Chapter 10

As they were driving to Birmingham, where the girls wanted to visit the Bullring, Wendy asked them if they had enjoyed the party.

“It was fabulous, Mum. So many friends and so much cake. I don’t think I could face another slice.”

“Well, there is some left over, which Malcolm will probably have out as dessert tonight. Did you know that the label was going to be there?”

“No idea that they had planned that. What was really good was that the others got Gold Records. The Gees and Zara will be waking up this morning and pinching themselves. Grant wrote a lot of that album, so will be getting noted for that. Rick’s share, this month, will allow him to finalise the payment for the farmhouse and get a bit of new equipment. It was all good.”

“What about your income, this month, going to Platinum?”

“We’ll just have to wait to see the statement. The CD would have sold at least five hundred thousand to pass the next hurdle. There will be some income from the DVD, and some from the Belgrade shows, but it depends on costs. I expect that the first album downloads will be well down. One thing I do know, and that’s that Gina and I will have seven hundred and fifty debited for the pendants. I picked up the last box, by the way.”

“That’s all right, friend. I took a few out when they were delivered to give to my father’s family on Thursday.”

“How did that go?”

“It was funny. They hardly knew me, and it was mainly Mum and them talking about Dad before. This time, there was I, their granddaughter in the charts, and they didn’t know how to treat me. Giving out pendants broke the ice, and it turned out quite well. I have three cousins who are fans already, and they spent a lot of time with me, so the pendants were happily received.”

“That’s good. The Bishop took one. I wonder what he will do with it.”

“If he could even get it round his neck, it would clash with the big cross.”

When they had parked at the Bullring, they went shopping, with Willow looking for something to match her emerald necklace, and Gina looking for nice things to fill up her new wardrobe, having sent a lot of her old clothes to charity when she moved house. They had lunch, then went back to the Cathedral.

When they arrived, Tom came over.

“What a great party! We had a wonderful time, ate too much cake, and watched Sally dancing with one of those Hikers.”

“She has certainly become a girl who knows her own mind, now that she has a place in the choir.”

“When you’ve finished with the rehearsal, can the three of you go in the Chapter House before you leave? Chris wants to thank you for taking on the job for him, and he has a couple of his friends with him.”

Willow went up and started playing Bach to warm up. Wendy and Gina found seats, and Chris, the usual organist, sat next to Gina, with a couple of other men beside him. They sat and listened as Willow moved into the hymns for the next day, with the usual sound of singing as the choir led the sightseers and usual attendees. The Evensong items were mainly ones that a lot of people could remember, and the singing continued. The more choral pieces had the choir in full voice with Sally lifting the sound with her clear voice.

After Willow had closed down the organ, the six joined her to go into the Chapter House where there were drinks and biscuits laid out. The first thing that Chris did was to hug both Gina and Willow for the job that they had done while he was away. Then he introduced his companions.

“These two, fine upstanding gentlemen, are Evan, the organist and choirmaster of Kings College, Cambridge, and Trevor, the organist at York Minster. Gentlemen, may I present Willow Rose and Gina Summer, who have not only sat in my seat for three months, but have also increased the size of the congregation. First with their fame, and then with their playing.”

Evan took Willows hand.

“We came along last weekend to hear a school orchestra, invited by Chris. What we heard was a professional ensemble, capped with a wonderful second half. That encore piece was sublime, Miss Rose.”

“Thank you, Evan. Call me Willow, please, Miss Rose sounds like I’m in school again.”

“We were also in the Cathedral as you played on Sunday, Miss Summer. If Chris hadn’t been sitting next to us, we would have thought it was him at the keyboard.”

“I’m Gina, sir. Thank you for the praise. It has been a privilege and a pleasure for both of us over the last few months. How is your son, Chris?”

“Improving, I’m happy to say. They wouldn’t let him leave Germany until he was able to be in a wheelchair. I expect that he’ll use one for a while but is in a clinic where they are teaching him to walk again. I’ll be bringing him to the service tomorrow. He’s jumping out of his skin to hear you play, Willow. He’s a big fan of the band.”

