Chapter 10

On Sunday morning, the Rose family were at the church as the bells started their peal. Today, because it wasn’t a special occasion, the Reverend Russell was wearing a grey suit and his clerical collar. He welcomed them when they arrived.

“Good morning, good people. A little bird told me that my organist was tickling the ivories in a den of iniquity last night. One of my wardens rang me from the club to let me hear some of the festivities. It sounded like a good time. Are you ready for today, Willow?”

“I am, sir. I’m supposed to be playing the organ at assembly, tomorrow. Do you have an order of events so I’m not daydreaming at the wrong time?”

“Good thinking, I’ll dash off and copy mine and give it to your mother. Now get yourself upstairs and entertain us with some music. Just don’t start ‘Roll out the Barrel’ instead of the hymn.”

They all had a laugh and Willow went up to the organ to get things going. With this being her second service, she was happy that it should be easier. Once the air was up to pressure, she started playing another Bach piece that she could repeat ad infinitum if needed. The congregation slowly came in, and she could see, in the mirror, that it wasn’t quite as large as the previous week.

It all went as planned, with the three hymns and her playing them out as the bells were pealing. This time, she knew exactly when the peal ended, so was able to time the end of the music. She turned everything off, tidied the music and put the cover on the keyboard before going down and out of the main door.

Her parents were standing with Gina and her mother. Wendy saw Willow approach and stopped their conversation.

“Willow, dear. I’ve just been speaking to Maisie and Gina about the trip to the school. I’ll be taking you both in the morning and bring you home when you finish at normal school times. When you are both staying late, Maisie will go and pick you up. It will save fuel and allow Maisie to do her own things.”

“That sounds great, Mum. We should know what evenings we’ll be late. It will mean that we both will need to do the same extra studies. Junior Orchestra is a given, but I don’t know what else they have in mind for me. There again, Gina is a good enough player to start on the organ. We could ask Mister Edwards if he would tutor us both. It would give him a lot more choice when it comes to services or choir sessions. There may be another organ in the school.”

She could see Gina blush when told that she was good enough for special study.

“Gina, I suggest that when you’re in the city, you go and have a look for something you can play at home. They aren’t expensive, fifty to a hundred pounds will get you something that works well. You will need it to have a jack-plug for headphones, so you can play it at home without bothering anyone. Don’t rush, we’ll talk to the teachers to see what they think.”

“You can ‘talk to the teachers’?”

“Well, they’ve been pretty good to me in the last week. I’ve spent a lot of time with Mister Bamborough, Mister Jamieson, and Miss Russell. I guess that I’ll be able to ask them a question about their plans for you. It could alter the set-up of the orchestra. Is the Senior pianist better than you?”

“From what I’ve heard, no.”

“Well then, it’s in their interest to look after you. The one thing that I have learned is that the name of the school is paramount in their thinking. Some things have been said to me that makes me believe that promotion of the school is a priority, and looking after the better pupils is a part of that.”

Willow wasn’t going to mention the Cathedral idea but was already thinking that they may need two organists, just in case.

“Look, I’ve got an idea. Just give me a minute.”

She went and spoke to the Reverend for a few minutes and came back.

“Right. We can use this organ for a little while, as long as we’re not too loud. Come with me and I’ll give you the chance to see if you like it before we go any further.”

She led the way back into the church, with the parents sitting in a pew to see what she had in mind. She took Gina up to the organ, took off the covers and turned on the fans.

“This is to get the air pressure up. This is a pipe organ, so the note is made by air pressure in the pipe, which is controlled by you pressing the keys. I’m not going to show you how to do anything. Sit on the stool, get comfortable, and play one of those Chopin etudes, but do it as if your fingers are wading through treacle to allow the note to form. That will let you get the feeling.”

She stood off to one side as Gina felt the keyboard and pressed a key to hear how it worked. She looked at Willow and grinned, before playing an etude on the organ. As it was written for piano, she only needed to use the one keyboard. As she played, she got the hang of it and her smile was something to see when she finished the piece.

“That’s fantastic! Now I know why you’re so happy. The piano makes musical sounds, but this is something you feel in your stomach as you play.”

Willow put a music sheet to one of the simpler hymns from the morning on the stand.

“See if you can play this?”

Gina played the hymn music, a little slower than normal, but was at normal speed on the second verse. When she stopped, there was some applause from below. Willow looked down to see the parents smiling, while behind them, the vicar and Edie had big grins. Willow understood why. Now there were two organists in the village.

They tidied up and turned the fans off. Downstairs, the Reverend gave Gina a hug.

“Do you think that you can help out with the services, Gina. I realise that it will take some time to get up to speed, but from what I’ve heard here, and what I’ve been told about your piano playing last night, I think that you may be ready to blossom.”

