Chapter 4

Backstage was organised chaos. The theatre had been built with this kind of event in mind, so there were individual rooms for the different acts, with make-up mirrors and sinks. They joined Dianne and Barbara in their room, and the four of them went next door to the singing group. Willow was introduced around, and the leader told her that if she didn’t fit the rest of them to just mime. Zara insisted that Willow was perfect.

Willow was finding it odd to be wearing the same dress as ten other girls, and wondered if her parents would be able to pick her out. It didn’t seem like very long at all before they went back to their own room to take the violins and viola out of the cases and tune up. The cello was already on stage beside the music stands.

A couple of minutes before seven, the four girls were in place as Mister Bamborough came out on stage and welcomed everyone to the concert. By the applause he got, it sounded like a full house. He announced that the first act was the Blue Coat Baroque Quartet and the curtains opened. There was some applause and then Zara counted them in.

As she played, Willow could look out at the packed theatre. She had expected that it would be mainly parents but noticed several well-dressed couples in the first couple of rows. Up the back, and to each side, she saw cameras on tripods recording them. She concentrated on her playing and smiled, with the others, as they took their bows to polite applause.

The curtains closed and they took the instruments back to the cases. Some schoolboys cleared the stage, taking the cello and the music stands away. The stage filled with girls in blue dresses as Mister Bamborough was back on stage. He announced that the next act was the Blue Dress Girls Choir, and that they would be singing a well-known carol. The curtains opened and Willow was, once again in front of the audience, singing. This time, though, it was in a larger group of girls, at one end next to Dianne, as the leader had lined them up by size. She modulated her voice to fit the others and they worked through the four verses.

When they finished, there was strong applause and the leader said to bow. As the applause carried on, they bowed a second time and then the curtains closed. The leader patted her on the shoulder.

“That was good, young lady. I expect you at choir practice when term starts. Zara will make sure you get the schedule. We do a lot of carol singing around Christmas, at hospitals and aged-care homes.”

They all went down to the rooms, where the girls made sure that their instruments were properly packed away and put where they could be picked up later. The four of them were standing by the door when the four Gees came down, three carrying their guitar cases. Willow said hello.

“Hello, there Billie-Jean. You look stunning tonight. That’s just the right colour, as you can tell by our shirts.”

They were wearing royal blue shirts with black trousers.

“We’ve finished with this room. There’s just our instruments to be picked up.”

“All right, we’ll use it now. We caught your act tonight, very good, all of you. Why don’t you introduce the other girls?”

“Girls, this is Geoff on lead, Gerry on lead and rhythm, Garry on bass and Grant on drums. Boys, these are Barbara and Dianne, who I think are sisters. Dianne is in my year. And this is Zara, who will be in fourth year with you guys.”

“Zara. I’ve gazed at you from afar, in some of the classes. But I’ve never plucked up the courage to speak to you.”

“You can talk to me now, Geoff. I would like that.”

They all chatted together as the boys took the guitars out and tuned. When the final skit of the first half ended, they all went up to the stage as the audience were leaving for the canteen. They helped to roll the amps and keyboard into place and set up the drum kit. With it all switched on, they tested the guitars and organ quietly, and then went to the canteen to catch up with their relatives. Willow noticed that Geoff and Zara seemed to be hitting it off. She knew that it was a fact of life that a boy could be in class with a pretty girl and never have the courage, or the opportunity, to make contact. Barbara and Dianne, she could see, were both happy to be helping out and around the older boys.

At the canteen, she found her parents talking with Mister Bamborough. Her parents both hugged her, and he shook her hand and commented on how crisp the quartet sounded. Her mother handed her a plastic bottle and she took a few sips. Dianne and Barbara brought their parents over to say hello. Willow was thanked for standing in so that their daughters could get the points that the performance earned.

It was far too soon when a chime rang out and the audience started to trickle back to the theatre. The boys came over, said hello to her parents and the five of them headed towards the stage, Zara giving Geoff a little wave as they left. On stage, they took their positions and set the amps. Miss Russell asked them if they could tone it down a bit for the first few songs. When she left them, Garry chuckled.

“We get that a lot. ‘Love the music, lads, but play it quiet.’ When we get out into the world as G-Force, we’ll play as loud as we want.”

Mister Bamborough was on the other side of the curtain, again thanking the audience for coming along. Willow stood behind the organ and listened for her cue.

