Chapter 15

Willow took her time getting ready, then strolled to the church. Reverend Russell was sweeping the porch when she arrived.

“Willow, welcome. How did your weekend go?”

“It was good, Reverend. We really made friends there. I met Cassandra, who is planning an Easter Wedding. I did suggest that she has it here. They did talk about having it at the Abbey. We went to St. Edwards for Sunday morning.”

“I know. I had a phone call telling me how pleased they were that I loaned them my organist.”

“Well, it was there, looking lonely, and their own organist was sick.”

He laughed.

“The hymns are on the organ, if you want to run through them.”

She went up and got the organ up to pressure and worked through the hymns, and then sat for a while, playing Bach to settle her racing heart. When she was calm, she shut it down and left the church to go and sit on the bench near the road. She had her eyes shut, thinking about yesterday’s music and the excitement with recreating the sound of the Moody Blues, especially how Alec sparkled on the flute.

She felt someone sit beside her and opened her eyes to see Gina.

“Good morning, my friend.”

“Good morning to you, Willow. It is a good morning, isn’t it?”

“I think so. I could hardly think when I got home. I was wiped out with the effort.”

“I can believe that. You know, if it wasn’t for you, Alec and I would have never had that experience. It was something that will change my life, even if it was just to compress the learning of all those tunes into two weeks. It has made me realise about the hard work that can achieve a good result.”

“It also changed the way you play. I think that you can now hear the music in your head and playing it is more natural. I bet that if we turned the organ on, you would be able to go up and play the ‘Toccata’ reasonably well.”

“I’ve never played it, or even seen the score!”

“Humour me. Let’s go and see if you can do it. You’ve heard me play it. It was the experience of playing Purple that triggered the knack for me. I felt that the music had chosen me to let it free to be heard.”

They went into the church and turned the fans on. Gina sat at the keyboard and looked at Willow.

“Close your eyes and listen to the music in your head. Then play and set it free.”

Gina closed her eyes, smiled, and started to play. She finished the toccata movement with very little hesitation. When the sounds died, she stood and hugged Willow as if she had granted her a new life.

“You were right. This is going to alter my life. I was only doing the music as an addition to the academic subjects, but it will now be a possible career. How can I ever thank you.”

“You could allow me to breathe!”

Gina let Willow go, and they shut the organ down again, before going back out to the bench.

“You looked as bad as I felt when we dropped you off. Why the tears?”

“I don’t know. I wonder if it’s puberty and hormones, or just the stress being released after the teachers said that it was all good. I wonder if they’ll go through with the new equipment?”

“We can only wait and see. Mum tells me that they would like us to play at the Club, tonight. A free meal on a Saturday night is better than the pay in the church.”

“The church will pay you in other ways, especially when you can sit down and play hymns after you become famous. It will give the newspapers something to say about you that’s positive.”

“You are cynical.”

“Just read the music papers. I bet that after we’ve played in the school concerts, the Observer writer will come along to hear you play. Church organists as young as us are not found easily. I’ve got to go. I need to put my organ back in place.”

“Can I help?”

The girls were arm in arm as they walked to Willow’s home. Wendy saw them coming. As they came in, she called from the kitchen.

“I’ve got the kettle on, girls. Come and tell me about yesterday at school.”

……………………………………….

In Coventry, at a café, the four Gees had been joined by their friend Jim, now allowed out after the measles. Grant had just arrived at the table after placing their usual order.

“Did you get to see the DVD of the concert, Jim?”

“I did, and I thought it was fantastic. That girl can play the organ as if she had been part of Purple. I’m sorry that I let you guys down at such a late date, but you were lucky with her. I’ve never seen her in the school.”

“That’s because, when we did the concert, she hadn’t started there. She’s in second year.”

“Oh! Come on, playing like that at thirteen, you’re pulling my leg!”

“Believe me, bro. She is the real deal. She plays clarinet in the orchestra, and is the freakiest keyboard player in the school, until she brought something out in Gina Summer, the piano player in the Junior Orchestra. Look, we did a session in front of Jamieson and Bamborough Friday afternoon. One half was blues numbers, the other half was Moody Blues. If you would have asked us if we would give them a go, we would have said yes to the blues. That’s the sort of things we like. Willow Rose gave us two CDs, one with a half a concert of blues, and the other with half a concert of Moody’s. We nailed the lot in six sessions, and three-quarters of the songs I had never heard before, even the blues tracks.”

“So, it was you four and her again?”

“Plus, that Alec, who plays flute, and Gina. It was the seven of us doing the second half, and she let Gina play blues organ in the first half. How she sees hidden talent in ordinary players is weird. Both of them were playing like seasoned performers, in the end. It was all recorded, and I hope Bamborough gives us copies.”

