Chapter 13

When Willow went in, Wendy had some sandwiches for her after she had changed.

“How did this mysterious meeting go? Are you ruling the world yet?”

“Not that serious, Mum. All I did was to get together with a few people and play them some songs which I thought might make a good concert.”

“Oh, yes. Now give, before I get you some ice cream.”

“It was the Gees that I played Purple with; plus, Gina, Alec and Mister Bamborough. I’ve put together two halves of a show, with the first half being blues and the second half being Moody Blues. We’ll work out the line-ups later, but I think that Gina can play organ with the blues set, and we’ll both be needed in the second half, with Alec on the flute. Mister Bamborough has a copy of each disc to talk it over with other teachers. The thing is that I’ve heard that they have needed to produce more copies of the summer concert and that there have been requests that we play again.”

“That’s quite an initiative, young lady, one that you would never have thought about once upon a time.”

“Once upon a time I wasn’t a girl and hadn’t been kissed.”

“Do tell. Is this something recent?”

“Alec followed the others and gave me a hug when we left school tonight. The thing was that he took advantage of it to give me a peck on the lips. Well, one side, but it took me by surprise.”

“So, angry, upset or intrigued?”

“Not sure at the moment. It’s not something that a boy has ever done to me in the past. Hitting me, yes, but hitting on me is new.”

“Was there a reason that he wanted to kiss you?”

“Well, he was moaning about there not being much pop music that has a flute in it, and the Moody Blues uses it a lot. I think that he just wanted to thank me by giving me something.”

“That’ll give you something to ponder when you go to bed. You know, if this concert goes ahead, it may be the subject of another DVD, and there’ll be some who will want you playing actual gigs. I hope it doesn’t come between you and your exams.”

That night, Willow had cleansed and was in her bed, cuddling her two friends. She told them what had happened and gave Shaun a quick kiss, telling him that he was a ‘Baaad Boy’.

Thursday was usual. At lunch, Alec was full of his need to be on the stage and playing his flute. Gina wondered what her place would be, and Willow told her that she could play the blues half, with them both needed to recreate the orchestral sounds in the second half.

“What about vocals?”

“Geoff and Gerry both have good singing voices, and the rest of us can do backing. We’ll just have to rehearse and fine-tune as we go.”

Friday was their second music session. Starting from the beginning of music hall and the advent of wartime music. Then on to the flapper days and big bands playing the songs that everyone knew. The lesson finished with the second war and the influx of American soldiers bringing jazz, swing bands, and American country music. The students were encouraged to research the times for themselves.

Being Willow’s turn for the church, she went over and picked up the music for the hymns on Friday evening, running through them at home on Saturday morning. In the afternoon, she revisited the two concert projects, and listened to the Moody’s, trying to make notes of what sounds were needed with the two keyboards. She knew that it all depended on what the school said they could do.

Saturday afternoon, Gina came over and they listened to the Moody Blues and tried to dissect the sounds that they would need to recreate with the organs. They decided that Willow would concentrate on plain organ and making the strings sounds, while Gina would do the brass and woodwind. On Willow’s Yamaha, they found all the settings that would do the job, then ran through the CD that Willow had made, playing along to the songs, taking turns to get the right sounds. Then, they spent a little time with the second and third movements of the Grieg, before Gina needed to go home. After dinner, Willow used the headphones to improve her parts of the Moody concert.

Sunday morning saw her up with the church organ, playing classical doodles as people came in. She saw Rupert come in with an older man, and go up to her parents, sitting with them and Edie in a pew. The service was a normal one, with three hymns. Willow could see that there were some of the congregation who were gathering together to sing. Afterwards, she shut the organ down and went outside. Rupert called her over and introduced her to the Sixth Baron Leigh, his father, Christopher, who praised her work on the organ at such a young age. Before they left, the Roses had been invited to the Baron’s home for the next weekend. It was an invitation that she knew could pave the way to better things for her family, so went over to Gina to confirm that she could take the organ for next week’s service.

It was still Sunday morning, but Wendy was now starting to jump up and down.

“Ash, my love. Next weekend we’re visiting the nobility and your favourite girls have absolutely nothing to wear. We’ll need something casual but classy, perhaps something better for Saturday evening, and something else to come home in. The shops are open this afternoon until half past four, and Bonmarche is calling us. Can’t you hear it?”

“Now that you mention it, my darling, I can hear the tills ringing from here.”

The went home to get the car out. Wendy and Willow changed into casual skirt and top outfits, and they were off into Coventry. They had lunch in the shopping centre and went into Bonmarche. The two women came out with bags containing tops, trousers, and skirts. Ashley had bought some new slacks and shirts.

