before requesting any top-up from the band. He had a note on the end, thanking all the band for their messages of support for Jacob, and for the awards that Herb and Nancy had left with Racheal.
They had lunch, and Willow asked her father if they could go to the studio to add the new awards to the display. She wanted the four Double Platinum to go under the new sign. The two of them did that while Wendy started to work on the laundry.
At the Leicester site, it looked forlorn without the bustle of industry. Willow opened the gate so Ashley could drive in. They took the awards and his toolbox through to the studio and set to work making a new set of hanging hooks. The Gold for the Berlin DVD went with the other ones, along with her composing Platinum, and the four doubles were hung under the sign.
When they had done that, they went through to the control room and switched on the lights for the studio. They could see a couple of the chairs, with two microphones, and an acoustic guitar on the floor. They went into the studio to tidy up. Willow picked up the new Martin and placed it in its case, while Ashley took the chairs down to the end near the sliding door. Willow then found the dustpan and brush that they had brought and swept up the remnants of drugs that must have been scattered in the rest room when Wilhelm had found Jacob high, which led to the rest of it.
“Can we drop the guitar with Racheal, please, Dad. It needs to be kept safe for Jacob.”
“We can do that by looping through Coventry on the way back. I was given a shopping list, so we can stop at the supermarket on the way as well. This was a sad state of affairs.”
“It was, Dad. At least he was caught before he was totally lost. We had a couple at the fireworks commentary. They were well lost, hardly able to string two words together without falling about giggling. They ended up falling asleep by eleven and had to be carried away because we were tripping over them. Evelyn’s friend told us that they were a pair of gay, failed, uni students and wouldn’t be remembered by Easter. Rather a sobering thought.”
“That’s not something that you told us yesterday.”
“Well, there are some things for friends to know, and other things to share with my Dad. Did you get to keep the mug shot?”
He pulled his wallet out and extracted a very small picture with him in front of a height scale, with a nasty red lump on his head.
“This is strictly between us, love. Take it as a warning to be very careful where you go, and to take notice of the people around you. If I had not been so keen to look along the river, I may have extracted myself from the area before the fight started.”
“Already do that, Dad. One of the hazards of being a girl. I’ll put this rubbish in the bin, and we can head off. It looks like nobody has been here since Jacob and Anita. I suppose that the place will get more work during the year. Thank you for helping put up the awards.”
“Only too happy to be part of what you do, my daughter. Those walls are testaments to your skill and hard work.”
They turned things off and locked up, driving into Coventry to stock up the fridge and larder at home. When they pulled up in the farmyard, it seemed quiet until Racheal opened the door and beckoned them in.
“Hello, Racheal, Happy New Year. I’ve got a new guitar that Jacob left in the studio. How’s my favourite goddaughter?”
“Hello, Willow and Ashley. I hear that you’ve been on a quick trip to Australia. Herb told me when he came to drop off all those awards. Rebeccah is doing fine, and asleep at the moment. Come on in for a cuppa and I’ll tell you the saga of the Hikers.”
After looking at the sleeping baby, they sat at the kitchen table.
“So, Rach. What’s this about the Hikers? Nothing too serious, I hope.”
“You know that they had a tour of Spain. Well, that was going well until Alex scored some drugs. You knew that he was into weed and stuff. The problem was that what he had bought wasn’t as good as it should have been. Mixed with soap powder or something, they say. He ended up in hospital with twenty grammes still in a bag in his pocket. He’s still in Spain, but under police guard. Of course, the tour was ruined. Rick said that the boys tried to carry on without him but were so bad they got booed. He’s out in the fields on a tractor at the moment and thinking hard about what he wants to do in life. Be a pop star or a farmer. I know the money is chalk and cheese, but I know what I’d like him to do. We have enough to buffer us for a good five years, so we could be up to full output by then, so could be comfortable. I suppose that he may be asked to sing in another band, but I’m not holding my breath.”
“Look, Rach. If you ever need help, just ask. We had a windfall from our European week, so I have some extra on hand. I know that Jacob also got a big payout, so your father may be able to help as well.”
“He’s already told me that he would loan me some of Jacob’s money, with a view to Jacob writing it off when he’s better. Mind you, I believe that my brother isn’t taking his confinement very well. It’s certainly not voluntary, but Dad has put his foot down. That trouble with our cousin, getting caught smoking pot, and then OD’ing on heroin isn’t a good look for a fourteen-year-old ‘A’ student. From what I’ve been told by Rick, Anita and Alex are not in their own parent’s good books either. What happened with your head, Ashley?”
“Would you believe that I was hit by a policeman’s baton, while being thought to be a protester on the Embankment on New Year’s Eve.”
“You were there! I saw that on the TV news on New Year’s day. Did they say sorry and take you to hospital?”
“No, they threw me in a van and took me to the nick where I spent the night in a cell.”
“They did let you out, though?”
“Eventually. I heard the fireworks but didn’t see them, which was why I was there.”
“You poor thing. Maybe next year. You may even be down under with Willow and see Sydney. That would have been loud.”
“It was spectacular, Rach, and well worth the trip, although it was work for Gina and I as we were co-hosting the TV show for about five hours.”
They said that they had shopping to take home, so gave Racheal a hug and left. On the short trip home, Ashley was quiet. Willow put her hand on his arm.
“It’s all right, Dad. I have no intention of getting caught up with drugs, not even wearing nicotine patches. I have far too much respect for my family and my body to go down that hole.”
“How many times have you been told that you can read minds, great one?”
“Too many times, Dad, too many times.”
Marianne Gregory © 2025
Chapter 19
Back at home, they put the shopping away and Willow went to help Wendy with the laundry. Being Saturday, they went to the club to have dinner and catch up with the villagers. When Ashley was asked about his head, he just told them that he had run into something wooden.
Maisie and Gina came along, so the two friends sat together. Willow told Gina about what Racheal had told her that morning.
“That’s terrible. No wonder his parents are laying down the law. I wonder if the statements that he was leaving the band and the syndicates had actually come from them. Wilhelm was pretty slick with transferring the money. Still, we can’t take the chance that he would do something to derail a tour, like the Hikers, so it’s best that he’s out of it.”
“It would be better for us if we’re more hard rock, but the album I’m trying to work out follows the ‘Journey’ one, which was all sweetness and love. I suppose that I can make it hard-edged with nasty surprises, but it should have an uplifting final track to give hope after the angst.”
“Didn’t you say something about that in Australia? While we were at that seafood place.”
“Yes. I have all the titles written down; it all came to me as we were watching the fireworks. I have the idea that it will be called ‘Fireworks – The Journey Continues’, and all the songs are named for fireworks.”
She pulled her notebook out of her bag.
“Now, we start with ‘Sparklers’, which describes the rings on her fingers as a continuation of ‘Her Day”. Then we have ‘Catherine Wheels’ which is about the reception and all the mad dancing. Then there’s a song about the honeymoon, called ‘Rocket (to the moon and back)’. That’s followed by ‘Crackers’ about the craziness of newly married life and getting into a routine; ‘Banger’ is buying a car for her; ‘Shower’ is the realisation that it’s all hard work. Then the bad bits. ‘Thunderclap’ is finding out that her husband is seeing someone on the sly, and that’s followed by two songs that run together. ‘Pyro (technic)’ is getting a detective to get the evidence, with ‘Pyro (maniac)’ where she presents her evidence and accuses him of trying to burn down the family. The final track will be ‘Starburst’ which is an uplifting song about a new life without him but with a car, a house, a career, and -as a final twist- a new baby growing inside her. That could lead into another album about taking the journey further, but with a companion that you had not considered.”
“Wow! That will be interesting once you get the words and the tunes. You know what you want to say, and that’s a start. If we’re a bit free in the next term, you’ll have time to work on it. It does sound that you listened to that reporter in Sydney. I can see bits of classics in many of those songs. Some of the ‘Fireworks Symphony’, bits of the Wedding March, maybe some Wagnerian themes. In ‘Rocket’ I can hear a building crescendo with a moment of silence. The cover can just be pictures of the fireworks scattered across it.”
“You’re right. I had thought that the ‘Pyro (maniac)’ track could have a background theme similar to ‘Ride of the Valkyries’.”
“Mum and I had a lot to talk about on the drive home. We spoke about the convenience of having a second home. With what I’ve earned, we can buy something in the south of France, which she loves. It can be somewhere we can go to in the Christmas break. I’m doing well with French and Italian, so we can get somewhere nice.”
“You could get a chateau, like on TV, and put us all up. That will all depend on what France does about expats. Spain has put a lot of hurdles in the way of living there.”
“If we get a chateau, there should be room for a grand piano, and would be a good base for when I’m a soloist. I like that. I’ll talk to Mum about that idea.”
That night, Willow was able to tell her Tiger of all the things that had happened to her since she had last cuddled him. She didn’t tell her furry friends about City Shaun, in case they got jealous.
Sunday morning, the family went to the church and listened to Jim on the organ. They went over to the club, where Ashley put a beret over his bandage and pretended to be a French waiter. They had lunch and went home, where Willow sat down with her notebook, and her previous lyrics, to turn everything into a pop masterpiece. That evening, she made sure that her uniform was ready to go.
Monday morning, she climbed into the people mover.
“Good morning, Max, good morning, Sebastian. I hope that you had a good break?”
“It was all right. How was yours? Did you get plenty of rest?”
“If you count over forty hours in a plane rest, yes, I did.”
She was starting to tell them about the trip when they picked up Gina, and both related the saga that was the trip. At the school, they went to put bags in their lockers and joined the throng waiting to go into the theatre.
When they went in and lined up in their years, Jim was playing the Bach. Gina giggled.
“Looks like we both got bumped by a man.”
After the sermon, hymn, and blessing for the term to come, the Head came out to the microphone.
“Welcome to the New Year and the Spring Term. This is usually one where the first-year students have found their feet, and other years are striving for good marks. Last term was, I have to say, different. The very first day of term saw our orchestra play in the Albert Hall for the Monday of the last week of the Proms. That was a very great compliment for the combined orchestra, but also for our teaching methods here in school. After that, that same orchestra, with our choir and others, started to work on the greatest religious oratorio of all time, the Messiah. They played one night here in this theatre, and then went on to play three sold-out performances in the Cathedral, which were filmed by the BBC and broadcast on Christmas Eve. I’m told that there will be an official DVD later in the year, but we do have a CD and a DVD filmed here in the school, for sale from this week. The CD that we have has been taken up by a record label and will be released nationally. On that note, the CD that our orchestra recorded at Abbey Road, last year, has been given a Gold Record for sales, which is now on display in reception.”
She paused and looked around the hall, her eyes finding Willow, sitting quietly.
“What I’m going to tell you, now, is a direct result of all that success. We now have the equipment to teach advanced mixing and recording techniques, with courses starting this term. Our friend, the Bishop of Coventry, has requested that our orchestra works on another oratorio, Joseph Haydn’s ‘Creation’. It is another huge work, with the original performance featuring a hundred and twenty instruments, sixty singers and three soloists. Of course, we won’t go that large. Also, the BBC have spoken to us about performing at the Proms again. This will be a better evening, the Saturday night before the last week. They have asked us to perform the Messiah, and our choir will be boosted by the soloists and voices of the English National Opera. They will come here for rehearsals. The Saturday performance will be broadcast live. Because of this, our original plan of separating the two orchestras has been forgotten. The Junior Orchestra will now consist of the first- and second-year players, plus any third-year players who want to mentor them. The current combined orchestra will now be the Senior Orchestra for this year, with the unenviable duty to perform the two biggest oratorio in the same year.”
She scanned the theatre as the orchestra was taking this in.
“Before I go on to more mundane things, I would like to tell you about a party I went to, before Christmas. It was presented by the label that has marketed our music on a national basis, and there are links to that on our website. At that party, I received the Gold Record for the album, on behalf of the school. Our conductor, Mister Bamborough, also received one. There were a lot of well-known singers there, but the runaway winners that night was our own Summer Rose, all students at the school. Will you all please stand.”
The ten stood and blushed as the school applauded them. When they sat down, the Head smiled.
