CHAPTER 82
Sarah was a seriously good dancer,

in that particularly arrogant-rock-chick way that involved strutting, head-tossing and fuck-me-NOW body posture. I could see exactly what had drawn Tony to her. I saw him sitting next to Dave and Steve, pint in hand, watching his wife’s gyrating bottom and smiling fondly. Alice was up with Sarah, showing a fine pair of legs of her own, while Arwel dad-danced nearby, and Ginny was just…Ginny. Kate was watching her.

“Old ghosts, Annie. Can you think of anyone more guaranteed to exorcise them than my girl there?”

I could see exactly that. Ginny was so full of life it leaked out and splashed the people round her.

“Aye, Kate, she does just that. Saved my life at least. I am going to go and have a look in on the kids, see how it is going. Can you see if we can find a slightly slower set of tunes on the stereo before Sarah does a Rite of Spring on us?”

Rite of bloody winter, more like. I was starting to feel the chill as the evening went on, so I stopped to grab my fleece, smirking slightly at the incongruity: LBD, black stockings, patent black court shoes, and a Berghaus outdoor activity fleece jacket. The shoes came off this time, though, as I slipped on my trainers for the walk over the lawn to Naomi’s, where Polly was actually dozing in the kitchen. I quietly opened the door to the living room, to find a four-handed shooting game in full flow, Alison’s two girls wrapped around their brother in encouragement, incredibly thick lippy and mascara in evidence, and a strong smell of nail varnish in the air. They didn’t notice me at first, entirely locked onto whatever it was they were shooting. Chantelle was beside Darren as they sat cross-legged before the telly, her tongue poking out of the corner of her mouth as she pointed and ‘fired’ the handset.

I had a moment of doubt, thinking back to the raid on the caravan site, but she seemed to have no problems with the concept of shooting, and from the groans of Jim and Stevie she had mastered the actual practice. The game section came to an end at last, and Chantelle squealed.

“Yay, high score! Who’s the daddy?”

Jim almost pouted. “S’pose you are, this time”

“Yeah but, I’m on the high score board, so that means one of the best ever, not just for today, lahk. So I am the DADDY!”

I spoke up before it got silly. ”How are you doing for drinks? Snacks?”

Darren looked round. “Hiya, Annie, we could do some cokes, yeah? Might slow Shan down if she got a full hand, yeah?”

She was suddenly nervous again, and I realised that it was adults who made her twitchy. Released from the sense of threat she was able to let herself go, be a child once more. I felt Polly at my shoulder.

“You lot are going to need to bed down in a little while. Now, in a tent, or in here in a big pile of blankets and stuff? It’s a cold night out there”

Ali and Suzy were shouting for a giant nest, and Darren looked at Chantelle, who had retreated behind him and Jim, and raised his eyebrows. She gave a sharp nod, and Polly continued.

“Don’t think it will be one night-long giggle-fest, because Mr Armitage and I will be sleeping on the other side of the room. I promise you he doesn’t snore. Now, I don’t know what your Mum would say, but I think the slap needs to come off before bed time.”

She turned to me. “Annie, are we going to get any more playing from you tonight?”

I looked across to My Main Man Mr Eyres. “Darren, what would you like to do?”

He turned back to his friend. “Want to listen to me play a bit of drum?”

She whispered something, and he smiled. “Na, we is lahk a band, yeah? Got a mad woman on fiddle and loads more, they good people. You can dance if you want, yeah? Miz Armitage, can Shan come with us and listen?”

“Of course, Darren. Now, you need to get some warm clothes on, you lot. Mr Armitage will sort out the nests, and we shall go to the ball. Annie, want to give the nod to Steph and the rest?”

Back I went, and collared the redhead as she was getting a round of beers in with Ginny and Sarah, who were both sweating heavily. I outlined the plan, and Sarah grinned happily.

“Your fan here has a request! Remember that one you did for my wedding?”

Steph’s eyes lit up with obvious mischief, and in reply to my raised eyebrow, Sarah named the tune. Ginny laughed out loud.

“Fuck, yeah!”

And so it went…we settled ourselves, as many of us as could still play, Jan whispering advice to Darren as they took their seats, and Steph had a brief discussion with the rest about the playlist, which was only going to be six tunes, finishing with Sarah’s request. They were straightforward, popular things, and then Alice appeared, Hywel her stepson in tow.

