Positively Patsy Part 15

When he came down he looked at the hole in the wall and asked me how I had opened it and I showed him the birthmark on the stone. “I just had to push it” I told him. He stood outside the room and shone his torch inside and gave out a whistle.

“Right” he ordered “everyone outside again, We need the team back down.” We civilians were herded back into the kitchen and he got his team together again. “There is a new room to look at which Patsy here managed to open. It looks to me to contain artefacts from the South American tribes, maybe Aztec. It could be plunder from the Spanish galleons that had never been given to the Queen at the time. This will make a big find a significant one, so get to work.” It took another three days to clear the room and, by this time, the whole team were getting hyper looking at the gold that was coming out of the fireplace. Even with just a wipe over it all looked magnificent.

When everything was cleared and cleaned and catalogued, they got in some strong boxes and everything was carefully packed and taken off to the British Museum in armoured trucks. We were assured that it remained the property of the house but did need to be properly assessed and entered into the register of historical artefacts. Greg was told that as the owner he could ask for it all back but that the Museum would certainly make him an offer for much of the trove. He was given a copy of the catalogue and a signed receipt from the British Museum. I was given a receipt for the riddle and the necklace which went with the rest of the find.

When the last of the team had left we sat around the kitchen table looking at the fireplace which was now closed again. “That was the strangest couple of weeks I have ever experienced” said Greg “not even when I got high have I had the sense of excitement and fulfilment that the last couple of weeks have brought. I don’t know how we are to top this but I don’t care any more.” I was feeling that I had been instrumental in a wonderful addition to the history of this country. I was a bit miffed at having to give up the necklace but I had been assured I would get it back. We managed to settle down and continue with our original plans.

I helped Mary sort out the stable complex. Now the other excitement was over, we got the cleaning and painting crew in to bring the complex back to the present. Then we had the vet provide us with a certificate that allowed us to house horses again. I then had an idea and called up the National Equestrian people and asked them if they could come out and look over the complex with an idea of it being used by the national team prior to big competitions. When they came and looked they were very impressed and made lots of notes and told us that they would be in touch. In the meantime we went and bought a few riding horses and the tack needed and Mary proceeded to teach us all how to ride.

With all of this happening, Christmas came and went. We had a small party at the house with some of our neighbours and, of course, the vicar and the local doctor and their families. It was all very friendly and old-worldly as we all wore decent clothes with us girls in long dresses and the men in tails. We were able to show off pictures of some of the booty and showed the vicar how the fireplace opened, although, not having the jewel, we could not actually open it. We had all settled into English country life, especially having it snow on Christmas day! Greg looked like he was good for another twenty years these days as the different lifestyle and having us around seemed to clear out all of the old anger and anxiety. He still needed his medical team on hand and they were very helpful the day Joanne fell off her horse and was badly bruised.

Then came a day in the middle of January when we got a message from Sarah in Nashville. It appeared that ‘Amazon’ was nominated for a couple of awards in the upcoming Grammys and so was Minh. They had also nominated Greg Goggins for a ‘Lifetime Achievement Award’ so we all made our preparations for a quick trip to the US. Towards the end of January we flew to Los Angeles and were picked up by limo and taken to our hotel. Minh, Riordan, Julia and Nina were already there and Jake and the guys were due the next day. We all had dinner together and chatted about the awards ceremony. Maxine had told Riordan that we were all to be outfitted by L’Estrange so there were no worries on that score. The organisers wanted us to perform but Sarah had told them no.

She had, however, agreed that Riordan, Joanne, Nina and I would do an acoustic rendition of ‘Serendipity’ if the organising committee made a donation to the ‘Angels of Joy’ charity. On the evening of the awards we all looked extremely elegant and sophisticated, which is more than you could say about other female artists in stupid costumes. I swear that some designers do it because they hate beautiful women. During the evening Minh won the ‘Best New Artist’ award and sang one of the songs from her number one album. ‘Amazon’ won ‘Best Band Album’ for our CD as well as ‘Best Live Performance’ for the DVD. On top of that we got ‘Band of the Year.’ Greg was elevated to legend status with his ‘Lifetime Achievement Award’ and gave a very nice speech about all of the people who had helped him over his lifetime and especially Peggy, who now graced his life with daughterly love. We girls, including Minh, got to play ‘Serendipity’ with just a couple of guitars and we left with our awards and a good feeling.

