Chapter 12
Sunday morning, they were up and ready for church. Willow showed her parents the pathway across the field, and it was a pleasant stroll in the morning sun. At the church, they saw Maisie and Gina arriving, so the girls left the adults to talk and went up to prepare the organ for the morning service. Willow asked if Gina wanted to play the arrival music, and she sat at the keyboard and started doodling Bach and Beethoven piano pieces.
Willow told her to watch the mirror for when the Reverend arrived at the altar and stop playing. When that happened, they changed places and Willow played the hymns while Gina watched her. At the end, they swapped places again, and Gina played the departure music as the bells pealed. As they tidied up, they talked about the morning.
“You were good with the in and out music, Gina. The only thing that I do, that you didn’t, was to listen to the bells, so that you finish when they do. What did you think about using the bass pedals?”
“It looks as if you don’t have to use them a lot, just some underlying notes to the melody. I was looking at where they come on the music as you played. I think that I’ll be able to follow it, once I teach my feet where to go.”
“It’s a bit too close to the service to play anything else. We can meet here on Saturday morning for you to play the hymns for Sunday. If you feel up to it, you can do the whole service. I’ll be here beside you. We can pick up the music on Friday evening for you to try them at home.”
“I can do that now! It’s wonderful to be able to play at home. There are so many options with that Yamaha. How are you getting on with yours?”
“I played some things for my parents, last night. The piano sound is fantastic. It’s going to take me the rest of the year to get my head around all the things it can do.”
“I know what you mean. I’m going to concentrate on the piano and the simple organ sounds for church. I don’t have the wide talent that you have.”
“My problem is that I sometimes think about several things at once, then get things wrong. The school will be good for me, forcing me into one thing at a time.”
After lunch, Willow was in her room, trying out all of the synthesiser options. She found some that were like the MRI machine. Another thing she found was a variation of the speaker, to give a Leslie variation. Her brain was getting overloaded with what she needed to learn, so stopped that and just concentrated on playing the ‘Seven Improvisations for Organ’, which she thought may be her solo part of the end of year concert.
Monday morning was back in school, and it was now becoming familiar. Willow sat with the orchestra girls in second year for lunch. They were surprised when Alec asked if he could join them to talk about the ‘Bolero’. There was a place next to Willow and he sat there, making her wonder if he had seen the vacant place and made a bold decision. It all seemed normal, as they spoke about the music. When the girls spoke about things that boys normally don’t listen to, he was attentive, and stood up for normal boys, but agreed with them about the nastier ones.
Having been around boys before, Willow could see through his plans. She wasn’t upset, though, and laughed at his jokes along with the others. She could see some of the other girls warming to him and felt a pang of jealousy as he spoke to them. This was an odd feeling, as it was one that she hadn’t felt since the previous school when she had been jealous of the other girls and their freedom to be themselves.
After lunch, he was in her next class, and she found him walking beside her.
“Willow, what do you do on weekends?”
“I’ve been busy helping Gina and we both play the organ in the church at Stoneleigh. It’s been hard to change schools, but I’m slowly getting things in order.”
“Ordered enough to go out with me?”
“As far as that goes, Alec, my parents consider me too young to be dating. But I’ll keep it in mind for when we’re in fifth year, if you’re still asking.”
At the class, she sat with Dianne, but her mind wasn’t fully on the lesson. This was a first for her; a boy wanting to take her out on a date. She had no idea of the way to react, and no idea of what she should do in such a situation. She was happy to have fended him off without him getting angry, and wondered if he would continue to sit with them at lunches. Tuesday orchestra would be a bit different for her this week. It stayed in the back of her mind but was able to concentrate on the last couple of lessons.
On the way home, Gina commented that she was quiet. Not wanting to pull her friend into her thoughts, she replied that she was thinking about the new organ. Gina was happy with that, and the conversation continued about the different things they could do with it. When they were home and changed, Wendy spoke to her.
“All right, Missy. Somethings up, and it isn’t the organ.”
“You’re right, Mum. A boy asked me if I would go out with him today.”
“And what did you tell him?”
“That I am too young and that he can ask again when we’re sixteen.”
“That was very adult of you. Do you like him?”
“He’s nice. He plays flute next to me in the orchestra. Mister Bamborough thought that he was trying to impress me last week as we were playing.”
“That’s always the first step if he likes you. Next time, he’ll be asking you about things you like so he can get you a present for Christmas, if you’re still speaking to each other. Try to find out what his likes are so you can reciprocate. Boys do like to talk about themselves if given the chance. You still have a few months to sort that out.”
Willow looked at her mother, her eyes wide.