“That evening, they received Double Platinum Records for two of their albums, as well as for two of their DVDs. Their new live show in Berlin was given a Gold Record, and Willow Rose was awarded an individual Double Platinum for writing the entire ‘Journey’ album. We are proud to be able to support such outstanding students. Now, on to more mundane matters…”
When the assembly was over, a lot of the students wanted to congratulate the band members. When they were back into the main school, everyone wanted to pass through reception to see the Gold Record. Above it was the group picture, taken at the party, blown up and framed, with them all looking dapper and beautiful and laden with the awards. Miss Russell stood by it, with a texta, and told all the band members to sign the picture as they passed by.
When Willow and Gina had signed, Miss Russell grinned.
“Busy year for you two this year. At least you only have to master one extra piece. It looks like you’ll be leader again, Willow. Abbie has asked to lead the juniors. She’ll be good for them as she learned so much from you last year.”
The lessons brought them back to something approaching normal, and the school year had started. Willow had looked at her schedule and found that gym was on Tuesday afternoon, this term, and the Combined Orchestra was on Wednesday afternoons, finishing in time for her to help out in the evening with the Village Choir.
When she arrived home, she found a parcel on the step, from the University. It contained her course notes, and the lectures were set for Tuesdays and Thursdays, from eight to nine. There were short exams, every now and then, to show that the students were actually attending, and a warning that there would be projects for the end of each term, with a real-world situation for them to explore and offer a solution to.
She was expected to study for up to twenty-five hours a week, with the total course taking the year to complete the four separate modules, which would give her a Certificate of Higher Education in Business Management, and the key to a degree course later. She read a letter which stated that, although she was years younger than the minimum age, the committee had agreed to let her register due to her consistent high marks and the letter from the Head of the Blue Coat School.
There was paperwork that gave her access to the Student Portal and the Virtual Learning Environment, and a membership card for the Senate Library, should she need to look at books and was able to get to London. There was also an invoice for nearly three thousand pounds, with various ways to pay. She turned on her computer and paid, in full, using the ID to verify who was paying. She saw that she would need to attend the actual Centre of Learning, in Royal Holloway, for exams.
When she showed her parents what she had enrolled for, her father patted her shoulder and told her that she would be the brains of the family. Her mother gave her a hug, a kiss on the cheek and grinned.
“They say that if you want anything done, ask a busy person. Have you found out what the school has in mind for you, this year?”
“Yes, Mum. We’re going to work on Joseph Haydn’s ‘Creation’ for the Bishop, and do the Messiah in the Albert Hall, on the penultimate Saturday of the Proms. I’m the orchestra leader, so will be playing my violin more.”
“So, you’ll be as busy as you were last year. All you need now is another tour.”
“That may happen. Mum, how would you like a trip into Coventry on Saturday? I want to get another computer for the uni study only. One I can take away with me and do work on in the free time.”
“That will be nice. We need some things to fill the gaps in our wardrobes, now we have the two places to go to. If we have enough in London, we won’t need to carry much with us.”
That evening, Willow sat at her computer, researching the ‘Creation’. She found an orchestra list, which was impressive. There were a lot of wind instruments. Three flutes. Two oboes, a C and a B-flat clarinet, two bassoons and a contrabassoon. Then there was two horns, two trumpets, and three trombones.
With the strings, there was first and second violins, viola, cello, and bass. Percussion was timpani, and then there was a continuo, which would give Gina a place. As far as the soloists went, the bulk of the work only had parts for the soprano, tenor, and bass. With the alto only having something to do in the finale. She thought about what they already had and decided that they could perform it as a full school operation, without any additions from outside. She had heard one of the choir from second year with a good soprano voice, and another with alto. They already had the tenor and bass.
She could see why the Bishop wanted this, as it told the story of the first seven days, as described in Genesis, and took other words from the book of psalms. She made notes for herself and made ready for bed. She saw that she had an email from Evelyn, thanking her for the pictures, which had been sent to all the members, with both blown up and now on her bedroom wall.
On Tuesday, she was waylaid on the way into school and sent to see Mister Bamborough.
“Good morning, Willow. Knowing you, I expect that you already have some idea about the orchestra for the ‘Creation’?”
“I have, sir. We won’t be much bigger than last year, as we can decrease the number of the violins. With the extra wind instruments, I think we would end up with forty. The choir will be what we make it, but I think we can do a good job with what we had before from the school. I have thought about the soprano and alto places, and there were a couple in the choir that could do a fine job.”
He laughed.
“You and I think along the same lines. I agree that we should make this an in-house production. Hold your thoughts. I’ll be playing a CD of the piece at the first meeting next week, and then we can start sorting the players out then. I expect that most of the band will be in the line-up. If they’re not playing, they can be singing. We concentrate on this until we perform, and then move to the Messiah again, with our visiting extras.”
As she rose, she reached into her bag and pulled out the small boomerang.
“Here you are, sir. I did promise you a boomerang and this was the only one I could carry.”
As she left him, he waved the boomerang around and was smiling. The day was normal, and the first gym lesson had the PE instructor getting them to sit on the floor while she spoke to them.
“This year, girls, we will be in the netball competition again. It will take place in the last week of May. What is different, is that we will only be fielding the first, second, and fifth-year teams in Birmingham. Because the second year and third-year teams won the trophies last year, they have qualified for the National Competition in London as a third year and fourth year team. This is limited to just the winners from the five regional competitions, so there’s only a total of twenty-five teams. It is taken at a much slower pace than you found before, with each team having four games in the round robin, just two a day. The top two teams play off for the trophy. It only takes four days to complete, so, if you make it to the final, you only play five games in total.”
They were put through exercises to loosen the muscles after the holiday. Willow needed a shower after that, and, feeling refreshed and supple, the friends went home again. That evening, she revisited the songs that she had been working on to see if any could be changed to suit the fireworks mantle.
Wednesday, school was starting to become usual again, and that evening, after dinner, she walked to the club to see if the Village Choir were ready to start a new year. It was a small group, without the ex-professionals, so she led them in a few easy songs to start the year and feel as if they had done something. Thursday and Friday evenings, she continued to work on the fireworks songs, taking the hints that Gina had made about the classical content.
On Saturday morning, the family went into Coventry and did some shopping. Ashley bought a woollen cap that hid his lump, now that he wasn’t wearing a bandage, and the girls bought a few outfits still on racks from the New Year Sales. In the electrical store, Willow chose a similar laptop to the one at home and got them to set it up using the WR Holdings contact and email only, with the MS365 and other packages that had been recommended by the University. She added a mouse and keyboard pack and a carry case for the lot. The salesman tried to get her logged on to all the social media, but she refused, getting him to delete any that were already set. At home, she added the Student Portal and other university links. Her home unit was black, and she had deliberately bought a silver one, so she didn’t get mixed up. She had done without getting emails while away without her laptop, and she wasn’t going to start chatting on-line now.
Sunday, they went to hear Jim on the organ, now pretty much the main organist, with his name replacing the other two on the board. They went over to the club, had the hot drinks, and a light lunch. She worked on the songs some more. The coming week, she knew, wouldn’t allow this much free time.
On Monday evening, she had an email from Peter, with her new statement. The CDs had sold a total of six hundred thousand albums, and the DVDs had sold six hundred and eighty thousand, with the Berlin show accounting for three hundred and eighty thousand. Merchandise had moved eighty-five thousand pounds worth, and expenses totalled eighty-five thousand. Her share, after the commission, was a bit over six hundred thousand. He had a note on the bottom that she wasn’t being charged for the shipment to Australia, as it would be classed as advertising.
She answered him, asking if he could transfer six hundred thousand to the WR Holdings account. Then, she transferred fifteen thousand to her uni account. By her calculations, they were making a lot of people rich, with Peter taking a million from this statement alone.
Tuesday, in gym, they did warm-up exercises and played a full game of netball, her first real hit-out for a while. Because of the time since the competition, she hadn’t realised how fit she had got, nor how much more body mass she had. Not that her dress size was much bigger, but the body that the dress contained was somewhat bulkier, and the hem was a little higher than before. It made her realise that she would need to shop for bras soon. Gone was the weedy boy, replaced by a developing girl.
Tuesday evening was the first lecture in her course. It was mainly an introduction session, with her the youngest of the dozen students. When she gave her name, there was a look of surprise on the faces of the others, but the lecturer, ‘call me Terry’, carried on as if she was a normal student.
On Wednesday afternoon, the Music Studies started with discussion on Film Music, and the need for it to convey the mood of what the scene was showing, leading to the music that you could hear, with your eyes shut, and be able to describe the scene. Willow took this in, as it would help her with her own narrative songs.
After that, it was the Senior Orchestra, which she was now leading. Mister Bamborough gave her a copy of the score, and she followed it as he played the CD of the work. It was as long as the Messiah, and in three parts. It had as much impact, with Willow quite excited by the whole thing. Again, it would be hard work, but with it being only students, they could just take it in order.
Thursday evening was the first proper lecture on Zoom, leaving Willow with lots of notes. At this rate, she would need to get a box of notebooks. And so, she settled into a routine, lectures on Tuesday and Thursday, Orchestra rehearsals on Wednesday, schoolwork as needed, and writing up lecture notes or working on songs over the weekend.
She and Gina still played the occasional sing-along, with Malcolm booking other bands for the dinner dances. The club had turned the corner, becoming a popular place to be on Saturday nights. Gina would lament that they still hadn’t found a suitable new home, and had started to look outside France
In the first week of February, there was another statement from Peter, with her share being just on four hundred and thirty-six thousand. She had him transfer five hundred thousand to the WR Holdings, leaving thirty-six thousand with him and over three point eight million in her account, enough to get something serious, if she could find time to do the research. The Berlin DVD had gone Platinum.
On the Saturday, the first day of the half term, Wendy drove her down to London, with both laptops, staying overnight and driving home, leaving Willow at the apartment for the week. Gina and Maisie had flown to Italy to look at a few places.
Willow spent the weekdays in the Senate Library, and two of the evenings with lectures. The rest of the time, she worked on her new songs, with peace and quiet to concentrate. She ate in the restaurant or at the university. Sometimes having dinner with Ted and the others. On the Monday, she had taken an Uber to a music store and came back to the apartment with a Nord Stage Three, which she set up in the upstairs sitting room. On Friday, she had recorded every track and emailed them to the others in the band.
On the Saturday, Wendy came back, and they had a little retail therapy, this time buying four small vacuum cleaners for the two apartments, as well as some spring outfits for the next time they would stay. On Sunday morning, Willow cleaned her rooms, with Wendy cleaning downstairs. They then went next door and repeated the cleaning there. They had lunch with Ted and Alicia, and Kevin and Hazel, then Wendy drove them home.
Monday, it was back to school and the usual routine until the last day of February, when there was an email from Jill. The latest album had been released, to critical acclaim, and the band was going to spend a good part of the Easter Holidays on tour. They would fly from Manchester to Madrid to play a single show to eighty thousand at the home of Real Madrid, then on to Rome for another show to seventy thousand at the Stadio Olimpico, and then Athens for a third at the Olympic Stadium in Athens, to seventy-five thousand. There would be local bands to open, and they were expected to play for ninety minutes or more. They would be home from Athens on Good Friday, with a week to rest before going back to school.
Willow spoke to her parents and Gina. At school, Gina spoke to Brent, who spoke to Herb, who spoke to Nancy. Willow emailed Jill that the five of them wanted to return to London. They would Uber to the apartments and spend the week there, with them organising a minibus to take them home on the Saturday.
Willow emailed the Uni, explaining that she would be on tour that week, until Easter, and asking if she could submit her project and attend the exam in the week between Easter Monday and the start of her next term, the following Monday. She got a reply from her lecturer, telling her that it was approved, considering her busy life, and that she was to present herself at the Royal Holloway Campus, at ten on the Thursday of that week, and to bring her project with her in digital format.
Marianne Gregory © 2025
Chapter 20
All too soon it was into March and another statement. The older albums were fading, but ‘The Magic Laptop’ had nearly reached gold status in its first month. Willow’s share ended up at just on four hundred and twenty thousand, keeping the twenty thousand with Peter and transferring four hundred thousand to WR Holdings.
At school, they had finished the segment on film music, and were now on the weirdly named ‘Baroque and Roll’, with one session on baroque music and the next to be rock and roll. In March, they had another two sessions with the oratorio, now into the second third after the seven sessions. The third week of March was revision time, and the fourth was exam week. That was also the last week of the first university term, with Willow having been given the project to do before they had another lecture.