“Tonight, you have seen a girl play violin and sing with the choir. That girl is Willow Rose, and only stepped up to fill in yesterday. She will be starting second year with us after a move from Bristol. Now, you will see her filling in again for a member of the band who is sick. Here she is with ‘Shallow Blue’ to play songs from Deep Purple!”

As the curtains opened, she started the opening notes of ‘Child in Time’. She looked over at Garry as he came in and he grinned and gave her a wink. Of course, the amps hadn’t been turned down, and the song grew in stature and body as it moved on. Geoff was the singer on this and didn’t have the vocal range to get the sounds of the original but was strong enough.

They worked through the set, with the open space filled with gyrating teens. Willow could see some of the dignitaries looking like they had sucked lemons, but nearly everyone else was smiling or singing along. When the final crescendo of ‘Smoke’ faded, there was thunderous applause and calls for more. They took their bows, but the applause didn’t die down. Geoff put his guitar on its stand and went to his microphone, waving for a bit of hush.

“Ladies and gentlemen, school friends all. This performance was a one-off that our friend Jim thought of. He was to have played the organ but has contracted measles. Yesterday, we thought that it was all over, until Miss Russell breezed in with the answer to our dreams. Tonight, you have witnessed only the second time the five of us have played this set. As an encore, we are going to play another Purple number called ‘Lazy’. I can tell you that we have never played it before, so give a hand to Billie-Jean as she gets it going!”

Willow started the long intro to applause. The song was mainly a vehicle for the guitar and organ, with the bass coming in and the drummer going off on tangents. About two-thirds into it, Geoff came up to the microphone and sang, then played his mouth organ. When you dissect the piece, it’s mainly a procession of solos, blended with the whole band at times. Gerry was amazing on the Telecaster. Ten minutes after starting, they ended on a high to more applause. This time, after a couple of bows, the curtains closed, and the show was over. For Willow, it was almost as if she was a balloon and the air had been let out.

Garry was, once more, the first to hug her, followed by the others. Grant was able to stand, and they all had a group hug as the stage filled with well-wishers, Zara going up to Geoff and giving him a hug that made him have a silly grin. Willow was hugged by Dianne and Barbara, as well as most of the singing group. Eventually, they were told to head for the canteen, where all the performers were to be given a thank you from Mister Bamborough. Willow picked up her violin case on the way and sat with her parents as he thanked everyone for their performances and said that everyone would get maximum marks.

After more hugs and kisses, Willow and her parents were back in the car and going home. Everyone was quiet until they were on the motorway, then her mother looked back at her.

“How are you, sweetie? That was some night for you.”

“Like I’m a punctured balloon, Mum. I’ve had a wonderful time, but now it’s all over.”

Her father chuckled.

“Not all over, Willow, but just beginning. When you go to that school, you’ll already be a hero in a lot of kids eyes. Did you get asked to join the girls’ choir?”

“Zara will be getting me the rehearsal schedule. I was told to expect to be visiting hospitals and aged care homes at Christmas.”

“Well, it is a Church of England school, so I expect that community work is a big part of school life. I’m sure that they will be working to help you continue your academic life as well. It’s just that you could be busier than you’ve ever been before.”

“At least I’ll have Dianne in my year, and Barbara in the year above. I expect that Zara will be doing senior things.”

Her mother laughed.

“Including going out with that Geoff. They seemed like a nice couple.”

“That only started before we opened the second half. She’s been keen on him for a while, and he admired her during their last year but never managed to speak to her. We were all down in our room when the boys came in, and I introduced them.”

“Not only a talented musician, but a matchmaker as well!”

“Mum!!!!!”

It was quieter as they got off the motorway and into Stoneleigh Village. When the car stopped, Willow was asleep. Her father unbuckled her and picked her up while his wife took the violin case and opened the front door. He took her to her room and laid her on her bed.

“Let her lie, sweetheart. I’ll get ready for bed and come back to undress her and get her ready for bed.”

Now in her nightie and gown, her mother gently woke the sleeping girl to get her undressed, cleansed, and into her nightwear. Willow went through the motions like a zombie and was fast asleep again as the covers were pulled up. Her mother gave her a gentle kiss on her forehead.

“Sleep well, my wonderful daughter. You don’t know it, but tonight you’ve woken the tiger in your father.”

The sleeping girl murmured, “Tiger.”

Her mother closed the door quietly and went towards her own bed and her husband, who clearly displayed what she was expecting to be an enjoyable hour. She giggled to herself. He was a Deep Purple fan from way back, and it turned him on like nothing else.

