The Finchbottom Vale nestles comfortably between
the Ancient Dancingdean Forest to the south and the rolling Pepperstock Hills
in the north, and to the east 15 miles inland from Sharpington-By-Sea,
equidistant between the seaside resort and Pepperstock Green was the rambling
village of Brookley and at its heart was St Mildred’s Church.
The
villager’s spiritual needs were met by its vicar Rev Cecil Payne who lived
at the adjacent vicarage with his wife Lily and their six unmarried daughters,
Chrissie, Daniela, Hazel, Heather, Katie and Elise.
For Lily her hopes involved the
grandchildren that were not forthcoming whereas Cecil just wanted them to
spread their wings, but as Easter loomed, there was no sign of either of them
getting their wish, but the power of prayer was a wonderful thing and both
parents prayed for their daughters.
However
24 year old Hazel had already found love, and that love had lasted since she
was eight years old when she fell in love with music.
Hazel was a very
accomplished musician, and an exceptional talent, and was something of a
prodigy and could have pursued a career had she not also loved God and between
her music and her faith she had no room in her heart to love anyone else as
well.
But as Easter approached
something happened that turned her world upside down when they were at the
height of the rehearsals for Easter, when at the beginning of Holy week, she
tripped down the church steps and broke her arm.
The choir rehearsals ground to a halt as
she was confined to the Vicarage to rest, while frantic phone calls began to find someone of a decent enough standard to fill her shoes and it took a
couple of days phoning around the county to find Harry Paul who had just
completed his Masters at Abbottsford.
Harry was another
prodigious talent but unlike Hazel he was a relatively new convert to the
faith.
It was when he was in his first year at
University and having arrived from a rural community to a large and busy city,
of all things that might have happened to him, the most surprising thing was that,
despite the fact that he had always believed himself to be an atheist, he had
found solace in God.
He wasn’t sure where it came from, it
certainly wasn’t from his upbringing, and although his grandmother and
grandfather were both from strict Methodist families his parents were not
believers themselves.
In fact he had never even set foot in a
Church until he was almost 19, when one of his housemates asked him to escort
her to mass at St Hilda’s Church, on one cold dark December night.
Glenda was the chorister and her
presence was very much required but her usual companion was unwell so she was
facing the walk there and back on her own.
But Glenda was of a nervous disposition
and really needed an escort so Harry volunteered.
He planned to walk her to the door,
leave her there in the safety of the church and then pick her up later, but it
was a bitterly cold night so Glenda persuaded him to go inside.
“You can just stand at the back”
“Ok” he agreed but as soon as he walked
through the doors he felt it, it was like a comforting hand settling on his
shoulder and he immediately felt at home.
After
that first time he became a regular and within six months he playing church
music, although St Hilda’s didn’t have an organ so it was a further year before
he had his first experience of a real church organ, and he enjoyed it so much
that he chose organ music for his masters.
He
quickly gained a reputation as a talented and gifted exponent on the instrument
and was very soon asked to sub for organists at Churches all over Abbottsford.
So
when Arthur Owens, Vicar of St Hilda’s heard on the grapevine that his old
friend Cecil Payne was in dire need of an organist with Easter looming he
didn’t hesitate to suggest Harry Paul for the task.
He even drove him over to Brookley to
introduce him to his friend and when Harry entered St Mildred’s during Holy
week he again felt Gods hand on his shoulder so he knew at once that he was
where he was meant to be.
“Good to see you again Cecil” said
Arthur and the two men embraced.
Introductions were made and then the two
clergymen went off to the Vicarage and left Harry with choirmaster Robert Perry
who introduced him to the instrument, and the choir.
There was no time however for him to
ease into the role because even though St Mildred’s
had found Hazels replacement relatively quickly they still lost two days
rehearsal, which was time that had to be made up so Harry hit the ground
running because as Easter approached the Choir needed to intensify the
rehearsals to catch up and he was impressed as everyone involved gave total
commitment and worked diligently to make up for lost time.
He was starting to panic
as he had another piece to play in the Good Friday service that did not involve
the Choir that he needed to practise.
But when it got to the
evening of Maundy Thursday there was only Heather Payne’s Good Friday solo, and
Choirmaster Robert Perry kept insisting on Heather doing the solo over and
over, not because he was a hard task master, it was obvious that he was
mesmerised by her angelic voice, and appearance.
However Harry eventually
called a halt to proceedings when Robert asked to go again.
“I don’t think that’s
necessary, it’s getting late and you can’t improve on perfection”
“No you’re quite right”
Robert agreed with his eyes still fixed on Heather.
Once the choirmaster and his angel had
gone he set about practising one of the two pieces he needed to rehearse, and
it was the one he was performing the next day that he gave his immediate
attention to, and fortunately it was the easier of the two but he still stayed
at the organ until the early hours, and would have stayed longer if the Vicar
hadn’t dragged him away to the Vicarage.
But the next day he was up early and was
on the way out the front door of the Vicarage before Lily Payne caught him by
the arm.