The band had spent a couple of Saturdays at the Summer Love Studio, just getting back into the groove with, basically, the Berlin show with a few extra earlier songs at the beginning, seeing that these were totally new audiences. They all finished early on the last Friday at school, went home to collect their luggage, and then were picked up by coach to go to the airport.
They were checked into their Madrid hotel before midnight and slept late on Saturday. There was a media session after breakfast, lunch, and then a trip to the stadium for a sound-check. The set-up was much the same as they had been used to, with the big stage and huge screens either side. Saturday night, they got themselves ready while the locals did their best, and then went on to blow everybody’s mind. Sunday, they were flown to Rome, and Monday night they did what they did best. Tuesday, they flew to Athens, rocking the Olympic Stadium on Wednesday evening.
Willow had taken her uni laptop, and, when possible, worked on her project. They had a day in Athens, visiting the historical sights, and flew home on Good Friday, the five of them going to London while the others went back to Manchester. After clearing the airport, they boarded a minibus, ordered on-line, into the city and the apartments. They had dinner in the restaurant, and then went up to their rooms for a good sleep. It had been a successful, but exhausting, trip.
Over the rest of the time in London, the two couples went out exploring, while Willow worked on her project. It involved a fictional company that had relocated to better offices and had run into a cash-flow problem. The question was if it should shed staff to save money or do something different. There was enough financial and staff information to be able to consider the answer. Willow spent some time in the Senate Library to look at the laws surrounding staff layoffs, and then wrote out her project essay, with some staff being relocated to the manufacturing base, where they would be more hands-on, and actually boosting production with the leasing of a new production line. Space saved in the new offices could be used to house a better sales team.
When that had been saved to a USB stick, with pages of graphs and projections, she took it with her on the Thursday to submit it and take the exam. On the Friday, she was able to spend time with the others, with them all walking to the British Museum for the day. On Saturday, the laundry bags were filled with sheets and pillowcases, then left with Carlo. They had lunch in the restaurant with the other two couples and loaded up the minibus when it arrived to take them home.
Willow was the last to be dropped off, so she gave the driver a good tip and took a card to call if they ever needed to be taken around. She took her things into the house and hugged her parents.
“Good trip, love?”
“It was, Mum. We played to full houses in all three places, and I was able to use my free time on my project. I finished it when we stayed in London, and the others went sight-seeing. It was a good break after the tour.”
After she had put things in the laundry basket and packed away unworn clothes, she sat at her desk and opened up her usual computer, seeing a message from Peter with another statement.
The older albums were fading away, but the new ones were doing well. Nothing was included about the tour. The albums had sold six hundred and thirty-five thousand copies, and the ‘Magic’ album had contributed three hundred and ninety thousand, going Gold. The DVDs had sold four hundred and eighty thousand copies, with the ‘Berlin’ one contributing three hundred thousand of those. Adding the merchandise and taking away the costs and commission, they each received four hundred and ninety thousand. She replied to Peter, asking him to transfer five hundred thousand to the WR Holdings account, which would bring that close to five million.
There was an email from Wilhelm, reporting that things were ticking over, and that he had only needed to look after a few niggling problems with the two properties. The Leicester one still had no other tenants, and he wondered what they intended to do with it. Willow started to think about buying it for herself. Or, as an alternative, do some soundproofing and using the bigger shed as a rehearsal space, resurfacing the end of the long shed for car parking. There was still a shed in the carpark which they didn’t use, and that she would get taken away if it was up to her. She replied to Wilhelm, adding the others, with her thoughts on changes.
Sunday, they went to the church to listen to Jim on the organ. He was becoming quite fluid with his playing. Afterwards, they went over to the club with Maisie and Gina and stayed for lunch. Rick and Racheal came in, with little Rebeccah in her carry basket. Rick told them about the situation with the Hikers.
“That was a terrible situation in Spain. We were stuck without Alex on stage. The rest of the tour was cancelled and the rest of us came home. The tour lost some money, which we had to cover out of savings to save face. We’ve been auditioning for a new guitarist, but they’re not behind every tree in Coventry. Not good ones, anyway. Alex was given jail time for possessing drugs, even if it was mostly baking powder. He won’t be back in the band, so we’re looking at a new album without him as a new start. We’re thinking of a name change to just ‘The Hikers’.”
“That sounds positive, Rick. How’s the farming going?”
“We’re on track with laying the groundwork for sustainable crops, so that we can sit back and let casuals do the actual work. Rach has been brilliant with her knowledge. The income from the previous albums has given us a decent cash situation, so, as far as we’re concerned, it’s all good. Not so good for Jacob, though. We hear that he’s been a problem in the clinic, tried to leave a couple of times, once where he was found in an area that’s notorious for dealers. The clinic always goes to those places first. Not that he could buy any, as he has no money in his pocket, but dealers will often offer a credit on those they know have a good bank balance.”
“We had an email from Wilhelm, and he sounded a bit curt about that, just details about the syndicates, without anything else. It must be hard on him and Rosalie.”
“At least they don’t have to cope with the farm on top of this. That Anita had a history of drug use, being suspended from school when she was thirteen for cannabis use. She had been on hard drugs since she was sixteen. It’s a pity that she got her claws into Jacob. He had such a future ahead of him. I play the DVD that they recorded at the Proms and see him play so beautifully. It’s so sad to watch.”
When they had left, Willow and Gina went outside and sat on the bench near the church. After a while of silence, Gina put her hand on Willow’s shoulder.
“Remember when we first sat on this bench and none of this had ever happened. I wonder what would life had been like if we hadn’t become friends.”
“Too hard to think about, friend. We wouldn’t be rich and famous, I wouldn’t have dragged Jacob into see Howard Bamborough, and you wouldn’t be on your way to being a piano superstar. Even with all the bad things, I don’t think that I would change a thing.”
“Nor me. Jacob could have gone down his own rabbit hole without the music. It may have been part of him that would have come out anyway, once he had enough money to experiment. Given the choice, I would have still embraced the future that we created. I love entertaining, and those last three shows we did were great. We were out there, without the rest of the bands, as ourselves, not just part of the Coventry Sound. I like your idea of creating a rehearsal space. With a lot more room, we could put together some dance steps. At the moment, we just stand and wiggle while making noise.”
“We would have to get a complete new set of equipment. It would be a pain to drag everything from one place to another.”
“Use your new skills to work out a way we can write it off as a business expense. It would round things out if you became our manager.”
“That’s a bit too early in the game! We’ll just have to continue making Peter rich. Actually, I had those thoughts about Leicester as if I owned the site. I have enough set aside to buy it from the syndicate. That would be good business, as the syndicate isn’t getting an income from it, so the cash could be used to buy into another leased site.”
“What would you value it at?”
“Well, we paid one and a quarter, and put the same into the studio, so I would guess that an offer of two and a half would be equitable.”
When Willow went home, she used her new knowledge thinking about Leicester. If she had the big shed soundproofed, and created more parking, she could apply to the council to convert the use to a full commercial studio. That would have less traffic than the distribution centre, and less employees. With the sound minimised, she couldn’t see that there could be any objection. Then, it could be advertised as the most up-to-date studio in the area, and also as a try-out space for bands preparing for shows, or even dance groups or drama groups to rehearse away from established theatres.
On Monday, it was back to school for the last term of her third year. After all the other assemblies she had attended, this one was almost boring. She had no uni lectures until the beginning of May, so was able to concentrate on her learning and getting the oratorio into shape. In the second week, the Music Studies moved into Minimalisation, thankfully being spared from listening to several minutes of silence. They explored Riech and Glass, Taverner and Nyman, Arvo Part and Sebelius. It opened up another avenue in Willow’s mind, but only for something solo, with thoughts returning to her ‘Fractured’ file with the MRI sounds.
The April raced by, with the band getting together to rehearse the ‘Fireworks’ album and getting Xavier in to record it on the last weekend of the month. She sent a copy to Jill and then they were into May.
On the second day of the month there was the next statement from Peter. The older CD sales were almost non-existent, but the later ones were selling well. The DVDs were the same. With merchandise, the total sales was just over five and a half million, with costs pulling it back to give each member four hundred and sixty thousand. The shows had grossed over twenty-seven million, due to the huge crowds. It would have been more, but the average ticket price was lower with the state of the economies in the countries they had visited. After paying for the stages, the other bands, the staff, the venue cut, the flights, hotels, food, Peter’s cut, and out-of-pocket expenses, each band member had received two point two-seven million, giving a total payment of over two point seven million. She got Peter to transfer two and a half million into the WR Holdings account, which would take it to seven and a quarter million.
With May came university lectures and more orchestra rehearsals. There were two before the half-year holidays, and they worked through to the finale of the piece. Willow told them that they had done well and would play the whole oratorio in the first week of June, and that the second and third week would have them playing the Messiah right through with the visiting singers.
“I will set up a recording session on the last Wednesday of June, and I’ll see if we can spend a half a day in the studio as it’s before revision week. The school performance is the Tuesday of the next week, with three performances in the Cathedral that weekend. After the summer holiday, we have the Messiah final rehearsal before playing in the Albert Hall on the Saturday. The ENO singers are all professionals, so I expect that they’ve done this before. The two rehearsals before the holiday should tell is if I’m right. If I’m wrong, we may need to set a rehearsal in the last week of the holiday.”
The last week before the half-term holidays brought Willow’s and Gina’s fifteenth birthdays. They had a simple evening in the club, not doing anything flash. They had agreed that they were beyond flash, so just had a dinner for lots of their relatives and friends, without a band, but with a big cake.
The week of the holidays was the netball competition in London. The two teams were taken there in a coach and put up in a hotel near the venue. They all had three sets of new uniforms; in case they made it into the finals. Monday and Tuesday, the third year played the four games of the round-robin, winning three and losing one, ending up in second place, with the first place being the team they had lost to. Their final was late in the afternoon of the next day. The other team also advanced to the finals.
Nobody could explain whether the other team thought that it would be a walk-over, or else they had gained something extra. The other school team lost their final, but Willow’s team won. They watched the finals of the older teams, mainly to see what they would be up against next year, seeing that they would all have to be a lot stronger by then. They came home after the presentations, with a new cup for the display cabinet. The other team had a smaller one for being second. That Friday, Willow went on-line to view the two lectures she had missed and make plenty of notes.
The last term of her third year started on the first of the month. The assembly lauded the winning netball team, and the Head got them all to stand. The Tuesday gym session was a party, with all the third-year students invited. The Head made a speech of congratulations for both teams, being first and second in their years in a National competition. On the Wednesday after school, the orchestra and singers played the complete ‘Creation’ for the first time, with the Head and a few teachers sitting in. The ensemble were now showing their professionalism, as it worked well.
The Head asked Mister Bamborough what was next, and he told her that they would have two weeks with the ENO and the Messiah, with a recording session of ‘Creation’ the week after, if she could allow them the time away from school. She nodded her head and told him that she would see to it.
The June statement was back to just sales, with each member getting four hundred and twenty-two thousand. Willow asked Peter to transfer four hundred and fifty thousand to WR Holdings.
On the Thursday, at lunch, she was given a note from Herb, asking if she could attend a meeting of the band, with her responsible adult, on Saturday afternoon, at the studio, to discuss the ongoing future of the syndicates. He did tell her that it was all good. That Saturday afternoon, Ashley drove her to the Leicester site. When they got there, they saw more cars than they thought. As they got out, Herb came over.
“Good, you were only a few minutes behind. We’re all here, so I’ll lock the gates and we can go through to the studio. It does have a great advantage by being a secure place to talk.”
He locked up and they followed him through to the studio, where they had set up some of the tables, with chairs around them. All the band were there with a parent, as well as Wilhelm, the estate agent and the accountant from Leicester that Wilhelm was using for operating the syndicates. After they had sat down, Herb stood.
“Thank you all for coming, today. I apologise for the cloak and dagger of the occasion, but I have asked you all here to talk about the future of our properties and of our two syndicates. Now, some weeks ago, Willow spoke to Gina about some things she had thought she could do if she owned the property here, and also emailed us all with those enhancements. Is that still your thoughts, Willow?”
“It is, Herb.”