“Why don’t you bring him to our dinner dance, tonight. In fact, why don’t you all come along. We pretend to be the Blue Coat Dance Band, but, in reality, we’re the full Summer Rose line-up. The Stoneleigh Community Club is wheelchair accessible; Margaret has a powered one and she has no problems. Your only cost will be what you eat or drink. Mum can check with Malcolm about spaces, while we’re here. What do you say?”

“That would be wonderful!”

Wendy rang the club as they all sat. When she ended the call, she said that Malcolm will set up a table for eight, so spouses were catered for. Then Evan looked at the girls.

“Look, Gina and Willow. You have done wonders here with your fame and playing. I have a similar organ in the Kings College Chapel, made by the same company. We are in negotiation with the record label that we had issued some CDs on. They are not overly interested, as our material is not a big seller on the open market. I was wondering if the two of you could come to Cambridge in the first week of your summer holidays. We want to record our choir with you. One disc with you, Gina, and another with you, Willow. All we need is the label to be interested.”

“That sounds like a lovely idea, Evan. We are both thinking to go to Cambridge when we finish school, and my grandparents live near Cambridge. Do you think that Gramps would put the two of us up, Mum?”

“They do have a bed-settee that I’ve slept on in the past. They have separate bedrooms now, because your grandfathers snoring keeps your grandmother awake. If you do arrange to go, I’ll talk to them. I expect that the College would arrange a car to transport the girls?”

“It will Mrs. Rose.”

“Mrs. Rose is my mother-in-law, please call me Wendy.”

Willow reached into her bag and pulled out a couple of business cards.

“One of these is for our manager, Peter, who handles our finances. The other is for Clive, the executive of our label, who may be interested in the CD. He does have a colleague who is a producer at Abbey Road, and they want to get the school orchestra in there to record a classical CD.”

Trevor, who had been sitting with a smile fixed on his face, leant forward.

“Can I have those as well, Willow. I’m also keen to see you on the organ at the Minster. It has been revamped recently, and we have yet to issue a new album. I would also like to do a double CD, with each of you on one, to launch the new sound. I have played it, and it has a more modern tonal range, but with a lot of the older features. It has been worked on several times since it was built in the late eighteen hundreds. We can put you up in a nearby hotel.”

“Our only arrangements, so far, are our dates with a tour on the last two weeks of August.”

“Who else is on the bill?”

“We’re opening for Blastmasters.”

All three of the men looked incredulous.

“Blastmasters! But they’re a heavy metal band. How is Summer Rose going to fit in with their audience?”

“By that time, there will be an album out called ‘The Other Side of Summer Rose’ with a lot of stadium rock. We’ve already recorded a DVD in the school covering the Moody Blues. My first concert at the school was on an organ with G-Force, playing Deep Purple. We have already given our label an album and DVD with us playing a concept album, covering Kansas. I think that it will be the only way we can move forward if we want to play larger venues as a serious rock band. So, if you want to tap into our sweet side, early summer could be the best window of opportunity. Being on our label will allow them to space the issues out for maximum effect.”

All three men sat back and laughed. Chris was the first to recover.

“This is precious. You’re willing to go outside of a proven hit sound to play bigger audiences?”

“Well, the biggest venue we’ve played, so far, is the school theatre. If we want to go big, we will have to play what the people want. Ask yourselves this. Can you see a full crowd in Wembley Stadium singing along to Carpenters songs, unless it was the Carpenters on stage?”

Chris shook his head.

“I guess that you’re right. Will there be any of this new sound tonight?”

“We’ll see what we can fit in. Anyway, we must be getting along. We have a show to get ready for tonight. It’s been a real pleasure meeting you, and I hope that you can arrange suitable dates when we can play for you. We go back to school on Monday week, and it’s full on until the middle of July.”

“No chance for next week?”

