The Melody Girls (19 page)

He was opening his mouth to continue his argument, when Tilly came in with a loaded tray which she set on the table and called out cheerfully, ‘Tea's ready! Ewen, you're looking awful serious, come away and pull up a chair.'

‘Tea!' Sam cried. ‘Tea for Sam!'

‘What would you like?' Lorna asked fondly, taking him on her knee.

‘Cake,' he answered promptly. ‘Bickie.'

‘Bread and butter first,' Tilly ordered. ‘Then a sandwich. And then, if you're a good boy, cake.'

‘Good boy,' he repeated, contentedly eating the bread and butter he'd been given, but then his face changed, his eyes filled with tears, and he looked accusingly at Tilly. ‘Jam, Gramma, jam!'

‘But you're going to have a nice sandwich, Sam – see, I'm cutting it up for you now.'

‘Jam,' he continued to wail. ‘Jam, Gramma!'

‘Here,' Ewen said, hastily spreading jam on Sam's bread. ‘Here you are, Sam. Don't cry any more.'

And as Sam's tears amazingly dried and he smiled sunnily over his bread and jam, Lorna and Tilly shook their heads and told Ewen he would spoil him.

‘I would if he was mine,' Ewen agreed.

‘I know the feeling,' Lorna said. ‘And he is mine.'

‘You're lucky, eh?'

‘Yes,' she said slowly. ‘I am. Very lucky.'

Some days later at the studio, before the girls had arrived for rehearsal, George came in with a bottle of wine and a corkscrew. He was grinning cheerfully and said they were to have a celebration.

‘Whatever for?' Flo asked.

‘Why, the new prince, of course. Princess Elizabeth's baby.'

‘Heavens, was that in the papers?' Lorna asked. ‘I've been so busy, I missed it.'

‘On the wireless.' George drew the cork and looked round. ‘What, no glasses?'

‘You know cups are all we've got,' Flo said, passing them out. ‘The wine'll taste the same, anyway.'

‘No, it won't,' George said seriously. ‘I can see I'm going to have to educate you, Flo, when we're married.'

‘If you find the wine, I'll take instruction!'

‘Well, there's more of it around. Things are gradually coming back, eh? One day we'll be rid of rationing.' George poured the wine into the cups. ‘Here you are, anyway. To Prince . . . what's his name again?'

‘Charles,' said Flo.

‘To Prince Charles, then. Drink up, girls.'

‘Prince Charles,' they echoed.

‘My, isn't it nice, drinking wine when we should be working?' Lorna put down her glass. ‘But now I'd better put out the sheets for “It's Magic”. We haven't played it before.'

‘Maybe we could have another celebration some time?' Flo suggested. ‘I mean, before our wedding.'

‘Think we might,' George said, pouring himself more wine. ‘I wanted to sound you out on dates for a tour. Then if you agree, I could book it and that'd call for another celebration, I reckon.'

‘A tour?' Lorna asked. ‘I've been thinking for some time we should get something arranged. I'd prefer the spring, though.'

‘I don't think we need wait for the spring for this one. It's to entertain our troops in Germany – British Army of the Rhine.' George grinned. ‘Fancy it? I think it'll be interesting, anyway.'

‘BAOR?' Lorna's face lit up. ‘Why, George, that'd be wonderful. Flo, what do you think?'

‘Terrific. George top up my glass, eh? The only thing is, we might leave half the girls behind once the army gets to see them!'

‘Occupational hazard,' George agreed. ‘Keep a close watch on 'em, eh? Or you'll find yourself with no sax players, or a trombonist missing, or something.

‘Then you and I'll have to play,' Lorna told him, but his eyes were on the door.

‘Well, speaking of sax players, look who's just walked in, then!'

And, turning her head, Lorna was astonished to see Jackie Craik at the door, with, behind him, Josh Nevin.

Thirty-Four

‘Nice,' Jackie Craik commented, advancing into the studio and looking round. ‘Very nice, isn't it, Josh?'

‘Very smart,' the handsome Josh returned. ‘I'm impressed.'

‘So, to what do we owe this honour?' George asked warily. ‘Haven't seen you at any of the girls' venues, Jackie.'

