Chapter 11

When the Roses walked home, they all felt that they had done well. Willow was happy at how her singing group were improving, Wendy was happy at the result of her work with what Ashley called a ‘nesting’ program, and Ashley with the thought that they would be able to cater for more in the club.

That night, when Willow went to the toilet, she saw definite black spots in the bowl. She wasn’t going to tell her parents yet, but she was going to call the clinic. It took her a while to slide into dreamland and she was clutching Tiger and Shaun tightly.

She was her usual self in the morning, only stopping to check the viewing numbers which were now reaching the quarter of a million. At school, she was attentive and focused during the lessons. When it came to lunchtime, she told her friends that she needed to make a phone call and to start without her. She found a private spot and called the clinic, asking to speak to her doctor.

“Good afternoon, doctor. It’s Willow Rose.”

“Do you have a problem, Willow?”

“I’m seeing black spots in the toilet bowl after I’ve passed water.”

“Right! Go to the nurses room in the school. When you see them, ring me back.”

“OK, will do.”

She found her way to the nurses office and knocked. When she was called to go in, the nurse smiled brightly.

“Hello, Willow. What can I do for you?”

“I’ve just rung my doctor and she has told me to see you and ring her back.”

“All right, you had better make that call.”

Willow rang the clinic and was put through to the doctor, who asked to speak to the nurse. The nurse pulled out a notepad and started writing while Willow looked on. When she said cheerio, she ended the call and gave the phone back to Willow.

“I have some things we have to do, right now. I have some urine sample containers and I’ve been told to get you to pass some water for me, then we ring her back. Here it is, now, go into the ensuite and give me a sample.”

Willow went into the toilet and half-filled the container, screwing the lid on. She washed her hands and took it out to the nurse who held it up and looked at the contents. She picked up her desk phone and called the clinic.

“I have that sample, doctor. There are drops of blood and some other things that I can’t identify.”

She listened for a few minutes and made some more notes.

“Willow, I need to take a blood sample. Then I’ll package the two items and call the path lab to send a courier, with results to come to me and the clinic. I’ve been told that you had a couple of growths taken from your groin before the first term, and the doctor tells me that scans have shown that something is wrong. I have to give you another sample bottle. She wants you to give her a sample on Monday morning, before you eat, and have your father drop it off on his way to work. She’ll give you a call when she gets that result.”

“Thank you, Miss. I was due to go in after the end of term, but it looks like I’ll be there earlier.”

“If you do have to miss any time, I will back you up. I suggest that whatever you have there, it needs to be looked at as soon as you can. I would hate to see someone as talented as you be lost to us.”

Willow went to join her friends for lunch, a sample bottle in a plastic bag and a note for her parents in her bag. In the lunchroom, she found that the only seat vacant on her table, and for several tables around, was the one saved for her. By this time, almost everyone had seen the video clip, and many said that they had bought the download.

As she ate, there was constant chatter about Summer Rose going on around her, but she hardly noticed until Herb stood in front of her.

“Willow, me and the guys have all signed on with Peter. You’re having a dinner dance at Stoneleigh on Saturday, any chance we can get some time in on stage?”

“I think we can work that in, Herb. We can let the other band members have some time off and we can do some Moody’s. If you bring your guitars, we can set up another pair of Marshall fifties. I have another idea. Brush up on the Kansas stuff, say, ‘Dust in the Wind’ and ‘Nobody’s Home’. Jacob can add his Fender sound to those, I’m sure.”

Jacob, who was listening to every word, nodded his head.

“I’ll tell the guys. What time to arrive?”

“Make it between six and half past. We can do a sound check before we eat. We play after we’ve eaten and start off with the dance band. Then I’ll call you guys up and we do some electric for the teens. After that, we end up with the four of us playing songs from the Carpentry album. Does that sound good to you?”

“You bet. We’ll be there, raring to go. It’s been too long since that school concert.”

She watched him almost bounce back to his table. Jacob gave out a short laugh.

“That is going to be one hell of a show, sweetheart.”

The rest of the day went normally, and everyone was talkative as Wendy drove them home. Gina was brought up to speed on the plans for the dinner dance. She was going into the city in the afternoon to prepare for the Sunday organ playing. Willow advised her to just get her fingers warm, then do the service and the Evensong in full, as there would be Cathedral visitors wanting to sing and the choir will be on hand when she played the choral items.

