Chapter 18

They stopped for a quick kiss before going into class, with Jacob giving the teacher a note from the nurse. Towards the end of lunch, Miss Russell came in and asked the two of them to go with her to the nurse’s room. When they got there, the nurse showed them the pathology result.

“The test has shown a very slight trace of Rohypnol, consistent with it being administered over seventy-two hours before. It must have been a big dose, Jacob. Whoever did it meant business. There was no signs of an STD in either the urine or the blood. Was this with other school friends?”

“No, it was at a family party in Birmingham. It doesn’t involve the school. Can I have a copy of the results, please. I want to show my sister that I wasn’t just drunk. I don’t think that she would consider that something like this would happen at a family birthday party. Can we have another copy for our label? They may be bringing in an investigator.”

On the way home, Willow got out with Jacob.

“I’ll only be a minute or two.”

She went into the farmhouse with Jacob, coming out a few minutes later.

Back in the vehicle, Gina could hold back no longer.

“All right! What’s going on? First, we have ice-cold Jacob and now he’s thawed out. Is it because of this party he went to?’

“It is. He was given Rohypnol and photographed semi-naked on a bed. He doesn’t remember a thing. It’s possible that he had sex but who knows? We got his blood and pee tested this morning by the school nurse and there was a big enough dose to still show in the testing. I’ve just been with him to convince Racheal that he didn’t get drunk and have it away with one of the guests.”

“That would raise a storm if it hit the papers.”

“That’s why I took charge, to get him out of his funk and see if we could get some proof.”

Max had been listening and turned in his seat.

“Willow, in the last couple of months, you’ve grown to be more like the band leader. What you’ve done is exactly what you should have done. Now, tell me that you’ve advised Jill about this.”

“I did, and I expect that a case like this isn’t new. I’m going to scan the report and send it to her tonight. I’ve asked Racheal to write down the names of all those at the party, and to be prepared to pass it on to an investigator. There hasn’t been a blackmail note, yet, but I wonder if blackmail is the reason. The people who did this are too easily identified.”

“Have you thought that it may have been to trap him into marriage?”

“How would that work?”

“If the girl is already pregnant, proof that she had sex with Jacob may allow her to force him to marry her. By the time the baby’s born, and he does the maths, he’s already hooked.”

“That would mean that there are more pictures of him, with her straddling him. That would mean that she’s identifiable.”

“Exactly.”

They dropped Gina off and then Willow was outside her house. Sebastian turned to her.

“We did some courses when we took on this job. I think that your take on the situation was the best way you could have taken it. This does mean that we’ll have to report that an ‘incident’ has occurred, and that closer protection may be needed. I’ve been told that we will take the four of you to London on Friday evening. Like the other times, we’ll pick up Mister Bamborough first and then come south. I expect that Jill may have someone for you to talk to while you’re there.”

Willow went inside, saw a parcel on the kitchen table and went up to her room. She changed and then composed an email to Jill, telling her about the news and adding the scan of the pathology report. She went downstairs to peel and dice with her mother. When the preparation was done, she opened the parcel.

“What do you have there, dear, presents?”

“These are the lanyards for the tour. They are ‘Access All Areas’ and each one has a USB drive for the band members. I’m told that it has a track that we played as a fun experiment, a version of one of our songs enhanced to be a single for the web site, and a DVD of our new album, filmed at Abbey Road.”

“We can play that tonight.”

After they had tidied up the dinner things, the family changed for bed and sat on the couch in front of the TV. Willow plugged the USB into the side of the TV and sat with the controller. The first item was ‘Money’, with vision from the cameras mounted in the studio. Ashley was reminded of some of the footage of the Beatles when they recorded. Willow was blown away with how good it was.

The second item was when they played ‘Dummy Spitter’. Again, the vision was like a professional video, with the cameras obviously controlled, as there were close-ups of them. She could hear enhancements in the audio. A touch of reverb, a smidgin of echo. It sounded like something playable on radio but didn’t overpower the band’s sound.

The third item was the album. It had all the opening logos, credits, and copyright warnings. There was half a minute of them talking before the take, with the title ‘Homegrown Summer Rose’, and then the album, performed in its entirety. Ashley took the controller and turned the sound up as the first track opened, and cuddled Wendy as the vision continued. It was obviously a single take, and the sound and vision as good as anything they had seen. When the last song ended, the credits ran with the band having a group hug, and then there was a short section where each of them were pictured on stills taken during the playing, giving their names, with a quiet audio of ‘Dummy Spitter’ in the background. It had been shortened so that the screen went blank with the last notes.

“What did you think of that?”

“Can you leave the USB in the music centre while you’re off on tour. We would like to look at it in private.”

“That good?”

“That was several times more powerful than I thought it would be. It puts the Kansas show that you recorded to shame.”