Willow had been undergoing a new sensation, in getting clothes to look good in, rather than just to wear because you have to wear something. She had a good skirt on with a colourful top, and Wendy remarked that it would be a good outfit for a date. Willow looked at herself, did a pose and smiled. She wondered, fleetingly, if Alec would like the look.

On Monday, lunchtime, Miss Russell gave Willow a letter, with the school letterhead, giving the seven band members the permission to set up in a rehearsal room to work on the two halves of the concert, with a tentative performance date a few weeks before the close of the second term, in mid-March. They had until the end of the next week to see if it would work. During the lunch period, she showed it to all the others and got high-fives and hugs as she passed on the news. Now, they had somewhere to set up. Geoff, Grant, and Garry told her that they would organise amps and other equipment. Garry said that the rehearsal room had a lock, and that they could get a key from admin, so they could bring their own equipment in. The school had the organ that Willow had played at the previous concert, so, all they needed was an extra organ for the second half. By the time they were ready to go home, the Gees had taken over the logistics, with an initial session starting Wednesday, and hoping that they would know how they stood by the end of the following Friday.

That evening, Gina arranged for her mother to pick them up at around seven on the other days. Willow would have her new organ with her on Wednesday morning, as Gina still needed hers to rehearse the Grieg. Alec lived near Grant, so they had organised to take him home.

On Tuesday morning, Paul was his usual self. Willow was starting to wonder why he never had the organ uncovered, and why the hymn was always sung without any accompaniment. She had a fleeting thought that he may be just lazy.

Tuesday orchestra was good, as they worked on the second and third movements of the Grieg, with Gina exhibiting the skill that she was now embracing. The two movements took around twenty minutes, so they had a chance to play the full piece for the first time, before they went home. On the way to Stoneleigh, Gina told her mother about the session, and that it had been a genuine milestone, because she had played the whole piece with only odd times that she needed to look at the music.

On Wednesday, Willow had her Yamaha in its box, along with the frame and extra cables. Gina helped her to carry it into the locker room and put it in her locker. At lunch, Alec was almost hyper, looking forward to his first session as part of a pop group. After the lessons, the girls carried the organ to the rehearsal room, which was already open.

The Gees had set up the amplifiers and laid out cables. The other organ was already there. It didn’t take long before the second organ was set up. They all had microphones to a small PA with a pair of speakers facing them. They decided to work on the two shows alternatively. With the first blues number to start with. Gina got comfortable with the organ and Willow sat off to one side as the others started working. Nobody had suggested any changes yet, so the first number was ‘Layla’. It was something that the boys already knew, and just needed Gina to get on board. She had been listening to the CD, so had a good idea of what to do. It took the second run through to be passable. Geoff called it a good try and said that they should work on ‘Dawn’.

The work that Willow and Gina had already put in paid off immediately, as they were able to recreate most of an orchestra, once they had worked out a simple starting phrase. This sort of music suited the boy’s voices much better than Purple, and they had a passable rendition by the time they had been playing an hour. Alec was, by now, starting to enjoy himself. They all sang the backing and Willow was almost in tears as she heard them for the first time.

They had a short break, and then worked on the second songs in the list. Willow and Alec sat it out as they worked on ‘Cocaine’. They had time to work on the second of the Moody Blues songs, ‘Legend in the Mind (Timothy Leary)’, before getting time to pack up. With everything shut down and the room locked, they went out to find their rides home, the Gees now fully committed to the project and Alec looking like he had won the lottery.

Thursday, they worked on ‘After Midnight’ and ‘Hoochie Coochie Man’ for the blues part, and ‘The Voice Within’, and ‘For my Lady’ for the second part, with Alec doing the vocals for that one. Geoff was now the main vocalist and playing harmonica, while Gerry did the main guitar work.

Friday was a bit different. With Gina now getting the hang of improvising blues organ, they worked on the final three songs of the first concert, as well as the encore number. Willow was grooving along to ‘I’ve got my Mojo Working’ when Alec pulled her to her feet, and they started dancing. ‘Stormy Monday Blues’ was next, followed by ‘Smokestack Lightning’, which ends with a sudden halt. Both were slower songs and she kept dancing with Alec, much to the amusement of the rest of the band. The encore was ‘House of the Rising Sun’, which had Garry singing while playing bass. He had a gravelly voice and fitted the song well.

As they shut things down, they talked about the progress. All four Gees were happy with how things had gone, complimented Gina on her organ work, and they agreed to finish off the Moody’s part by the end of Thursday, with the Friday session being filmed and recorded by the drama students for showing the teachers.