“You valued the property, including the studio, at two and a half million. Are you still happy with that?”
“I am.”
“While we were talking, Nancy suggested that if she and I buy the first property we bought, and you bought this property, we could wind up the original syndicate. Then, we could have freedom to do something more with the larger syndicate of all ten of us, which currently owns the property at Small Heath. I think that we now have enough behind us to go for something substantial. Bryan has been doing some research and has found a shopping centre for sale in the outskirts of Manchester. It has thirty-five fully leased shops but needs some work to bring it up to date. He has spoken to the agent, who has estimated that the cost to bring it into this century is around fifteen million, and the purchase price is twenty-five million.”
There was an intake of breath at the size of the numbers.
“Now, Nancy and I are prepared to give five hundred thousand for the Coventry property, and if Willow pays two and a half for here, that will give the syndicate three million. If you add the million that is currently in the bank, we would all get six hundred and sixty-six thousand. What I suggest is that the ten of us then put four million into the big syndicate and our agent starts negotiations to buy the shopping centre. Do we have anybody against the idea?”
A couple of the parents wanted to know about the security of the investment, and the likely return. The estate agent told them that the usual return on a property of that size would be about two million a year, or around fifty thousand per shop, which neatly came in at a thousand a week. Depending on the leaseholders, there could be an extra charge for whole-of-centre advertising and security. Insurance would be high, but manageable.
For Willow, it was a good idea, something she had been mulling over, but not on this scale. The question not asked was if all of them had four million to spare. Most of them had left most of their money with Peter, so that wasn’t a problem. Only Willow had gone out and bought a property of her own. She had seven point seven now, so the two and a half would bring it back to five point two, and the return from the syndicate would put that at nearly five point nine, which would leave her at one point nine to have to do the changes here.
In the end of the discussion, everyone agreed with the way forward. The accountant and agent would draw up the contracts to sell the two properties to the individuals, and then the rest would happen after they went through, with the negotiations for the shopping centre starting soon.
On the way home, Willow told her father what she had planned. When they arrived home, Wendy asked what had happened.
“Herb and Nancy have bought the Coventry factory, and Willow has bought Leicester.”
“And?”
“And then they’re going to wind up the original syndicate and put four million each into the other syndicate to spend forty million on a shopping centre in Manchester.”
“That part’s all right, but what is our daughter going to do with a site where the only thing of value is the studio? There are no tenants.”
“She told me that this made it perfect. She has plans to upgrade the big shed as a rehearsal area for music, dance, and plays. She will resurface the car park and the bit of the long shed they don’t use and apply to the council to get a commercial usage passed. Then, she has plans to hire it out. I agreed with her and told her that she was sneaky.”
“Sneaky! If she has total control, she can charge a thousand or more an hour. It could be a gold mine.”
They went to the club that night and listened to Jim on Sunday. Gina and Willow discussed the outcome from the previous day. Gina said that it would restrict how much she could spend on a chateau, so a villa may be the way forward. Jim also came into the club with them and spoke about G-Force.
“We’re all working hard to get a good enough score to go the next level in sixth form. Gerry has gone and auditioned with the Hikers and has told us that he’s going to take a year off to see if they can be a professional band. Geoff is talking about a wedding, with Zara being spoken to about recording a solo album with an orchestra. I think that I’ll be playing here, in the church, for some time to come.”
For Willow, the next two weeks included the rehearsals with the ENO. They both went very easily, and they were happy with another rehearsal before the Proms. Those weeks were the last ones of the current university term. She would have all summer to work on two projects that had been set. Or did, until there was an email from Jill, telling them that a tour had been arranged.
They would fly out of Manchester on the Saturday after school finished, playing two shows in Perth, then going to Adelaide for one show, Melbourne for two, Canberra for one, Sydney for two, Auckland for two, Brisbane for two, Tokyo for two and Seoul for two, before arriving home with nearly two weeks before school started again. A small crew from the BBC would be visiting her on Sunday, to film a short interview about her excitement in going to Australia, and to try and have Gina with her in the afternoon.
She compiled an email to Evelyn, to tell her that they were on their way. She said that they would have two shows in the Sydney Olympic Stadium, that can hold up to eighty thousand. The next day, she had a reply which thanked her for all the goodies that had been sent, and that they were all looking forward to seeing them on stage, for real.
This week, the Music Studies looked into the Tango, which caused some laughter when she was chosen to demonstrate the dance with Mister Jamieson. After school, there was no orchestra, because the Head had planned for them to have all day in the studio on the Thursday, with Xavier and the others coming. Willow asked Gina if she could create the sound of a continuo on a Nord Stage Three, having been playing one for a while. Gina said that she would look into it that night.
The next day, they were taken to Leicester by coach, with the bigger instruments and the music stands going in the truck. They had done this before, so the truck stopped outside the back door, and all the things were moved in, while most of the amps were moved out. With all the seats arranged, the tables set up in the workshop area, and everyone in their places, it didn’t take long for the microphones to be laid out, already having all the equipment on hand. Gina had reported that she could get the right sound from a Nord, so they left one speaker box and amp head next to the keyboard and left the continuo in the truck.
Before lunch, they had recorded the ‘Creation’. Willow paid for fifty pizzas to be delivered, and they spent a happy few hours recording various members of the orchestra, in trios, quartets and quintets, and six madrigals that the choir had been working on, with a small orchestra backing them. Then, the truck was loaded, and Xavier worked with producing enough of both sets for everyone and a few for the school. Mister Bamborough totally enjoyed that day, seeing a level of expertise among the orchestra that he hadn’t known before.
He sat with Willow on the coach back to Coventry.
“An interesting day, Willow. Some extra knowledge of what the other players get up to outside of school.”
“They are a talented bunch, sir.”
“None so talented as yourself, Willow. Gina told me about that ‘Fireworks’ album today, with all the classical hints, it was impossible to count.”
“That was the point, sir. That was the point.”
Marianne Gregory © 2025
Chapter 21
Mister Bamborough looked at Willow with a grin.
“Tell me more, Miss Rose.”
“There was this reporter in Sydney who berated us for playing that nasty pop music when we were such good classical organists. He’d only seen the Berlin concert and had been sent the school orchestra CD with us playing on the second disc. We had to tell him about the other albums we had been involved in. I wonder what he would have made of ‘The Magic Laptop’, or ‘Musk Rat Quest’, as people at the label call it. I wanted to weave the classics into ‘Fireworks’ to show our classical training. Gina suggested some of the threads.”
“Whatever you set out to do, you have created an album that I would be proud to have in my collection. My growing collection, I might add.”
“We’ll just have to see how the public likes it when it’s released. It may go on the market before we tour again.”
“Where to this time?”
“Six venues in Australia, one in New Zealand, one in Japan and one in South Korea. It should be good in their winter, but, if it isn’t, the shops will be open. If the new album is on the market, we’ll have to add a few into the show.”
“I’m sure that you’ll work it out. Are they big venues, or smaller theatres?”
“I’m told that they’re all sports stadiums. Average around fifty thousand with a couple up around seventy thousand. They must be convinced that we’ll fill them.”
Back at the school, they all got out of the coach and made their way to the various cars waiting for them. Willow went to the locker area first and stored her violin case. She checked that she had the two discs that Xavier had given her and went to join Gina to go home.
After dinner, she had a look on her project laptop, to find two projects that she was to submit before the next round of lectures. One was similar to the first project, a company in trouble, while the other was all about the steps you would take in setting up a company and recruiting staff, with an option as to what she wanted that company to do. She got her notebook to start writing notes on what she wanted to say. She would work on them as she could during the tour but expanded on her thoughts over the weekend.
On the Sunday, she and Gina were sitting with Ashley and Wendy when a film crew arrived. The interview was just over half an hour, where the two of them described how well treated they had been at Christmastime, and how much fun they had with the fan club and making the TV show, followed by how much they were looking forward to the tour.
Again, she had to email the lecturer that she was heading for Australia on a tour with the band, and advised the date that she would return. Two days later, he replied, telling her that it had been approved for her to attend Royal Holloway on the Thursday and Friday of the last week of August. The first to do one exam and submit the first project, with the second to do the second exam and submit the second project.
She emailed Jill that she wanted to return to London after the tour, directly from Seoul. That would give her some time to finalise both projects and submit them. She would need extra research in the Senate Library for one, but the second project was already happening in Leicester.
At school again and Tuesday was the performance of the ‘Creation’ in the theatre. She took her black dress with her in the morning as she would be needed to organise the orchestra. Her parents had tickets, as did Maisie and several of the Village Choir, including Margaret and her friends. Willow and the rest of the orchestra had a light meal in the lunchroom, before going to the theatre, checking the seating and then going off to change. Willow did her make-up, thinking about the performance but not really worrying about it.
The performance was as good as it could be. The soloists singing beautifully, the orchestra playing powerfully, and the choir singing lustily. There were the two breaks, with the second being a little longer, and then they took the audience to new heights to the finale. There was a long applause, with many standing, and the orchestra took several bows. Afterwards, they all mingled in the lunchroom, before Willow joined her parents to go home, after changing out of her long dress.
Wednesday was the last lesson on the Tango, and then it was the performances in the Cathedral. As it was just before revision week, the entire ensemble were given the days off, to be at the Cathedral in time to entertain the crowd. Wednesday afternoon, the friends told Sebastian about the arrangements, with him picking them up before the performance and taking them home afterwards. On the Saturday, that would include her parents, with Maisie going with them on Friday.
Willow was up early and working on her projects as soon as breakfast was over, creating two new files to hold the two projects and creating sub-files. Around lunch, she rang the council offices in Leicester, and had a talk with the woman who was in charge of the planning permissions, who she had spoken to when they first started work on the studio. It was a good discussion, and they made an appointment to meet at the site on the Saturday morning.
Later, that afternoon, she was dressed in her performance outfit, with her violin and her bag, waiting at the door when Sebastian arrived. They picked up Gina and went to the Cathedral. The two of them met Mister Bamborough and checked the seating and that all the instruments had been delivered. They were given a light meal in the Chapter House as all of the others arrived. That night, they made the Bishop extremely happy, if the smile was an indication.
Friday was a duplicate, with her working on her project and then playing violin in the evening, this time with Maisie joining them in the vehicle. Saturday, Ashley took her to Leicester in the morning.
There, she showed the council representative around the whole site, explaining what they had done and what she had planned, and the timeline that depended on being reassessed as a commercial site. They started in the office area, where she stated that they used to upstairs office, but that she would be happy to offer the downstairs one to the local Arts Alliance, or similar organisation. In the big shed, she explained how it would be given a laminated floor and soundproofing, to allow for drama, dance, or music rehearsals, with local schools and groups being offered a discounted hire.
She pointed out the extra space when the shed in the carpark had been removed, and then took her into the long shed, saying that it would be resurfaced and have lines for parking under cover. In the studio, the council lady was taken aback by the quality of what she saw. Willow explained that a number of hit albums had been produced here, without a single complaint from the neighbours, as well as two complete oratorio performances, and they spent several minutes looking at the awards.
As she locked up, Willow told her that there would be professional bands invited to record, with an hourly charge, as well as advertising to fill the days in both the studio and shed. Before they shook hands, Willow had one last comment.
“I’m sure that visiting bands will be staying in local hotels. If the group that uses the office is run by adults, I would be happy to pay one to manage the site and oversee the usage and security.”
“I’ll discuss it with my supervisor and the volunteers.”
Ashley took her home again after she had locked up.
“Do you think she’ll bite?”
“Of course she will. There’s an Arts Alliance group who liaise with all the drama and arts groups in Leicester. They operate from offices in the municipal building, and the council has been trying to figure out a way to remove them so they can expand the town planning office. You have to read the council meeting reports on the city website to know what buttons to push.”
“I’m not going to say it, but I’m sure you know what I’m thinking.”
“It’s all about doing research, Dad. You can’t put a new part in a car unless you know if it will work as intended.”
That afternoon, the family was picked up by Sebastian, and then they went to get Gina. When they arrived at the Cathedral, the OB vans were there with cables running into the building. Willow left her parents to go to the Chapter House and make sure that everyone was arriving. The audience was primed that night, knowing that they could be seen on a DVD, if they looked hard enough. The city dignitaries were becoming regulars, along with the local celebrities. The fact that the entire Summer Rose was there was enough to attract a lot of younger fans who would have never gone to a concert featuring a religious oratorio.