“Is there a performance date?”

“Some time towards the end of the second term. It’s filling up quickly for this term concerts, some sort of big deal with both orchestras.”

“So, it will be interesting when I come back, next week.”

“Sure will!”

……………………………………………

In the Rose kitchen, the girls had given Wendy a potted account of their Friday afternoon.

“So why the tear streaks when you came in?”

“I asked her that!”

“I’m not sure, Mum. It could be the puberty hormones, or the release of the stress.”

“Or the kiss that Alec gave you behind the car!”

“You saw that! It was just a peck to say goodnight. His parents are supposed to be bringing him to the church, tomorrow, and then here for lunch. I’m cooking.”

“Beans on toast is hardly lunch, friend.”

“I’m learning! Anyway, let’s go up and put the organ back in place.”

They went upstairs to do the re-erection of the keyboard, leaving Wendy with a smile on her face. She really couldn’t see any part of William in her child. She walked, talked, acted, and had the emotions of a teenage girl. She wondered when this concert would be. She knew that they had to be there. Then she started to prepare tomorrows lunch.

……………………………………….

In the school drama department, two students had come in on Saturday morning to work on the recordings from yesterday. They had celebrated at a birthday party on Friday evening, so were both a little under the weather. Both had worked on concert DVDs before, and it was a simple operation to make the CD audio, trimming the non-music parts. They spent a while producing the visuals, using bits of film from the different cameras and then adding the same audio track as the CD, but adding a title screen for the first half, and another for the second half. When they had finished that, they produced a cover for the DVD and CD with the names of the band members.

“What’s the band called?”

“They were Shallow Blue with the last DVD. I suppose that the Shallow bit was a pun on Deep Purple. These two halves are Blues and Moods, so, I guess that they’re to be known as just Blue.”

“Do you remember what Bambi asked?”

“I think that he said that he wanted it out by the end of next week. He said he wanted fourteen.”

When they had finalised the product to their satisfaction, they sent the completed audio, video and cover art to the company that produced the school concert discs, with an order for fourteen hundred copies each of ‘Blue in Concert’. Then they tidied up and left to go and see Coventry City play at home.

……………………………………………

That Saturday evening, Willow and Gina played honky-tonk piano in the club, with them and the parents getting free dinners. The place was full, and everyone had a wonderful time, including Reverend Russell and Edie. Ashley was a little unsteady walking home, but they made it.

Wendy told a grinning Willow to get herself to bed and that she would look after her husband. She did that by getting him to lean against the wardrobe while she took his shirt off and dropped his trousers, then gently moving him to a point where he fell onto the bed she had already pulled back. Shoes off and pants laid over the chair, she went into their bathroom to take care of herself.

He wasn’t well enough to be ready for church, next morning, so he was told to be sober and dressed and doing something productive when they came back with Alec and the Hancock parents. Willow and Wendy were wearing their new Sunday best when they walked to the church. Willow was up and playing Bach when she saw Alec come in. She gave him a little wave and then concentrated on the music. She had described Alec to her mother, and she saw Wendy speak to them, getting them to sit with her in the pew with Gina and Maisie.

The service was the usual, now becoming routine. She played the hymns as required, and started playing more Bach as the Reverend left the building and the bells started. When she finished, she shut down the organ and went outside. Her mother and Alec’s parents were standing and talking, with Alec and Gina having their own conversation about the Friday concert. When Willow approached them, both Gina and Alec gave her a hug, and then Alec introduced her to his parents, Harry and Elizabeth (Call me Beth). Gina gave her a smile as she left with Maisie, and the five of them walked to the Rose residence.

They found Ashley in his office, who came out to shake hands.

“Sorry I wasn’t at the service this morning. I had to catch up with some paperwork for Monday at the office.”

Wendy and Willow exchanged looks and then the adults moved towards the sitting room. Wendy opened the sherry and looked at the teens, who obviously wanted to be somewhere else.

“Willow, dear, why don’t you play us something while we talk, and then you can come and help me prepare lunch.”

Willow sat at the upright and started to play Chopin and some Satie, with Alec leaning against the piano. After a while she gave him a wink and played the tune to ‘For My Lady’. He took the hint and started to sing. This stopped the conversation in mid-sentence as the two of them sang. When they finished, Alec bowed. His mother asked Willow if she could play old-time songs.

“If you mean pub songs, Beth, pick one.”

Beth named one of the staples that she knew, and she started playing the tune, with both sets of parents joining in. They did a few songs and then Wendy stood up.

“Look after our guests for a few minutes, darling, Willow and I need to get lunch ready. It will be in the kitchen; we don’t have a dining room.”