Willow was happy to leave her organ set up, as she wouldn’t need it over the weekend. As they walked out towards their rides, Alec took hold of her hand. It didn’t seem unusual, considering that they had spent the best part of half an hour dancing with his arm around her.

That was something that they refrained from talking about on the way home. As she got out of the car, Willow wished Gina good luck with the Sunday service. She stood and watched the car go back to the junction. Her thoughts were a jumble of music and the memory of being close to Alec as they danced. It was such a new sensation, which she decided was down to the hormone injection and the tablets she was now taking.

She stood there for so long, that Wendy opened the door and asked her if she was coming in or going to stand out in the garden like a gnome. She had been eating more at lunch, so was only having sandwiches in the evening, and quickly changed to come down to the kitchen while her parents were watching the television. When she had tidied up, she looked in to see what they were watching, decided that she wasn’t interested, and gave them both a hug before she went up to her room.

She was in bed, reading, when her mother knocked on the door, came in and sat on the bed.

“Never, ever, play poker, Willow. You are far too easy to see through. Now, what happened today? Nothing bad, I hope.”

“Not bad, Mum. Just a bit different. We had a two-hour session working on the blues section of the concert, and the guys wanted to go through to the end of it, leaving Alec and me just sitting it out. Then, he pulled me up and we danced. That was all right, except the last couple of numbers are slower, and me, like a fool, didn’t sit down. We danced for nearly half an hour with his arm around me as the rest of them worked through the songs. Then, on the way out, he took my hand. And I let him!”

“My, my! You are growing up faster and faster. Usual question. Upset, neutral, or pleased?”

“I was neutral, for most of the time. It was when I got home that I realised what had really happened. I had been up close and personal with Alec in front of the others, and nobody did anything but smile.”

“Did he try and kiss you when you left school?”

“No! The rotter just gave my hand a squeeze as we got to Maisie’s car. That’s why I was gazing at nothing when you opened the door. I was wondering whether to blame the hormones or the pills, or if I’m just being silly.”

“Not silly, my girl. Just a normal teenager who has realised that boys have an attraction, after so long avoiding them. He is showing his affection but tempering it with restraint. When he does kiss you, you’ll be able to process it better for not being rushed. In the meantime, you’ll find yourself mooning about him and wondering if you should call him to talk to.”

“Funny about that. It did cross my mind.”

“Over the weekend, you’ll need to act as the adult you’re becoming. I don’t know what will be happening on this visit, but I’m certain that it will replace him in your thoughts, if only for a little while.”

They had breakfast on Saturday morning, then went off to shower and dress. Ashley was very presentable in new slacks and shirt, with a leather jacket to offset the cold. Wendy and Willow had decided to do the mother and daughter look, with similar tailored slacks and silk blouses. They had linen jackets in the same colour as the slacks. Willow felt very ladylike. Putting their overnight bags in the car, which had been warming up in the driveway, they set off for the Cotswolds.

They had the destination set in the GPS, and enjoyed being on the road, although they were all worried about what they were going to find when that got there. The house, when they pulled up outside, was a typical red brick farmhouse, but a fair bit larger than most. As they got out, Rupert came out to greet them.

“Welcome to Fern Farm. It’s nothing like the Abbey but it’s a lot easier to keep warm. Come and meet the rest of the family.”

They got the overnight bags and followed him into the house.

“Just put your bags by the stairs and come through to the control room of every farm, the kitchen.”

They must have arrived at morning teatime, as they saw Christopher and some others around a big table with cups in front of them and a big platter of buns in the middle of the table.

“You met Dad on Sunday. On his right is my mother, Marie. To her right are my sister, Cassandra and her fiancé Terry. Take a seat. Folks, this is Ashley and Wendy Rose, and their very talented daughter, Willow. Did you bring the family history, Ashley?”

“It’s in my bag.”

“We’ll have a look at that later, It’s a fair trip from Stoneleigh, so tuck in. All good with tea?”

Hands were shaken and air-kisses made, then Rupert and his mother organised the tea and handed out plates. Willow felt as if she was a fly on the wall of a movie. Everything was so gentle and polite. As Marie and Cassandra moved around, she was glad of her mother’s foresight with their shopping, as she didn’t feel underdressed.

The talk centred around the family links and Rupert recounted his first meeting with the Rose family. When he said that Willow had been playing the church organ that Sunday, Cassandra asked her if she did weddings.