“You’re telling me that I should encourage him?”
“Why not. It’s all part of being a girl to have a boy, or two, sniffing around. It’s something you have to learn if you want to go all the way and have the operation, unless you decide that you like girls better.”
“I don’t know what I like!”
“But you do like this boy, as well as having a lot of girls as friends. Has Gina taken her feelings for you any further?”
“Not since she has realised that she is a better performer than she thought. I think that she may have been mixing up admiration with love.”
“All I can say is that you are doing the right things, even if you haven’t planned them as such. Let your instincts help you along. They seem to be working well up to now.”
After dinner and cleaning up, she went up to her room, put the headphones on, and played piano to herself, immersing herself in the music and using the full keyboard; something she could never do with the old one.
Tuesday morning was the second-year chapel. Willow thought that Paul looked her way far too often when he preached about the wickedness of pride. The morning lessons went off easily, but there was a surprise at lunchtime. There was a table set up with a pile of DVDs from the Summer Project Concert. They were five pounds each, with the proceeds going to buy equipment for the school.
There was a line of students waiting to buy one, and Willow didn’t have the five pounds, so she went and sat at the usual place with her lunch. Alec came over and sat beside her as the girls started arriving. Dianne had two discs, and Alec had the one.
“I didn’t get to see this concert, but I’ve heard so much about it since we came back to school. Some of the boys in the orchestra have been raving on about how good it is.”
“It was fun to do, Alec, but I was asleep in the car on the way home from all the excitement.”
“You were there? But you didn’t start school until a few weeks after.”
Dianne leaned over and smiled.
“Your crush was in three acts that night. She helped me and my sister get our extra marks by playing violin in our quartet. Then she was in the choir line-up. Then she played organ in the second half, as part of the Shallow Blue, replacing Jim, who went down with measles.”
“Wow! That was some show. I wish there was some way that I can do one of those summer projects. It’s a bit hard when you play the flute. I know that there’re some trios and quartets written with the flute, but hardly any pop bands use it these days.”
They had nearly finished their meal when Gerry came over to their table.
“Willow, we have had a lot of requests to do another show at the end of term. We were wondering if you could play the organ. We’re not sure what sort of music we’ll play, yet, but we have a while to think of something. Geoff thinks that once the DVD has been watched, there’ll be plenty who will want to come along. We won’t be doing a summer project, because we’ll be going up to fifth year and need to concentrate on our academic subjects.”
“I’ll have a think about things we can do. Are there any songs from your pop stuff that you think would work?”
“We have done some blues. I love to play blues, and Geoff plays a mean harmonica, which he showed a bit of in Shallow Blue. Maybe, we can do a show of blues? You might find some that use organ in the line-up.”
Alec was looking on, wide-eyed, as Gerry walked away.
“Is Geoff on this disc? He’s a good guitarist.”
“Yes, the rest of the band are now in fourth year. As well as Geoff, there’s Gerry, Grant and Garry. They’ve been doing private shows as G-Force. The show we did was all Deep Purple numbers. I remember looking out at the audience and seeing some pained expressions when we were playing, but most of the audience enjoyed it.”
That afternoon, it was orchestra. Willow picked up her clarinet case and joined the others in the rehearsal room. When she looked around, there were some extra seats. They found their places, and Zara gave her a wave as she came in with her cello case. As they were setting up, Mister Bamborough handed out the sheet music.
“Last week, I thought that the ‘Bolero’ sounded a bit thin. We’ve co-opted some of the senior orchestra to fill out the sound. I’ve had a word with the Head, and we’ve agreed that this orchestra will do a full concert at the end of this term, playing the ‘Bolero’ and the Grieg. The Senior Orchestra will do a full concert next term, with some of you being co-opted into helping them. Over next term, and next year, we’ll concentrate on the combined orchestras for the Saint-Saens concert, which we will put on at the end of the school year, and, hopefully, in May to a paying audience. Now, let’s start from the top, and see how much better we can make this.”
With extra percussion, strings, and brass, the ‘Bolero’ was much better. The seniors had played it before, so there were no slip-ups. After the first playing, they were told to take a break as a few from the drama class came in with their cameras and sound equipment.
“This is just so we can show the Head what we can do, before we concentrate on other things. How are you going with the Grieg, Miss Summer?”
“Good, sir. Willow and I have now got a pair of YC88 keyboards, and I’ve been playing it at home. I should be good to go, next week.”
“That’s great. I’ll set this room up with the piano. Right, let’s play the ‘Bolero’, and make it zing!”