While we were all together, Maxine had organised a photo shoot down on the Baja Peninsular for the spring and summer collection catalogue so we all spent some time under canvas among sand dunes. Even Greg came along. We were sitting on a sand dune one evening watching the sunset and he said “Do you know, this is the first time I have watched the sun set like this. The odd thing is that since you girls came to stay with me, for the first time in my life I feel like part of a family. Before there was always bands and crowds of hangers-on but I did not feel connected the way I do now.” The guys were here as well and Jake and Greg spent some evenings playing acoustic guitars and singing old songs; the camera crew and make-up artists felt that they were being serenaded, especially when the rest of us joined in. In the end we got a lot of pictures taken with all of us wearing new creations and we even had Greg in some playing a guitar to give a Spanish feel to the pictures. It was a special time for all of us and the great acclaim that the catalogues created when they were released proved how special it was.

Greg and Peggy flew out to London and Joanne, Mary and I flew to Nashville for a few days. Sarah had already taken the awards back to Nashville to showcase in the K Beat reception area, along with our platinum albums. If we kept this up they were going to have to build another wall – but they were doing that already at the new studio. Sarah took us out to the site and we were photographed with spades in our hands for posterity. I had a lot to tell Ruby when I saw her about our ancestor, the pirate. She was amazed when I told her about the silver and gold and asked me what was to become of it. I told her that this was up to Greg but that I thought that he would loan it indefinitely to the British Museum as it was so significant.

When I saw Roger he gave me some copies of his two books, for me and to give to Peggy and Greg. He also gave me a double DVD with the four documentaries that Chris had done. It seemed that they had shown on the TV before Christmas and had been sold to several other stations in the UK and Europe. After a week in Nashville, the three of us flew back to England to continue our transformation of ‘Reece Manor’. When we got to the house we were told that Gerome had contacted Peggy to tell her that there was a slot of two weeks available at the Geneva studio at the end of February so we arranged our tickets and organised with Riordan, Nina and Julia, as well as Jake and the boys. Greg said he was coming as well so it was to be another family gathering, this time at the chateau.

Part 16

When we were all gathered at the chateau we all had bedrooms furnished in the French provincial style. Gerome said that he had access to a small orchestra when we want it so we first worked on the blues style of numbers with just the band plus Greg. After three days we had these in the bag. I had three tracks, Joanne had two, Peggy had four and Riordan had one. We then added the orchestra and, as we had no music for them, we played them the songs we wanted to record, one at a time, and went through them as they picked up on what was wanted. I thought we should make sure we had some printed music next time. Working every day we completed a double CD with twenty tracks per CD. I had eight solo tracks and two with Joanne and two more with Peggy. Riordan had ten of her own; Joanne had eight while Peggy had ten. We decided to call it ‘Angels of Joy Sing Ballads and Blues’. Gerome promised to post produce it and send the result to Simon for production and distribution. After all of the work, Stephanie decided that a party was in order and we all dressed up to mingle with the local well-heeled once more. I was getting to recognise some by name now and we had a good evening. Next day Jake and the guys flew back to Nashville, Riordan left for New York and the rest of us went back to the UK.

We were now in the beginning of March and we were looking forward to making more changes to the house. The stables were now ready and had our horses there. We had employed two stable hands to look after that part and there were a couple of rooms in the stable block now converted to sleeping quarters. Mary had been busy finding customers and we were delighted that our first was to be the US Olympic Team who needed a training camp and had booked for the whole of May. Riordan had been told about an organisation that hosted music camps and we got in touch. They came out to see us and was impressed by the ballroom, studio and accommodation and booked for June, July and August. The kitchen had always been big enough to cook for large groups but now we needed to employ more staff to cater for the long periods of visitors. Our cook knew of some ladies from the village who could use some extra income and we ended up with a group of six more that we could call on. We also put together a list of another six who would come into the house in the mornings and do the beds, cleaning and laundry as casuals.

