Chapter 14

When Willow got home on Friday evening, she had a home-cooked dinner and went off to bed. Wendy had taken all her soiled nighties to the laundry, and her laptop and Tiger were already upstairs when she arrived in her bedroom. Her bed was luxurious after the hospital bed, and she was soon asleep with her hunger for her mother’s cooking satisfied.

On Saturday morning, she showered and dressed in a jersey knit that went below the knee and a sweater. She was getting herself some breakfast when her phone chirped.

“Hello, friend.”

“Hello, yourself, friend. Are you home?”

“Got back last night and just flaked out in my comfy bed.”

“Have you got plans for the day?”

“Only to see if I can toddle over to the church to see if I’m fit enough to play.”

“I’ll come over and help you and I can tell you what’s happening. Are your parent’s home?”

“No. They went into the city to get a new bed, this one’s run out of oil, or something.”

“See you in ten minutes.”

She was having something to eat when Gina arrived. They had a hug and Gina complimented her on her dress. Willow got something for her friend to drink as she finished her breakfast.

“While you were away, I had a talk to all of the ones on your list. The tech boys will be happy to do what we want, especially when I mentioned payment and the program. The Gee’s will be rehearsing their new material in a lock-up that they can use, and our guys have been working out soft-rock versions of your songs. Did you look at our website?”

“I did. I saw those pendants in the shape of a red rose with either gold or silver chains. I’ve asked for some gold ones that we can hand out to our closer friends. It’s a nice logo we can use on our covers.”

“If you’ve done there, I’ll tidy up while you go and get some boots and a winter coat on.”

“Thanks. I won’t be long.”

After Willow had locked the door, the two walked arm-in-arm to the church. Willow wasn’t the best on her feet after her long time in a hospital bed. The Reverend had selected some hymns, just in case, and Willow climbed the stairs to the organ and ran through them. The joy of playing did more to revive her spirits than a month in bed. When she made her way down, she sat in a pew with Gina and the Reverend.

“Gina tells me that the Cathedral is paying you more and streaming both services.”

“Yes. It started last week with Evensong. We’re playing there until after Easter. The Bishop said he might send a coach here to take everyone to the Cathedral.

“I’ll never give up rejoicing the glory of Easter in my own church!”

“You can tell him that when he talks to you. I’ll be here the weekend before, then in the Cathedral for the Easter weekend. I suppose that we could share the burden at the Cathedral and here, but it doesn’t leave much time for anything else. The other thing is the concert. If that’s a hit with the public, we will be there on Thursday to Saturday. I looked on the calendar and I’ll be on duty on the Sunday, so you’d better get the hymns sorted out for Gina earlier in the week.”

“Keep me posted of any changes. It looks like it will be a busy time for you girls.”

They strolled back to Willow’s home.

“By the way, Gina. With our birthdays, would you rather have the party on mine, yours, the day in between, or the Friday night?”

“Definitely the day in between or the Friday.”

“It’s the week before the half-term holidays, so might be better on the Friday, after we break up.”

“I’ll talk to Mum and see what she thinks. Friday after school’s out sounds good, though.”

“Thanks for dropping the drum machine off. Please pass my thanks to Brent. Actually, you can give him a kiss from me.”

“You wish! I’m starting to realise that boys aren’t all nasty little pests. I may be turning the corner. You’re still a boyfriend ahead of me.”

“It isn’t a competition, friend. Alec was nice, and he was a good kisser while it lasted, but the edict that his mother laid down was enough to stop it in its tracks. If he had loved me, he would have done everything to stay, but he just rolled over.”

“Jacob is head over heels in love, you know.”

“I think that I’m in love with him as well. The thing is that his family may want him to marry a nice Jewish girl, although I think that he’s been in an Anglican church more times now than his parents have been in a synagogue.”

“Who knows what will happen. We’re still young and silly.”

“Not too silly, friend. You just have to wait and see our next statement to see how silly we are.”

“Yes. Will you be ready for the sing-along tonight?”

“I’ll give it a try. If I have to leave early, you’ll have to carry on.”

When Gina had gone home to get ready to head for practise in the Cathedral, Willow went and had a lie down, only waking up when her parents came home. They told her how much fun it was trying beds out, bouncing to see if they squeaked. They all freshened up and went to the club, where they sat for a while.

Ashley then helped Willow pull the amps and PA out of the storage and set up the Yamaha. When he queried the lack of the second keyboard, Willow just said that she would sing until she was tired. One by one, the rest of the band turned up, followed by the three tech guys. They showed everyone the brochures for the equipment that they had ordered and gave Ashley the invoice to pay. Willow had a look, and it was, to her, quite reasonable at just over seven thousand. Ashley said that it would be paid by Tuesday, so they should be able to pick it up after then.

