I Want to be Me Page 4

  Poor Roger was a very concrete person. ‘Not milk and a bone? Do you really think that would work?’ he asked, with a disbelieving look.

  Tom laughed again, very loudly, holding his sides. ‘No, no, fine music, Rog! That’s what they love. We can entice them back with some of that.’

  ‘Tom says we should get some violins together, maybe even the viola – you, Julia! – get a really wonderful piece to play and go over and play to them, remind them of what they’re missing: remind them of their friends,’ said Elfie.

  ‘When Ferdinand hears his mates playing the fiddle he’ll be here like a shot!’ said Tom, now supremely confident. Elfie was smiling again and called the orchestra together and explained what was going to happen. They then got five violins together and chose a piece to play. It was to be the Prelude from Lohengrin, a stirring piece from Wagner.

  ‘We won’t need you this time, Julia,’ said Elfie. ‘But this should do the trick. What do you think?’

  Julia was not at all convinced that this would work, and was perhaps a little disappointed that she’d been left out of the group.

  ‘It might. I can only hope so,’ she replied. Claudia looked hard at Julia. Claudia thought that Julia might be holding back. She did not look at all confident. She wondered why.

  The violins practised for a while under the leadership of Finn, the tall, thin young man who was a music tutor in one of the colleges. He played the violin with a lot of passion, but this passion had been known to get the better of him. Soon they were ready to go. Everyone gathered on the top of the bank to wave them goodbye and off they went with something of a swagger, confident that they could do the job. The drums in the orchestra gave them a little drumroll as they went down the bank, and everyone laughed.

  ‘Julia, do you think they’ll do it?’ asked Claudia.

  ‘I hope so – they’ve picked one of Ferdinand’s favourite pieces, so that’s a plus.’

  The small band of violinists crossed over the bridge near Bossoms Boats, with a spring in their step, even doing the odd small tune for Sunday walkers as they went along. They followed the sound of the harp and violin as they went up the hill, and soon found a long narrow country lane from which the sound was coming. Meanwhile, the orchestra was waiting expectantly and became quite excited when the little band of violinists eventually started to play their music. They could hear the sound from over on the hill quite clearly and they could tell that the strings were putting everything into it.

  ‘They’re playing their hearts out,’ said Tom, bent over, with his hands on his knees, staring hopefully at Boar Hill. Eventually the music stopped. This was it! The orchestra moved as one to the top of the bank and looked out over the meadow, hoping to see an early sign of success. Claudia and Julia stood together, craning their necks to catch an early sighting. It was one of the kettledrums that caught first sight, a short plump fellow called Peter, who must have had the eye of an eagle.

  ‘Hooray!’ he shouted. ‘There they are!’

  At first Claudia couldn’t see them but then a few figures appeared down at the fork in the Isis and began crossing the bridge. A cheer went up from the orchestra, as they moved into Port Meadow.

  ‘They’re not happy!’ Julia said. ‘And I don’t see Elaine and Ferdinand.’

  ‘Maybe they’re following,’ Claudia replied. Julia was not convinced.

  ‘Finn is stooped over. He looks dejected. I don’t know, I’ve got a bad feeling that it just hasn’t happened.’

  Certainly the crowd had become rather quiet. It wasn’t long before the violins finally arrived, worn out, dejected and totally defeated. Almost as soon as they set foot on the bank, the sound of the harp and the violin drifted across to them from Boar Hill. Everyone instantly knew, but Finn reported what had happened anyway.

  ‘We played our hearts out. I think Ferdinand was ready to come. We could see him, he was up and down and moving about – I really think we had him. But Elaine was not budging and in the end Ferdinand was simply not coming without her. I’m sorry.’ Elfie patted him on the back. Tom looked most unhappy. It was his idea and it had failed. Elfie, on the other hand, now knew he had a real crisis to deal with.

  ‘You did your best, can’t do better than that. Gather around, everyone; I’ve got something to say.’

