For the Love of Music (Sixty Minute Romance) by Naomi Davies Page B

was left in
command of the stage.
    She had played this organ
solo so many times that she could play it with her eyes closed. But this time
she played it with her eyes open. She looked around the audience, as they stood
mesmerised by her four minute long solo. She caught the eyes of one particular
guy, in a wheelchair at the back, and found that he was staring at her
intently.
    His mates nearby were
waving their hands in front of his eyes, as a joke, but he just kept on
looking. She broke away from his gaze, but had to look at him again a few
seconds later. The crowd was getting quieter as the solo progressed. The guy’s
gaze seemed to grow even more intense as the crowd became almost silent. Eventually
the moment was broken when Kate’s powerful drum break came in followed by
Narinda hitting the Townshend power chords with extra enthusiasm.
    Anne stopped looking at
the guy in the wheelchair and had to concentrate on her playing again. There
was a huge cheer for Anne’s solo and the air guitarists started up again. The
man at the back caught Anne’s eyes once more. He was clapping very slowly and
pointedly and holding out his hands towards her in appreciation. The noise
level was now almost deafening as they played through the second half of the
set.
    As the band finished their
second encore off with “It’s Raining Men”, the whole crowd cheered and shouted
for more.
    The girls rushed off the stage
on a complete high. They went back on stage for a wave and to thank the
audience and then ran off again.
    “Who are these guys?” Anne
asked Carlos.
    “I thought you said they
were old war veterans. It’s like you put our best audience in front of us,
plucked out of nowhere!”
    “I never said that they
were old. They are mostly Veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. Many of
them have severe injuries. All of them are having a tough time getting back
into normal life. They always make lots of noise at these concerts, but you have
had the biggest reaction I have ever seen. I didn’t tell you about who the
veterans were beforehand, because I knew it would affect your performance. By
the way, you girls were great out there, the best ever.” Carlos said.
    “Thanks, we were brilliant,
weren’t we?” Naze said enthusiastically. Naze was in a good mood today, for a
bass player.
    The girls were back in the
dingy changing room, laughing and joking with each other about the gig and
things that had happened. There had been very few mistakes and they had
performed to the top of their ability.
    About ten minutes later there
was a knock on the dressing room door.
    Carlos opened it to see Darrell
Rufus standing there.
    “These guys want
autographs, can you believe it?” he said.
    Colonel Hatch followed
Darrell into the changing room.
    “That was brilliant, just
what the doctor ordered. Would you girls be able to meet some of the men who
have stayed behind?”
    The Kovergirls had never
done autographs before. They were now out of their band gear and wearing their
normal jeans and tops. Kate had put on a fresh Metallica T-shirt. They excitedly
followed the Colonel and found about sixty ex-soldiers waiting for them in
front of the stage. Many of them were injured and obviously in long term recovery.
Some had limbs amputated. It appeared that the Colonel was not quite as cool
and reserved as he seemed. The men were slapping him on the back and telling
him what a great concert it was. He, in turn, was trying to take the thanks as ‘just
part of my job’ but was not doing it very well. The Colonel was the top man
as far as these guys were concerned.
    The odd man in the
wheelchair was there, still staring at Anne as if his life depended on it. He
had a full head of straggly hair and was unshaven. He was different in attitude
to everyone else in the room. He had his right leg missing above the knee,
evidenced by the presence of a shiny silver prosthetic leg. He also had a
number of deep scars across his face. Behind all of that