“No. Gina’s good, but I’m playing Goal Defence in a netball competition. I tell you, without us playing here, we alternate at St. Marys, so one of us will be available on weekends unless we have another booking. The club is going to start using other bands, so we’ll be a lot freer. I’ll put together a list of known engagements and give it to you tonight. Given time to practise the items you want to record at home, I’m sure that we can get your CDs in the can in a weekend or two.”

On the way home, Wendy commented on her daughters negotiating style. Gina laughed.

“I leave it all to my friend. She may go around in circles, but I think that we could have both of those CDs on the market before the end of term. They have all the pointers towards how they should work it. Even I didn’t see that last suggestion coming.”

At home, Willow checked her diary and wrote out a list of known dates when they wouldn’t be playing. She saw that, with the Winter Gardens now cancelled, they had a huge space between school and Blastmasters. She also saw that the Proms Concert was the first day back at school, and wondered, again, how that would be handled.

That Saturday evening, the club was at capacity. Chris and his friends had brought their wives, and Willow was introduced to Drew, his son. Margaret was there as well, so they set up the odd table with the wheelchairs at each end and the three couples along the side. Drew was happy to meet another person in the same situation as him, and Margaret told him a few tricks that would make his use of the wheelchair better. When the three organists realised who she was, the talk at the table was quite animated. Margaret’s friend Sandra sat with others from the village choir, happy that her friend was having a good time.

The band had their meal in the front room, and then went on the stage to play the eating music as the meals were brought out. For Drew, after his long time in hospital, it was like being born again into the real world. The band moved to dance songs and then had a short break. When they came back, Willow spoke into her microphone.

“Ladies and Gentlemen. There are a few new faces here tonight, so the rest of you will have to put up with hearing some of our songs again. My Mum said she was over Summer Rose before we had our first big show at the Belgrade! Tonight, we’ll be playing some tunes that you haven’t heard, later. They are from an album that’s likely to be in the shops before the end of summer. But first, we want to play one of the slower songs that many have heard before. I want to dedicate this one to Drew, sitting there, in his wheelchair. He is lucky to be alive, and luckier still, will walk again with exercise. I’m sure that he thought the things that I did as I lay in my own hospital bed a couple of months ago. This is ‘Dust in the Wind’.

Jacob played the guitar intro and Willow sang the words, with the first line being ‘I close my eyes, only for a moment and the moment’s gone’. The whole band in harmony as backing. At the end of it, Chris and his wife had tears streaming down their faces and Drew called out in the silence.

“You’re a mind reader, Willow, thank you.”

They carried on with the Carpenters, the ‘Journey’ album, Moody’s, some sixties love songs and there was dancing. As it was near the end of the night, Willow spoke again.

“Now something from the band ‘Kansas’ who had that hit with ‘Dust in the Wind’ in the late seventies. It was from a concept album about the end of the human race after the last moderate leader disappeared, to be replaced by ego-driven dictators. As Jacob said at the Belgrade shows, it has a lot of resonance with today’s world. If you don’t like loud music, cover your ears, you’re in for a wild ride. These are the last three tracks from the album.”

They ripped into ‘Sparks of the Tempest’, ‘Nobody’s Home’, and ‘Hopelessly Human’. At the end, they all bowed and left the stage to some applause. At the table, Willow asked if they fitted a Blastmasters concert and the guys all laughed. Trevor stood and went to give her a hug.

“Willow, I’ve been to a Blastmasters show. It’s chalk and cheese. They’re simple three chord rock using the big amps to make their point, and here you were, using tiny amps in a small room and sounding far better than them. I can see them wanting to toss you off the tour for making them look bad. I’ve got to get tickets to hear the whole album with a wall of speakers behind you.”

“Thank you, Trevor. Now you know why we should be moving down that road. Big places, big crowds, and a big sound go together.”

She went to her bag and pulled out a DVD.

“Here’s the whole show, as recorded here a few weeks ago. We may re-record it for general release, and we’ll be working on our own material to go with it.”

