Chapter 14

He was back quickly.

“Right, let’s get this opened and turned on. It’s electric in a traditional instrument. Here’s the hymns for this morning. Thank you for sitting in.”

Willow was grinning as she started playing the Bach arrival melodies. The organ had a much broader sound than the one in Stoneleigh. As the congregation came in, her mother looked for her, seeing her at the organ. She wagged her finger before she went to sit with the others. The service was similar to what Willow was used to, with the vicar being very clear with the hymn numbers. There were only three, and Willow had played them all. There were no bells, but Willow played Bach until the man who had spoken to her came up to tell her she could stop.

“Thank you, miss. It’s a dull service without the organ. We have a piano, as well, which we use for special events, such as children’s services. You are very good; St. Marys is lucky to have you.”

Willow went out to be greeted by the others. Her mother tried to be stern.

“You little minx! We can’t take you anywhere without you finding some ivories to play. I thought that today was going to be a rest day for you.”

The Baron put a hand on her arm.

“Don’t be angry, Wendy. That was a wonderful service, with the organ sounding magnificent. Willow is a special talent and a talent like hers needs to find an outlet for it whenever she can. This weekend has been very enjoyable, and I’m so glad that we’ve met. There’ll be more visits in the future, that’s certain.”

The vicar joined them.

“Thank you for bringing these visitors, Baron, the service was better with the organ. Where did you learn to play like that, Miss?”

“I’ve been playing at St. Marys at Stoneleigh for a month or so. I’m studying at the Blue Coat School in Coventry in the music stream.”

“They would have to have you in the orchestra with you playing so well.”

“I am in the orchestra, sir, but play clarinet.”

“Have you taken part in any of the concerts?”

Ashley snorted.

“There a week and she’s in a DVD of their Summer Project, and the discs are walking off the shelves. You can get it through the school website.”

“My, my! A real future star.”

The Baron grinned.

“And part of the family, as well. Willow is a descendent of the brother of the third baroness. We only found out the connection recently. I expect that you may see more of her in the time to come.”

As the talk swirled around her, Willow had that feeling that she was in a dream sequence, once more. She pinched herself to wake up, then smiled as she realised that if it was really a dream, the pinch would be part of the dream as well.

Lunch, back at the Porch House, was very real. The talk was about the likelihood of future visits, the wedding plans, and the enjoyable visit that they had experienced. Back at Fern Farm, the Roses packed up and put their bags in the car. The farewells were protracted, with many hugs and kisses, but they were heading home before mid-afternoon. Wendy waited until they were back on a main road before breaking the silence.

“That went well.”

“It did, my love. The Baron is a great guy. He will be adding our little twig to the official family tree. That will put us into the next edition of Burke’s Peerage.”

“That will be interesting. When is the next edition?”

“Ten or twenty years, I think. Just don’t hold your breath. Although he did say that they make corrections in the on-line version quicker.”

Wendy turned to ask Willow what she thought, but Willow had her eyes shut. Wendy decided that she was either shutting the world out or could be asleep. It had been a very full, and very interesting weekend, especially for her talented daughter. She had to admit that the organ, this morning, sounded magnificent and it was her child producing those sounds.

…………………………………………………

In Stoneleigh, Gina was sitting at her keyboard listening to the last of the Moody’s songs that they had to get right. For her, last week had been almost more than she could bear. At the beginning of term, she had just been a pianist in the background; now she was out front and soloing with the orchestra, playing organ with a blues group, and doubling up with her best friend on keyboard for some of the most complicated music that she had ever tried to play. Not only that, but she was also singing backing! The next week would see them, hopefully, have it all good enough to get the green light from the school. She thought about playing in the church, that morning, and wondered if Willow had enjoyed her day off.

………………………………………

Monday morning was hard for Willow to wake up to. The need to be always correct and ladylike had been draining, even without playing the drinking songs. She giggled at the thought of the Baron and Baroness roaring with laughter as they tried to remember the words to a few of the tunes. She had really clicked with Cassandra and Terry and had told them to look on the school website to see what was coming up.

The main thing that was slowing her down, this morning, was the need to go back to being just another schoolgirl. In her mind, she had realised the responsibilities that come with being a grown woman, that had never been on the radar in the future as a boy. There were standards to be maintained, with the Leigh women as perfect examples.

Going to school, she told Gina a little bit about the people she had met and the places she had been. She spoke about St. Edwards and the door, but nothing about playing their organ. Gina told her that Sunday morning, for her, went well. The day dragged for both of them, until, at last, they were joining the others in the rehearsal room.