“Thank you Reverend. It may take a little while before I can play the two keyboards, and find the bass pedals, but, if Willow and Mister Edwards are there to help, I’ll be happy to play for you.”

Willow walked home with her parents. Her mother took her hand.

“That was something that shows that you aren’t a prima donna, my girl. You’ve only known Gina for two days and you’ve had her playing honkytonk piano in a pub and have now got her hooked on playing in the church. It shouldn’t take her long to learn the extra complexity. She is a very competent pianist, but I expect that she’s just been doing enough to get by.”

“I was thinking about the plan that Miss Russell was cooking up. We will need more than one pianist if we do the Cathedral. That symphony has piano with both two and four hands as well as the organ. Even if they use both orchestras, it’s going to be tight.”

“Are you sure that you’re still thirteen, and didn’t change into a thirty-year-old concertmaster?”

“I’m just starting to think a lot more, Mum. I just hope that the school lives up to the glimpses that I’ve seen of it, so far.”

At home, she changed to her jeans, and went out for a walk. There was a roadway that went to the River Sowe, to the right of her road, so she followed that down to the bridge, then turned left and walked along the riverbank, passing the church and the graveyard, before turning onto Church Lane and heading home. It gave her the peace and quiet that allowed her to think.

After lunch, she made sure that her outfit for the morning was ready to wear, and that the blue dress was good in its garment bag. She had a look at the paper that the vicar had given her mother. She saw that she would need to be early, change, and be up on the stage at the organ before the pupils arrived.

The vicar had noted that there would be ‘arrival music’ until the theatre had filled, and everyone was on stage. She would stop when the vicar approached the microphone. The choir would be alongside her and would lead the hymn singing with one that they had sung on Thursday. After that, she had to remain at the organ while the Head welcomed everyone to the new term and made announcements.

She would leave the stage with the choir and go and change, then go to her first lesson, where the teacher would know that she would be slightly late, so would just be going over the previous year until she arrived. She looked at her information sheet to find that the first lesson was French.

The rest of the day was sorting out the few textbooks that she had left and trying to synchronise her brain with the dual role of a performer and student, after such a concentrated couple of weeks as the performer. Dinner was a happy one, with both parents complimenting her on what she had achieved in such a short time. She could honestly say that she had no idea of where it all came from, and that it must have been hidden until she wore a skirt.

That evening, her mother helped to remove the breasts, and she sat in a hot bath and shaved her legs. She then lifted her legs either side of the bath, and her mother carefully peeled the covering from her groin. This was the first time she could see what had been done. The small penis was securely tucked, giving her a very feminine look from her viewpoint. It would enable her to be unnoticeable with panties on. Her mother looked and declared that the incision places were just a couple of dots. She soaked in the bath and washed her new groin for the first time.

After replacing the breasts and moisturising, she dressed in a nightie to go to bed. That night, she slept with an arm around each of her bed buddies and dreamed about being in charge of things.

In the morning, she had breakfast with her parents. Her father was already dressed for work and left as they tidied up. Willow had a wash and brushed her teeth, then went to dress in the school uniform. It was the first time since the ‘inspection’ and she knew a lot more now than she did then. The feel of the panties without the covering was different and having to wear a bra because of the breasts was no longer a novelty, but satisfyingly normal. She put tights on because she was going to wear the dress and put a new pack in her backpack.

She took her garment bag and her backpack with her books and handbag in and went downstairs with them. When she looked in the hall mirror, she realised that she had forgotten something, and dashed upstairs to her vanity to add a little make-up. No Goth, as Miss Russell had ordered, but enough to make a difference. That was something that had never bothered her in the last school.

When her mother came down and they went out to the car, she put the garment bag on the rail on the driver’s side and put her bag on the back seat. Then, she went and sat in the front. It was only a few minutes before they arrived and saw Gina waiting by her front door. She got in the back and put her bag beside her. After cheery ‘good mornings’ they headed for Coventry.

Gina wanted to talk about the weekend and the different way it made her feel.

“I’ve played piano in front of an audience, before, but it was just something I was doing as a subject. Saturday night, I found myself reacting to the people around me.”

“It’s called becoming an entertainer, Gina. I had the same experience when I was playing Purple with the boys. It’s the moment that you know that you’re making other people happy.”

When they arrived at the school, they retrieved their things and walked in.

“I have to go to the music side, Gina. I have to change for the assembly and see that everything is good on the stage. I’ll see you at the lessons.”

