TalismenThe
The three fans always showed their support for Faith...until the accident
There was a brief smattering of polite applause. “Martin Connery, ladies and gents,” the MC said with forced enthusiasm as the singer lumbered off.
“Won’t get much change out of this lot,” Martin grunted to Faith as she waited nervously in the narrow passage that the management of the Hoop and Grapes insisted on calling the wings.
She gripped her guitar tight, growing more and more on edge. It never got any easier.
At last, she heard the whine of the microphone as the MC breathed heavily into it.
“And now, ladies and gents, put your hands together for our very own Queen of the Ballads, the beautiful
Faith Brannan!”
The guy who worked the spot had got it slightly wrong, as usual. Faith was almost blinded as she walked out, a wide smile belying her nerves.
She found her way to the stool in the centre and settled herself.
The audience was invisible behind the glare and, for a moment, she felt a flash of panic.
Suppose the Talismen weren’t here? Then the spotlight shifted fractionally and she could see the faces looking back at her.
She spotted Tom first.a fraction of a second later, Dick was handing him one of three dripping pint glasses. So Harry must be here, too.
Her nerves quietened. She felt the familiar ridges under her fingers, swept her plectrum gently over the strings, and began.
Tom, Dick and Harry. She hadn’t a clue what their real names were.they’d been there at her very first gig, when she was so nervous she was shaking.
Tom’s twinkling smile had been something to focus on, Dick’s unrestrained clapping had given her confidence and Harry . . . well, Harry had scarcely taken his eyes off her.
Faith thought Tom would be somewhere in his early sixties, Dick and Harry not much older than herself.they turned up every time she played and she was sure they brought her luck. Her Talismen.
She should have gone round to the front after her set and spoken to them. Found out their real names. But, somehow, that would break the spell. The applause was definitely warmer for her than it had been for Martin Connery. Perhaps that was because the Talismen were clapping so loudly, or there were more folk fans in tonight than country and western. Faith could do both, but her heart was given to the traditional tunes that people had sung for generations.
Her nerves reached fever pitch when she approached the mid-point of her set.would this audience appreciate something new or should she stick to the tried and tested? Her eyes met Harry’s and he gave her a smile and a nod. She felt a surge of confidence. “And now, I’d like to sing you a song of my own. It’s based on one of our local legends and it’s called Lord Roland And The Deer. I hope you like it.” They did like it. Dick had his fingers in his mouth, whistling, Tom was beaming and Harry gave her a double thumbs-up. She’d speak to them tonight, she promised herself as she struck the opening chords of the next song, and thank them for their support.
She was putting her guitar away when someone came into the grotty little space which was the dressing room. “Faith Brannan?”
“Yes,” she said, looking up. “Could I have a word?” The small man holding out his hand was one of the agents she hadn’t dared approach until she’d got a few more performances under her belt. Her stomach did a back-flip. It was some time before Faith emerged from the dressingroom, her mind in a whirl.the Talismen had left already.
And she’d really wanted to speak to them tonight.
The stage looked the size of a football pitch and the auditorium was a dark cavern.
Faith settled herself on her stool, concentrating on keeping the guitar still on her trembling knees.
What seemed like hundreds of eyes stared back.what did it matter if she couldn’t see one particular pair?
Tom, Dick and Harry had probably only been at all her performances because they went to that particular pub. It was too much to hope they would follow her to this new, bigger venue.
But if she’d ever needed her Talismen, it was now.
She struck the opening notes.there was a ripple of anticipatory pleasure from the watchers and, right at the end of a row,tom was beaming at her.
They were here! Confidence returned to her fingers and, by the end of her set, she knew she had never sung better.
As she took her bow to generous applause, she looked at the row where she’d seen Tom. He was standing in the aisle and Dick was peering over his shoulder.
She couldn’t see Harry, but perhaps they hadn’t been able to get three seats together.the theatre was gratifyingly full. She was surprised and pleased that some people were at the stage door to congratulate her, but Tom, Dick and Harry weren’t among them. Oh, well. Perhaps they’d be there next time.
She knew she was on the road to stardom when she found the audience humming along whenever she sang certain songs.
She didn’t need the Talismen any more, she told herself after yet another fruitless scanning of the faces in the seats. Once, she thought she saw Tom, and several times the sound of whistling mingled with the applause.