When everything was ready, they tried ‘Driftwood’. It was a slow song, but here she was, in the band, with Alec in front of her, playing his flute. It took another two tries before they moved on. ‘Veteran Cosmic Rocker’ was to be the nominal last song. It was loud and proud, with some very difficult timing, and took them the rest of the session to get close. As they were packing up to leave, Alec came over to her.

“Willow, my parents watched that DVD over the weekend. They were very interested in the second half, seeing that the band is this one that I’m rehearsing with. They want to meet you, as Mum wheedled it out of me why I was smiling a lot. She told me that I was usually grumpy on weekends.”

“So, what is it that makes you smile?”

“Knowing you, of course. What else could it be?”

“Ooh! Finally playing flute in a rock band, maybe.”

“That too. Anyway, how are we going to arrange for them to meet you?”

“Well, I will be playing the organ in St. Marys in Stoneleigh for the Sunday morning service. If they bring you to that, I’ll ask my mother if you could come to lunch with us. That way, you’ll not only get them meeting me and my folks, but you’ll also taste some of my cooking.”

“Can you let me know at orchestra tomorrow? That would be great. Dad has always told me that you can tell how a girl will grow up by meeting her mother.”

She gave him a mock punch on the arm, then he took her hand, and they walked out to the cars. He held her back as the rest went ahead, then stopped and leaned in to give her a kiss. It didn’t last long, and, when they continued walking, Willow smiled.

“We’ll see if you want to do that again after my cooking.”

“I can’t see you doing anything that will stop me wanting to kiss you.”

He squeezed her hand before letting go as they reached the car. Willow got in the back and gave him a wave as they drove away. Alec had a smile on his face as he went to join Grant for his own trip home.

When Willow got home, she waited until she could get her mother alone.

“Mummy, dear. I was talking to Alec, and he said that his parents want to meet me, for some reason. I suggested that he talk them into coming to church on Sunday and then we sit them down for lunch. I told him that once he’d eaten my cooking he would cool off.”

“Is that what you want?”

“Not really. Can we do that? I’ll help in the kitchen.”

“Look, with something like lunch, we can prepare it all on Saturday, then keep it in the fridge. We do have a microwave, so reheating things isn’t a problem. The kitchen table has room for six, so sitting in there isn’t a problem. Not everyone has a big dining room.”

“Especially one with a Steinway upright, in perfect tune, just gathering dust.”

“All right. Tell him it’s on if his parents are happy to come out this way. Where does he live?”

“Somewhere in the south-western suburbs, I think.”

…………………………………………….

Sitting in his home office, Paul was sorting out the reading for the next morning. He was angry with himself for his thoughts. That girl, Rose, would be there with the second-year classes. He knew that she played the organ at a church, and that Reg had advised him that she would liven up his Tuesday service. He just couldn’t bring himself to acknowledge her, so did without music. It hadn’t been a problem, so far.

What worried him was that she did all the right things, but seemed to be acting on remote control, lowering her head so he couldn’t see her lips move, without actually professing her faith. He suspected that she didn’t have any faith, and was just making the moves, and for that, she should be admonished.

…………………………………………

Tuesday morning, Willow thought Paul looked stressed. The reading was about those who followed Jesus around but really didn’t believe that it was real. Doubting Thomas was the main culprit, but was won over, in the end. Willow considered him to have been weak to just roll over, and the injection of magic into the narrative left her cold. Historically, she knew that there were people in the bible who actually lived, but when the magic happened to make the population believe, it all went a little off the rails. Without the ‘miracles’ there was nothing to believe. She wondered if that was why she played a church organ, being part of the proceedings but up in her hidey-hole without needing to pray.

The rest of the day went as expected, and the orchestra went well. Today, Mister Bamborough thought they were good enough to do both the pieces that they had been working on. The piano was out front, next to his rostrum, and they started off with the ‘Bolero’. They had a five-minute break, the sort of time that they would have in a concert, then went straight into the Grieg, one movement after another. When it had finished, he told them that they were magnificent, and next week would be working on something else.

“Next week, we will be joined by some more of the Senior Orchestra and will soon start with the ‘Beethoven Ninth’. We will work through all four movements before we’re joined by the choir. Gina, there is no piano, but we can fit you into the percussion with a triangle, or you can wait for the choir joins us and stand with them.”

“I’d like to stay in the orchestra, sir. It’s more exciting.”