Alec followed the two of them out to the kitchen, offering to help. He was tasked with laying the table after Willow showed him where the cutlery was kept. Wendy put things into the microwave.

“When did you two learn to duet like that?”

“We didn’t Mrs. Rose. That’s the first time. It’s one of the things that Willow can pull out of the hat. I sang it on Friday and played the flute. Willow just played the flute parts on the piano, along with the bulk of the backing. It’s just her and her magic.”

“Call me Wendy, Alec. Mrs. Rose is my mother-in-law. I saw Willow’s magic firsthand when we were at the school. She got up on the stage with those four boys and, suddenly, I was at a Deep Purple concert. I’d never heard her play it before, as she would use headphones.”

“I wish I had been there. I’ve seen the DVD, and it was awesome. The concert we put together will be great to see. Willow and Gina on two organs made Mister Bamborough nearly bug his eyes out when they showed him that full orchestras can be reproduced. I had seen Gina play the piano, last year, but Friday she seemed totally free, but totally in control. She tells me that she now plays the church organ. That was not something I had expected.”

“She spent some time on our piano, practicing the Grieg. She is a very talented pianist.”

“I couldn’t see her playing pub songs, though.”

“You should have seen her and Willow in the Stoneleigh Club last night, between them they kept a sing-along going from just after seven to a bit after ten. Never judge a book by its cover, young Alec.”

They busied themselves and then sent Alec off to get his parents in. When he was out of the
room, Wendy whispered that she could see what Willow saw in him. They had a cheerful
lunch, and Willow found out more about Alec and his young days. Alec found out about Willow’s young days in Bristol, slightly altered to preserve her secret. It helped that she could talk about the orchestra there and the girls she knew.

Willow found out that his parents had a haberdasher’s shop in one of the suburbs, and that he had an older sister who worked in the shop but was living with her boyfriend. After the lunch, Willow volunteered her and Alec to do the washing up, and the adults went back to the sitting room for more talking.

When they were alone, Alec put his hands on her waist and she leaned into him, putting her arms around his neck, for their first real kiss. When they came up for air, she pulled away.

“I’ll rinse and you can load the dishwasher.”

He grinned and did as requested, then she kissed him again as a reward for being a good boy. She pulled him by the hand and went to the door of the sitting room, where the adults were complaining about the government.

“We’re just going for a walk, be back in half an hour or so.”

They left the house, holding hands, and she took him to the pathway down to the river. Near the bridge, they stopped, and he held her close as they kissed again. Then, with his arm around her shoulder and hers on his waist, they walked along the river and behind the church. Hidden from view by bushes, they kissed again, now getting the hang of it.

Hand in hand, they then went along Vicarage Lane and back to the house in comfortable silence. As they approached the house, Willow said that she would try and talk her mother around to let her go on a date, but it would be difficult as they had no transport. When they were at the front door, they kissed again before going in, Willow heading for her bag in the kitchen to repair her lipstick and get a tissue to wipe his lips clean.

When Alec and his parents left, Willow walked with them back to their car. Beth was looking around.

“This is a lovely village, Willow. You’re very lucky to have such peaceful surroundings.”

“It’s glorious, and we have made so many friends since we arrived. The only drawback is the lack of shops and the poor bus service. Miss the late one and you have to stop in the city overnight.”

“They tell me that there’s a big house nearby that’s worth visiting.”

“That’s Stoneleigh Abbey, in the main village, a few miles west. I’ve seen it and it’s lovely. It’s very popular because the author, Jane Austen, stayed there. Her mother, Cassandra Leigh, was married to the Reverend Austen. The Leigh’s were strong around here. There are several memorials to them in the church. One was Lord Mayor of London.”

“You seem very knowledgeable about them?”

“It’s part of being accepted in the Village. Most places this small consider a hundred years ago to be yesterday. It really makes you part of where you live, like having an overcoat on a cold day.”

“Are you sure that you’re still thirteen?”

“You’re not the first to say that. When Gina saw me rehearse the Purple concert, she thought that I was a young-looking sixteen.”

They got to the car and Beth gave her a hug.

“I’m so glad we came to meet you. From what Alec had been saying, I expected to meet a cross between Taylor Swift and an angel. What I see is a very talented teenager with a very adult outlook and sweet as well. We’ll see more of you in the future, I hope.”

They all got in the car and drove away, with Alec waving out of the back window as they disappeared. Willow sighed as she turned to walk home. Her thoughts a jumble of her sorrow that she would never be a proper woman for Alec, along with the anticipation of being with him for more kisses.

At home, she went to her room, plugged in the headphones, and played various organ pieces to herself until it was time to prepare dinner. Conversation was light until afterwards. As they tidied up, Wendy broke the silence.

“Alec is a nice boy. You’re showing good taste.”