When they entered their home, Wendy put her hand on Willow’s arm.

“You were good, darling, but not good enough for me. Now, spill!”

Willow dug the sample bottle out of her bag and the note, which she gave to her mother.

“We can talk about it when I get back, I’m going to change.”

When she came back down, Wendy was sitting at the kitchen table with the note in front of her.

“What happened?”

“I thought I saw something dark in the bowl a few days ago. I spotted more yesterday and rang the clinic at lunch time. The doctor ordered me to go to see the school nurse. She got me to give a sample, rang the doctor back and was told to draw blood and sent the two to a path lab. Then she gave me the second container and told me to pass a sample Monday morning for Dad to take in on his way to work.”

“He told me that they were organising an operation on the Monday of the holidays.”

“It looks like I’ll be convalescing by then. Nothing drastic, just me becoming Willow for good.”

She burst into tears and was still sobbing, in her mother’s loving arms, when Ashley walked in. Wendy pushed the note towards him and continued to comfort her distraught daughter. He read it through, nodded, and went to the phone to call the clinic.

When he came back, Willow was calmer. He sat down.

“I called the doctor. She had given me an after-hours number to call. She says that she will know more when she gets the path results, but she is organising the surgery for Monday week. She needs to get the right people in.”

Willow blew her nose and looked at her father.

“Thanks, Dad. She did say that I’ll be a week in the hospital and the stitches would come out at the end of the next week. I’ll be better, now. It was just that there was a big build-up of stuff waiting to come out as tears. The nurse said that she wouldn’t be happy to lose someone like me, and it’s made me realise that there are now a lot of people relying on me. We’re planning a very different dinner dance on Saturday. The band from the school will be there, and we’ll be doing some of the Moody’s set. They have all signed with Peter, so it will be the first showing of the Summer Rose Group.”

“You’ll be fine, I’m sure. Go up and wash your face, then have a lie down. We’ll give you a call when dinner is ready. Then I want you to relax when you can until Saturday evening.”

“Yes, Dad.”

She went upstairs and her parents clung to each other.

“Don’t worry, my love. The doctor warned me that this might happen, she said that it would accelerate our daughter becoming a strong woman that she’s going to grow into. If you get dinner ready, I’ll give Bruce a call to let him know. The old story will be old news in a few weeks.”

He came back to help with the dinner preparation.

“Bruce tells me that he’s been talking to his friend, Marcus. The last that he saw, there has been close to twenty-five thousand downloads of the Carpentry album.”

“That’s nowhere near what Rick’s album had.”

“Rick’s album was a pound, this one’s a tenner. So that’s a quarter of a million. Take away the costs, and the management fee, and those four teenagers have made over forty thousand, each.”

Wendy had to have some water before she could carry on with the cooking.

“We don’t say anything, right! We’ll wait for the official statement from Peter. If that’s just the album, there could be concert DVD sales added.”

“That’s right. Shall I set the table while you go and see how Willow is bearing up.”

When Wendy came back, she had Willow with her, already dressed for bed.

“I’ll go to bed as soon as we’ve eaten, Dad. For some reason I feel totally drained.”

That’s all right, love. It’s been a big day.”

They had their dinner, with Willow toying with hers until she had settled and then did it justice. After that, she went up to bed and laid there, clutching her furry friends. She started off being sorry for herself, and then started imagining the performance on Saturday, finally going to sleep with a smile on her face.

In the morning, she was her usual bright self. That afternoon, the music group had the lesson on drumming and drum programming. There were lesson sheets for them to read later.

“Now, class. Reasonable drum machines run from about one fifty to over to five hundred. These are Behringer RD6 units, which sell for about two-thirty. All we’ll do, today, is let you play around with them in groups. I’ll hand out a sheet with the sequence we want to end with, and how to do it. There’ll be one sheet each, and you should hold on to it for the exams, as there will be a question based on it.”

Each machine was plugged into a five-watt amp, big enough to sit on a desk. The room soon resounded with drum sounds and squeals of delight from the students. Everyone had a go, and the three machines gave out the same three sequences at the end of the lesson. It had certainly made Willow think, determined that she should have one. That made her wonder if she could have the end of the shed when it was erected. The idea of a small recording studio was a thought.