Just then, the logos came up on the screen again. This time, the vision was similar, but the title was ‘This isn’t Kansas. It’s the Other Side of Summer Rose – a limited-edition DVD’ over Wendy’s drawing of her album cover. This one started with the blast of the opening track. Willow now realised why they had asked for five seconds between tracks, as the show was a single take. The whole album had been worked on, with the subtle enhancements. She had thought that they sounded better with the big amps, but this was something else again. The end was similar, with stills of them all, only this time, the best pictures of the award presentations, with ‘Dust in the Wind’ as the background music. Then, there was a group picture, with a listing of the tour venues where they could be seen that summer.

When she went to unplug the USB, Ashley reached out for it as he stood. She gave it to him, and he held her close, telling her that he loved her and her talent.

Willow went into the kitchen where the package was and pulled out the other lanyards. She laid them out on the table and checked them off. There was one each for the rest of the band, three for Xavier and his assistants, all with a second ID on a lanyard. That left one each for the Head, Mister Bamborough, Miss Russell, Reg Edwards, and Mister Jamieson, all with a second ID for their partner. There was also a similar pair for all four of the security detail, as well as two blank sets with a note that said that this was for the extra security for the wind section. At the bottom of the bag was one each for her parents. Every lanyard had a USB stick.

She took the last two back into the sitting room, where her parents were cuddling.

“You can give me back that USB, Dad. You both have your own lanyards for the tour, along with your very own sticks. You can now go to any of the shows you want.”

That got her more hugs from both of them. She went back into the kitchen and sorted out the lanyards into three sets. One for the band and techs, one for the teachers, and one for their drivers. Each set went into plastic bags from a kitchen drawer and was put into her shoulder bag for the next day. That night, she was asleep before her mother gave a cry of happiness.

In the morning, she gave Sebastian the bag for the security.

“These are your IDs for the tour, with a USB showing what we recorded at Abbey Road. There’s an extra pair for those who will be taking the rest of the band.”

“Yes, we were only told about that this week. From Monday, you all will get picked up. The three vehicles won’t stand out too much when we take you to the venues. I was told that the other bands will also have a similar set-up. You, and G-Force, will have transport until the end of the school year. Zara will be taken home with Herb and his friends if she has to stay for your orchestra practise. We will also be taking the orchestra to the Proms sessions.”

“That takes a load off my mind, for a start.”

When Gina got on, Willow gave her the lanyard.

“Have a look at the USB tonight, friend. It’s difficult to believe that it was us.”

The same happened when Jacob got on, now a much happier person.

“Rick got a package delivered at the farm yesterday, with a bunch for the Hikers.”

At the school, Willow excused herself and went to the Head’s office. When she was told to go in, the Head gave her a smile.

“I heard about the problem with Jacob. I hope it all works out.”

“I’m sure it will, ma-am. I have this for you to pass on to the teachers. These are lanyards for each of the names on them and a partner, they will get you into every show that we’ll be playing over the holiday. The Coventry City show has been expanded. There is a listing of the venues at the end of the last item on the USB stick.”

The Head looked at the names.

“This is very generous. The second one is only marked as ‘partner’, so I can take each of my children to one. My youngest has been on at me about meeting you all once she found out that you’re all students.”

“Well, she will be able to come backstage with that lanyard.”

Willow went to join her friends for the first class. During lunch, she went around giving the others out to the band and the techs, telling them to take good care of them and not lose them. When she gave Xavier, Frank and Dave theirs, she asked them if they had operated the cameras in the studio while the band was playing. Xavier said that they had helped a small team that was recording the vision.

“When you see the two albums, have a look at the credits for camera work. You did very well, I was impressed. The teachers also have a USB to look at, so you may be spoken to next week.”

She went over to talk to Geoff and Zara. Geoff told her that he had received the package of lanyards yesterday, and that they had their big statement earlier in the week. She went back to her table and sat next to Gina and Dianne. She pulled her own USB out of her bag and passed it to Dianne.

“This is mine, Dianne, and I want it back next week. Have a look at it and show it to the others in the orchestra, if you see them over the weekend. Gina and I are being picked up on Friday to go to London for the launch of the classic CD we recorded. I expect that we’ll have a box of them to bring into the school on Monday. It will just be the two of us, Jacob, and Mister Bamborough, as I was told that the venue is quite small.”

That evening. the family had dinner and then went to the club. Ashley opened up and pottered around behind the bar, mainly moving things to put the new award up. Wendy and Willow got one of the keyboards out, along with the small amp that they had used in the front bar. When the choir came in, they worked through some quite complicated items with Tom. After the session, they sat with drinks and Willow explained how she expected the rehearsals for the Messiah would go.