But she never saw Harry and she was stunned by the depths of her disappointment.
She missed them, and she’d never thanked them.
One evening she made her way to the Hoop and Grapes.
If the Talismen were there, she could repair her omission and let them know just how much they’d helped her.
The pub was busy, although there was no performance tonight. Faith sat nursing a drink, hoping to see the three men come in for their usual pint.
But they didn’t.
“Pity you didn’t bring your guitar,” the bartender said as he pulled another frothing ale.“you could have given an impromptu performance, like.
Remember your roots, now you’ve hit the big time.” “Hardly the big time.” Faith laughed.“and if I ever get that big-headed you have my full permission to boo! If it wasn’t for you all here . . .”
She looked round at the roomful of people.
“Do those three guys come in these days? Used to be always here. Older one and two younger. Could be father and sons?”
The barman handed over the pint to the customer and turned to her, his grin sliding from his face.
“Frank and his lads? Nephews, not sons.you haven’t heard, then? About the accident?”
Faith’s heart began to beat quicker.
“What accident?” “Some idiot three times over the limit crashed into their car. Totalled it.”
“And them?”
Faith could barely get the words out. Not her Talismen! They brought her good luck; hadn’t they saved any for themselves?
“Last I heard, they were in hospital.”
She relaxed a little. “When did it happen?” “Beginning of May, I think. Yes, mate?” He served another customer.
Faith set her wine glass down and slid off the stool. She tried to think back as she drove home. She’d had her first gig at the new venue at the start of May.
Both Tom and Dick had been there, though she hadn’t seen Harry. So it must have happened after that. Maybe Tom and Dick had been discharged from hospital. Suppose she hadn’t seen Harry because he was more badly injured? Or even dead! If only she’d gone round to see them when they were at the Hoop and Grapes. Now, she didn’t know what to do. The next time she saw any of them at the theatre, she wouldn’t mess about.
Even if it was just Tom or Dick there, she’d go and talk to them and ask about Harry.
As she settled herself on her stool, Faith scanned the audience eagerly.
She had to fight disappointment when she didn’t spot any of the Talismen as she played, but as she took her bow she heard Dick’s piercing whistle.
She shaded her eyes and stared across the rows of faces as they faded into the dimness of the auditorium.
She didn’t see Tom, or Dick. She saw Harry.
He was so pale, he could have been a ghost.
She ducked a last hasty bow, shot off-stage and hurried round to the front of the theatre to tip-toe down the aisle to the seat where she’d seen him.
It was empty.
Quietly, so as not to disturb the next act, she hurried back up the aisle to the foyer. “Did anyone come out just now?” she asked the front-ofhouse girl.
“Guy with a walking-stick? Just left.”
Faith sagged with relief, then pushed through the doors into the street.a man was limping down the pavement and she ran to catch him up. “Harry!” She called the name automatically.
He turned.“yes?”
“Oh!” It suddenly occurred to Faith what she’d done.“your name really is Harry?” He smiled.
“Yes.and you’re Faith Brannan. Frank, Denny and I have been fans of yours since you started at the Hoop. I’m sorry we didn’t make it to your first performance here.” He indicated the walkingstick with a rueful grimace. “Unavoidably detained, I’m afraid.”
“I’m so glad to see you,” she said.“i was afraid . . .”
She looked around, wondering why Frank and Denny hadn’t come out with him.
“But they’ll have told you how it went?”
“Who?”
“Frank and Denny. I saw them, but I couldn’t see you and then I heard you’d had a car crash.”
He looked at her, his face seeming to go even paler. “You saw Frank and Denny that night?” he asked quietly. “Yes,” she said, bewildered. “And tonight I heard Denny whistling, then I saw you.” He reached out and took her hand, his eyes puzzled but holding the same glow that she’d drawn strength from every time she sang. “Faith, we were on our way to the theatre when the crash happened. Frank and Denny died in the hospital.”
A stab of sorrow shot through her. But Harry’s hand was wrapped around hers and that helped.
A new career.a new beginning.
What more could a girl ask? Harry didn’t seem to want to let go of her hand, and she thought that perhaps now was her time to help him.
She wanted to walk into a future with him beside her.