They played the ‘Bolero’ and Willow thought that it sounded as good as a professional orchestra. When they finished, Mister Bamborough told them that they could go earlier than usual but would stay around if anyone wanted to ask any questions. Willow and Gina had to wait for Maisie to come for them, so they waited as he answered some of the questions. When it was their turn, Willow asked about the Summer Project next year.
“You can register your interest, and we’ll look at adding it to the concert. I know that the Gees will not be playing, so you may have to put together another band. There are some good guitarists in the junior school, and we do have a solid group of percussion players, as you’ve heard today. Let me know what you want to do, and I’ll see if we can let you have a rehearsal room in the later weeks of the last term. Then, we can decide if there’s anything good for the concert.
“Can you pencil me in, sir, and I’ll see if there are any guitarists who might like to join. I don’t know what we’ll be playing, yet.”
“Hopefully, a little more restrained than Deep Purple. I had a few complaints from the board members who went home with ringing in their ears. It may have been that you dislodged some wax, but don’t let on that I said so.”
Willow and Gina collected their things and went out to wait for Maisie.
“What are you thinking, Willow?”
“I don’t know, yet, but something will come up. What we need is music that will have a pop group, plus two keyboards, so that you can get some extra marks. There has to be a lot out there, so I’ll have to do some research.”
When she was dropped off at home, Willow had the meal that her mother had saved for her. As they were wiping her dishes, she thought about the DVDs.
“Mum. The school had copies of that concert for sale on DVD. It had been filmed and recorded during that evening. They’re asking five pounds for one.”
“Now, that’s fantastic! I’ll give you ten pounds in the morning, and you can get two. I’ve spoken to my mother, and she wants to see her new granddaughter. We can give her one to watch. She was a Purple fan in her day, it must have rubbed off on me. If you see about the church music on Friday evening, we’ll go over and see my parents on Saturday.”
As Willow was trying to get to sleep, she thought about the way her grandparents had treated her when she was still William. She hoped that they loved her as much as they did then. At least, they now knew about the changes.
The rest of the week went as usual, with Alec bringing his DVD back on Wednesday to get her to sign it for him. She bought the two for her parents and grandparents. In PE, she was quickly chosen to play goalkeeper in the netball games, and was told that, if she kept it up, she may be picked for the inter-school competition in spring.
Friday was the first music lesson, all afternoon. She found it very interesting, as the first thing that they studied was pop music. The teacher was Mister Jamieson, and he started with the popular music of the Tudors and worked forward from there. They had reached vaudeville songs of the end of the nineteenth century by the end of the three hours, with a few that both Willow and Gina already knew.
The two girls had arranged to meet at the church before dinner and were given the three hymns for Sunday. They got the organ set up, and Gina played the first verses of each of them, a couple of times. Willow gave her a hug and declared that Gina was able to play the full service. Gina took the sheet music with her to rehearse at home.
Saturday, after an early breakfast, Ashley went off to do an overtime day on the new model, and Wendy took Willow off to visit her parents. They had a copy of the DVD for them, as well as some photos that Wendy had taken since ‘the change’. It was a pleasant trip to Stapleford, just south of Cambridge, and, when Wendy parked in the driveway of the semi-detached bungalow on Aylesford Way, the door opened, and her parents came out to greet them.
Wendy was hugged my both her parents, then introduced Willow ‘in the flesh’ who was hugged as well. Her mother declared that they had a lot to talk about and that morning tea was almost ready, with the kettle needing to be put on.
Over the course of the next couple of hours, Wendy’s parents were brought up to date with the new jobs, the new school, the full reasons why William was now Willow, and she had the pictures of his scars to show the extent of the bullying. Willow was relieved that her grandparents were so ready to accept her, even praising her for the way she acted as any other girl, even with a habit of touching her chin that her mother had when she was a teenager.
They walked around the corner to the Three Horseshoes for lunch. They had an upright in the saloon, and her grandmother commented that her father would be on the ivories, had he still been alive. Wendy went and spoke to the publican, and he gave permission for Willow to give it a play. They had an uproarious hour, with Willow playing old drinking songs and most of the patrons crowding in to sing along. Back at the bungalow, Willow was now the favourite granddaughter, with her grandfather having recorded a lot of lunch time on his phone. Willow went over to their stereo player and looked at the CD’s that they had.
“Gramma. Were there any bands around when you were young that had an organ in the line-up?”