  As the orchestra gathered around, Julia turned to Claudia and said something that Claudia did not quite understand.

  ‘I can’t help feeling that they sent the problem over to find the solution.’

  Elfie spoke to the assembled crowd.

  ‘Friends, we have a real crisis. We’ve lost two really important people, and most especially our star violin, our best chance in this competition. Now – we can stop or we can reorganise and give it a go. What do you want to do?’

  ‘Give it go!’ someone called out. Others joined in.

  ‘Yes! Yes! We’re with you!’

  Elfie seemed genuinely affected by the spontaneous support. He thanked everybody, waving his long arms in a grand gesture. He announced that they would meet again the following Sunday for a completely fresh start. As he turned away from the group, he called out to Claudia.

  ‘Claudia, would you join us next Sunday? I really think that you would add a lot to the orchestra.’

  Claudia was totally blown away by this unexpected invitation.

  ‘Yes – I would like to.’

  ‘Good. Excellent. Just turn up!’

  ‘Please, Elfie, can I bring my own flute – it’s special,’ she asked.

  ‘Is it indeed? How special, Claudia?’

  ‘Father bought it for me from a bazaar in Riyadh – in Saudi Arabia, you know – it’s made of wood and it’s over 100 years old. My teacher says that it has its own special sound.’

  Elfie thought for a moment.

  ‘It’s not made of black wood is it?’

  ‘Yes, it is,’ she replied. Elfie looked thoughtful.

  ‘I’d really like to see and hear that flute – see you next week then!’

  Claudia and Julia walked off together and took the pathway to the bridge that went over to Aristotle Lane.

  ‘Where do you live?’ asked Julia, as they crossed the bridge.

  ‘Down the canal just a bit. I’ll go by the towpath and cross over further down.’

  ‘You’ll be okay then?’

  ‘Yes – of course.’

  ‘Well, I’ll leave you here,’ said Julia. ‘It’s been wonderful to meet you, Claudia – see you next Sunday.’

  Claudia skipped practically all the way home. What an incredible day!

  Over dinner during there was not much conversation between mother and daughter. She did mention her new friend Julia to her mother, who did seem rather pleased. Then Claudia went quietly up to her room. She still found it hard to believe what had happened that day, let alone understand what it all meant. Everything that could go wrong had gone wrong for those nice people. Yet she felt different, as if some kind of weight had been lifted from her shoulders. The old anger seemed to have gone away for the moment. She thought of the falcon she had seen in the distance on the meadow, and as she did almost every night, she entered a personal thought in her MySpace.

  I saw that great bird today,

  I want to be where it is,

  Free.

  I want to be me.

  The following morning Claudia was late getting up, late for breakfast and late for school. She barely made it to the school gates before the bell sounded. Somehow she didn’t quite feel as bad as she normally did going through the dreaded gates, but it wasn’t long before she was put to the test. After the first class, an English lesson, Claudia was on her way to her music class when she was bumped in the corridor, quite hard, by Stella.

  ‘If you can’t get out of your own way, dumbo, at least get out of mine!’ Stella sneered at her. Stella was tallish
and had a way of screwing her face up and leaning over you that was menacing. Claudia had wondered sometimes why Stella needed to do this kind of stuff. Stella, in her view, was not a happy person. Why was she going out of her way to make it tough for her?

  Instead of shrinking away, as she normally did, this time Claudia stared Stella in the eye.

  ‘Why don’t you just grow up, Stella?’ she said, really surprising herself. She also surprised Stella, who for a second couldn’t believe that Claudia had spoken back to her. She was quick to respond.

  ‘I’ll catch up with you later, you disgusting little swot!’ she threatened., waving her finger in Claudia’s face. Claudia just smiled back and went off to her music class feeling a lot better for having said something. Apart from that, the day proceeded uneventfully, although her music teacher was unusually full of praise for the way Claudia was playing the flute.