“We have a few weeks before the end of the term to work with Sally and Margaret with the solo items. Some have the choir behind them, so the rest of you will get some practise. The orchestra has started working on its side of things but will not gather again until the start of the new term, unless we get a chance to rehearse our concert at the Albert Hall. Gina and I will be spending the first few weeks of summer on tour, so won’t be available. That means that you can have a little holiday. I think that you’ve all done magnificently, far better than I could have brought you. I have to thank Tom for helping out.”

Thursday afternoon, in PE, she played two games of netball. One against the usual second years, and the other in her team, against the third years that had played at the tournament. They were told that this was the last PE of the term, as the next weeks to the end of term were set aside for revision and exam time. She showered at the gym and redressed in the uniform to join the others for the trip home.

That evening, she had another email from Wilhelm, with a forwarded email from the studio builders. There were pictures of the likely set-up and a plan of the whole site, showing the positions of the doors, the positions of the control desks and post-production desks. They had even laid out the rest area with the toilets under a mezzanine which was designated as storage. The studio area had markers for power outlets and air conditioning vents, which would be in different places than the cooling vents, with them closed off. There was a note to say that they had drilled into the wall and found the expected hardboard and expanded foam rather than fibre insolation. They had also tested the sound loss and had calculated the amount of soundproofing needed to keep the sound in. Their quote was just over six hundred and fifty thousand, with a build time of four weeks.

She looked at the pictures and the desk specifications. It would be about half the size of Abbey Road, with twenty-four mix sliders, digital recording as well as back-up reel to reel with twenty-four tracks. She counted the power outlets and headphone jacks, finding that they had enough for thirty amps with thirty guitarists. There was a power board with switch fuses on the wall in the back area. There was a note to say that power to the studio and the air conditioning would be routed from a separate board next to the factory one with a separate billing. She replied that she was happy with the quote and transferred the monthly hundred thousand to the Summer Love account.

There was another email from Jill, thanking her for all the information about Jacob. She said that she had spoken to Racheal and had received a list of the partygoers from her. She also said that there would be an investigator from a firm they have used at the CD launch on Saturday, to speak to Jacob and record his version of the event. As a footnote, she noted that the BBC had been in touch, and had asked if they could relaunch the two DVDs alongside theirs, which she thought was a good idea, because it was likely that there would be a film crew recording the event.

Before she went to bed, she put together an overnight case, something that was almost becoming second nature, and went downstairs to let her parents know that she would get dropped off at home, then go to the club for dinner and the sing-along.

On Friday morning, Jacob confirmed that his father would see the studio builders and the builders early in the week to co-ordinate the project and work to the same plan, once planning permission had been granted. At lunch, Xavier was excited with what he had seen of the studio and was keen to try it out. Willow told him that she hadn’t seen any microphones or stands in the quote and asked him if he could look into that side of it. Also, being part of the sound, if he could look into the supply of headphones. Dianne told Willow that she had watched the shows on the USB and was organising a party with the others in the orchestra to show it to them over the weekend.

That afternoon, Xavier, Dave and Frank set up the recording equipment in the rehearsal room. The Music class were taken there and saw all the Gamelan instruments. They sorted out what they were playing and arranged themselves in similar sounding groups. Xavier set up a number of microphones through a mixer box and they had a sound check. The Head and Miss Russell came in and sat by the door. Mister Jamieson dropped his hand, and the class were playing. They had worked out an intro which sounded like waves, and then the tune for ‘Her Day’ was introduced, with those with the bells leading the way and the other beat continuing in the background.

When they finished, and Xavier announced that recording was off, the Head stood and congratulated them.

“What part did you play in organising the tune, Willow?”

Dianne spoke up.

“We decided on the tune, ma-am. All Willow had to do was sing it so we could get the notes.”

“Well. I must say that it was a very credible performance and unlike any others that I’ve heard from this part of the curriculum before. Well done.”

She left the room with Miss Russell, and Mister Jamieson also congratulated them.

They were at the door and waiting when the vehicles arrived. On the way back to Stoneleigh, the three discussed the weekend. None of them were sure of what a CD launch would be like. When they got to the farm, Gina advised Jacob to pack a blue shirt and black trousers in case they were needed to look like they did in the BBC vision. The girls would add their blue dresses as well as something more casual.

Willow was dressed in a skirt and top, with a garment bag with two dresses and her small roller case when the vehicle arrived. She locked up as Max put her things in the back, and then joined the others. Jacob was sitting with Mister Bamborough, so Willow got in next to Gina. As they were heading south, Mister Bamborough turned to speak to the girls.

“I looked at the USB on my computer last night. It was a complete surprise to see something so good, and something so professionally produced. The vision reminded me of some of the old archive footage of when the Beatles were there, but the music was, I have to say, exciting. When you do the big shows, you’re going to have a whole lot of new fans.”

