The Reunion

BOOK 3

The rehearsals were now in full flow. I must say that I was amazed with how well they had advanced. They were still taking place in that warehouse on the outskirts of Newton Abbot. The first concert, at Newton racecourse, was only a matter of days away and they would soon be carrying out a sound check.

They had assembled quite a brilliant crew. Everyone was playing their part; from the riggers to the drivers and from the sound and lighting technicians to the dancers. The choreographer had arranged some breathtaking sequences. She went by the name of Sue Bingham, her maiden name. She was better known as Sue Tindall, Gillian's wife. She was putting some finishing touches to a routine but how she had the group intermingling with the dancers was a joy to watch.

Just seeing her contort her body into various positions to train the dancers was spellbinding. Even the group stopped what they were doing to watch. 'Wow! Gillian,' gasped Samantha. 'Bedtime must be fantastic at your place.'

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We all laughed. 'Eyes off, Samantha,' Gillian smiled. 'She's spoken for.'

'Come on, guys,' Sue clapped her hands. She was definitely a slave driver. I was glad I wasn't performing. 'Pay attention. If you do not work hard at it then the performance will look sloppy.'

Kelvin and Olivia had designed a brilliant stage set. How they had managed to get the group to look like they had virtually materialised on stage out of nowhere, I still hadn't managed to fathom. It was like a magic show. All I knew was that it had something to do with mirrors.

My search for Christopher Duncan's sister, or halfsister, had taken a back seat. It wasn't a priority of mine. As far as I was concerned, Christopher Duncan could rot in hell. His trial was scheduled to begin at the end of the first part of the European leg of the world tour. Graham would have to give evidence so it coincided quite well. I hadn't given up fully. I plundered Chris for information such as his mother's past boyfriends that he knew of. I surreptitiously researched all the answers he gave me. He was becoming frantic but that didn't bother me. I had known guilty men try everything in the book to have the case thrown out on a technicality. Why should Christopher Duncan be any different?

The full concert was timed at two and a half hours. There was to be no support act so that meant that the group would go live at 7.30pm and would finish at approximately ten o'clock. Although this did not allow for anything unexpected happening during the show.

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The guys were pretty excited about something that was going to take place during the concert. However, they were not telling me. I kept looking at the set list but it just had "surprise" after "Teenage Dream".

I liked what they had done with the "Teenage Dream" sequence. They had managed to find a recording of their first ever performance of the song. It was strange watching them as kids playing the song before switching to them as they are now singing the same song. I know there was a twenty-five-year difference but Graham Longmuir certainly hadn't changed that much. You could certainly tell it was Samantha but Gillian and Tony had changed. Gillian had improved with age where it had been a little unkind to Tony. Not that it bothered him too much. 'I am what I am,' he once said to me. 'And there's not much I can do about it.' Having said that, as I was only a few years away from my sixtieth year and, boy, the mirror was telling me that that was true. However, inside I felt I was in my early twenties. And, judging by the way Gillian, Samantha, Tony and Graham were acting, they seemed like they were in their late teens or early twenties as well. There was so much joking and laughing going on that one of the producers had to reprimand them – quite a few times. Whether it would continue for the rest of the tour was anybody's guess. They had told me that the felt more relaxed in each other's company than they did last time round. I only had their word for this. Every now and again I could sense a little tension between Gillian and Tony. But that was not surprising.