………………………………………….

Back in Coventry, a group of teachers were in a deep discussion. Howard Bamborough was leading the talk.

“Willow Rose is going to be one of our best pupils. We have to do everything we can to help her fulfil her true potential. What do you think, Miss Russell?”

“She certainly stepped up like a trouper, but it did take a lot out of her. I could see her deflating after the show had finished. We will need to structure her studies to give her space to grow.”

Mister Jamieson cleared his throat.

“I insist that she keeps playing the violin. She has a natural talent and it lifted both Barbara and Dianne tonight.”

The Head smiled.

“She lifted more than those. I had heard the boys when Jim was on the organ. That was insipid compared to what we heard tonight. I’ve never heard Geoff and Gerry play so well before. If they take that into the school year, they’ll both be heading for an ‘A’ in music studies. Grant was much freer than I’ve heard him, as well. What did Yvonne say to you, Miss Russell?”

“She wants Willow in the choir and to be part of the Christmas and Easter celebrations. With all that, I expect that Willow will have to play violin in the orchestra, although we do have a full house in the strings.”

“What about putting her into the woodwind. She does have skills on the clarinet. We just haven’t heard her play that yet.”

“We can do that as a trial. The problem is that we’ve never had a girl who was so multi-talented. The organ was, I think, a one-off. Her mother told me that Willow would play a small keyboard, at home, to release pressure, and I expect that she’ll continue. I wonder if she’ll be allowed to play the chapel organ. I doubt that she’s ever tried a multi-keyboard organ and would have trouble with the foot pedals.”

“That’s a good idea. I’ll talk to the organist to set up a trial run for her one afternoon. She does read music, but it’s uncanny how she can play something that she’s just listened to. That encore they played showed her improvisation for all to see. I heard a lot of snippets of classic Bach in there.”

“I do know, Howard, that the girl is pure gold. She has the potential to give the Blue Coat a lot of good publicity. We had a reporter from the local paper here tonight. He left with a smile on his face and a story to write. We have to have a meeting with all her teachers and put in a plan to keep her safe and well until we send her on to university.”

……………………………………………

In a hotel, where Geoff and his parents had gone with Zara and her parents, the two were dancing to a DJ. Both sets of parents were talking about the sudden friendship between the teens and getting to know each other. For the teens, it was if a shutter between them had been lifted. He was, in her eyes, the best catch in her year. She was, in his eyes, the prettiest girl in school and had seemed untouchable to him until Willow had introduced them to each other.

The DJ moved to a set of slower songs, and they held each other close as they danced, and then shared the first, tentative, kiss, before a second that seemed to last for eternity for both of them.

…………………………………….

In his home office, the reporter from the Coventry Observer sat in front of his keyboard trying to think of a good opening line for his report on the school show. It had turned out to be nothing like any school show he had ever been to before. The second half had him recalling concerts that he had been to in his younger days. Now, as a senior citizen, he was relegated to social events and fluff pieces. He started typing.

‘There was smoke on the water at the Blue Coat School on Saturday evening……’

………………………………………….

It was well into Sunday morning when Willow woke with a full bladder. She wandered into the bathroom and sat to relieve herself. Washing her hands, she looked into the mirror and smiled at the girl looking back. Last night, she had met more people, and made more friends, than she had ever known before.

Back in her room, she put a gown on and went downstairs. Her mother was wiping the breakfast dishes and smiled when she walked in.

“Good morning, darling. I hope you had a wonderful sleep. You certainly deserved it. You were exhausted when we came home.”

“Morning, Mummy. Thanks for getting me undressed, I could hardly stand. That really took it out of me. I felt like the world had stopped after the show finished and wondered about the ‘what now’.”

Her mother put a bowl of muesli in front of her, along with a carton of milk.

“That’s why a lot of pop stars fall prey to drink and drugs. Being on stage gets you high, and they try to maintain the feeling with substances. I doubt that you’ll ever be asked to do something so intense in future. I expect that the school will structure your studies in an even way. I saw the look of concern on Mister Jamieson’s face when you came into the canteen after the show. I can’t see you playing Purple with those lads again. I gather that it was a one-off project. Maybe, next summer, you could be on stage emulating Chrissy McVie in a Fleetwood Mac cover band.”

“That would be nice. We’ll need to find a Stevie Nicks, though. We could call the band ‘Blue Mac.’”