The night was a success, and Willow was presented with flowers, along with the soloists. She went out to the audience and presented hers to Margaret in the front row. There was an after-show party in the Chapter House, and a general mingling until those who had done all the work were ready to leave. Gina, Willow, and the Roses slid out and found Sebastian waiting for them. He congratulated the girls on exposing him to yet another beautiful piece of music, and then took them back to Stoneleigh.
On Sunday, Willow looked at her laptop. There was an email from Peter. The early CDs were now almost gone, but the later ones were doing well. Her share, this month, was just on three hundred and sixty-four thousand. She replied to Peter to transfer three hundred and fifty thousand to the WR Holdings account.
The following week was revision time, and Willow spent it revising and working on her projects. The band got together in the studio on Saturday, with Xavier recording, to work through the set for the tour, with more of the earlier hits, making an opening half an hour of Carpenter and Journey songs before getting into the rocking music. On Monday, it was the beginning of Exam week, and everyone had their heads down.
Monday evening, Willow looked at her laptop to see a message from the lady from the council, telling her that the change of status was approved, and that she wanted a meeting. Willow replied that it would have to be Friday evening as she was flying to Australia on the Saturday. On Tuesday, there was an email from the accountant to say that the change of ownership had gone through. On Wednesday, during lunch, she went around to the band and techs, asking for their gate and door keys, so that the site could be made secure.
After the last exam on Friday, she showered and changed when she got home. The meeting had been set to be at the studio and Ashley drove her there after an early dinner. She met with the council lady, the mayor, and two leading members of the Arts Alliance, both older ladies. Willow showed them all around, stressing that the studio could only be used by a trained producer, but the large shed would be all right once it was refloored and soundproofed. At the end of the meeting, she had the details of the Alliance ladies, and they had keys to the gate, shed, and the office doors. They would move their office over the next few weeks.
Willow assured them that the physical changes would take place before Christmas, and to let everyone know that the space would be available next year. On the way home, she asked Ashley if he could get in touch with the locksmith to change the locks on the studio and the back doors while she was away, as there was too much tied up in the studio to leave it vulnerable, seeing that she didn’t have Jacob’s keys. That evening, she sent an email to Wilhelm, telling him what had transpired, and that the upstairs was still useable as the syndicate office.
Saturday morning, she had breakfast with her parents, put her bags out on the porch and hugged them both as the coach came down the road. She didn’t have a lot of luggage. One case with the stage outfits, one case with her own clothes, a smaller case with the project laptop and cosmetics. They would have a dresser and make-up artist on tour, so her appearance will be good every day.
Monday evening, they landed in Perth, after the day in Dubai. The previous arrival in Sydney had surprised with about thirty fans, Perth surprised everyone with about three hundred. With so many, there was no way they could go and talk to them, so they waved happily as they were ushered out of the terminal to a waiting coach, with still more fans outside. That evening, they all relaxed in the hotel and were happy to stretch out on a comfortable bed, as the flight didn’t have enough first-class seats, making them all travel business class.
Tuesday was a free day, to let them get used to the time-shift and settle after the trip. The boys found a games room in the hotel and started a snooker championship, while the four girls were treated to time in the spa. Willow talked Jill into going outside to see if any of the teenagers hanging around were from a fan club, and she came back with three girls who were treated to meeting all the band socially and having dinner with them. When the girls left, their nice tops were covered in signatures.
Wednesday was the first show. The stadium was near-new and could seat sixty thousand. The set-up was their standard stage with the overhead light rig and big screens. The stage equipment was as they usually used. They went there by coach in the morning to get the feel of it, being basically an oval rather than rectangular. There was the usual mixing and visual tent out front, with the older guys from the British tour, but no Xavier and his friends.
Everyone was reunited with their instruments, and they did a sound check to make sure it all worked. They went back to the hotel for lunch, and then lazed around a big swimming pool before a light dinner. They were taken back to the stadium as the opening band was playing and got themselves ready for the show.
When they went on stage, there was a roar, which settled as Willow doodled the opening of ‘Close to You’ on her keyboard. There was good applause as they worked through some ‘Carpenters’, into the’ Journey’ album and then it got louder as they ripped into ‘Homegrown’ and ‘Greenhouse’ tracks. They slipped in the earworm tracks from ‘Magic’ and some new ones from the as-yet unreleased ‘Fireworks’ before finishing with their biggest hit in Australia, ‘Dummy Spitter’.
The following day was a repeat, and they flew to Adelaide on the Friday, for the Saturday show at the Adelaide Oval, in front of fifty thousand. Sunday, they were taken to Melbourne for the two shows Monday and Tuesday. This was at the famed Melbourne Cricket Ground, with each night having seventy thousand. Whenever she could, Willow let the pressure go and sit somewhere quiet to work on her projects.
Wednesday, they flew to Canberra, for a smaller show at the Manuka Oval, with just thirteen thousand fans. So far, every time they had landed, there had been fans waiting for them. This didn’t prepare them for landing in Sydney on the Friday for the two shows there. There must have been a thousand fans waiting for them, many would have skipped school to be there. Barry greeted them with several TV stations having cameras and lights.
When they were all in the terminal, Willow looked at the fans and waved, trying to pick out Evelyn, but not seeing her. They were taken to the coach and driven to Darling Harbour and the hotel. Evelyn and the fan club were waiting for them in reception, having been taken there by coach. There was a happy reunion and some tears. When asked, Barry admitted that the fan club were regulars in his audience for the TV show.
They all had lunch in the hotel, and then the fan club were taken back to school. In the afternoon, Willow was called, in her room, to say that there was a reporter in the lounge to speak to her. She went down and saw the man who had spoken to them before. He smiled when he saw her.
“Miss Rose. I asked my friend in Britain to source that material you spoke about on New Year. I have to say that you, and your band, have gladdened my heart. The depth of your writing is amazing, and the ‘Journey’ album was just beautiful. He sent me that new one that was obviously based on the ‘Magic Flute’. So sublime.”
“That was an idea of Vivienne’s. I think that if you liked that, then the next one is for you.”
She pulled an unmarked CD case out of her bag.
“This is a pre-release copy of the next album. We recorded it in our own studio in Leicester. It’s a follow-on to the ‘Journey’ and was given life by us watching the fireworks last time we were here. The release name will be ‘Fireworks – the Journey Continues.’ Have a listen to it and let me know if you accept that pop music can be enhanced with classical themes. You can keep this so that you can be the first in print with a review.”
“Thank you, Willow. That’s very kind of you, considering what an awful start I made to our last meeting. I do have tickets to the show tomorrow night. I hear that you open with some of the old music, so it should be good. I’ll listen to this and pop by on Sunday to let you know what I think. I ended up not writing a piece last time we met, just letting the others report on your TV show and the fireworks, which was excellent, by the way.”
“Thank you, sir. I’ll be here. We’re not dashing all over the countryside this visit, too much to do and so little spare time.”
He held out his hand and they shook, and then Willow went back to her room and her project.
When they went on stage for the first show, the fan club were all in the front row with a beaming Barry, all now local celebrities in their own right. The show was one of the best, so far, with a lot of the audience singing along. Next morning, there was a rare, planned, outing. The whole band were taken to a ferry and across the water to Luna Park, where close to five hundred fans were waiting for them to have fun on the rides in a closed event.
Barry and Bluey were on hand, and the fans must have been told to keep it polite and social, because the band enjoyed a few hours of genuine fun and friendship. Evelyn and Samantha kept close to their friends and there was a lot of love in the air. It was all filmed to cement Barry’s new role as King of the Kids. Some of the fans were invited back to the hotel, and joined the band, Barry, and Bluey for lunch. After lunch, Gina nudged Willow and nodded towards the door, where the reporter was standing.
Willow gave him a wave and he came over and sat with them.
“I’ve listened to that new album, Miss Rose, and it has to be the most polished piece of pop/classic fusion I’ve ever heard. It is magnificent!”
“Thank you, sir. We did our best as classically trained members of an orchestra. There will be a new classical DVD coming out sometime. We performed the ‘Creation’ in Coventry Cathedral a few weeks ago. Hang on, I’ll find out when the ‘Fireworks’ one is being released.”
She went to speak to Jill and came back.
“It’s being released in the UK this week, with the Australasian release in two weeks. That should give you time to put an article together.”
She pulled out her notebook and wrote her email address on a page, handing it to him.
“I would appreciate a copy of the article when you publish, please. My Mum is keeping a scrapbook of important things. Did you enjoy the show last night?”
“I did. Now that I’m looking for them, I’m hearing all sorts of snippets of classics in even the brashest of your songs. You must have had a very deep involvement in classical music to be able to fit them in so effortlessly.”
Evelyn had been listening.
“Willow and the band can do anything, sir. That’s why we love them so much. They’re all top-level students, totally talented, and they’re all lovely people. I met Willow and Gina when they were here before, but never realised that the whole band are so lovely. We all had a ball this morning at Luna Park, and they’ve made a lot of us think that we have a future. Samantha has taken up the guitar after meeting them, and is getting good, as well as getting better marks at school. When you write their names, make sure you put a halo over them.”
Both Gina and Willow gave her a hug.
“That’s very kind of you, Evelyn.”
“It’s true, Willow. After we met you, everyone in the club has worked harder at school. They saw what you can do, at the same age as us, and want to improve their lives. My life has changed. I get to sit in the TV studio regularly, I’m being asked what I think of bands, and what I think about a lot of things. Before, I was just blindly living like a moronic teen.”
“Well, you keep it up, Evelyn. Music and study can take you wherever you want to go. Now, we have to go and get some rest. The playing does take a lot of energy. Are you going tonight?”
“We’ll be in the front row again, ‘Barry’s Band of Babes’. Several of us have an appointment for a fashion shoot in a few weeks. That’s something totally new.”
The band drifted off to go up to their rooms and Willow to go back to her laptop. They had a light dinner and were then off to the Olympic Stadium again for another show. Next day, they were back in a plane, heading for Auckland. They did have a full day off there, and the fans weren’t so thick on the ground, so a few of the band went for a walk. Willow kept at her project, winding up the first one and just needing some information from the Senate Library to finish.
The second project needed some careful handling. She needed to describe the background to her development of the Leicester site without giving too much away about the level of band involvement, but still needed to lay out how she ended up owning a recording studio.
The following two nights they entertained fifty thousand at Eden Park, and then they were flying back to Australia, to entertain another fifty thousand on the Saturday and Sunday evenings in Brisbane.
It was the final parts of the tour, and the newest experiences to come. So far, it had been like playing in Britain, with everyone they met speaking some version of English. The next two venues were in Japan and South Korea, both places where pop music flourished. They played the Wednesday and Thursday nights in Tokyo, and then the Saturday and Sunday in Seoul. Both were big stadiums, and both were packed. It may have been the hotels they stayed at, but they didn’t meet anyone who didn’t speak English.
The band was due to leave for Britain on the Tuesday, but Willow was taken to the airport on Monday morning. She had been booked on a Lufthansa flight that left after lunch, arrived in Frankfurt around six, and then there was another flight that left two hours later to get her into London before nine that night. Total time in the air was over fifteen hours, but it would still be Monday when she arrived, with the added bonus being that she flew first class.
Marianne Gregory © 2025
Chapter 22
On Tuesday morning, she rang Wendy at work, to let her know that she was at the apartment. She had rung home fairly regularly to let them know how things were getting on with the tour. She was having breakfast in the restaurant when Ted came in.
“Good morning, Willow. How was the tour? Carlo sent you an invoice at the beginning of the month and wondered why you hadn’t paid, so I told him you were on the other side of the world and were good for it.”
“The tour went well, thank you. I’ll get Carlo to tell me what he wants, and I’ll pay it now.”
When she got back to the table and sat down, Ted smiled.
“I’ve spoken to your lecturer, Terry. He’s an old student of mine. He says that you’re a stand-out in this year’s intake.”
“It’s still only early, Ted. I have to finish off the two projects to submit this week and do both the module exams. I spent most of my free time in Australia working on them but need to go to the Senate Library to double-check a few things.”