‘No, but I've been meaning to look in. We were passing the studio – thought we might catch the lassies at rehearsal.'

Jackie, in his fifties, a lean, almost scrawny figure yet with powerful arms and strong features, gave a polite nod towards Lorna and Flo. ‘You don't mind us calling without notice, ladies?'

‘Not at all,' Lorna answered coolly. ‘But the girls aren't here yet and I'm sure you won't have time to wait.'

‘Ah, come on, now, Lorna, don't get on your high horse! I remember you when you were a wee girl, you know, when your dad used to bring you in sometimes to say hello.'

‘Yes, and I always loved seeing the band, but when I was grown up, you never wanted me in it, did you?'

‘And you've never forgiven me, have you? Still, you got into Luke's band, eh? And so did Miss Drover here.' Jackie nodded again to Flo. ‘And now you've both deserted him, like George and Josh. Only I poached Josh, of course.' Jackie laughed heartily. ‘Didn't take much poaching, did you, Josh?'

‘Couldn't wait to get away,' Josh agreed. ‘Hello, Lorna, hello, Flo. I must congratulate you on what you've achieved.'

‘Always so formal,' George sighed. ‘Why don't you both just say you've come to do a recce on the opposition?'

‘Thought never crossed my mind,' Jackie said blandly. ‘But now we're here, how about a drink, then? Or, is that bottle empty?'

‘It's empty, we've been toasting the new prince.'

‘Oh, very loyal. Well, perhaps we'd better be on our way. Honestly, we just looked in on the off chance of seeing your band in action, Lorna. We're probably playing ourselves at the same time as you – I mean if you're playing a lot.'

‘We are. Sorry, not to offer you a cup of tea, but we are pretty busy.'

‘Right, then we'll leave you to it. Nice meeting up again, eh? George, Luke told me you'd flown. He's pretty cut up, you know. Didn't you two go back a long way?'

‘He'll get over it,' George said shortly, as Jackie and Josh moved slowly to the door. ‘Goodbye, Jackie, Josh.'

‘Perhaps we'll meet again in the not too distant future?' Josh asked, his dark gaze on Lorna.

‘Doubt it. We're planning a tour of BAOR, Germany.'

‘Germany, eh?' Jackie grinned, but his eyes flickered. ‘Guess not everybody would want to go there, eh?'

‘How do you mean?' George asked.

‘Well, if you remember, it's not so long ago we were fighting the Germans.'

‘So? We'll be entertaining our soldiers, not the locals.'

‘They say the country's in a mess, though. Rebuilding and such.' Jackie shrugged. ‘Still, you'll probably be OK where the troops are. I've heard they're practically making new towns for 'em.'

‘As long as there's somewhere for the girls to play, they'll be fine. And what's so unusual about people entertaining the troops? They even did that during the war. It's called keeping up morale.'

‘Sure it was and the lassies will be doing a good job.' Jackie, at the door, smiled briefly. ‘You've done very well, Lorna, you and Flo, and I'd be the first to say so. Josh, you ready?'

‘So, what was all that about?' Flo asked, looking from Lorna to George when the visitors had departed. ‘Why the sudden interest in our band, do you think?'

‘Because you're a success,' George answered. ‘Jackie never cared a tinker's cuss when you first started out, but now you're getting the bookings, you've become a threat, so he's interested.'

‘Flattering, I suppose. But next thing, he'll be trying to spot our best players and start poaching. What's the betting?'

‘That would mean having to have women in his band,' Lorna said, turning away. She gave a little sniff. ‘He'd never agree to that.'

‘Hey, what's wrong?' Flo turned Lorna round and studied her face. ‘You're no' crying? Has the awful Jackie upset you?'

‘It was just, talking to him, made me think of my dad again. When he took me to see the band, like Jackie said, he was so pleased I liked it all.' Lorna blew her nose. ‘But, you see, when it came to it, he was just like Jackie, said I'd never play in a band.'

‘No, he wasn't like Jackie.' George put his arm round Lorna's shoulders. ‘Jackie didn't want you, but your dad just thought it wouldn't be possible. There's the difference.'

‘You believe that?'