“Good girl. The triangle will help you reading the music, staying focussed, and getting the timing exactly right. I don’t know when this will be performed, but the Head is talking about it being something special for Christmas. Willow, we are also thinking of you opening with the ‘Toccata and Fugue’. It’s just ten minutes and will make it a pretty powerful concert. The organ can be removed quickly.”

Before they left, Willow told Alec about the Sunday, and asked him if he could give her an answer on Wednesday, so her mother could get something in on Thursday, on her way home from work.

Wednesday, at lunch, Alec told her that his parents would take him to the church on Sunday morning and would sit with her parents. After the lessons, they all met in the rehearsal room. Today was devoted to working on ‘Nights in White Satin’. When they were happy with it, they did the complete Moody concert from start to finish. After some discussion, they agreed to extend the instrumental breaks to lengthen the show. There were three that were easily extended, so they spent the rest of the session doing those three. Gina was growing in musicianship as they worked, more able to play by ear and improvise. She had always played to sheet music, and the last couple of weeks had opened her mind.

The show was good, as far as Willow was concerned, but the bits that brought shivers to her back were the flute solo in ‘For My Lady’, and the flute and bass passage in ‘Nights’. Thursday evening was for running through both halves of the concert, with the need for them to do better with the backing singing. Geoff said that he could borrow a few units that would improve that aspect, with a switchable device between the microphone and the PA which could multiply the input, but slightly out of time, so making it sound like more than one voice.

Thursday evening, they found that it improved the concert by a lot, bringing smiles to their faces. Friday was the music class for the afternoon. The lesson took them from the fifties to the end of that century, with discussion on the biggest stars of the different periods. Mister Jamieson floored Willow, Alec, and Gina when he told the class that there was to be the final presentation of a concert, after school.

“It could be part of the exam regarding the pop section of Music Study, as well as part of the blues subject that is coming up. Anyone who isn’t being picked up is welcome, but you will have to sit on the floor as there are no seats.”

Willow, Gina, Alec, and about twenty from the class followed him to the rehearsal room, where the Gees had just arrived and were watching as the drama students were setting up microphones in front of all the speakers, linked to a mixer and then to a tape recorder and a digital disc recorder. Others were setting up cameras.

With the recording equipment ready, they did a quick sound check to test the levels. While that was happening, Mister Bamborough came in and stood next to Mister Jamieson. With a final look around, the five Gees started the blues half of the concert. It didn’t take long before the students were dancing. Willow and Alec joined them.

While they danced, Willow made sure that she watched Mister Bamborough’s reactions, only stopping that when they got to the slower songs and Alec held her close. He put his mouth close to her ear.

“Is it me, or is Gina playing better than ever?”

“It’s not you. Just wait until you’re there and playing to an audience.”

When the last of ‘House of the Rising Sun’ faded, the band took mock bows and then took a break for a drink. Willow was closely watching the teachers and was relieved at the smiles on their faces. After a ten-minute break, during which a few of the audience had to leave, Willow and Alec took their places, pressing the buttons to multiply the voices, along with the others.

She played the first few notes on the organ, and then they were into ‘Dawn’. As expected, Alec was playing as if his life depended on it, and the two keyboards provided almost the sound of a full orchestra. She could see the look of shock and disbelief on the teachers faces, changing to broad smiles as they moved through the set. The addition of the extended interludes worked perfectly. The camera operators were busy moving around to get the best views, and the sound man had his eyes shut and a smile fixed on his face. When they did ‘Nights’, as the final song, the passage with flute and bass was almost dream-like. They ended it with a neat finality. After a few seconds, the remaining dancers cheered, and the teachers applauded. The camera guys straightened up and the sound guy stopped the tapes, pulling off his headphones.

Willow and Gina hugged, and then it was a general hugfest, lots of the other students wanting to be part of the action. The teachers came forward and shook everyone’s hand. The other students slowly left the room, chattering about what they had just seen, which had crystalised some of the previous lesson. The guitarists put the instruments in their cases, and the drama students were cleaning up their equipment, as Mister Bamborough was speaking to them. He then came over to the band.

“I have a couple of questions, first. You were given permission on Monday, last week, and three of you had orchestra on Tuesdays. So, you had six sessions, prior to this, to put that concert together?”

They all nodded.

“No other rehearsals on the weekend?”

They shook their heads, and Willow spoke.

“I was in the Cotswolds all weekend, sir, on a visit to Stow on the Wold.”

“Look, I expected to come and hear the bones of a number of songs, not the complete package that I heard. Now, that Yamaha. Who does it belong to?”

“That’s mine, sir. Gina and I bought one each a few weeks ago. They’re good.”

