Chapter Eleven

 

The next morning Roger walked to the car park, carrying two bags, one containing his travelling luggage, the other a leather one containing his trumpet. He was early, before six o’clock, not through any reason of nerves, just because he loved to be early and well prepared. He already had the van keys, so got behind the wheel, programmed in the address of the Ostend, Belgium hotel into the sat nav system, adjusted his seat, and then sat there quietly, acclimatising himself to his situation. After a few minutes of solitude, the first band member arrived, and pretty soon others, including Cedric and Rick Thomas, were there as well. Sue arrived, and plumped her handbag on the seat behind the driver, after she had handed her bag over to Roger. He took all the other bags, stowed them away, and then waited outside the minibus for the stragglers to arrive. Each person had been allocated a bus, so there were a couple of spare places in each bus. Roger had been with the band on quite a few occasions by now, and saw three different faces, none of whom were on his bus. He wasn’t overly surprised at this. Two were men, and the third was quite an attractive blonde he could not help noticing. She looked at him as well, so he immediately looked away, but not quick enough. Sue had seen him looking appreciatively at the new crumpet. It didn’t take a genius at body language to know that Sue considered Roger hers, and she wasn’t prepared to tolerate any competition. Roger was amused, and wondered how Sue would take this new arrival, either as a friend, or an enemy. Intriguing, and a new development in their relationship.

They were due to leave at seven, so it was as well that Thomas called everyone over for a ‘briefing’ when they were all present with fifteen minutes to spare. Roger could see that some of the members, mainly the ones who had been in the band for some time, looked bored, as if to say ‘yes yes, heard it all before, let’s just get in the buses and on with it.’

Rick Thomas clapped his hands together. ‘Now listen up everyone. Pay attention. PLEASE. Well done for getting here early, I am very pleased with you, and it’s going to take getting on for two hours to get to Folkestone. There will be no comfort stops en route, so the church hall toilets are open now, and if you need to go, go now.’ He paused, looking round. ‘No?, okay then, there are toilets at the tunnel, and on the train, and then it’s only just over an hour on the other side. All okay? Then off we go.’

Roger was close to the two new men he hadn’t seen before, and one whispered to the other ‘that prick thinks we’re all children. We might be behaving under orders now, but he’s better watch out.’

The other replied ‘and as for that lump of lard Cedric, he might think he’s hard ‘cos he’s big, but I had a lot bigger than him in the showers in my last spell in chokey.’

They turned round when they realised that Roger was close to them, but he didn’t react at all, so they got on their different bus, one of them taking the drivers’ seat. Roger was a bit surprised at this, but as usual failed to react. Watch, listen, and learn, that was what he intended to do.

The journey to Folkestone passed uneventfully, with Roger driving the bus in the rear of the convoy. They got split up now and again in the traffic, but on the last leg of the motorway caught up together again, so when they exited the M20 at the signpost for the channel tunnel at Folkestone they pulled up in convoy at the ticket booth. Roger waited patiently for the first one to have their dockets validated, and then just followed through, taking his label to place behind the rear view mirror showing what train they were booked on. All three minibuses parked in the coach area, with all passengers exiting, then filing into the area with shops and restaurants. Roger and Sue stood in line together, obviously a couple, with Sue taking Roger’s hand to show all present that they were together. They joined others at a table, watching, enjoying the experience.

After a while the public announcement came that their number was called, so they quickly filed out to the toilets, then back onto the coaches. Roger had never travelled on the train under the English channel before, so was glad that he was bus number three. He just followed everywhere that the others went, so drove along the narrow lanes until it was his turn to drive onto the train. This was a very long train, with probably twenty four carriages, just for vehicles. As he waited, he could see the cars driving on, and hear them driving inside the carriages, which were connected, so the cars would drive the length of the train inside it. Some went in a hole on the ground level, others drove in a different hole, straight up a ramp, so they also were driving inside the train, this time on an upper level, so there were two levels of cars inside the train at the same time. Larger vehicles were different, as the minibuses were too tall for these sections. They went to the front of the train, different entrance, with only one level. Roger waited while the coaches took a big wide swing, then somehow managed to drive into the narrow gap of the train. Amazing. Then it was his turn, and he was glad that he didn’t embarrass himself by having to take more than one go at it. He judged it just right, so was then driving inside the train, just like everyone else had managed. Roger was grateful that his bus was narrower than the big buses, so he had more room to manoeuvre, even so he drove slowly until the train steward indicated he drive forward, holding her hand up to stop him when he was sufficiently close to the bus in front. He opened the door for his passengers to alight, so soon there were all the band party standing chatting. No smoking allowed in the train, and then the public service safety message came over the system, first in French with a woman, then in English with a man saying the words. Typical, thought Roger, the French pay attention to a woman speaking. After a while he heard a hiss, and the compartment doors were sealed, so each carriage was independent of each other. However, there was a connecting door that could be opened, which was soon used by people who wanted to go to the toilets.