“I’ve only been playing in the church for about a month. The Reverend has asked me if I would play at weddings, but we haven’t had one yet. He told me that he had done a few marriages at Stoneleigh Abbey and that the organ there is good to play.”

Marie looked up.

“There you go, Cassie. I told you that the Abbey did weddings. I’m sure that we could organise one there. Rupert, you’ve been there more than me; do they have special packages?”

“They do, I think. It includes accommodation before and after the event, the service in the chapel and the reception in the Great Hall. I think they also do a marquee event if you have more than can fit into the house.”

“Willow, dear. How would you play the organ in a marquee?”

“Using a long power lead to a central board where you take the lights and power from. They sometimes use four-fifteen out to the plugboard for safety. A portable organ has an output to an amplifier.”

The Baron chuckled.

“That’s the power we use on the farm for the workshop equipment. I think we have to look into that one, Cassie.”

“Yes, Dad. Rupert, dear brother. Do you think that you can see if you can look into dates clear for Easter. Willow, would the Reverend conduct my marriage at the Abbey?”

“He would be happy to. How many guests are you planning for?”

That took until nearly lunch to resolve, with Cassandra just wanting a smaller wedding, with Terry very happy about that, and her mother insisting that it should be a grand affair with all the extended family attending. In the end, Cassandra prevailed. Willow suggested that if the Abbey wasn’t available, St. Marys would be able to cater for a smaller affair.

“The point is, Cassandra, that it’s the church that the Leigh family founded and supported. One of your family was even the preacher there for many years. There are lots of your family buried and revered there. Even the Village is named after your family.”

The Baron smiled.

“The girl has a valid point, Cassie. I was there last Sunday. I haven’t been for years. It’s a lovely church, the Reverend is very nice, the organist is exceptional. We could always have a marquee in the Abbey grounds for the reception. By being here for thirty years has distanced us from our roots. It would be good to reconnect with Stoneleigh.”

The discussion halted so that the cook could take over in the kitchen, and the Roses could be shown their rooms. Collecting their bags on the way, they went upstairs to freshen up. Willow almost laughed when she saw where she would be sleeping, as it was very similar to the room she had in Bristol, with the uneven floor.

Back downstairs, they assembled in the parlour. Ashley and the Baron looking at the Rose family history, back to Marie Campbell. Wendy and Marie sat, talking about families, while Willow sat with Cassandra and Terry, with Cassandra asking her about her school, and hobbies. When Willow said that she played piano, Cassie grinned.

“There’s one in the dining room. Come on, the oldies won’t miss us.”

The three of them went to the dining room, where a big table had been laid for lunch. The piano stood at one wall. Willow gasped when she saw that it was a Steinway upright. She sat at the piano, while the others pulled out a couple of chairs.

“What do you want to hear?”

“Terry and I are young and spend a lot of time in pubs. We’re not into hip-hop or rap.”

“So, a little pub music, maybe.”

She started playing the drinking songs and the couple smiled and started singing along. Willow was at one of the best pianos in the world, playing the same tunes that had entertained the drinkers at the Stoneleigh Club. She had the feeling that she was in some indie film having a dream sequence. It became more unreal when the rest of the family joined them for a sing-along, which lasted until the cook started to bring out the lunch. Whatever doubts she had about being here, the ice was well and truly shattered as they sat down to eat.

That set the tone for the rest of their stay. They were shown some of the records of the family, a few paintings of ancestors, a tour of the farm and explanation of what was produced. They were taken to The Porch House, near Stow on the Wold, in a people mover with Rupert driving. There, they had dinner and Willow ate a meal of smoked haddock and prawn cakes. The adults all had wine, with Rupert stopping at one. Willow had a lemonade, with Wendy tipping a little bit of white wine into her glass when she had emptied it.

They went back to Fern Farm and then off to bed after a nightcap. Breakfast was various tureens of hot food, so they all tucked in to eggs, sausages, bacon and the trimmings. After that, they were back in the people mover and into Stow on the Wold. There, they went to the St. Edwards church for the morning service. Wendy and Willow had been told about this, so were in new dresses for the occasion.

They were early enough to be shown the famous north door, which is flanked by a pair of enormous yew trees growing right against the church wall. Inside the church, Willow was drawn to the big bank of organ pipes. There was a voice behind her.

“I’m sorry, miss. Our organist is in hospital at the moment. You’ll have to come back if you want to hear it.”

“Just professional curiosity, sir. I play the organ at St. Marys at Stoneleigh. I’m with Baron Leigh and his family today.”

“If I get the vicar’s permission, would you play for us this morning?”

“I’d love to.”

Marianne Gregory © 2025