“I’ll agree. They’re also easier to move around than the school organ. There has been enough of your DVDs sold to pay for one of those for the school. I’ll put that to the rest of the teachers in our next meeting. How did you multiply the voices, it sounded like you had a full choir.”

Geoff, pointed to one device.

“I borrowed these, sir. You can set them for a single voice, or up to six, with the inputs staggered by fractions of a second to give the effect. We only used them for the first time, yesterday.”

“Do they work with instruments?”

Geoff pulled his guitar out and plugged it into the unit, strumming a few chords while pressing the button to increase the number of outputs.

“Right, thanks Geoff. I want to get some of these for the school. We can use them with the choir to make ten girls sound like a whole roomful. It will come in handy when we do the ‘Ninth’. Take your own things with you, tonight. I’ll get a few volunteers to move the organ and amps tomorrow. I’ve asked the others to get us CDs of the audio, and DVDs of the concert to show the Head and the other teachers. The performance date will still be the end of next term, as there are no dates available this term. We can give you a couple of weeks, prior, to rehearse. We will advertise it through the website and charge admission. I think that we will have a CD and DVD to sell on the night. That will, hopefully, buy a lot more equipment. I believe that you’ve been complaining that the school doesn’t have any good acoustic guitars, Geoff. All the proceeds will go towards modern instruments, and we’ll let you guys choose.”

“Thank you, sir.”

“Alec, where on earth have you been hiding? I’ve listened to you in the orchestra, but you were several levels above that, today. Your breathing technique is better as well.”

Alec blushed.

“It’s playing to an audience, sir. I had no idea that this type of music existed until Willow gave me that CD. What we have just played has been a struggle to get right, having to reproduce another flutists sound. I think I’ve learned a lot about myself in the last couple of weeks.”

The two teachers helped to pack Willows’ organ in the box and collect up the leads. When everything was turned off, they left the room, with Geoff handing over the key and the door being locked.

Alec and Willow carried the organ box, and Maisie had the boot open and one side of the back seat down. They slid it in as Gina got in the front. Alec pulled the hatch down and then kissed Willow while they were out of view.

“See you Sunday.”

“See you too.”

Willow got into the back seat and Maisie drove them home, being regaled by Gina on the evening’s performance. Willow sat, quietly, only adding to the conversation when invited to. For some reason, tears were rolling down her cheeks. She couldn’t decide whether it was the release of the stress of the concert, the kiss, or those damn hormones. When they got to her house, Ashley came out to help her take the box in. They took it up to her room, and then she went back out to retrieve her bags. When Wendy came in, while she was eating her sandwich, she just said that she would tell them all about it in the morning, and that she was tired.

Wendy took one look at her tear-streaked face and just nodded. Willow was showered, cleansed, and in bed before nine, and asleep a few minutes later.

On Saturday morning, she slept late. When she arrived in the kitchen, Wendy put a plate of food in front of her and stayed quiet until she had eaten her fill and had drank two cups of tea.

“Feeling better, now, darling?”

“Yes, thank you, Mum. I was wiped out last night.”

“You looked like you’d been crying.”

“I don’t know if it was due to the hormones, the kiss I got from Alec, or the fact that our last session with the band had two teachers, about twenty students, three guys filming with one manning a recording unit. It went well, and we were told that the performance will be certain. I hope that we get copies of the audio and visual recordings.”

“No wonder you were tired and weepy when you got home. You had your father worried.”

“I think that I’ll take it easy, today. When I’m dressed, I’ll go to the church and get the hymns for tomorrow. I might crank up old Betsie and run through them. Then I’ll need to unpack the Yamaha and set it up again. Mister Bamborough was very impressed with it and intends getting one for the school. It will be easier to move around than the old one. It was odd. He said that the DVD we have has sold so many that there’s plenty of money to spend.”

“I can believe it. If a thousand were sold, that’s five thousand income. Remember that it’s available through the website. If one of those influencers had pushed it, there may have been thousands sold.”

“He also said that they would have a CD and DVD to sell on the day of the performance. I expect he may use what was recorded last night. I have to say that we were really good. When we got into the first Moody’s number, I saw shock on the teacher’s faces. They said that they hadn’t expected what we had produced. The even queried the number of sessions it took us.”

“Once again, you’re making waves, my girl. No wonder you got stressed. You’ll be better able to handle it as you get older. I got the things in for lunch, tomorrow, so we can do the preparation this afternoon.”

“Thanks, Mum. I’ll go and get dressed now.”

Marianne Gregory (C) 2025