“He spoke to me first, so, I guess it’s him with the good taste.”

“Whatever, you make a good couple, for as long as it lasts. First love is a rocky road, believe me.”

“How many boys did you date before you met Dad?”

“Probably a dozen or more. There was one boy that I was keen on for over a year, but he migrated with his parents. He promised to write, but never did. Mind you, I was your age at the time, and I cried for days.”

Willow hugged her mother.

“Thank you for that, Mum. I’ve cried more since I’ve been here than I did before.”

“You were very loud when you were a baby, but you did quieten down after you turned one. It could be the injection or pills that have accelerated your puberty. You have done an awful lot since you started at the school. It has been good for you, as you have been good for it, and you’re still in the first term there with at least four years to go.”

“It’s scary when you think about it. I’m getting on well with the normal subjects, but the music has been brilliant. They’re talking about doing the ‘Beethoven Ninth’, the ‘Choral’. Now that would be fantastic to perform. They’re so much braver with the things they plan.”

“Maybe that’s because they trust their students to step up and do the hard work.”

“Talking about hard work, I’ve got some laundry to do.”

Monday morning was full of second-year students talking about the show they had seen on Friday afternoon. As most of the Junior Orchestra were in their year, the lunch table was full and had several visitors. There was a lot of talk about the half-term holiday, the following week. Willow hadn’t given it much thought, but some of the time was laid out when Geoff brought Jim over to the table and introduced him.

“Willow, this is our friend, Jim, who you replaced for the Purple show. He is keen for you to show him some of the tricks you used during that concert. We’re talking about G-Force being expanded to five, as you’ve shown us how much more we can do with the added organ. I’ve spoken to Mister Bamborough, and he’s promised us a rehearsal room next week. If your mother drops you off, and picks you up, on a couple of days, can you help out?”

“That shouldn’t be a problem, Geoff. I’ll talk to my Mum. Will you have the setup that we used Friday?”

“That’s the plan. We’ll be working with those blues numbers as well, so Gina, you’ll be welcome.”

“That would be good, thank you.”

“Right. Let me know tomorrow.”

As they were walking to the next class, Gina and Willow were side by side.

“Willow. If we ask that there’s a room with a piano, and we take one of the organs, we could work on something together. I wonder if we get Alec in; we could see if there’s anything written for piano, violin and flute. It would make a great act for the Summer Project, next year. We could record it on our phones to play to the teachers.”

“As I play violin, I’ve been in a few different trio’s. Beethoven wrote some that I know of. There must be dozens that fit, seeing that those three instruments were so popular in their day. There may be something for just piano and violin that we can do. Even a more modern song with you singing as well.”

“Or us playing, and Alec singing.”

“Has anyone ever told you that you’re wicked.”

On the way home, they asked Wendy if she had any plans for them over the holiday. As she had to work, Wendy was happy to drop them off and pick them up.

“I doubt that the lunchroom will be operating, so you’ll have to take your lunches. Are you sure that’s what you want to do?”

“It is, Mum. If the boys don’t need us, we’re going to work on something of our own. I’ll do some research over the weekend on a trio that we can work on with all that time. We may even see if there’s a few popular songs that we can work on as a duo.”

“Oh, yes! I can just see your names in lights. Tonight, see ‘Summer and Rose’ in concert.”

When they got to Gina’s home, both girls got out and hugged.

“See you tomorrow, Summer.”

“See you, too, Rose.”

Giggling, Willow got back in the car.

Tuesday morning, Paul was as stern as usual. Willow thought that he would never make it as an ordained priest if he kept that up. More likely to bellowing fire and brimstone to an empty church.

They confirmed the following week with the Gees, and Alec told them that he wanted to be included if Grant would take him in and back home. They also found out that Zara would be there to start to sing with the band. Geoff suggested that Willow could work with Jim on Fleetwood Mac numbers, with Zara out front. It looked as if it would be almost all week in the school.

When they arrived at orchestra, the school organ was sitting in front, with the piano off to one side. When they were all sitting, Mister Bamborough stood on his rostrum.

“Today, we will play a complete concert. We will be joined by the Head and Miss Russell, in a few moments. We will start with the Saint-Saens ‘Seven Improvisations for the Organ’, played by Willow. I’ve heard that she is happy with that. So, Willow, please take your seat. After that, the organ will be wheeled off to one side, and then we’ll play the ‘Bolero’, followed by the Grieg, after the piano has been put into place. This has been a very productive term, and I’m proud to be conducting such a competent orchestra.”

The door opened and the two visitors came in, nodded to the assembly and took their seats. Willow left her clarinet on its stand and sat at the organ. She looked at the conductor and he nodded to her. It was show time!

Marianne Gregory © 2025