‘Sure. Don't tell me he wouldn't have been proud of you now, because I knew your dad and I tell you he would have been thrilled. Another copper-haired saxophone player just like him, but running her own band? He'd have been over the moon.'

‘I'd like to think so.' Lorna smiled faintly. ‘Anyway, we managed to see Jackie off, didn't we? Even though I had to romance a bit about the tour to Germany.'

‘That wasn't romancing, that was fact. We'll be going to Germany, all right. I'm planning to start setting the wheels in motion right away.'

‘Can't wait,' Flo said, hugging Lorna. ‘But, here come the girls – wait till they hear!'

As the players began to stream in for rehearsal, Lorna straightened her shoulders, put up her head, and dabbed again at her eyes. ‘Tell 'em, George,' she whispered.

And when he'd told them and the excited buzz over the news had finally died down, she and Flo managed to get them into place for their new number, ‘It's Magic', which went down well. Catchy, agreed the girls, and good lyrics.

‘Think we'll be magic, over in Germany?' Bridie asked cheekily, and Lorna, laughing with Flo, said she wouldn't be surprised.

Thirty-Five

It was January before the Melody Girls went to Germany. Christmas had been suggested for their tour, but Lorna would not give up being with Sam at that time, and George finally made arrangements for travel after Hogmanay. Not a time to see the country at its best, he admitted, but they were not, after all, going for the scenery, and to play for the troops in dreary January might be just what they wanted.

All the same, the girls, on first arriving, confessed to some disappointment. Not with the winter weather, but because they'd thought they'd be in the famous Rhineland and instead found themselves in the industrial north.

‘Well, the whole country is zoned for occupational purposes, you see,' a woman officer explained. ‘The French are in Baden, the Russians in Saxony, the Americans in the Rhineland and the British in places like Dortmund and Düsseldorf.' She smiled. ‘But you'll be given a good time wherever you are, I can promise you!'

Which proved to be the case. Bands for dancing were popular anyway with the troops, both women and men, but bands with girls – well, the male soldiers couldn't believe their luck. So many good looking girls, all in matching evening dresses, all playing away with such talent and energy, their leader a stunning redhead – what more could anybody want?

‘We're really going to have to keep a watchful eye,' Flo remarked to Lorna and George, after the Melody Girls had responded to their welcome with even more enthusiasm than they showed at home. ‘It's just like I said, the girls are bound to meet guys who'll be chatting them up and before you know it, we'll be losing players.'

‘I said the same thing,' George replied. ‘On the other hand, chatting up falls short of making proposals, eh? And even if things get serious, maybe we can put it to the lassies that we don't want to be leaving 'em behind when the tour's over.'

‘I'll have to have a word,' Lorna sighed. ‘But they're having such a good time and playing so well, I don't want to spoil things.'

‘Let's see how things go,' Flo advised. ‘After all, we don't stay in any place too long. They maybe won't have time to make relationships.'

‘Don't bank on it,' George said with a grin. ‘Some of these guys are fast workers, eh?'

In the event, only two of the girls – Nancy, one of the trumpet players, and Trish, an alto sax player – confessed to Lorna that they'd both met the men of their dreams. Och, she'd no idea! It was love at first sight, so it was, and the young soldiers were just as serious as they were.

‘Now, look, you've only just met,' Lorna told them. ‘You don't know these chaps and they don't know you. Things seem different in different surroundings, you know, so go home and see how you feel then.'

The two girls looked at each other, sighed, but said nothing.

‘You probably wouldn't be allowed to stay here, anyway,' Lorna went on. ‘You must just be sensible and no' rush into anything.'

‘It's all right for you, Lorna,' Trish, a round-faced blonde murmured. ‘I bet you've always been sensible, eh?'

‘Me?' Lorna, her heart lurching, pretended to laugh. ‘I don't know about that. But I do understand how people can feel.'

‘Is that right?' Nancy, vibrant and black-haired, with vivid green eyes, shook her head. ‘Don't think anybody knows how I feel!'

‘Nor me,' Trish said mournfully.

But all ended well. When the time came to go home, there were sad partings but no players lost, and if there were promises to write and meet later, Flo said she wouldn't mind taking bets that those particular romances would soon be forgotten.