Willow went to see Malcolm about hiring the back room for one day the week after next. He told her that it was available to her, all she needed to do was hang the ‘No Entry’ sign on the corridor door. He told her that what she had already given the club had warranted use of the facilities whenever she needed it.

The band and tech guys were fed as the diners started arriving. Before they went on stage, over three quarters of the tables were being used, with more coming in as they were setting up. Willow had a dining chair, with a hand-held microphone and told them that Gina would be providing all the keyboard tonight. She knew that she was heaping a lot on her friend’s shoulders, but there was no way she could have played and sung tonight.

She needn’t have worried, as Gina took up the lead position with ease, leaving Willow to sit and sing for them. Tonight, being sing-along, there wasn’t a lot of dancing, instead, there was a lot of singing and laughter.

She did make it through to the end, but it took all her energy. At the finish, she said goodnight to her friends and Wendy half carried her home. She was almost catatonic when Wendy undressed her and got her into her bed. She was fast asleep when Wendy turned the light out and made sure that the house was locked when she went back to the club to help tidy up. That night, she and Ashley made the bedsprings sing.

On Sunday, it took an effort of will for Willow to be up and dressed and in the church. As usual, playing Bach calmed her down and the service was as good as it usually was. Afterwards, she spent a little while in the club, then went home with Wendy to relax in front of the TV. At four, she got her laptop, plugged it into the TV, and watched Gina at the Cathedral. For her, it could have been a different place completely, and the captions and running banner with important notes would have been off-putting if they had been on the in-house monitor. When it was over, she looked at the band website and saw that the views had surged past the one point four mark.

Her email alert came up on screen, so she opened it up. It was an urgent email from Peter to tell her that there would be a reporter and photographer from the number one teenage magazine arriving at her house on Monday evening. She texted Gina to join her for the interview. She answered Peter to say she would be ready and asked why there had been a surge in views. He replied that the album had been picked up by several national stations, as well as being reviewed on the Saturday evening BBC music show.

When he rang off, Willow had a light tea and went to bed early. The effort of the day had been hard on her post-hospital body.

Monday, she felt better and knew that she had to pace herself if she wanted to be bright for the teen magazine. She spent most of the day playing with the drum machine, building sequences that could be almost as real as having a drummer sitting next to you. By the time Wendy arrived home; she was quite proficient with the unit.

Together, the family made dinner and ate it, just finishing loading the dishwasher when Gina arrived. They hugged and compared outfits. Both had gone with denim skirts and colourful tops for the inside. When Wendy looked at them, she thought that they may be sisters. The reporter and photographer arrived, and they sat in the sitting room with the upright. The photographer was keen to get pictures of them with the piano.

The questions were mainly directed towards Willow, and she tried hard to get them to talk about Gina and the rest of the band.

“There are seven of us now, you know. We can work as a quartet, but we want future albums, and any live work, to be the complete band.”

It was like drawing blood from a stone, but Willow and Gina made the reporter take notes about the others and their connection at the Blue Coat. They were close to an hour before surprising the reporter with their involvement with the Cathedral and their appearances in the school orchestra. Gina laughed.

“You really didn’t do any research, did you? We’re not your run-of-the-mill vacuous teens. We are also serious students with a desire to attend university. The music is good, but we also need to be successful in our academic life. That’s why we won’t perform while we’re in school. There may be summer shows, but that’s all.”

Willow looked at her friend in wonder. She was now becoming her own woman. The reporter looked ashamed.

“I have to admit that when I saw that you were only second year in high school, I expected a couple of giggling teens, not the serious women I’m now talking to. I had heard about your other pursuits but wasn’t aware that they were so big in your lives. I also wondered if you were a manufactured band, like the Monkees, not the serious musicians that you are.”

“Before you finish your article, I think that you should see us play. In a few weeks, we’re going to film and record some material in the Stoneleigh Club. Please keep it to yourselves. Give me your email and I’ll send you the day and time when we’ve confirmed them. That way, you’ll see how serious we are – as a seven-piece band. You will also see the next album before anyone else.”

“Thank you, Willow. Can I bring along a film crew?”

“No. We will have our own crew there and I’ll send you whatever you need once we’ve edited the output. I hope that you’ll also see another local band who are at the school with us. The session may be a couple of hours or maybe most of the day, but we’ll be able to get drinks and food at the Club. It has become quite popular this year as a dance venue for young and old.”

“That might be an article I can write for one of our other adult magazines.”