They hugged, and Willow went towards the theatre and the big locker. She hung her blouse and skirt on the hangers that she had brought with her and had just put the dress on when a couple of the Senior choir came in to change. They had been in the chapel on Thursday, and they all had a hug. Willow left them as they were taking off their uniforms and went through to the back of the stage and then went out to see the organ was ready.

She turned it on and pressed the middle ‘C’ to hear it sound through the PA system. She was set up at the back of the stage, and there was tape making a line beside her where the choir would stand. A few people were making sure that the chairs were all out, now with rows where the dancing had been. The paperwork that she had seen stated that there were over fourteen hundred students, so she guessed that it would take over fifteen hundred in the theatre.

She sat and started playing the ‘arrival’ music to pass the time. People slowly started to trickle in, mainly teachers. There was movement in the wings and Reverend Russell came out and put a hand on her shoulder.

“Good morning, Willow. We have to stop meeting like this.”

“Never! It’s too much fun. Besides, your wife is always by your side.”

He laughed.

“You are one of a kind, Willow. It’s going to be fun working with you.”
Willow kept doodling the Bach as the theatre filled up with pupils and teachers. They seem uncharacteristically well behaved. The choir came and stood in a line beside her and, finally, the doors were shut, and she tapered off the music as the Reverend walked on stage and towards the microphone.

He welcomed the new students to the school and wished them well, gave his blessing on the new academic year, led the audience in the old version of the Lord’s Prayer, then announced the hymn. There wasn’t a flurry of hymnbooks, but Willow saw all the eyes look above her head. She played the opening part and then waited a few seconds before playing the hymn music. It was six verses, and, with the sound of the choir beside her, and the rest of the audience singing at her while reading the words from the screen, the sound was amazing.

As the final verse was being sung, the Reverend came and stood beside her. As silence fell, the Headmistress came out on the stage and addressed the gathering. Much of it was, to Willow, the usual things that Heads say, until she came to an announcement that made her eyes go wide.

“This academic year will have a large project that the music school has put together. The Junior and Senior Orchestras will learn some new pieces for a performance at the School concert before Christmas. They will also combine to learn the Saint-Seans ‘Organ Symphony’, which they will perform at the Coventry Cathedral in May, subject to the Cathedral Board accepting it. It is thought that the performance will be televised and recorded for a BBC DVD. The full orchestra will be augmented by our choir, singing during the final part. I have spoken to the organisers of the BBC Proms, and we have been pencilled in to provide one of the Prom Evenings, so we will need to have several more pieces to play. That performance, if it goes ahead, will be the Summer Project for the Music School, so the concert here would be for the Drama students to put on a full show.”

Willow could hardly concentrate on what else she said. The idea of playing in Albert Hall at the Proms was something so far above what she had expected out of the second year, she could hardly breath. She looked at the choir and could see that they were equally shocked. She looked the other way at Reverend Russell, and he gave her a smile and a wink. When she looked down at the line of teachers, she saw all the ones that she had already met had huge smiles.

Finally, the assembly was over. The Head turned and walked off stage, so Willow turned the organ off, then fell into line with the choir as they left to go and change. She was still in shock as she hung the dress and put the uniform on. Picking up her bag, she left the locker room and walked towards the main part of the school, now alive with chattering students. She saw Dianne and Gina and went to join them, with all three going for the first lesson.

The day went in a blur of new experiences, as she sat with either Dianne or Gina in every class during the day, was sitting with the Junior Orchestra for lunch while being complimented on her playing that morning. It was like no other day that she had known at previous schools. She was never alone, and never taunted. The orchestra girls held her as some sort of talisman, seeing that she had played the assembly music, and there was much discussion about who would play the organ in the big concert, seeing that there were several keyboard players in the school.

The end of the first day saw Gina and Willow waiting for Wendy to pick them up. They spoke quietly about the day, and the work that would be needed to put together the different concerts, on top of the work needed to be done to achieve academic success. When Wendy pulled up, they got in the car and hardly stopped talking until Gina was dropped off.

When they were alone, Wendy turned to Willow.

“Interesting day, then?”

“Very interesting, Mum. I thought that it was wonderful. I did what I had to on the stage in the assembly, and the Head made an announcement. It’s the only part of the day that we didn’t talk about, coming home. The Cathedral concert is moving forward and could be televised. The success of that will pave the way to the school being the orchestra for one night at the Proms, next summer. It’s almost too much for my brain to process.”

“Wow! That is some news. It will take a lot of work to make that happen.”

“Yes, there is talk of combining the two orchestras and all the choirs for it. The thing is that I can see it, in my mind, and feel that I know what it will take to make it happen. I’ll just have to keep quiet and follow the teachers, after all, they’ve done this sort of thing before.”

“One day at the school and you want to run things. That’s so unlike the old you.”