As they sat, they could hear the sound of the bells from the church in the Village.

“Mum. It’s never mattered before. What religion are we? At Clifton, I just went along with the others whenever there were prayers and stuff. I enjoyed the singing. Blue Coat is a Church of England school, after all. I expect that they’ll have more to do with God than I’m used to.”

“Well, we’re nominally C of E. That’s what I put on the application to get you accepted. Not that we’re churchgoers, though. We were too busy studying, then creating our careers, and then the family and family home. What do you think about you getting dressed and we walk to wherever those bells are ringing. In a village like this, it has to be an old building.”

Willow went and had a quick shower and dressed in a dark skirt and royal blue top that matched the dress she had worn the night before. They walked to the road junction and looked at the road sign. Willow had to giggle.

“This is Vicarage Road, so I guess that we aren’t far away.”

They walked along the road towards the sound of the bells, which stopped as they came to Church Lane.

“They certainly signpost the way, Mum.”

When they arrived at the church, they both stopped and looked at it. The church was, indeed, old, possibly thirteenth century. A small crowd were outside the door, talking to a priest. When they had all left, he looked their way.

“Good morning, strangers! Have you come to see our beautiful church. The service is over and it’s empty now. Don’t be worried, I won’t spray you with holy water.”

They both liked the way the man talked, so strolled towards him. As they got close, his eyes went wide.

“Truly a miracle! Last night I was at the Blue Coat show and asked God to send me an organist as good as the girl in the band. And here you are, in the flesh. Come on in, I’ll put the kettle on, and you can tell me how you appeared on our porch like an angel sent as the answer to my prayers.”

They followed him into the church and were awed by the beauty of the building. The priest told them to look around while he got the kettle on. They looked at all the plaques that told about famous people who had worshipped there, including a Lord Mayor of London and a State Premier in Australia.

They sat in small tea-room, and he came in with a tray with tea, milk, sugar and biscuits.

“Now, let’s get comfortable and you can tell me how you came walking by.”

“Well, I’m Wendy Rose, and this is my daughter Willow. We moved into a house on Walkers Orchard Estate a few weeks ago, after our move from Bristol. My husband, Ashley, has a new job with Aston Martin.”

“And how was it that this lovely girl was attacking that organ last night? It’s very quick work to be part of a band in Coventry within a few weeks.”

“We had to go to the school on Friday, and Miss Russell showed us the Music School, and introduced us to the boys in the band. They were about to scrub their act because their organist had gone down with measles. Willow said that she knew the songs they were going to play, and the result was what you saw last night. She also played violin in the first act.”

“That mournful piece. It’s very Russian. I went there some years ago and attended one of their churches. That piece was said to have brought tears to Lenin’s eyes because it reminded him of the old days in his home village. What do you think of our organ, Willow?”

“I haven’t seen it, sir.”

“Stand up, look into the church and look up.”

“Wow! That’s a genuine pipe organ. How do you generate the air?”

“We have gone electric for the pumps, so it can be ready to play in minutes. That was part of an upgrading we had some years ago. The bells are recorded, with big speakers in the tower, and programmed by a computer. Do you want to try it?”

“Yes, please. Do you have any sheet music? I’ve never played a double keyboard or used the foot pedals.”

“Excuse us, Wendy. I’ll steal Willow from you and hear the organ. I haven’t heard it for a few years now, not since our last organist died.”

He led Willow up to the upper level, uncovered the keyboard and turned the fans on. She looked at the sheet music while the pressure built up. She found one of those pieces that are usually played to the congregation before weddings and funerals. He nodded that it was ready to go, so she pressed each key on both keyboards and then stood so that she could get the feel of the bass pedals. She looked at him with joy on her face, then started to play the piece, the music thundering out of the pipes above her.

The priest closed his eyes and thanked God that he could hear the instrument again, after years of silence. As the piece ended, Willow doodled with pieces of classical music that she had added to ‘Lazy’, remembering that most of the old masters had written for the church of their day. As she played, people began to come in and listen. She lost track of time as she was lost in a world of her own, but then remembered that they needed to be home to get lunch for her father. She ended the piece she was playing and sat there as the sound slowly reverberated around the church.

When the applause started, she turned around to see a dozen women clapping. The priest turned the fans off and they went back to the main part of the church, where another lady was comforting her mother. Willow could see that her mother had been crying. As Willow went to her, her mother almost crushed the life out of her with a hug.

Marianne Gregory © 2025