“Lots, sweetie. There were The Animals, Manfred Mann, several American bands. The one that I remember was The Moody Blues. I went to see them when they played at Yarmouth, in nineteen sixty-nine. They were doing all the seaside towns on a tour. They had just brought out the first of their ‘concept’ albums. It was ‘Days of Future Past’. I’ve got the CD here. The thing was that they recorded it with a full orchestra, but were able to play it live, because the organist had a fantastic organ that could reproduce orchestral sounds. Their act was the whole album, from start to finish, with the last track being their biggest hit, ‘Nights in White Satin’, which you’ve probably heard.”
“That one, I know. So, there is a whole album of similar songs.”
“Actually, there were seven albums. Some not so good as the first, but they all have at least one killer song on them. Look, I have the complete set here. Why don’t you take them home with you and see what you think? You can bring them back when you come to see us, again.”
“Why don’t you come to see us for a few days? We’re working towards having a school concert at the end of term, and I’m in the orchestra.”
“Yes, Mum. Why don’t you come and stay for a while. We have a spare room, so just need to put a bed in it, after Ashley has cleaned it out. That will give him an excuse to get a shed in the back garden.”
“That would be lovely, dear. Now, Willow, let’s look and see where those CDs are.”
Wendy was happy as she drove them back to Stoneleigh. Willow had a bundle of CD’s to listen to when she could.
“Mum. There was something that we never told Gramps.”
“What was that, dear?”
“We didn’t say anything about our link with the Leigh family.”
“That’s because it was more your father’s side. It’s funny, though. You with great grandfathers on both sides who played in a pub. That must be where you got a double dose of the performing genes. I never knew that I had a pianist in my family. He had passed before I was born.”
Back home, they had a light dinner, and Willow went to her room to listen to the first CD. It opened her eyes, as here was a pop group, with an orchestra behind them, and not only an organist, but a flute player as well. She researched them on the internet, to find that most had already died, or retired. Over the next week, she listened to all the CDs, including an extra ‘Best of’ and chose seven songs that would work well in a school concert. She made ten discs of the songs, in the order she thought would work. Each one was marked ‘Blue Moods’.
At orchestra on the Tuesday afternoon, she said nothing to anyone else as they went through the beginning of rehearsal for the Grieg. Gina showed that her time with her own instrument was paying dividends, and they were able to work through the first movement without a lot of fuss. Before they left, Zara gave Gina and Willow a hug, telling them that this concert was going to knock previous ones into a can.
Tuesday evening, Willow also researched the other bands that had been mentioned. Manfred Mann supplied a number of good blues songs, which she found strange considering how poppy their hits were. She added a few Eric Clapton numbers and made another set of CDs with eight tracks. These were marked ‘Blue Blues’. She then added both sets to her phone.
At lunch on Friday. She gave Alec, Gina, Geoff, Gerry, Grant, and Garry notes to ask them if they could meet in a rehearsal room the following Wednesday after lessons. She had arranged for the room to be vacant, and that it had a small amplifier in, and that Mister Bamborough would attend, as he needed to give them the green light for the project that she had in mind.
Both Gina and Alec had questions for her, but she told them that all would be revealed at the meeting. She had asked Maisie to pick them up later on Wednesday. Willow and Gina went to the rehearsal room, followed by Alec. After a few minutes, they were joined by the Gees and the Head of Music.
Willow plugged her phone output into the small amp and then turned to the group waiting for the big revelation.
“I’ve asked you here because I’ve had an idea about an end of term concert. It can be this term or next term. We’ve been told that there are a lot of requests for the Shallow Blue to play again. However, what I propose is for us to have the whole evening, with two line-ups. The first half that I propose is for a band called the Blue Blues and is all bluesy numbers. The second half is what I’ve called Blue Moods and is the music of the Moody Blues. If you think that we can do it, sir, I’m asking if we can put on the whole show.”
She found the start of the blues concert on her phone then they sat and listened to parts of the songs. It started with Layla, worked through Clapton numbers, then a few standards, like Mojo, Hootchie Cootchie Man, and ended with Stormy Monday Blues. She had added House of the Rising sun as an encore. At the end, she handed out a disc of the songs to everyone.
Then, she started the second set, beginning with Dawn, ending with Veteran Cosmic Rocker, and Nights In White Satin as the encore. As she handed out the discs, she could see Alec beaming.
“Look, we’ve gone a bit late, tonight. We don’t have to discuss this tonight. Please listen to the tracks again, in full, and see how each of you can fit in. I expect that you may have changes you want to make, but each show will be complicated enough for the school.”
There were smiles, all round, as she reclaimed her phone, and they made their way out of the school. The only surprise, for her, was that each of the Gees gave her a hug as they left, and that Alec not only hugged her, but gave her a quick kiss as well. Gina left her hug until they were outside Willow’s home.
Marianne Gregory © 2025