"This is an announcement for all passengers awaiting flight 370 to London Heathrow. This flight is now boarding at gate fifteen - will all passengers for flight 370 to London Heathrow please make their way to gate fifteen!"
"That's our flight!"
Sadie Monahue glanced up at the big display board, getting to her feet and scooping up her pink rucksack. "It's about time - how long did they think we were gonna wait for?"
"As long as it bloody took, I imagine." Jetta Pelligrini, Nancy's mother and the chief executive of music company Misfit Music grimaced, ushering the group of girls to hurry themselves and follow her to the gate. "They rather 'ave the advantage over us, in that without their 'elp we can't get to London. Keepin' us waitin' for four hours isn't great business, but there ain't a lot we can do about it, short of swimmin' the atlantic."
"We'd have to trek across America first." Nancy put in, slipping her bag onto her shoulder. "Mom, are we sitting together on this flight, or are we dotted everywhere? Last time we were split up I got stuck next to a highly exciteable Jewel fan who would not stop talking or asking questions for the whole flight!"
"I bet that was funny." Aurora Stapleton grinned. "Was that the last time you flew to England, Nance?"
"No, coming back." Nancy rolled her eyes. "After the tour we'd had, all I wanted to do was get home and crash and there was this irritating girl the whole way from Heathrow to New York. Thank God for connecting flights, that's all I have to say!"
"Come on with you." Jetta put in at that moment. "Else they'll board without you. Got your passports an' everythin' else? Good. In answer to your question, Nancy, We're together. Six seats - three either side of an aisle. You can sit as you choose - I ain't fussed where I sit, probably on the outside to make sure noone harrasses you too much."
"Can I have the window?" Sylva begged. "I love watching the sea from the sky."
"Nobody would believe she was twenty-three in April, would they?" Nancy looked amused. Sylva put out her tongue.
"What? You're never too old to enjoy the view!" She retorted.
"You can have the window, Syl, if you like." Copper nodded her head. "It's a long flight and I'll just be happy to get a seat that's comfortable and go to sleep. We've already been waiting long enough - by the time we get to London we'll have lost a day!"
"Hazards of international travel, that." Sadie observed. "I know when I came to America at first I was very disorientated by the time change."
"Where are we staying first, Jetta?" Aurora, or "Topaz" as she was known, cast their manager a questioning look. "I know where we're spending Hallowe'en, of course, but are we going to be in London first of all?"
"Yes." Jetta eyed her keenly, then, "London is the biggest city in the UK - we cant avoid it. Jewel are goin' to be playin' the city three or four times before we move on. Why?"
"I was just curious." Topaz pursed her lips, then, "I'm glad Hollie's staying in Los Angeles with Cynthia, to be honest. I don't know if I might run into...well, anyone, and I'd rather keep her out of it all."
"This tour ain't about your personal problems with Cameron Milligan." Jetta said acidly. "Nor is it about my problems facin' 'is poor Ma without lettin' 'er know she's a grandmother, neither. It's about Jewel, and that's that. I'll tell you now, Topaz - it's my plan to keep you girls strictly under orders while we're in the capital. Jewel 'ave 'ad enough scandals in the last few months and this won't be another one! There's to be no fraternisin' in the city with Cameron or anyone else you might 'ave met there before - is that understood?"
"I'd rather it was that way." Topaz looked relieved. "I'm not in any hurry to see him again, Jetta. I intend to do exactly as you say, don't worry."
"If you do, kid, it'll probably be a first." Jetta said dryly.
"What about when we play Birmingham, Jetta?" Sadie handed her passport and boarding pass to the lady at the desk with a smile. "Am I allowed to visit my family there, if we have any free time to do so? It's been a long time since I was last in England - nine months now since I saw Alyssa or my nieces and nephew or...well, Georgia, too. I know we're busy, but are you going to keep us to quarters in Birmingham, too?"
Jetta pursed her lips.
"I suppose you 'ave the right to visit family." She said, resigned. "We 'ave a free afternoon - a Wednesday, I think - the day before you play the NEC. You 'ave a photoshoot in the mornin' an' an interview on lunchtime television, then there's nothin' for the rest of that day. I suppose I can't stop you visitin' your sister then, if she wants to see you. But you've been warned, Sadie - I don't want to know you;ve come back this time with another bunch of cops on your tail, anxious to stick you for murder."
"I promise." Sadie nodded. "I just want to see my family, that's all. Josh was tiny when I saw him last, and he must be almost a year old now. And I want to see how Georgia is doing, too. I haven't seen her since her trial."
"And then we're at the castle." Copper murmured, as they found their seats on the plane. "I'm not sure whether to be spooked or excited by that part of the trip, to be honest. I mean, it's a great publicity venture for Jewel...but what if there really is a ghost?"
"Didn't I tell you already that there's no such thing?" Nancy scolded her, slipping down in the seat next to her. "Don't start talking like Syl, please! You'll both be hallucinating like mad if you do!"
"Okay, okay." Copper grinned. "But I've never stayed in a place as old as this before. I mean, an English King might have stayed there while on the run for his life - don't you find that even the slightest bit exciting?"
"Not really." Nancy shook her head, watching as Sylva slipped into the window seat across the aisle, beside Topaz. "Whether the poor guy did or didn't stay there's fairly irrelevant now, considering either way he's been dead for seven hundred or more years."
"You have no sense of romance." Copper teased. Nancy grinned.