“There is a dinner dance there, Saturday week, before our recording session. You will have to reserve a table, they seat eight, so take along your partners for some dancing. I believe that the band is pretty good, even good enough for a write-up in the adult magazine.”

After the journalists had left, saying that they’ll make a booking for the dinner dance, Willow and Gina hugged and giggled.

“Now that was wicked, Willow. When they turn up, expecting some bunch of bald guys, they’ll be seeing Summer Rose plus a wind section. I’m going to enjoy seeing the looks on their faces that night!”

They went through to the kitchen, where Ashley and Wendy were sitting, trying to keep a straight face.

“What’s the joke, Mum?”

“The way you two took that poor girl and wrapped her around your finger. We both stood outside the door and listened to every word. Not only did you upend her concept of what Summer Rose was about, you also offered her two exclusives. One being the first to hear the new album, and the second to be the first reporter to see the band playing dance music live. After she sees the two of you on stage for over three hours, she will shelve the ‘manufactured band’ concept for ever. On top of that, it will give the club free advertising. You two are brilliant.”

“We still have a TV interview to go. They’ll be at the club on Wednesday evening. I’m not going to miss my choir ladies for them. Mum, can you tell Jacob about that when you take him to school, tomorrow? He may want to pop in.”

“He won’t miss out on seeing you again, my girl! How are the Village ladies getting on?”

“Really good. I had them singing separate parts of a choral piece when I last had them.”

Ashley laughed.

“Really good, she says. That group is going to be ready to take on anyone in a few months. They’ll be wanting to find an outlet for their singing. That will be another challenge for you, my girl.”

On Tuesday, Willow went for a walk down to the river and around the church. She was feeling much better, with the fresh air helping. She wondered if what she was feeling was delayed shock from being operated on, or maybe she had overdone things on the weekend. She had plenty to do in the quiet house, with some course notes being emailed to her. The doorbell rang and she looked through the spyhole to see a courier. She opened and signed for a package from Peter’s office. It contained two dozen pendants on gold chains, all in separate boxes with ‘Bloom like a Summer Rose’ in gold lettering on them. She took one and put it on, where it nestled on her upper chest. She looked in the mirror and vowed that it was to be seen.

She filled her day on Wednesday with schoolwork, the only respite was the drumming notes she had, finding that a lot of it was what she had learned with her day of playing with the unit. On Wednesday evening, the family strolled to the club, Ashley to do his barkeeping, Willow to work with the choir, and Wendy to watch over her daughter, now wearing a pendant of her own.

The choir arrived first, all giving Willow careful hugs. The new additions turned up, along with a lady in a powered wheelchair.

“Hello, Willow. This is Margaret. She used to sing with me in the opera company.”

“Hello, Margaret, welcome to our little singing group.”

“Thank you, young lady. I’m not sure how I’ll fit in, but I was told that it’s all a lot of fun. I may look frail, and my legs don’t work, but my voice hasn’t changed much. It will be good to use it again.”

“Look, we’ll move to the back room, and I’ll set the Yamaha up. There’s a TV crew coming to interview me tonight, so we’ll need the space. Mum, can you help me there?”

They all went to the back room and Wendy helped Willow pull out the Yamaha and an amp, setting them up on the dance floor. Willow had the sheets that they had already used, handing them around.

“We’ll start with these, going through them to warm up your voices. Margaret, what are you?”

“I was soprano, but I think that I’m better as an alto, now.”

As she was lining them up, Gina and Maisie arrived.

Willow sat at the keyboard and played for them with the easy, full choir, piece. As she played, the joy on Margaret’s face was enough to make her tear up. The TV crew arrived as they were singing, and stood, unsure of what they should do. At the end of the piece, Willow excused herself and went to the reporter.

“Hello, I’m Willow Rose, and my friend, Gina Summer is here. Oh! That lad just coming in is Jacob Epstein, the guitarist and vocalist in the Summer Rose Quartet. I have a standing requirement to work with these ladies, the growing members of a village choir. Some were just helpers in the church, but a few are retired professionals who live here. We have just started, and you’re welcome to set up and film us. It may be something that will give you a hook for your story.”

She went back to the organ, after a hug with Jacob.

“Sorry about that, ladies, the appointment was made without my input, so they will just have to take it as it comes. Shall we do the easy one again, and then go on with the split-voice choral item. After that, I have another one that needs the same sort of finesse.”

They sang the straight-forward piece, with Gina grabbing the word sheet and joining in. The TV cameramen were using small handhelds that didn’t need extra lighting, so remained quite unobtrusive. The sound man had a hand-held boom mic and headphones, with just a digital recorder in a backpack. They moved on with the second item, which brought some polite applause from the others in the room when they finished.