“I’ll drive you there on both days, as I need to talk to a few other people as we gear up for the last part of the year. I’m sure you’ll present a good pair of propositions; he was very pleased with your first project. He wants to talk to you about it on Thursday, after you’ve finished the exam. I’m invited to join you for lunch, and the venue is very swish, so wear something nice. It’s the Tudor Pass at Great Fosters. That’s a stately manor that’s run as a hotel, with the restaurant having less than ten tables and a Michelin Star. Don’t ask me who’s invited us, as it's all very hush-hush.”
After breakfast, she walked to the Senate Library and did her research, glad to be home again and using her time to further her knowledge. One of the problems with having a mind like hers was that it needed constant stimulation. That day, and the next, she added her graphs and projections to the first project. Once again, she had thought outside the box, and had suggested some radical changes to make the business viable. She was glad that she wasn’t doing this work for real, as most companies would probably just put her things in a bin, but, for a college project, you’re supposed to use your imagination, as long as it stayed within the bounds of possibility.
The second project was more out of her brain than the others. She had ended up writing an essay, laying out the basic facts about her ending up owning an industrial site with a recording studio, and her plans for the rest of the year with the modifications. The hardest thing was to sit down and list the sort of charges that would have to be made to bring it into the black.
The big shed would be just enough to pay the ongoing costs, so the profit would have to come from studio hire. When she thought about it, charging a thousand an hour, with eight hours a week, over forty weeks, would bring in over three hundred thousand, and any more would be cream on the top. She couldn’t rely on Xavier, as he may be looking for somewhere else, so either a casual operator or a full-time one would need to be factored in.
In the end, she offered three optional outcomes, the first with the shed mainly used by schools and amateur groups, with minimum use of the studio. The second with more studio time and more professional groups in the shed. The third, which she called the ‘Blue Sky Option’, included regular studio work and shed usage, which returned around one and a half million a year. She factored in the free use of the offices by the Arts Alliance and the ‘Legs’ syndicate.
On Thursday morning, she had breakfast with Ted and then got herself ready to be taken to the Royal Holloway campus. She had her laptop in a bag, and her submissions on two USB sticks, in marked envelopes, and her memory of what the exams would entail. At the campus, she gave the first stick to Terry, who took her to a room where she would sit for the exam. Three hours later, she had finished and double checked her answers. Terry sat at a desk, with the USB plugged in, and looked at her project, without saying anything. When his alarm clock sounded, he asked for her papers.
“You know, Miss Rose, you really are a student from heaven. This second project of yours is so far out of left field, it took me some time to work out the logistics of your suggestions. A bit like your first project. I can tell you one thing about our next session of lectures, and that is that you will now be one of five left on the course. It was the third project that has made the difference. Some took on this course without thinking that it was designed for them to make decisions for themselves. They thought that we were going to teach them how to manage a successful role in a successful business, not that they may want to do something of their own.”
“I had no preconception, sir. Whichever way it went, I was happy to learn.”
“Are you ready for the next test?”
“I am, sir.”
“Do you have your project with you today?”
“In my bag.”
“How would you like to sit it this afternoon? That way I can look at them and get a week off before we continue the lectures, next month.”
“That would be fine by me, sir.”
“Right. Now we will be having lunch with one of our clients, who is keen to talk to you, and no, not because of your star status. Take some time to freshen up and meet Ted and I by his car.”
She went to the toilets and got comfortable, then made sure her make-up was right. Outside, in the carpark, she found the two men talking about the joys of being in the teaching game. They got in the car, and Terry directed Ted to the lunch venue.
It was as Ted had described, a mainly red-brick stately home in lush gardens. When they had parked, they went in and found the restaurant, telling the elegantly dressed man at the door that they were the guests of Mister Kelly. He led them into the smallest, but most lavish, restaurant that Willow had ever seen. A man rose from his seat and greeted Terry and Ted warmly, and then turned his attention on Willow.
“Miss Rose. It is an absolute pleasure to meet you. I do have to tell you that my daughter is one of your fans, so I have a knowledge of your fame. I believe that you’ve been in Australia?”
“Yes, sir. We did a tour there, finishing in Tokyo and Seoul. I only got back on Monday so I could finish my projects. I spent time while I was away working on them but needed some information from the Senate Library.”
“Look, sit down, all of you. I’ve ordered four of the seven course tasting meals, so we will have plenty of time to talk. Who’s having a drink?”
They gave the order to the waiter, who asked Willow if she preferred bottle lemonade or freshly squeezed. She asked for freshly squeezed. The gentleman then introduced himself.
“I’m Hugh Kelly, owner and chairman of Kelly Industries, originally based in Manchester. It was my problem that I took to Ted to ask his advice. He passed it on to Terry, who made it the first project in your Certificate course. It was all a real-life case, and one that had baffled my management and finance people for months. As you would have seen from the data I supplied, we’re not a small business, and could afford to wait for a solution to eventuate. That solution happened to be yours, Miss Rose. We did what you suggested, and your projections turned out to be within five percent of the actual results.”
“That’s good to know, sir. I thought that I was being a bit too imaginative with my submission but didn’t know that it was for real. How did the staff that were relocated take it?”
“Hardly any problem. Most knew that they were chasing their tails by trying to run the production without being there but had been afraid of suggesting it. The new production line took a bit of sweet-talking to our bank, but the results are so good, with the bigger sales force, that we’re working on another line.”
“I’m glad that I could help, sir.”
“Enough of this ‘sir’ business. I’m Hugh.”
“In that case, Hugh, I’m Willow.”
“So, Willow, what did you make of the second project? That’s also one of my problems, this time one of the subsidiaries.”
“I used my imagination, Hugh. Terry has been looking at it all morning. Perhaps he can tell you if it works, or not.”
As they ate through the seven courses, Terry outlined Willow’s answers, in quite a reasonable way, or so she thought. Hugh would ask a question, and Willow would expand on her thinking that wasn’t part of the original project. By the time they had arrived at the fifth course, Hugh sat back in his chair.
“What did the others on the course say, Terry?”
“Roughly the same as the first project, Hugh. Lay people off and sit under your rock. Willow has one of the best minds I’ve known when it comes to thinking outside the box. It’s the same with her music. She went from smooth wallpaper music in her first album, to a similar, but more realistic, theme for the second. Then they got progressively rocky, with an abrupt shift with the one about the website quest. I bought the latest album last week, and it’s almost like listening to a soundtrack of a musical. The difference between that and the full, in your face, Berlin show seems like two different bands.”
“I’m told that you raised forty million for charity with your first tour, Willow. Have you found that charity begins at home?”
“With a loop past our manager, Hugh. We did a three-city tour in Europe, and another across the Med, and now this one in Australasia. The logistics are huge, the costs are huge, but the returns are humongous.”
“How much does it cost to put on a show?”
“Usually about a quarter of a million to erect the stage with the sound and vision. Another hundred to two hundred thousand a night for staff and security. Then the venue takes ten percent before we even start talking about transport, hotels, food, our own security, dressers, make-up technicians. To give you an idea, that set of charity shows that raised forty million actually grossed out at around eighty-four million.”
“Now that is serious money! I won’t be so impolite to ask how you’ve fared out of this, but I expect that you’ve done well. Are the rest of the band as level-headed as yourself?”
“We had seven of us in a syndicate, Hugh. Our first property was a fully leased industrial unit in Coventry, which cost under half a million. Our next was the site in Leicester which was more than double that. We had a meeting before the tour, and two of the band bought the Coventry property from the syndicate, and I bought the Leicester one, where we had built our own recording studio. We closed down that syndicate, to put money into another that we had formed with all ten of the band. We own a site in Small Heath with two tenants and are in the process of buying a shopping centre in Manchester with thirty-five shops. Yes, I would say that we’re all level-headed.”
“Is Leicester the subject of your third project?”
“It is, Terry. The projections are very much imaginary, but I hope that my crazier ones become the norm.”
“I’ll be reading that, this afternoon, while you’re doing the third exam.”
“You’re having her sit that, today?”
“We spoke about it this morning, Ted, and Willow is happy to put them behind her.”
“That means that you can relax, Willow, at last.”
“Not just yet, Ted. In two weeks, I’m the orchestra leader in the Albert Hall, performing the Messiah with the school orchestra and singers from the English National Opera. We have a final rehearsal on Wednesday week, and the show on the Saturday. We put Haydn’s ‘Creation’ on in Coventry Cathedral two weeks before we flew to Perth. I’m rather hoping that the Bishop of Coventry doesn’t think of something else he wants us to perform this Christmas.”
“Are there recordings of your orchestral work, Willow?”
“There are, Hugh. The BBC have two DVDs of us in the Cathedral, our label has a double CD of us that was recorded in Abbey Road and Albert hall, and there are now two CDs out with Gina Summer and me playing the organ at Kings College and York Minster.”
“How on earth do you fit it all in?”
“My mother told me that if you want anything done, then you ask a busy person.”
They chuckled and continued to concentrate on the last couple of courses. They were sitting with coffee and cheese when the chef came out and asked Hugh if everything was all right. Hugh said that it was, as usual, magnificent, and introduced his guests. The chef, when told who this pretty girl was, went off to get a camera for a selfie.
Before they left, Hugh reached into his briefcase and pulled out a framed certificate.
“This may not be your final course certificate, Willow, but this is one from me and a very grateful board in recognition of your input. It doesn’t state what you did, as that is all confidential, but I expect to be able to give you another one after Terry sends me your other project answers.”
“Thank you, Hugh. I will treasure this more than all the Gold Records.”
“Not more than the Platinum ones?”
“They’re all on the wall of the studio. This goes on my wall at home and will be in pride of place in my first office.”
That afternoon, she gave Terry the USB stick and sat working on the other exam. When she had finished, Terry took up the papers.
“That project of yours is very interesting. I would dearly love to see this studio.”
“You have my email address, just let me know when you’re coming north, and I’ll take you on a tour. I should be starting the new work soon, but there’s nothing needed to be done in the studio. Hopefully, I can have Christmas at home this year.”
Friday, she spent some time with her keyboard, just playing favourites, and her parents arrived later in the evening. They spent Saturday catching up and went back to Stoneleigh on Sunday. Once again, for Willow, it felt familiar, but odd, to be back in her room, unpacking her cases. She plugged her home laptop into the mains and turned it on. There were a lot of emails. The oldest one being from Peter with the July statement.
Once again, the older material was almost non-existent, with the new releases making up the income. Her share was three hundred and sixty thousand. There was a note to say that the Berlin DVD was racing towards a Triple-Platinum award, with a lot of the sales in Europe and Australia. She asked Peter to transfer three hundred and fifty thousand into the WR Holdings as usual.
There was one from Wilhelm, asking if she could expand on the situation for him with the site changing hands. She replied that everything would stay the same, with him able to continue to act on behalf of the syndicate in the office upstairs, but that the downstairs office would be home to the Arts Alliance, who would manage the big shed once it had been transformed into rehearsal space. She pointed out that her father had organised for the locks to the studio to be changed, and that she would give him a key when she saw him next. She outlined the changes that she had in mind and asked him if he could research tradesmen who could do the work, with the studio builder asked to quote on soundproofing the big shed.
There was one from Xavier, apologetically telling her that he had left school, and was now working as a junior at Abbey Road. He said that Frank and Dave had also left school to work with a small company specialising in videos for bands. Willow replied, wishing him all the best.
There was one from Frank, offering a discount to Summer Rose if they needed a promotional video. That was sent to all the band and Jill. She answered wishing them both well and saying that they would be kept in mind.
There was one from Zara, to tell her that she had also left school, after a blow-up with her mother. She was now living in London, with an aunt, had signed a solo contract with the label, and was rehearsing with a piano quintet. She said that she would be in Coventry for the final rehearsal and would fulfil her orchestral duty at Albert Hall.
Then came one from Garry. He also told her that Zara had left G-Force. He also said that Gerry had left school and joined the Hikers, taking Grant with him, as the Hiker’s drummer had declared that his band wasn’t the same without his friend Alex. Geoff was still in Coventry, but calling Zara every couple of days and looking for somewhere they could live together. So, G-Force was no more. He told her that he was continuing with the higher studies and would be happy to see her in school.