  That evening, her mother asked her more about Sunday afternoon, but all that Claudia would say was that she had met a friend who had similar interests in music and had agreed to practise with her next Sunday afternoon, all of which was absolutely true. Her mother was happy with this, because the idea of Claudia having at least one friend seemed to be a good one.

  The week passed quickly, perhaps not quickly enough for Claudia. There was no further trouble at school, probably because everyone was busy getting themselves together for the coming exams, and also getting organised for an excursion the following week. She was, however, ready for trouble at any moment. She knew it could be just around the next corridor. At home, Claudia was on edge, waiting for Sunday. Her mother’s voice just seemed to bounce around the house, making her feel even edgier. She tried to stay out of the way, just like at school. On the Saturday night, in her room, she wondered about how things were changing around her. What was going on? Maybe Sunday would bring some answers. Claudia had a bad night. It was the same bad dream. She was being chased by shadowy figures on horseback – never being caught, never stopping. Just the chase – over and over. This time she woke up, startled and in a sweat. It took ages to get back to sleep again.

  Sunday morning finally did come, and Claudia was quick to get herself ready to go. She was a little tired, but keen to go. Kate had made some sandwiches for her. As Claudia disappeared down to the end of the garden, Kate called out a reminder to her to wear her hat. Claudia decided to go by way of Aristotle Lane, mainly because it was a lot faster. She was soon crossing the bridge over the railway line and walking down past the garden allotments on the edge of the meadow. She took the pathway to the right and was soon through the gate and walking up to the field where the orchestra was to meet. There they were, milling around as usual and tuning their instruments. Elfie saw her and came across to meet her.

  ‘Welcome, Claudia,’ he said. ‘I see you’ve brought your flute with you.’

  He took hold of the flute and fingered it gently.

  ‘Yes – yes indeed. It’s what I thought it was,’ he muttered. ‘It’s old, very unusual, and I’m looking forward to hearing it.’

  Julia came over to have a look at the flute as well.

  ‘The famous flute, I see,’ she said. ‘I’ll bet it sounds great.’

  ‘Well, we are all here that’s going to be here,’ Elfie called out. ‘Just to let you know that in the preliminary we have to play two pieces, one of which is a free choice, and, if we get to the final, again we have to play two pieces, one of which is a free choice. So we’re going to start with the first compulsory piece, which Tom will hand out to you now. We’ll start with these small groups again and move to the large group later.’

  They practised in their small groups for about an hour, and everything seemed to be going very well. Roger was pleased with the way in which his group was playing, and nodded encouragingly to Claudia from time to time. Then, after a short break, everyone moved into the large orchestra group.

  Elfie stood on some higher ground and raised his baton. This was his big moment. It was what he lived for, to conduct music. He began with a great flourish, threw this his head back and waved his arms about imperiously. However, after a few minutes, Roger caught sight of something unusual in that hedge above the meadow. He looked carefully. It was the head of a large cow.

  ‘I’ll shoo it away! Otherwise it might wander in and just disturb everyone.’

  He walked over to the bank but then turned around and came back quickly.

  ‘Come quickly! We’re in a lot of trouble!’

  Tom and a few others ran up onto the bank, and what they saw was trouble indeed. About 20 or more head of large cattle were being driven up the slope by a cowherd. Elfie took a long hard look.

  ‘That’s no cowherd!’ he exclaimed. ‘That’s Dr Sloan dressed as a cowherd! He intends to smash us up with that bunch of cows! Even if we get out of the way our instruments will be smashed!’

  The huge cows came on up the slope, with Sloan right behind them, waving a long stick. Claudia was terrified. She had been up close to these cows before and they were huge.

  ‘Get out of the way! Everybody get out of the way, let us through!’ shouted Tim from trumpets.

  Tim and some of his friends moved forwards, raised their trumpets and let loose with a very loud ‘ta-ra ta-ra!’ It was a deafening sound. The cows, terrified by the trumpet blast, turned and bolted back the other way. One poor cow actually fell over in the turmoil. There was no way that Sloan could avoid them. He screamed and there was a look of terror on his face as a large cow hit him and catapulted him into a large pool of mud and water that lay at the bottom of the slope. It was always there, summer or winter, a thick black mud that drew Sloan in and covered him quickly. Everyone cheered.