She followed orders and rested on Friday evening. Saturday, she and her father carried her two-tier organ to the club, keeping them set up. She went back with the stool and quietly pulled out the PA and amps from the storage. After that, she went over to the church to check the hymns for Sunday. She had finished playing, something that always settled her, and met the Reverend on the way out.

“So, Gina is playing in the Cathedral today, to prepare for Sunday. That is a really big thing for her, and something that you’ve helped her get to. Did the Bishop play any tricks last week?”

“Not with the hymns, but he had advertised that the organ player from the hit single would provide the music, and I had to sign a load of autographs when I had finished in the morning. The place was packed!”

“He can’t do that with Gina.”

“That’s what I said, and he replied that it depended on how much airplay our album is getting.”

“We listen to the local station, and I can tell you that they’re playing your songs a lot. They have even started with the actual Carpenters and then blended it to you. There’s very little difference, mainly the instrumentation.”

“I’ll have to wait until I get a statement before I know how it’s going. The website has added the video from the school performance.”

She went back home and had lunch, then sat in her room and wrote some lyrics. At little after four, the family went to the club with Willow carrying her seat. Ashley checked out the bar area with Malcolm, while Wendy started putting out water, glasses, and cutlery on the tables. Willow smiled when she saw every table set. She busied herself plugging everything in, setting up microphones and testing the sound. Then, she sat at her keyboard and played Bach to calm her and, hopefully, please her mother. Then, she set it to piano setting and played some easy-listening pop, singing along. Wendy stopped to watch and listen, wondering at how much talent she was hearing.

Slowly, others came in. The casuals to start the cooking, some band members to go up on stage with Willow to continue to jam. By six, the whole band was there, electric and the wind. Malcolm was given the job of setting the mix as they played a song that used all the members.

The band went to the front area to have their meal, as other diners found seats and ordered drinks. Gina told them that she had spent two hours at the Cathedral that afternoon, and that she saw a notice that said that Sunday’s music was being supplied by a member of Summer Rose, the band that was covering the airwaves with Carpenters songs. Willow laughed.

“Expect a crowd of autograph hunters tomorrow. Last week, he had a similar poster that said that the organist would be the one from the hit single, ‘Love and Marriage’. They needed a security man to get me into the Chapter House.”

They talked about how they would work the evening, and what songs they would play. The extra seats had been filled and there were people waiting for their table when the band went to go on the stage. As decided, the extra guitarists went to the bar and sat on stools for the first part, with Ashley keeping them hydrated with lemonade and cola. The doors to the front area had been left open, so the diners there could hear the music.

When Willow could see that most of the diners had finished their meals, she announced that they would take a break and come back with dancing music for the fit and healthy. The band left the stage, with the core four taking a comfort stop. When they went back, the wind players were at the bar or sitting in spaces that had been saved for them. The guitarists plugged in.

Willow announced that they were going to play some songs that they had played at the school, and that there was a DVD available on the school website. Then they played the full Moody Blues set, with Willow providing the flute part using her Casio on the upper tier. Jacob was great with ‘For My Lady’ and his Fender opening to ‘Driftwood’ was almost uncanny.

There was a ton of room for dancers, and the whole room was swaying and singing along when they got to ‘Nights in White Satin’. At the end of that, there was applause and cheering. Willow spoke.

“We are now going to play a couple of songs that we hope will be on a future album, which could be called ‘Can’t be Kansas’. Look out for it in a few weeks, we hope.”

They then played ‘Dust in the Wind’ and ‘Nobody’s Home.’ After that, the extra members unplugged and left the stage.

“We are now the Summer Rose Quartet. Some of you may have listened to us on the radio in the last week. We are proud to offer the complete ‘Coventry Carpentry’ set. Copies of the album and a performance we did a couple of weeks ago are available on our website.”

The four of them worked through the entire double album until after ten, and time to wind up the proceedings. Willow could see Malcolm giving the wind players envelopes. The rest of them would split whatever he paid Peter. The dance floor was crowded, and, if she looked to her side, she could see couples dancing in the corridor to the front bar.

When they finished ‘We’ve only just Begun’ they all stood, went to the front of the stage, and bowed to applause. The crowd started to thin out, with some that they knew remaining seated. There was a table with Bruce, Marcus, Peter, Zac, and their wives. As the four approached them, all eight stood to give them hugs, beckoning the three guitarists over to join in. Then, Peter went to the wind players about getting them signed on to be official band members. Taking names and addresses and handing out business cards to the parents who had brought them.