“Thank you, Willow. I’ll pass it on to the others when I’ve watched it. Do you mind if it stays with Drew after?”

“That would be nice. I’ll bring in a CD and DVD of the recent album for him tomorrow.”

After some circulating and more than a few hugs, Willow walked home with her mother.

“That was a lovely gesture tonight, love. Drew will remember tonight.”

“I hope that the realisation that he has to work to walk again will let him improve. I did think about that song after the operation. It’s about how fleeting life is, and to make sure you enjoy the time you have, because there’s no second time around.”

On Sunday, Gina was in the church and Willow was being driven to Coventry. She was wearing the outfit that she had worn for Cassie’s wedding, and felt very adult, now that she was fourteen. The service went as usual, and they left the Cathedral to go to have lunch.

“It’s the big charity dinner dance at the end of the week, isn’t it?”

“It is, Mum. I suppose that I should send out an email to the others in the band to remind them. I expect that the Head will expect us to be wearing school blue. I’d better tell the girls to be in the blue dresses and the boys to have blue shirts and black trousers. And everyone should see a hairdresser. It’s a big event for the school, so we had better look good.”

“And a sing-along the weekend after.”

“That will be a nice break.”

“Not a ‘stay at home’ break, but a working one.”

“I know, Mum. I just love playing. More than that, I love entertaining people. During Evensong, just look around and see the smiles on the faces as they sing along. There must be at least three different singing groups there, besides the actual choir. I can even pick out individual voices from the keyboard. It makes me happy, and it energises me.”

That afternoon, the voices sounded as good, if not better than usual. Willow had tears in her eyes as she played the last item. As she stepped from the stairs, Tom called out in his strong voice.

“Ladies and Gentlemen, just a moment of your time.”

He waited until there was quiet.

“We have just heard Willow Rose playing the organ. She, and Gina Summer have played for us for the last three months. Chris, our usual organist, is back from extended leave due to family matters, and will be playing next week. In the meantime, please give Willow a hand for her skill and dedication.”

There was applause and she had hugs from the three organists. She gave the two plastic disc cases to Chris, for Drew. He took them and thanked her.

“Since last night, Drew has been a lot more positive. He was getting depressed by being in the wheelchair, but talking to Margaret he realised that if he worked at it, he could be walking again. He was taken out before the rush. I hope to see you again, perhaps when he has a party to celebrate his first steps.”

“I’d like that, Chris.”

She was spoken to by many of the parishioners as she left the building with Wendy. In the car, she sat and buckled up.

“Dab your eyes, love. You don’t want to look like a panda when we get to the club.”

Wendy kept quiet, knowing that Willow needed to process this change in the normal way of things. At home, they changed, and Willow repaired her face before they walked to the club. The main crowd was in the back room and the equipment from the dinner dance was still on stage. Brent was there, with his mother, and Jacob was there with Racheal. They all had dinner, and there was, indeed, cake to go around as a free extra, with custard or ice cream.

Gina told her that her performance had been flawless. The feed had finished with the last item, so they hadn’t seen the short speech, and Willow didn’t enlighten her. They played a sing-along as the quartet, with a lot of their own songs added in, which still had a lot singing along. At the end of the evening, Willow had reached the end of her emotional tether, and wasn’t long before she had hugged the others, kissed Jacob, and walked home with her mother. She hugged Wendy and went up to undress and cleanse, headed for sleep as soon as her head hit the pillow.

Monday was the first day of the holiday and Willow stayed in bed until her parents were nearly ready to go to work. She made an easy breakfast and then tidied everything up. Then, she took a long shower, washed her hair and spent a fair chunk of the morning drying it and brushing it. When she had dressed, she took her phone from the charger and turned it on. There were some messages that didn’t need an answer. She turned on her laptop and checked her emails.

There was one from Peter, congratulating the band for the Platinum Record, sent to everyone, and it went on to say that he had been told that the dress code for Saturday evening was school blue. He also told them that some of the band would be required for personal visits to record stores and for interviews, and that he would be working with the label on these.