Roger found the whole experience fascinating, as he loved to try something new as often as possible. This certainly fitted the bill. After a while he was aware of movement, and looked out the window to see that the countryside was slowly moving by. Very soon they were in the tunnel, which was when the boredom soon set in. There was only so much small talk that Roger and the rest could indulge in, so pretty soon they were all back in their seats, with Roger surprising himself by nodding off. The next thing he knew he was being jolted awake with the train movement, and the same Frenchwoman followed by the same Englishman announcing the arrival in France. Within ten minutes the doors had opened, and the vehicles were driving off the train, having completed driving the length to the exit. Now they were in France, and he had to remember to drive on the other side of the road.

The rest of the journey to Ostend was uneventful, just following the instructions spoken on the sat nav system. Roger had programmed in a woman’s voice, as he found it clearer to listen to. The hotel was one road off the seafront, so they unloaded all the cases, with Roger taking the parking permit given to him by Thomas, following the other two buses as usual to allocated parking areas by the bandstand on the seafront.

Thomas spoke to the three drivers. ‘Now, you three are going to set up the chairs and instruments properly, and when you’ve finished, we might let you have a beer in the hotel bar. No rushing, mind, want the job done well.’ They all looked at each other, knowing what each was thinking.

Thomas strode off, leaving them with the three minibuses and the instruments. One driver had all done this before, so the other two followed his lead. They first counted the seats, then placed them in a particular way that suited the players. The smaller instruments were carried by their owners in any case, so the three vans only had the larger items, such as euphonium, xylophone, and the percussion instruments. Piece of cake, really, and they were all done in just over half an hour. Roger worked in his shirtsleeves, and the other two drivers were older men, so their exertions were more difficult for them. Soon they were sweating, but Roger hadn’t quite appreciated that he seemed to be the one doing most of the donkey work. Then it was back in the minibuses, parking up with the permits displayed, and then into the hotel for the well-earned beer. The bar was empty. The three men looked at each other.

‘Bollocks to this,’ said the first one, ‘I’m having a beer in any case.’ He ordered just one pint, leaving the others to wait their turn to be served.

‘Okay,’ thought Roger,’ if that’s the way it is, we’ll buy our own. I’ll try not to be with these two too often in any case, preferring Sue’s company. She’s better looking, and a far better shag!’ They each had a large beer, emptying their glasses very quickly. Roger then left the other two to have more, while he checked in at reception, taking his room key. Upstairs he went, and found his single room. It was a three feet six inches wide bed, and he thought it was quite big enough for the two of them to share later. En suite shower room with toilet, just a lovely size, and a basic television. Roger didn’t intend watching much t.v. tonight.

Downstairs he went, and walked through the back into a courtyard garden, accessed through the breakfast room. Some of them were there, including Sue. Roger went straight to her, smiling at the new blond, just to be polite, nothing more. No point in antagonising the girlfriend.

‘What occurring?’ he asked.

‘Nothing at present. We have some free time for the next three hours, then we are expected at the bandstand for rehearsal. Fancy a walk, to discover the town?’

‘Sounds good to me.’

They left, arm in arm, and went straight to the seafront. It was a long, sandy beach, with lots of cafes, ice cream parlours, and stalls selling all sorts of things from souvenirs to water to newspapers. Quite content to be in each others company, they said nothing as they strolled along the sand. They both removed their sandals, and walked to the waters’ edge, paddling for a while as the cool water gently lapped through their toes, then up to their ankles as the tide took the refreshing sea.