Gina said that she had to go, as she was to be in the Cathedral in the morning. Willow gave her a hug and wished her luck. Brent went out with her to say his own brand of goodnight, after Peter gave them an envelope. Malcolm came over and spoke to Peter about payment and was joined by someone that Willow had never seen before. The man was very well dressed, and his partner had jewellery that sparkled in the lights. She could see them in discussion, and Peter handed the guy a business card before they shook hands and the couple left. She grinned when she thought about having ‘my people to talk to your people’. Jacob took hold of her hand.

“You look amused, my love?”

“Just realising that we have others to do the deals, darling. We’re surrounded by people who are committed to helping us play.”

Peter came over to them and gave each of them an envelope.

“This, believe it or not, is your statement of income since you signed on. Willow, your income from the Hikers is listed separately, along with the payment from the Cathedral. If I were you, I’d be at home and sitting down when you open it.”

“I haven’t had time to see the viewing numbers, Peter. I have to tell you that there will be a period of about two weeks that I won’t be available. I had surgery last summer and need some follow-up. I think that I’ll be in hospital Monday week, for a week, then home until the stitches come out a week after that.”

“Thank you for letting me know, Willow. There’s nothing set up yet, and I’ll try to get you into a radio station next week. I’ll email everyone with the time, and Zac will pick you up.”

He walked away and Jacob looked worried.

“Don’t worry, love. It’s just something that has to be done. I’m told that everything will be better for me afterwards. I had a couple of growths in my groin, which had to be removed. This time there is more that needs sorting out. I’ll need to tell the school when I get the firm date, so that they can save some course notes for me. When I come back, it will be exam time, anyway, so I don’t think I’ll miss a lot. You may have to run as a trio for the next sing-along, but Gina can do that stuff in her sleep, these days.”

“Can I visit you?”

“You’ll be at school, Jacob. I’ll call you to tell you how I am, and when I’m home, Racheal can bring you around. She knows the way. Your parents are waiting for you, love. I’ll see you on Monday.”

They kissed and he left with his parents, the envelope clutched in one hand, his guitar case in the other. Willow put her envelope in her bag and went on stage to finish clearing it. Victor and Roy were still there and helped her put things away. They offered to carry her keyboard home, so she got the keys out and led them around the corner.

Once they were in the peace and quiet, Roy thanked her for what had happened tonight.

“You don’t have to thank me for anything, Roy. It’s your own talent, and the talent of the rest of you that put you on that stage. Like the orchestra, we are all part of a team with some appearing to be out front at times. The two of you sang well in the Moody’s segment.”

They got to her house, and she got them to leave the keyboard next to the upright. As they went back to the club, Victor wanted to know what happened now.

“That’s up to us and our team. We have the rest of the school year to get through, and a few more years after that. Peter and Marcus did float a thought bubble about us being the second half of a show with Geoff and the Gees opening. The main thing there is whether they can get something out there that the public likes. Summer Rose is being played, but only the quiet stuff. If we record Kansas, we can test the waters with that. I don’t see why it won’t work after how it went down tonight.”

Back at the club, Willow thanked them and then helped her parents tidy up the room. Malcolm and Ashley decided that it was time to leave the tables and chairs in position, now that they were being used every two weeks. When the family finally went home, they were all too tired to do anything but sleep.

Sunday morning, they were all slow off the mark, but arrived at the church as the bells started ringing. Willow went in and got the organ ready, then played Bach as the church filled. The music had its usual effect on her, and she was calm and settled when the Reverend appeared below her. The service went well, the hymns were ones she had played before, and the only odd thing was the sermon, which was about embracing life, because it’s the only one we have, but with the prospect of everlasting life beyond. The first bit resonated, but the second was way over the top as far as she was concerned.

As usual, on these cold days, when she emerged from the church there were only a few that were walking away. The rest, she surmised, were already with their hot drinks. As she closed the church door, she thought about that one little touch of kindness that her father had started, which had completely altered established customs.

In the club, it was warm, cosy and friendly. Some asked her how she thought Gina was getting on, and she replied that Gina was totally able to perform in the Cathedral. When she went to the toilet, she ended up in the back room thinking about what happened last night.

This reminded her about the envelope in her bag. She sat at a table and opened the envelope and looked at the contents. After a few minutes, she folded the paper and put it back in her bag, then just sat to think.

Marianne Gregory © 2025