There was another with the label logo on it, from Jill, the person who would be working with them for future shows and presentations. She asked Willow if they could meet, mid-week, to discuss things. Willow replied to that to say that she was going to be playing netball for the school on Tuesday and Wednesday, gave the location and said that there would be lots of time between the games.

There was one message on the WR Holdings account, from the Summer Love account. It was a message from Wilhelm, telling her that the vendors had countered with a new asking price of one point one two five, with settlement inside fourteen days. Willow answered to ask the rest of the syndicate first, but that she thought it would be a good deal, as long as the title clearly showed that they were buying the total footprint of the property. When she sent it, she smiled at the thought that Wilhelm was finding this enjoyable, even though he was working for his own thirteen-year-old son.

There was an email from the Bishop, thanking her for the invitation to the party, and telling her that he had enjoyed the evening, especially because he could be just another person in the room. He said that they all deserved the awards, because every member of the three bands were talented. He had given the pendant to his secretary, who had been thrilled to put it on.

She sat at her desk and took her notepad, writing the lyrics of a song about a girl who had become so impatient with her boyfriend that she told him that she had booked a church for their marriage. The boyfriend then told her that he had never intended to get married and walks out. It had a chorus line that said, ‘You told me you loved me, baby, that you’re a straight hitter. But you’re just a baby, baby; a real dummy spitter’.

She worked out a rock style tune, recorded it to her computer with her singing the lyrics. She then sent it to Herb, with a message that he should record the basics of his own songs and then all new songs should go to the rest of the band for discussion. She added a footnote. ‘I’m thinking that we need more songs in the stadium rock vein if we want to be serious about the Blastmasters tour. I would like our Other Side issue to be a double album. One disc the Kansas set, and the other about a dozen originals, to be called ‘Homegrown Summer Rose’.’

She had some lunch, and then took time to re-sort her wardrobe and drawers, putting both sets of netball outfits in a sports bag, along with spare underwear, sports shoes and socks. She found a simple shift dress to wear in the coach, that would be loose enough to be able to be worn home again. She saw that her parents would be getting ready to leave work, so went to the kitchen to prepare dinner. Concentrating on peeling and slicing vegetables was almost as good as playing Bach to calm her down, and she was starting to appreciate the work that went into making a good meal.

After dinner and the tidying up was done, she went off to bed. There had been a lot of energy spent over the last week, and she needed to catch up. She had her phone alarm in for the morning and was up, dressed and getting breakfast ready when her parents came down. The mother and daughter left the dishes for Ashley and headed for the school.

The coaches were waiting at the main entrance, and there were some girls standing around, so Wendy dropped Willow off and went on to work. Her office would be open as the warehouse worked around the clock on weekdays.

Willow joined her team of second years and they got on one coach with the firsts and thirds, plus some teachers. The second coach had the fourths and fifths with some volunteers and all their lunches. The drive to Birmingham was quiet, with the girls talking among themselves. At the venue, they were sent to their space in one of the marquees. It was obvious that there wasn’t enough room for all the teams from all the schools, so those teams that were playing later were sent back to the coaches to wait.

The procedure was simple. With four courts, the teams played their four games with a game break in between. The court time had been shortened in the round robins to get everything in and the pace was hectic until they found their rhythm. The first years games were a bit scrappy, and their team ended up with six points for the day.

The seconds did well, with Willow stopping several goal attempts, and ended their sessions with seven points. The thirds played two games before lunch, after which, they played the other two and the rest of the teams played.

Jill arrived before lunch, and Willow was pointed out to her, being very much part of a mass of girls, rather than a pop star. Willow had played all her games, so they went and sat in Jill’s car. They talked about general things, at first, getting to know each other. To Jill, in her twenties, it was like talking to an older girl than a fourteen-year-old. Willow had brought her diary, and they spoke about dates that would be available.

Marianne Gregory © 2025