Willow sat back and thought about things. She liked Garry, a lot, but she had a lot of balls in the air, without room for another relationship. There was an email from Jill, sent the day before, telling her that the Berlin DVD had passed Treble Platinum, while the ‘Laptop’ album had gained Platinum. She wanted to host a small presentation dinner in Coventry on the Saturday evening before they went back to school, with their photographer on hand. It was to be smart/casual at one of the city restaurants, and families were welcome. Willow replied with her attendance.
She went downstairs and told her parents about the dinner, and then showed them the certificate that had been presented to her, with it packed away in her case in London.
“That’s beautiful. What on earth did you do to get this?”
“If I told you, I’d have to kill you. It was some suggestions I had made in my uni project earlier in the year. Everything else is clouded in secrecy.”
“My daughter is now the International Woman of Mystery!”
“That’s about it, Mum. I’ll be keeping this in my room, unless Dad wants to put it on the wall of his office.”
“He’ll love to, I’m sure of it. Where was the presentation?”
“In a Michelin Starred restaurant where the chef wanted a selfie with me.”
She had a full week before school, resting, sorting out her wardrobe, catching up with her laundry, thinking about new songs, and about the tour. She had read the newspapers in Australia and was surprised at how cheap the real estate was when you halved the price to get pounds that she could relate to.
She made an appointment to see Wilhelm in Leicester and called up an Uber to take her there. They discussed the changes that she wanted, spoke to the ladies of the Arts Alliance, who were now nicely settled in, telling them what changes would be taking place and sounding them out about managing the shed when it was finished. They didn’t want to do that, but there was a retired bank manager who worked with the schools and drama groups who they knew would be happy to step into those shoes.
She also took out an advert in the local papers and an internet site for a competent studio operator to run a successful recording studio in the Midlands. On the Saturday, the family went to the restaurant in Coventry, where the whole band received their awards and had a good meal. The others told Willow that the trip back home had been better than the trip out, but not by much, and were all looking forward to some time off. On Sunday, they listened to Jim, who was now happy to be the regular organist, now that his band had broken up.
Tuesday was the first day of fourth year, and also the first Zoom lecture with fewer faces on the screen. At school, the assembly was the usual reporting of great things that the orchestra had done, as well as the big performance coming up on Saturday evening. Wednesday, they ran through the Mesiah with the ENO, and declaring it good to go. That evening, the soloists from the ENO joined them in the club for the Village Choir practise, much to Margaret and her friend’s delight.
Garry had sat with Willow in the lunchroom that day, now that his friends had deserted him, and they spoke about things lost, and things gained. He was happy that he could now work towards uni without any money worries, so, as far as he was concerned, it was all good.
Thursday, there was another statement. The tour had grossed over a hundred and eight million, with nearly nine million in costs. The CD and DVD sales were better, due to the sales in Australasia, with the old CDs making two point three-two million, the DVDs making three point one-five, and the merchandise selling a hundred and forty thousand pounds worth. The new album, released in the middle of the month, had already made over seven hundred thousand. There was a note that the tour returns would have been better if they could have charged the sort of prices that they did in the UK and Europe. Still, each band member received eight million and eighty thousand pounds. She replied to transfer the eight million to the WR Holdings. At this rate, she expected to get an invitation for another band meeting.
Saturday, she was in her long black dress with her violin case and her bag, picked up by the coach, already nearly full of the orchestra. The choir had already started for London. They were taken to the hotel where they had stayed the last time they played at the Albert Hall, checked in and taken to the venue. The truck had arrived with all the instruments.
Willow and Gina sat in the stalls, watching the hustle and bustle.
“Not seen much of you lately outside school, friend.”
“I’ve been pretty busy, Gina, sorting out the studio site and my other studies. How are you going with your quest to find a chateau?”
“That, my friend, is a slam dunk with the payment we got from the tour. We have found a good house near Florence, with a bit of land. It isn’t far into the city to the Centro Studi Musica e Arte, where they can take me further on the piano. I have no idea when we’ll make the move, hopefully in a year or so, but Mum’s keen. It’s warm and the house has a pool. There are fruit trees and vines, and the harvest is picked by locals, who pay for the privilege.”
“You could always hire someone to look after it before you move. You know, it’s all a bit different without some of our friends.”
“It is. It will be interesting to see what the new Hikers come up with. Geoff was the writer in G-Force. If he joins Zara in London, he may end up in her backing band. I think he loves her enough to take a demotion.”
“It does make you think how long we can last. This last tour has given us all the chance to do something magnificent, or something silly. I was wondering if anyone was going to suggest that we buy another shopping centre, or even an aircraft that would take us wherever we want to go. Talking about where to go, I think it’s about time we got our act together for tonight, the team from ENO have just walked in.”
Marianne Gregory © 2025
Chapter 23.
They went and joined the rest of the orchestra, Willow starting to take control. The mayhem wasn’t helped by camera and sound crews setting things out. Mister Bamborough arrived in tails, and it got settled enough to run a sound check.
After that, they left the hall and went to the side rooms where there was a meal for them. When that was finished, and they had got comfortable, checked their teeth and make-up, they lined up in order to wait for their entrance. Willow took the opportunity to have a word with Zara.
“Last night of the Proms for you, my friend.”
“It is, Willow. Next week, I’m starting a regular spot at a nightclub, with my quintet. It’s not as much money as the old band, but it is work until I get my album out. Clive has told me that I would likely be in the charts before Christmas.”
“I’ll buy it, that’s for sure. Is Geoff joining you in the city?”
“He wants to, but I’m not sure if I want him to. We’ve become like a married couple, and he wants stability, where I want to get out and take a chance. I’m dragging my heels looking at somewhere to live. He wants a house, and I want an apartment.”
“Take it from me, apartment living is great, especially if you have one over a restaurant.”
The call came for ‘five minutes’ so they all stood up straight. Tonight, Willow was to lead them out, including the school choir. Then, the choir of the ENO would join them, followed by the soloists and the conductor. It all worked smoothly to applause. Willow controlled the tuning, and the ensemble stood as the others came out. At two minutes past the programmed time, they were into the piece. There was the first break, and then repeated the entry, but a bit more quickly. When they reached the Hallelujah Chorus, the audience stood as per the custom.
In the Stoneleigh Club, where two hundred and fifty diners were watching the live broadcast on the big TV, they all stood as well, Wendy holding her husband’s arm as they watched their daughter leading the orchestra.
When the final Amen was sung, the audience stood and cheered them, echoed in the club. The soloists were all given flowers, as was Willow, and there were several bows and picking out individual players before they left the stage and the program ended. For the players, it was a trip back to the hotel and a good night of well-deserved sleep, while the school contractors gathered up all the larger instruments to take back to the school in the morning.
Next morning, after breakfast, they all wished Zara the best of luck as she left, with her overnight bag, to go back to her aunts’ and her new life. The rest of them got on the coaches for the trip back to Coventry, with Willow being dropped off first.
The following week set the scene for the rest of the month. School, Zoom lectures, sometimes in the club, and working on new songs. The Music Studies was into Composition this term, and Willow took it all in. The work on the Leicester site was moving forward, with the old shed removed and donated to one of the schools as a storage shed. The car park and inside the long shed was resurfaced with bright new lines. The new parking area in the long shed was given better lighting as well. The next statement arrived in the first week of September, with another four hundred and sixty thousand as her share. She asked Peter to transfer four hundred and fifty thousand to WR Holdings, and then transferred a hundred thousand into her personal account. She also got the Leicester accountant to set up a new account for Summer Love Studios, as a subsidiary of WR Holdings, and transferred two hundred thousand to his trust account as seed money.
The studio people had quoted on soundproofing the big shed, but Willow was holding off on that until the concrete floor had been covered in laminate flooring on low joists, to make it more like a stage or a dance floor. Willow had resumes from several console operators but hadn’t decided on any yet. She intended to pick the best three and bring them into the studio to interview and record something. She had spoken to Petunia, who was keen to have more on disc. Summer Rose was, at the moment, resting on its laurels. They had issued enough albums in the year, and now all had enough behind them to pursue other, more personal, things. Gina and Maisie were spending more weekends in Europe.
As October progressed, the floor of the shed was completed, and the soundproofing was being fixed. Willow had spoken to the referees and then contacted the best-looking applicants to arrange interviews. The others were sent an email to tell them that they had not been successful this time but would be kept in mind. As they had all indicated very little genuine experience but a desire to learn, it wasn’t a difficult choice.
She had scheduled them all to come to the site on a Saturday afternoon. One had done work experience with the company that built the studio and had been working in a radio station in Dundee for a few years as the producer. The other two had some time in studios, one in Birmingham and the other in Liverpool. What clinched their pick was that both had put photography or filmmaking as their hobbies.
Wendy took her to the site after lunch and they were chatting to the Alliance ladies when the first one arrived. Willow went out to the carpark. A rather stunning blonde got out of the car.
“Welcome, I’m Willow.”
“Good to meet you, Willow. I’ve Sydney Morris, here for the interview.”
“If you follow me, Sydney, we’ll go into our office, and you can relax. I have brought all three of the final applicants here today. The reason will become clear as we talk.”
She took Sydney up to the office.
“Take a seat. Do you want a drink, hot or cold?”
“Something cold, please. You look familiar.”
“Well, I have had a bit of time in the news this year. I’m Willow Rose.”
“Wow! This is a real pleasure, meeting you in the flesh. I have your albums.”
“If you have the Berlin DVD, you’re in good company, as that went Triple Platinum recently.”
She was looking out the window and saw two other cars come in and park.
“Hold on a moment, I’ll go and get the others.”
She went down and smiled.
“Good afternoon, you two. You, sir, must be Josh Hamilton, so you must be Sarah Wilkinson. I’m Willow Rose. Please follow me upstairs where we can have a chat.”
They followed her upstairs and she introduced them to each other, got them drinks and sat down.
“I expect that you’re wondering why I have brought the three of you in today as the advertisement was only for one position. In the past, we have had three lads from my school to do the studio work. The main mixer operator is now working in Abbey Road, and the two that concentrated on visual work are both in a company making band videos. What I’m looking for is a team to replace them, but able to fill in with any position.”
She started to ask them questions and draw them out. Sarah had family in Leicester and wanted to come home again; Josh was at a crossroads in his life, having broken up with his girlfriend in Birmingham and looking for somewhere away from the city as a new start. Sydney had been working as a DJ in Liverpool clubs but had some mixer experience. When the talk petered out, Willow told them that it was time to show them around.
“Where we’re in is our band headquarters. It looks a bit sparce as we only have a part-timer who looks after our property. All fan mail is dealt with by the label in London, as well as any tour organising.”
They went down and she opened the door to the big shed.
“This is in the process of being turned into an arts rehearsal space. I hope that we can have bands rehearsing, dancers and actors. It used to be a distribution centre. The company that you had work experience in, Sarah, are doing the soundproofing.”
She then led them into the long shed.
“This doesn’t look a likely studio location. This shed had been used for pallet racking and I’ve had the wall between that, and the old forklift workshop removed.”
She opened the door to the studio.
“This is where you will, hopefully, be spending a lot of time.”
She led them into the corridor, stopping to switch all the lights and master power on.
“This board has to be fully switched on, or else the next door will set off alarms. One of the switches turns them on and off, but I won’t tell you which one just yet. Please go through.”
The three went into the rest room, and immediately went to the wall with the awards. Willow gave them time to read a few and then went to the door to the control room.
“Through here is what our previous operator called ‘heaven on earth’.”
The room had been powered up from the switchboard, so all the lights were on across the mixing board.
“This was installed last year. We have enough mixing ability to record an orchestra, which we have done twice. The storage is twenty-four track digital and there’s the twenty-four track tape as back-up. There is a post-production unit on the back wall, which can produce issue-worthy CDs or DVDs. In the corner there, with the three screens, is the control unit for the twelve cameras that are located in the studio itself. They can be set with a main view, and then you can switch to another view at the press of a button, all the cameras are able to be removed, so there’s nothing to stop you using them on tripods.”
She went to the big switch on the mixing desk.
“This is the actual studio.”
As she switched it on, the others gasped at the sight of the long space with some keyboards, amps, and drums sitting there.
“We have recorded up to fifty players at once, using small, six-channel, mixers to feed into the main board. We recorded the original ‘Homegrown’ album here, with the DVD shot in Abbey Road. All the other albums started life in here, as well as the latest G-Force and Hikers ones. I’m planning to advertise this as a commercial studio for other bands, something we couldn’t do until I was able to get the permission changed to commercial use.”