"Nope. Not even a tiny bit." She agreed. "But use your sense, will you? If you carry on like that, you're gonna turn into a walking guide book, and we can find out anything we want to know about Bainbrook Castle when we're there. Okay? This tour isn't just about spending Hallowe'en in the tower."
"I suppose it isn't." Copper acknowledged. "All right. You win."
"Do you suppose this tour will go more smoothly than last time?" Across the aisle, Sylva had turned from where she had been examining her view with some satisfaction, noting that she was far enough from the wing to get a decent look at the landscape once they took off.
"God, I hope so." Sadie shivered. "I don't like being interrogated on a murder charge, Syl, so I really don't want to do that again! Last tour was a nightmare from start to end where I was concerned - it wasn't the comeback to England I intended, put it that way!"
"But you lived to tell the tale." Topaz pointed out. "I'm glad that I'm coming along this time, by the way. I missed you guys when you were in England in January, then Morvania."
"Won't you miss Hollie, though?" Sylva asked. Topaz nodded.
"Like hell." She agreed. "Because I've not been away from her really, not since she was born. I have no idea how she'll react to the idea of spending two or three weeks in Cynthia's care, or how I'll cope being half a globe away from her. But I am glad she won't be in England. The further she is from Cameron the better."
"And even single mothers deserve a break." Sadie dimpled. "Hollie won't hurt in Cynthia's care, you know that."
"No...that's something I have every faith in." Topaz said dryly. "She's far more competent with Baby Jewel than I am, trust me! But I'm learning, bit by bit. And now baby's on the move, she's making me more ragged around the edges than she did before. I guess you're right, Sadie. I do need the break."
"I doubt we'll see Cameron in London, you know, even without Jetta's strictures." Sylva turned her attention back to the window, as the plane doors were shut and the seatbelt lights flashed. "I don't think you're his favourite person at the moment."
"I wouldn't think I was, since I pretty much cut off all communication with him." Topaz said ruefully. "But that suits me, you know. I still have feelings for him - plenty of feelings, in fact - but I don't need to see him. It'd do more harm than good, and I'd rather not have that kind of confrontation if I can avoid it."
"So would all of us." Sylva told her fervently. "Besides, we're in Britain to play music this time."
"And buy shoes, no doubt." Sadie cast a playful look down at the synth player's dark blue heels. "Because those are mine, Syl, and I want them back when we get to London!"
"Are they?" Sylva looked startled, glancing at them. She looked sheepish.
"Whoops, they are." She admitted. "Sorry, Sadie - they must've got in my closet by mistake or something."
"Yeah, a lot of my shoes have a habit of doing that after you've borrowed them." Sadie giggled. "It's fine, Syl, just I spent two hours last night looking for them to pack, and now I know why I couldn't find them!"
"Well, at least they're packed!" Sylva dimpled. "Right?"
"Guess so." Sadie nodded. Topaz grinned.
"I'm glad I don't share a shoe size with you, Syl." She admitted. "But Sadie, you and Copper should know by now that if you can't find a pair of shoes, they'll probably be in Syl's closet."
"Well, Jewel are like sisters, and sisters are supposed to share." Sylva defended herself. "Besides, you know I'd lend you any of mine if you wanted them."
"Yeah, but I never seem to need them as often as you need mine!" Sadie laughed.
"Syl, you've seen these mediaeval gowns Shana and Regine produced, haven't you?" Topaz asked. Sylva nodded.
"Yes, and they're the most gorgeous, gorgeous things." She replied. "It's a shame you two didn't get to see them before they were packed, but they are so so pretty, I swear. They're all olde worlde and chic, and they're gonna be fab on stage. They're not all heavy and restrictive but they do look very mediaeval - at least, they do to me. Gaynor helped with them too, you know."
"I've been in LA long enough to know that Shana Julian and Regine Cesare are designers you can trust in." Sadie reflected. "I'm sure they're as good as you say they are, Syl. I'm curious to see them myself." She grinned. "After all, all of this mediaeval stuff is part of my heritage, isn't it? I suppose if you really dug back into the Monahue family, you'd find some old duke or knight or something clanking around in my ancestry."
"Just as easily in mine as in yours." Sylva objected. "My Dad's family were eastern European, with a touch of Singapore somewhere in there for good measure, but my Mom's family are mongrel Americans, and I'm pretty sure their roots are British somewhere along the line. Phillips isn't a Spanish name, so they didn't come from Spain or anything like that. Maybe they came over on the Mayflower!"
"Syl fancies having a title hidden in the closet." Topaz laughed. "Well, Syl, you never know! For that matter, I'm sure Stapleton has some distinguished English roots!"
"Yeah, and then Copper's probably descended from some great Spanish noble family." Sadie giggled. "And hey, Nancy's probably twelve-thousandth in line for the throne of England, considering that her Mum's as English as I am!"
"Okay, now you're getting silly." Sylva laughed. "But it is kinda cool to think about, don't you reckon? We all must've come from somewhere."
"Profound, as ever." Topaz looked amused. "Oh, I don't disagree. But it's impossible to trace those things, Syl. Sadie might have a hope, because her family have been in England forever, and still are. But yours and mine have scattered rather. It'd be very hard to pick up threads and find a connection."
"True." Sylva nodded. "Oh well." She winked. "It's obvious to me that I have blue blood, even if it isn't obvious to anyone else!"