“Right, ladies. This new piece is similar, but it’s one of the old ones where the voices sing in harmony but singing different words. Anyone who has listened to things like the Messiah will know the technique. Gina and Jacob, can you come and stand beside me as I play, which will give you the idea. This is a comparatively simple version, with just two sections of voices.”

She gave her friends the sheets, pointing out what she wanted each to be singing, as she had highlighted the two sections. She played and the others sung. It sounded complicated, but the trick was to sing what you had to sing without listening to the other half.

The choir ladies were smiling, especially Margaret and her two retired friends. Willow gave the sheets out, separating the two halves, and they tried it once, with obvious mistakes. Willow said words of encouragement and they sang it again; this time it was good. There was more polite applause.

“Ladies, thank you, that was fantastic. Next week we can start by doing all three items and then move on to something else. Perhaps you ladies who sang professionally may be able to suggest something.”

Margaret reached behind her to a bag on the back of her chair, pulling out a book.

“Willow. I brought this along in the hope that I might be able to sing with you. This is the words and music to Handel’s Messiah that you mentioned. Would it be possible for me to sing the Air that deals with the despised man? I know the words by heart.”

“I would love to play the music for you, Margaret. Let me find the page. Ah! Yes. I’ll have to just set the keyboard.”

She set the Yamaha so that she could play a violin section sound. When she was ready, Margaret nodded, and Willow started with the violins. Then Margaret started to sing, putting her heart and soul into it. It starts with ‘He was despised and rejected of men’ with that sentence alone being sung in sections and repeats. Willow was working the strings, and the others looked on in wonder. The cameramen had one on Willow, and the other on Margaret. The sound man had the boom mic set up over the two of them. For everyone in the room, it was as good as it gets.

When it ended, Margaret was in tears and Willow wasn’t far behind her. It had been the most stirring thing that she had ever played. She stood and went over to Margaret, bending down to give her a hug. They both said ‘You were wonderful’ in unison.

The reporter came over to them.

“Margaret, I saw you on stage when you were with Sadlers Wells. Then you disappeared. Willow, would you mind if I interview Margaret and her friends first, then we can do what I came for. What we have seen is something that our viewers will be asking us to repeat.”

“That’s all right. I’ll get a drink and we can put this kit away.”

Jacob, Gina, and Wendy told Willow not to touch anything and they put the keyboard and amp back into the storage. Willow went over to the bar, where her father gave her a drink.

“That was just amazing, my daughter. Margaret has a fantastic voice and she sung with such passion. I heard her say that it was her legs that forced her out of singing. Who knew that we have such talent in sleepy Stoneleigh. This choir of yours is getting better by the day. You’re playing with the Messiah was brilliant.”

“Well, Dad, I was trying to emulate a full orchestra. I had the thought, while I was playing, that the whole thing would sound good in the Cathedral. The thing is that it goes two and a half hours and needs a lot more singers in the chorus than we have. I think that the orchestra could muster most of the instruments, but it would take more work than the school is prepared to give for one performance. Unlike most orchestras, ours turns over every two or three years, so there isn’t a core set of players.”

The others came over and they sat while the TV reporter spoke to Margaret at one of the tables. Her two friends also sat at the table and were included in the discussion. The other choir ladies sat near the bar and watched the proceedings, speaking in whispers.

When the reporter shook hands with the three, he looked around. The choir ladies all stood.

“Willow. Tonight, has been a real eye-opener for us. We’ve done something far beyond what we were thinking of. We all thought that we would be able to sing carols by next Christmas, never realising that we could do such complex music. Thank you for tonight, and we’ll see you next week.”

Willow stood and got hugs from all of them, as the other three came over. Sandra, one of Margaret’s friends, gave Willow a long hug.

“Willow Rose. You have no idea what joy you brought tonight. Margaret has been moping about her house for years. Bringing her tonight took a lot of encouragement, but I think we’ll be bringing her every week from now on. She really missed having song in her life.”

The TV guys had a drink and then the reporter asked the three friends to join them at the other table. He sat them opposite him, and one cameraman set up with a tripod to film him, while the other was to one side to see the three of them, with Willow closest.

“I’m going to start by speaking to the audience first, then I’ll speak to each of you in turn. Thank you for providing the opportunity for the other interview, it will go to air after yours. There will be clips of what you did tonight that will be slipped into the interview we will now do, as well as clips from your wonderful video. Are you ready? Feel free to stop me if we go anywhere that you don’t want to go.”

Marianne Gregory © 2025