“This is just wonderful, Willow. The board is bigger than anything I’ve seen, but it’s just the one control, duplicated. Are there jack plugs in the studio that are numbered?”
“There are, and they’re duplicated down the entire studio. Down at the back there is a way through to a storage area, and then security doors to the lane behind us. The air is a split system, set to twenty-two degrees ‘C’, and the walls are eighteen inches thick. Now, in the rest area we came through, there is a stocked kitchenette and his’n’hers toilets. I expect that you thought there may be a test, well, I’ll show you how the visual recording works, and then I’ll go into the studio and play a few things for you to record. There’s no rush, we can take all afternoon, but the plan is for us to end up with four CD’s and four DVDs of what we’ve done.”
It didn’t take long to show them the way to swap vision and record it. Sarah spent a little while finding out where the switches were for the speakers in the control room. Willow unplugged the transmitter for the buds, explaining that they used these, as it was what they used on stage. The three said that they were ready.
“Right. We’ll do this for real. You are in charge of the recording. Tell me where you want me to sit, set up the microphones you want to use, and make sure you have the visuals you want to use before we record.”
The four of them went into the studio, and Willow was sat at her keyboard, with it plugged into one of the amps. She had a boom with a microphone set up, and the three went back into the control room to do a vision and sound check. When Sarah said it was all good, Willow could see the tape moving and started to play. She did a version of a Carpenters song that she had sung, all that time ago, on stage at the club.
When she finished, Sarah asked her to play some more until told to stop. Willow played a solo version of ‘Finding a Friend’ and ‘Her Day’ before going on with a few numbers that she had been playing around with at home. When Sarah called to stop, she went into the control room and the four of them worked the post-production system to output CDs and DVDs. Willow had watched this done enough times to be able to show them the ropes.
“How are you all with this? I know it’s a steep learning curve.”
They all had smiles and both Josh and Sydney looked at Sarah. She thought for a bit, then asked.
“How much do you pay, and what are our duties?”
“Let’s sit in the first room and talk.”
They went and sat down. Willow looked in the fridge.
“There’s ice creams, anybody want one?”
When they were all sitting comfortably, Willow gave them more information.
“I’m prepared to pay forty thousand a year to each of you. I have bought a house in a nearby street that had been converted to three flats. That will be available to you at outgoing costs only. You can set up in the office we were first in, and, as a team, you will be in charge of the studio, taking bookings and scheduling recording sessions. I will be standing back, but behind you all the way. There will be advertising to attract customers who want to record in the Summer Love Studio, and there will be rehearsal space in the big shed, which will need to be co-ordinated with the Arts Alliance ladies in the ground floor office. You will be expected to keep the place clean and tidy, including the kitchen and toilets. If you want to, there will be an opportunity to teach others about this equipment at the Blue Coat School in Coventry, which has a post-production suite.”
Sydney grinned.
“What about relocation expenses?”
“Not a problem, within reason. If you say that you want to be part of this, we’ll get you signed on as an employee of the WR Holdings company, with a debit card for expenses. The accountant will expect a wad of receipts at the end of each month. That will include fuel, although the house is close enough to walk.”
They all said that they wanted the jobs, so Willow took them to the house and gave each one a key ring, with the site gate, the new studio key, and the door keys for one flat on each ring.
“I’ll let you talk about which one gets which flat. I’ll be back in the office when you’ve sorted yourselves out. I’ll need to arrange for my accountant to create a contract for each of you. When you come back to the office, I’ll give you an information sheet each, which gives his contact details and my contact details. You’ll be on the books as soon as he gets your signature.”
When they returned to the office, she gave them the information, pointed out the boardroom table where they could talk to bands and plan sessions, the introduced them to the Alliance ladies and her mother. On the way home, Wendy looked over and commented.
“They seem a nice bunch. That Sydney is a real stunner, isn’t she?”
“They are good, Mum.”
Willow slid the CD into the player, and they listened to her singing on the way home. Willow thought that it was good as is, and wondered about what it would sound like with a bit of tweaking.
She emailed the accountant with the names of her team, to list each one as a ‘Studio Technician’ and to start an employment folder for each one, from the day they signed the contract, and to prepare three debit cards with WR Holdings as the card owner. All three had contacted him and were on board from Wednesday. Willow expected them to take a week or more before she was contacted that they were in place. When they did that, she spoke to Petunia about getting her band recorded properly, and it was arranged for the following Saturday, from eleven in the morning. Willow emailed Sarah that she had a session to record a band at that time, and to treat them kindly, as they were all only twelve.
In her quiet times, Willow had been thinking about recording. She had been listening to some of the great female singers of the forties to sixties, finding a lot of material that they had played as the dance band. She emailed Sarah, booking the Monday of the half-term holiday as a recording session for herself. She noted that she wanted the result to sound like it had been recorded in a smoky club in the fifties and suggested that she look in the manual to see how she could produce that sound.
Before that, though, she ordered a large erectable blue screen and a Steinway Baby Grand to be delivered to the studio, with Sarah as the contact. She emailed Sarah that they were coming, and for her to go to see about how you can get out of the back door and into the lane.
On the Monday of the last week of the half-term, a very thankful Petunia gave her a copy of the Vines album, saying that her father had been very impressed with the way they had been looked after, and would pay any costs incurred.
The half-term ended, without any new tour or engagement booked, so Willow looked forward to a week where she could study the uni course, now in the fourth, and final, module. Gina was in Italy with Maisie, looking at the property they liked. On the Monday, she called for an Uber to take her to Leicester. There, she recorded one song to see if Sarah had nailed the sound, and then proceeded to record another fifteen tracks, just her and her voice with piano backing. The result started with a jazzy version of ‘Finding a Friend’ and finished with one she had written, ‘Where are they now?’ that was bridged with old songs about love, happiness, heartache and sheer joy. She already had twenty-four copies of the artwork for the cover. It was a picture of a willow tree, beside a mirror-like water, with her signature across it. The title was ‘A Girl has to have Standards’. The back of the cardboard had the names of the songs, with the writers, and the team at Summer Love Studio.
She stayed with them while they produced two dozen copies of the album and packed them in CD containers. She gave each of the team a copy as a keepsake and took them to a local restaurant for lunch. Sarah offered to drive her home, so Willow directed her to go via Coventry. There, she guided her to the Blue Coat School, and took her in. At reception, she asked the girl if Mister Bamborough or Miss Russell was in and was told that Mister Bamborough was in his office. She took Sarah to his office and knocked.
When she heard the call to enter, she led Sarah into the office.
“Good afternoon, Willow. What are you doing here on a holiday?”
“Good afternoon, Sir. This is Sarah Wilkinson. She is the new operator at the studio, replacing Xavier. I’ve brought her here to meet you and look at the suite of equipment that you now have.”
“Yes, I didn’t think that Xavier would up and leave us. Mind you, a job in the Abbey Road studio is not one to refuse. Good afternoon, Sarah. I’m Howard Bamborough, and I’m in charge of music studies here. Follow me and I’ll show you the room.”
By the time they left, Sarah had been taken on as a temporary teacher, with one evening a week to teach pupils how to use the equipment. She had looked at the visual equipment and had promised to bring Josh and Sydney in to see about teaching as well.
That afternoon, when Willow turned on her laptop, there was an email from Terry with her project for the end of the course. It was another ‘company in trouble’ and he wanted her to email it to her as soon as she had finished it. Her final exam was set on the twenty-first of December, and that Ted would take her if she was at her apartment. She acknowledged the email and started looking at the project for the rest of the week, only taking time off to go into Coventry with her mother on Tuesday morning to post a copy of her album to Jill for evaluation, another to her grandmother, a third to Evelyn as an early Christmas present, and to wander the shops before getting an Uber home.
The following Monday, Gina told Willow that they had settled on the property, and that she was booked to start at the music school in January. The leaving age in Italy was sixteen, and she had signed up with a private tutor to take her through to her sixteenth birthday at the end of May. She had advised Jill of this and also gave Willow a letter, with her accountant’s letterhead, giving Willow the full ownership of the name ‘Summer Rose’. Willow didn’t mention that she had already registered the name as a trademark.
“This is all a bit quick, friend.”
“I know, but it’s the chance for me to move on. The tutors at the music school listened to me play and promised to get me playing as a soloist by the end of next year. I have you to thank for it all, my best friend forever.”
“What tipped the scales?”
“We found a lovely villa, with plenty of room for a Grand Piano, and we were looking around the property when we came across a man, pruning the few rows of vines. We got talking, with me translating for Mum, and found out that he was the son of the man who had leased our land. The result was that we were taken to his father’s house, that backed on to our place, and stayed for dinner. The father, Guiseppe, is a widower, and he and Mum got on like a house on fire, in a mix of Italian, fractured English, and French, which Mum speaks. We signed the paperwork two days later and I transferred the price straight away.”
“I had a Steinway Baby Grand put into the studio. How would you like to record a couple of albums worth of your playing. My gift to you.”
“That would be fantastic. Do you have an operator?”
“I now have a full team on the payroll. They’re good. I had them record an album for me last week. I have a copy for you here. Have a listen and let me know what you think tomorrow.”
On Tuesday, the next statement came through, with each share at four hundred and twenty thousand. Her WR Holding account had another four hundred thousand added to it, handy as the accounts for upgrading the big shed had come in at just over three hundred and fifty thousand. Gina had told her that the CD was beautiful and should be released.
“That last track. That was about the band and our friends, wasn’t it?”
“If you want to think that, then yes. It was written so that anyone can fill in their own memories. With the way the others have been, I wonder if we’ll ever play in public again. I can see us getting together in the studio, but I had the feeling that Australia may have been our last gasp. I’m not sad about it, and I’ll be happy to be proved wrong, but we had played a lot of those songs as a dance band, and the album sort of grew.”
This part of the term, the Music Studies were all about the Bandinerie from JS Bach. A bandinerie was an odd dance form that had been explored by many composers, and sometimes used as the basis of a movement within a bigger work.
The year moved on, with Willow completing the project and emailing the result to Terry. Wilhelm sent in his report, with the shopping centre now in their hands, with a management team, and the modernisation being planned, with an architect being appointed. Jill had called Willow to tell her that her solo album had been launched in time for Christmas. Willow replied that she would be in the city for the Christmas break and would be staying at her apartment.
Willow had placed adverts in the music papers, and online, with Sarah as the contact point, and there was some interest being generated. The big shed was now hosting school groups several days in the week, with the Arts Alliance over the moon. Gina had been into the studio and recorded two CDs of classical piano works, reporting that the new team were fantastic, and the Steinway was beautiful. She gave Willow a set, signed to her best friend forever.
At the beginning of December, there was another statement, with the sales dipping slightly, and each share three hundred and seventy thousand. Willow had four hundred thousand transferred to WR Holdings, taking that to over fourteen million.
They moved into the revision week and the exam week. This year, the Bishop had decided to have a choral carol service instead of a bigger show, so the orchestra had only worked on other works through the last term, and the larger choir was out in hospitals and aged care homes.
Willow emailed Sarah to tell her that the team would have two weeks holiday on full pay, getting a thank you email with a Christmas card attached in return,
After the exams, and a tearful farewell to Gina, the Rose family locked the house and went into London. They had an invitation to another ‘black tie’ party at the Dorchester. This time, however, it was only Willow who was to receive an award, her Gold Record for ‘Standards’, which had outsold ‘Fireworks’ ten to one. The evening was as glittery as the last one, with Wendy and Willow in new dresses for the occasion. She collected the one to be given to Sarah for production, to give to her in the New Year. She thought that it may be something they could do in front of her family and friends, with the Leicester paper covering a local girl making waves.
On the Monday, Ted took Willow to the Royal Holloway, where she sat for the exam, with Terry checking it while she waited, and then presented her with her framed certificate. He also gave her two other framed items, both from Hugh Kelly, and both in acknowledgement of her input, one for one subsidiary, and the second for another subsidiary. Terry asked her if he could send her more problems to solve, and Willow grinned and told him that it would cost five hundred pounds an hour, minimum of fifty hours.
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.
Marianne Gregory © 2025
End of Book 4