‘Fancy an ice cream?’ asked Roger.

‘Yeh. There’s plenty of cafes to choose from.’

They returned to the seafront, and entered a restaurant that had an ice cream dispenser outside, having already looked at the menu and seen that it had a very wide choice. They quickly found a table, looked at the menu again, and then the waitress was standing next to them.

‘What can I get you’ she asked with a smile.

‘How did you know that we were English?’ asked Sue.

‘Ah, that’s easy. You were holding hands as you entered, and there’s not many other nationalities that do that. So, what type of ice cream can I get you?’

‘You see that over there’, said Sue, pointing at a couple in the window. ‘I’d like what she’s having, please.’

‘Dame Blanche. And for you?’ asked the waitress, looking at Roger.

‘I’ll have what he’s having please.’

She went away, as they both looked at the couple in the window. She was eating a sundae that looked superb. It had chocolate ice cream in the bottom half of the dish, a lighter ice cream in the top half, and as well as two wafers it had some kind of chocolate topping. He had something that looked as if it was strawberry based, was in an extra large dish, and it seemed as if it had some kind of sorbet mixed in with the strawberry ice cream. The service was so fast and efficient that they had it before them within five minutes, so they were soon tucking in.

‘What’s your like?’ asked Sue.

‘Fantastic. Want to try some?’

‘Hmm. Yes please.’

Roger took a spoonful, and placed it very slowly and carefully in her mouth. When he had withdrawn the spoon, he then wiped her bottom lip with it, making the lip messy.

Sue leaned forward. ‘You had better make it all clean again.’

‘My pleasure.’ Roger also leaned forward, licking his lips first, then kissing Sue full on the lips, deliberately being messy, missing slightly so he was able to lick her lips so he could remove the excess. He made it last, performing the task very slowly.

‘I have a messy mouth as well.’

‘No you haven’t’ said Sue

‘I really really have. I have been such a messy boy.’ He moved his head forward, pouting his lips.

Sue exaggerated her reply. ‘Oh, all right then.’

She leaned forward, licked his lips, said nothing, then continued with her delicious ice cream. When they had finished they both sat back, replete, using the paper napkins to clean their own mouths. Roger paid the bill, so they left, continuing their stroll. They returned to the hotel, went to their own rooms to retrieve their instruments, so they could go to the bandstand for the rehearsal. They were not the last to arrive, with their leader standing waiting. Cedric allocated their chairs, so they sat, waiting, for the practice to begin. That soon came, they warmed their lips, looked at the music, and the rehearsal began. They soon gained an audience, and it was obvious to Roger that the newer members were a good addition, as they seemed to be more than competent and certainly an improvement on the previous standard. Maybe, just maybe, he was joining a half decent band. He hadn’t asked anyone before, just assumed that they were playing in a competition, so was surprised when the rehearsal ended after an hour with no other band waiting to play at the bandstand.

‘Is this just a gig?’ he asked Sue.

‘Yes,’ she replied, in a way that she thought he had known this all along.

‘Wish I had known, I would not be here for free. I would have insisted on getting some kind of fee as well as expenses.’

‘But we all play for the love of playing. It’s for the good of the band, and Mr. Thomas always says that there’s no money to be made out of it, the expenses are only just covered.’

‘Hmm,’ said Roger, thoughtfully. ‘Not too sure about that. I would have thought that a band coming over from England would command a fee in excess of £1,000 for a weekend, plus expenses.’

‘What makes you think that?’

‘Something I’ve picked up over the years, listening to what I have been told. It’s usually a fee not including expenses, that’s for sure, with the band players usually taking away roughly fifty pounds minimum to cover themselves. Don’t forget that bands are very popular in Europe, especially British bands, who’ve usually got a good reputation. Still, what do I know?’

They returned to the hotel for a buffet dinner, which was waiting for them. Then it was back to their rooms to change into their uniforms. Roger looked really hunky in his. The jacket was quite tight, showing off his muscles, and he could possibly have managed with a larger size, but that was the only one available at reasonably short notice. He had a new one on order, though. He and Sue made a good looking couple as they wandered to the bandstand for the evening’s entertainment.