At the end of March we were invited to go to the British Museum for a discussion about the trove. We all drove into town and booked into a hotel near the museum. The next morning we walked into the museum and asked at the door for our contact and we were taken to a meeting room where several people waited for us. After all the introductions Greg told the museum folk that, although he was still the owner of the house, it was my good luck to be the descendant of Richard Reece that led to the discovery. They thanked us for being thoughtful enough to allow the professionals to do the collection of artefacts as it was unusual to find such a trove untouched for four hundred years and it added so much to the find to record everything in-situ.

They said they wanted to buy the trove from Greg but said it would have to be paid over a period of years as it would be way over their yearly budget. They offered ten million pounds a year for five years. I had calculated the gold and silver by weight and they were pretty much on the money. I did ask about the weapons and armour as well as the Drake memorabilia and they said that these were not able to be valued but would consider us for further recompense if we donated it to the nation. Greg asked what recompense would be offered and they said that he would be nominated for a GCVO Knighthood while I would be up for an OBE. He said “Add my daughter Peggy for an OBE and you’re on.” They mumbled among themselves and agreed. Greg then told them that, on his death, the remaining payments should be made to the ‘Angels of Joy’ charity and they agreed to that as well.

After much shaking of hands we were taken to a closed off display room where they were setting up a big display of the trove. They had got mannequins and dressed them in the pirate and Spanish garb. It all looked good. I asked for the necklace back and agreed that I would get it when they had made a duplicate. I was happy to let them keep the riddle. They had a professional photographer to take pictures of us with some of the mannequins and by the cabinets of the trove. They told us that we would be contacted to come back and sign contracts and we had a bit of a look around the museum with our own guide before we went back to the hotel.

Over dinner that night I asked about the titles. Greg told me that the GCVO was Knight of the Grand Cross, Royal Victoria Order. He said it would be interesting to see what they will put on the citation and said that he would be a sir. He said OBE was Officer of the Order of the British Empire and was a foothold on the ladder, should we continue to do good deeds it usually led to the title of Dame for women. He then said that the charity will be much more respected if two of the principals had OBE’s. He told me that the Beatles all got one. I wondered what our friends in the US would say if it came through.

At the beginning of April we were contacted by Maxine’s friend in London who wanted the whole band to walk the catwalk in her fashion show at the end of the month. Joanne and I agreed and got on to the others to see if they were happy to do it. Everyone thought it would be fun so I got back to her and told her we would do it. She wanted us at her studio a week beforehand to be measured and have a trial run. The others came in to the UK and stayed with us at the house. I could see that Peggy was a bit shy around Jake, still. We would have to work on that. After a couple of days we went into London and booked into a hotel near the studio. We were to be the entire modelling crew for the show and I thought that it was to be a brave move. We were measured and our sizes matched those provided by Maxine so we were easy to fit.

The runway music was to be ‘Amazon’ songs so we all knew the timing already and, with the help of a couple of professional models, we spent some time perfecting our moves. We stayed in London until the day of the show and took in some tourist sights. We went to see the trove exhibition which was now open. Jake and the guys were amazed that all of this came out from behind the fireplace and had a few minutes pretending to swordfight with the pirates, something one of the guides said happened every day but not usually with fellows so old. I told him that they were Americans and he nodded as if that explained it all. The contracts were ready to be signed so we did it then.

On the day of the fashion show we were all at the studio early to be primped and preened and made ready for the show which was just after lunch. We had a light lunch ourselves and dressed in our first outfit. The music started and the MC announced the first dress, which was Joanne. As she turned at the end of the runway it was my turn to start the walk. We started with outdoor fun outfits and then changed to casual and then cocktail party with a final one for evening dress. With the evening dress set we were to have Joanne stop at the top of the runway and then we all joined her to end up as a line along the runway to applaud the designer when she came out to join us. It all worked very well and the cameras were popping most of the time. At the end there was much applause and we were inundated with congratulations and requests for selfies. The designer was very happy as she was sure the papers would be kind to her collection; and she was right as the next day the papers had plenty of pictures and a good write-up.

Back at the house we had everyone stay for a day or so but they had to get off so we could prepare for our other US guests and their horses. I must say that the next month was very interesting and I made friends with some of the riders and officials who were, at first, a bit shy with us being rock stars but we soon became very chatty. They even took time to teach me some riding tips.

Marianne G 2020