“This boy has a voice, Annie, and I hear the two of you like the same band”

“Aye, girl. Do you know ‘Locomotive Breath’?”

Jan was listening. “I have just the thing!”

Out came the bag of bangy and shaky things, out of that came a bent tin-can thing, and we rolled off into ‘Speed the Plough’, and then ’Rakes of Mallow’ and ‘Boys of North Tyne’, and the dancing was confused but enthusiastic. ‘Hesleyside Reel’ got them moving, and then Eric stepped forward.

A soft, rolling melancholy came from his guitar. Slowly it got more intricate, and then he came to a finish, holding the last note as long as he could.

TOCK TOCK TOCK from Jan’s percussion thingy, and Hywel was singing, and though he sounded nothing at all like Mr Anderson, he had the mood of the song nailed.

“In the shuffling madness…”

Steph sorted the rhythm and fills out while I duetted with Hywel’s words, and as the song built speed and venom the floor was full of bodies. Shan was in front of Polly, hair going all over to rival Steph’s madness, and in the soft lighting I caught a glimpse of tears on Polly’s cheeks.

Hywel was a damned good mover as well as singer, and as Darren and Jan hammered it out, Eric, and the Woodruffs got up by me and we got seriously down and dirty. Sod the folk music, this was where my soul lived.

A final flourish, a look around the flushed faces, and straight into the last one. Never in a million years would I have expected a fiddle to be able to do justice to ‘Enter Sandman’, but this was Steph on another plane entirely. Hywel knew it as well, and his lungpower took us even further into that zone where music ceases to have a separate existence but becomes internal, part of you, and as I caught fleeting glimpses of the guests, there were Sarah, Arris, Kirsty and Chantelle showing exactly what Rock Chicks could do. Even Ginny was looking on in admiration.

Fuck, yeah!

Steph was actually clear of the ground several times. Just as we finished, her E-string snapped. She held up the instrument to our friends.

“I think that’s a hint that we settle down, finish the beers, and chill. Both kitchen doors will be open, so feel free to grab teas or coffees or use the loos. Thank you all for coming to celebrate my friend’s good news, but that’s me done for tonight. I have a husband and some beers to look after”

It wasn’t the end, as small groups sat and chatted before moving on to their beds, but it was the last of our excitement. Polly came over, alone.

“Look…”

Chantelle was deep in conversation with Sarah and her friend Arris, Kirsty listening in with Den’s arm draped over a shoulder and one hand almost but not quite on her breast. The young girl’s face was animated, far more than I had seen it till then, and as Darren walked over with his bodhran, she turned and gave him a big hug and peck on the cheek. Pink. Very, very pink, my man Mr Eyres. He hesitated, just for an instant. I could see his free hand clench and unclench, and then he slipped his arm round her waist, as she carried on chatting and laughing with the girls, leaning ever so slightly into him.

“Annie, what can I say? This is all so artificial, not like the world outside, but look at her. She’s been looking for a safe place in her head, a place she can open up in, and I think she’s found it. You can see she’s still uncertain about Den, but hey, I have my miracle, I’m making no complaints!”

“Just watch her with Darren, aye?”

“Yeah, I know, but I suspect she doesn’t actually see sex as a fun area, and he, oh, look at him, love! Have you ever seen bigger puppy dogs?”

Sally was by us now, a slightly wobbly Stewart attached to her hip. She had clearly caught most of what Polly had said.

“Spot on, Poll. I better make sure you don’t take my job, but then when we have people like this lot around, it is a bloody sight easier. Now, Annie, I am going to take my man off and do some adult consenting with him, and I fully intend to consent until I can’t walk. I suggest you do the same, you’re almost legal now!”

Off they went, and I left Polly so that I could do the hostess thing and say goodnight. Albert and Naomi were still there, and I suddenly realised I had all but ignored them as the events of the evening had unfolded, and of course Naomi read my mind.

“It has been a wonderful evening, my dear. Just look at our boy over there, he has made us so proud. This is life as it should be”

“Your boy, aye?”

Albert laughed. “Oh yes, and I think we shall be working on the permanent solution to that soon. I only have one problem now: that girlfriend of his has beaten all my high scores!”