“Have you decided which shows you’re coming to, sir?”

“As many as I can. I have a quite large family, so will have a different one with me every time. I expect to be spending a lot in merchandise over the few weeks. The other teachers will be there as well, so we may organise a minibus. Then, after that, we have just the one night in the Albert Hall. I believe that you’re coming this way again next week, to launch the album.”

“We are. It’s not the same record store, and we’re not sure if the Kansas album will be mentioned. We’re all going to see ELO in Hyde Park on the Sunday, before we come home again.”

Sebastian laughed.

“I went to see them back in the day. They had this big flying saucer thing that opened up. It was wild. I looked at your two albums last night as well. They are as good as anything I’ve ever seen. A lot of those shows use clips from various live shows and fade from one to another, but you did both sets as single takes. That was really impressive. The old Floyd number was great!”

Jacob chuckled.

“That was an experiment. Willow wanted to test us out, so the producer played us the original tape of that session, then repeated it before we played it ourselves. Some of what we played wasn’t true to the original, but I think we got the bulk of it right. They did make some changes to it for the recording. We didn’t have the cash register sound when we did it, and they added effects to it, as well as the Kansas set. If we play live, I don’t think it will notice, but the additions do make the songs sound better.”

They talked as they went to London. The three older men spoke about concerts and shows that they had been to in the past. Max had seen the Rolling Stones several times, and Mister Bamborough surprised by having seen Oasis more times than a normal person should have. Sebastian turned out to be a keen Who fan and bemoaned the fact that he had never seen them with Keith Moon on the drums.

They pulled up at the hotel and checked in. The two girls were in a twin room, while the guys had a single each. The dining room was still serving, so they sat and ate dinner before going up to their rooms. As the girls were cleansing and changing for bed, Gina stopped and sat on her bed.

“Is it just me or is Mister Bamborough being extra nice to us. We’re just second years, but he’s talking to us as if we’re adults.”

“I think that he’s treating us like adults because we act like adults, friend. We’ve achieved more, this year, than many do in a lifetime. We’ll be going back as third year students, so will be halfway through the system. It will be interesting to see if we stay with the orchestra or get bumped up to replace the leavers in the senior one. These combined projects have thrown the whole school system into chaos. Next year, without the Messiah hanging over our heads, will be a whole new adventure.”

Next morning, nothing had been said about wearing the school blue, so the three of them just looked good in casual wear. The teacher had opted for slacks and a sports coat. After breakfast, the vehicle pulled up outside. They checked out, signing the account for the label to pay, and they were taken to the record store, finding a small crowd outside.

Inside, it was difficult to get through the mass of bodies, but Max had seen the problem and went in front of them, with his commanding voice asking for space. They arrived near the back of the store, where there was some space and a dais. Clive was there and welcomed them to the launch. Max said he would see them later and went back out to the vehicle.

Clive was acting emcee, and welcomed all the classical music buffs, and the media, to the event. He outlined the content of the double CD. Looking at the cameras as he did so.

“Today, we have Mister Howard Bamborough, the music teacher in the Blue Coat School in Coventry, as well as the conductor for the orchestra. Then we have Mister Jacob Epstein, the soloist in the fabulous Rodrigo concerto. These two young ladies almost need no introduction. We have Miss Gina Summer and Miss Willow Rose. They are the founding members of the successful band, Summer Rose. Gina is the soloist in the Grieg Piano Concerto, as well as playing the organ on disc two. Willow played the ‘Seven Variations’ on the second album. These three are just fourteen and are prodigious talents. They will be happy to answer questions, asked in an orderly manner, and sign copies of our album ‘Popular Classics by the Blue Coat School’. Before that, we need to get the other formalities out of the way.”

A man stepped forward from beside one of the cameras, and Clive continued.

“May I present a representative of the BBC, who is sharing this great day with us.”

The man stepped up to the microphone.

“Last year, we filmed a concert in the Coventry Cathedral. It featured the Beethoven ‘Choral’. It was broadcast on Christmas Eve. We originally released it as the Beethoven Ninth and other classics, and it has sold quite a few copies. When we realised that some of the players were these two young ladies, we withdrew it from the market and have repackaged it. Today, we launch the new look DVD, now called ‘Coventry Classics, volume One’. With a proper appreciation of the wonderful orchestra. Earlier, this year, we also recorded another concert in the Cathedral with this orchestra. It featured the Saint-Seans Organ Symphony with Willow Rose playing the organ. We have pre-production copies of that DVD, which will be ‘Coventry Classics, volume Two’. That will be in the shops in two weeks. Both concerts were conducted by Mister Bamborough, here. I repeat what my friend just said. The guests will answer questions and sign your purchases. Thank you.”

Marianne Gregory © 2025