Willow laughed.

“Today Blue Coat – tomorrow the world! Mehaha!”

“Come on, ‘Oh! Great Ruler’; we need to prepare dinner.”

They both went to their rooms to change, then set to in the kitchen. That evening, her father was told about the performance plans and told her that there had better be seats set aside for her parents. Tomorrow was to be the chapel service for the second year, and there was Junior Orchestra after school. Willow made sure that she had her clarinet and violin ready to take with her. That night, she had her phone on recharge and used her MP3 player to listen to the ‘Organ Symphony’ before she went to sleep.

Tuesday morning was overcast, so the girls both had their coats with them as Wendy dropped them off. Willow went to her larger locker to hang her coat and store her backpack and instruments before walking to the chapel to find Gina already there, talking with Dianne. The organ was covered, and when the chapel had filled with second year students, the school chaplain walked in.

“Good morning, everyone. For those who don’t know me, I’m Paul, and I conduct these year services. Today, I will give a reading and then we will say the Lord’s Prayer and let you all head for your classes.”

He stood in front of the altar and read from his bible. Willow zoned out and wondered about playing the organ. She couldn’t see the ‘nice lad’ that Edie had referred to. She made up her mind that Paul was a little too proud of himself, then that made her wonder if she had the same problem.

The rest of the day was similar to Monday, although the blur seemed to be getting clearer as Willow sat at the same desks and walked the same corridors with the same friends around her. The fear of school was beginning to leave her, and she relaxed more.

……………………………………………

In the Head’s office, she and Mister Bamborough were taking to Artie and Zac. Or, rather, fending off offers of greatness, fame and fortune for the children under their care.

“Mister Hamilton, we know that you have a duty to promote talent. It is our place to nurture that talent. The boys in that group are almost ready to study for their biggest exams of their life, to date. We cannot allow them to throw their future away on promises of fame and fortune. When they do finish school, they can make up their own minds.”

“But the review was so positive, we could put on a Purple Power show with them.”

“If you read the review properly, you would have seen that it was part of the Summer Project and was a total one-off. Those boys have been playing at parties as G-Force for a couple of years. They play old rock and pop and are very good at it. This is the important part that I hope you’ll understand; when they finish school, they will be able to compose their own songs and be more than a cover band.”

“What about the girl?”

“That girl is only thirteen, and there is no way we can even tell her about your ideas. She is likely to be a star in her own right when she graduates and will be well above the sort of performances that you promote. Any word that you’ve approached her, and we call in the police.”

“At least let us know when they’ll be playing in public.”

“If you look at our website, you’ll see the upcoming performances. Now, good day to you both.”

………………………………………………

At the end of the lessons, Willow went to her locker with Dianne, and they picked up their instrument cases. The locker room was filled with girls talking about the announcement on Monday, keen to find out what the future held.

The meeting of the Junior Orchestra was in a larger rehearsal room that Willow hadn’t seen before. The places were set, with seats and music stands. As Willow waited to be directed to a seat, she saw a celesta and some percussion. A few girls had hauled their bigger cases in and were setting up a couple of cellos and a double bass. Willow was directed to the woodwind section, so left her violin case with the empty clarinet case and went to sit where told.

When she looked at the sheet music on her stand, she saw that it was for the ‘Bolero’, by Ravel. As the seats filled, she found herself hemmed in by boys in the brass section and a lad that she had seen in class with a flute beside her. He played a few notes and then turned to her.

“Hello. I’m Alec Hancock. I know that you’re Willow Rose as the second year has been buzzing with your name since assembly. How come you’re sitting there and not the celesta?”

“Because Gina is the pianist, and I also play clarinet. This was the only empty spot.”

“That’s good. It means that I can talk to you.”

“That’s nice. My mother has told me to talk to boys more, but to watch out for the forward ones.”

The discussion was halted with Mister Bamborough tapping his baton on his music stand.

“Boys and girls, welcome to the first session of the Junior Orchestra for this year. The announcement that the Head made will make this a very busy year for us. In front of you is the music for the ‘Bolero’. It will be one of our pieces for the end of year concert, so we need to get it perfect by then. Later in the term, we will start having joint sessions with the Senior Orchestra to work on ‘Carnival of the Animals’ and the ‘Organ Symphony’. Both are by Saint-Saens and will be part of the Cathedral concert, should we get to perform. Those rehearsals will be in the main theatre. It will be a lot of hard work, but the results will be tremendous when we’re in front of a TV audience. For six weeks, we will be here, as usual, and then there may be a second weekly session with the combined orchestras on Thursday afternoons as well, in the theatre, as I said. Right, now for the ‘Bolero’.”

Marianne Gregory © 2025