  ‘Saved! Saved by the trumpets! Marvellous work and, I must say, quick thinking,’ enthused Elfie, who seemed to be thoroughly enjoying the sad sight of Sloan dragging himself out of the mud and up the hillside. Unfortunately for him, the cow that had fallen over had got back up and, anxious to catch up with the others, belted down the slope, just touching Sloan on the way down and sending him spinning back down into the mud. This was all too much for Elfie, who burst into hysterical laughter. Sloan dragged himself out of the mud yet again, scraped off as much of the slime as he could and, waving angrily at the laughing crowd at the top of the bank, disappeared back across the meadow.

  ‘That man is due for a bath,’ said Tom.

  ‘And we’re due for lunch,’ said Elfie.

  Claudia had never experienced such excitement before, a rollercoaster of feelings, terrified one moment and laughing wildly the next. This really was a different world. Julia came over to join her.

  ‘Share lunch boxes, Claudia?’ she asked. ‘I’ve never had a practice like that before. That was a little unusual to say the least.’

  They had a little chat about the morning practice. Julia thought that Finn would make an excellent lead violin, but she thought that he wasn’t as experienced as Ferdinand. A little distance away, a similar discussion was taking place. Elfie was quite concerned about what Sloan’s antics actually meant.

  ‘Why is he going to all this trouble to spy on us and disrupt our practice? He’s all too desperate. It’s just so unusual – there must be something behind it. And I heard on the grapevine the other day that his orchestra had recruited a star violinist from China, a chap called Chin Li. He is supposed to be very, very good, so with that advantage why do all of this?’

  Tom shook his head.

  ‘I didn’t know about the new violinist,’ he said. ‘Tim and I have just been talking, and, while we think Finn is very good, we think we should make another effort to get Ferdinand back. Now that I hear about Chin Li, I’m even more convinced that we should give it a go. Tim here and some of the others are all fired up, having sent Sloan packing. What do you think?’

  Elfie thought for a moment and then called Tim over.

  ‘Do you think you can do it?’
he asked.

  ‘I think we can,’ he said ‘I have had a chat to a few people. We’ll try something different. We’ll take three or four trumpets and a couple of drums and will play something stirring. We’ll appeal to his sense of duty. I think that should do the trick.’

  ‘All right – go, and do your best. We can do without you this afternoon, because I’m trying out some different things.’

  Tim Trumpet, already flushed with his recent success, rushed off to get his group together. In the end it was three trumpets, four kettledrums and two side drums that just refused to be left out. They got wave and a cheer as they marched off in formation. The side drums gave a little roll from time to time as they crossed over the meadow towards the bridge. Elfie called Finn over to join himself and Tom.

  ‘I need to find out what’s going on in that college. Sloan’s antics just don’t make any sense,’ he said. ‘Finn, I have to ask a favour. Would you join me in a little cloak-and-dagger exercise of our own next week? I think we can find a disguise or two of our own, get inside that place and see what we can find out. Are you up for it?’

  ‘I sure am!’

  ‘Good. We’ll talk again later on this afternoon.’

  Meanwhile, the orchestra had gone back into their small groups and each group was having a ‘getting to know you’ session. Claudia had a chance to get to know the other flutes. There was Antonio, a young exchange student from Spoleto in Italy. He was in the final year of high school. He was a good-looking young man who smiled easily and was quite a joker. Ingrid, whom Claudia had met before, was a summer school student. She was from a school in Berlin and was staying with a family in Oxford. She took her music very seriously indeed. Michael was the oldest member of the group. He was from Oxford and Claudia assumed he was their leader. He was full of praise for Claudia’s playing.

  ‘You’ve got a great sound, Claudia,’ he said after one practice. ‘That flute you’ve got there probably helps a bit as well,’ he laughed.