“Oh no you don’t young man” she said
“But I really need to get back to the
church” he protested
“Not without some breakfast inside you”
she insisted and steered him into the dining room where the entire Payne clan
were sitting around the table and apart from Heather and the Vicar there were
unfamiliar faces looking back at him.
“Harry dear boy” the Vicar said amiable “let
me introduce you to the brood”
The Vicar went around the table
introducing his daughters in turn, but it was the last of the six who had
caught his attention.
She was a very striking looking young
woman with long brown hair, tied in a French Plait, she was also very straight
backed and showed a confidence he might otherwise have found quite disarming,
but Harry very much liked what he saw, and he knew from the fact that she had
her arm in a sling that she was Hazel, the organist.
“And you must be the organist” Harry
said “You have a great reputation, I look forward to hearing you play, by all
accounts you not only play beautifully but have a great repertoire”
“Well that’s kind of you to say” she
responded and blushed at the compliment
Harry sat down at the table and Mrs
Payne put a plate of Bacon and Eggs in front of him
“Thank you” he said and then addressed
Hazel again
“How long before you’re on the mend?”
“At least six weeks” she said sadly
“I can’t imagine not being able to play
for that long” Harry said
“It’s not great” she agreed “but I’m
counting the days”
“Well I promise I’ll do my best in your
absence” Harry said
“I just hope I can do that wonderful
instrument justice”
“I’d love to come and listen to you
practice” Hazel said
“I’m afraid not” Mrs Payne said “You
have to rest”
“But I can rest and listen at the same
time” she pleaded
“Absolutely not” her mother insisted “But
if you do as you’re told and spend the day resting you can come to the service
this evening”
Hazel
rolled her eyes and frowned in response and Harry smiled
“Sorry”
he whispered conspiratorially
“I
hope they let you out later”
He
only managed to get just over an hour of practise in, as the church was quite
busy being prepared for the service.
It
was an important day in the church calendar and could either be at noon or in the evening but at St
Mildred’s it was the latter.
That
evening everything came together and all the choir practice and his additional
sessions paid off, not that Harry himself was convinced, and he had his doubts
as he descended the steps but as he planted his foot on the final step he
looked up and saw Hazel Payne sitting on the front pew and when their eyes met she
smiled and gave him the thumbs up with her good hand.
He
was going to go and speak to her but her mother quickly spirited her away back
to the safety of the Vicarage.
The
next day was Holy Saturday, the Great Vigil of Easter, and when he got downstairs he thought he would report to the dining
room, he told himself it was because he didn’t think he should attempt to leave
without breakfast again, but in reality he was hoping to engage with Hazel
again.
Because
it was so rare for him to have someone to talk to about proper music, let alone
church music, and even rarer than that, organ music, well that was what he told
himself but actually he really liked her.
Unfortunately
when he walked in he found no table full of Payne’s, just the Vicar.
So
he had coffee and toast and then walked over to the church.
Hazel
managed to slip out of the Vicarage without being seen after her mother left to
drive to the supermarket.
She
expected to find Harry practising and when she entered she found him doing battle
with a piece by Wesley.
Hazel was an accomplished organist and had played
at the church for many years but she hadn’t just sat in the church and listened
to the music, so she did just
that and she sat in a pew with her eyes closed and moved her hand and fingers of her
good hand as if she were playing it herself and when the piece was finished she nodded and smiled
and when Harry emerged from behind the curtain she said
“Well
done”
“Oh
bless me” he said “you scared me”
“Sorry”
Hazel said and giggled
“That’s
ok I just didn’t know there was anyone else here” he said
“How
come you’re still practising?” she asked “You really don’t need too”
“That’s
very kind of you to say so” he said “I needed to reacquaint myself with the
piece”
“That
makes sense then” she said “It’s a tricky piece if you haven’t played it in a
while”
“I
bet you wish you were playing it” he said
“Yes,
but alas I won’t be playing it this Easter” she said wistfully “I will be quite
rusty by the next one”
“Would
you like to play now?” he asked hopefully
“I’d
love to, but I can’t” she replied nodding towards her sling.
“We
could do it together” he suggested “You can play the right hand and I’ll play
the left”
“Oh
yes please” she replied enthusiastically
So they spent the next two hours playing together
on the organ and they would have gone on longer had they not been disturbed by
her mother.
“Hazel!! Is that you?”
The music stopped abruptly and they looked at each
other and Hazel shook her head’
Mrs Payne waited for a reply then Harry’s face
appeared from around the curtain
“Hello Mrs Payne” he said
“Ah Harry is Hazel with you?”
“No I’m afraid not, I haven’t seen her since
yesterday”
“Oh dear I was convinced she’d be in here” Mrs
Payne said
“Well if I see her I will be sure to deliver her to
the Vicarage without delay” he said
“Ok dear” she said an walked briskly off
“Thank you for fibbing” Hazel said “I’m having fun
and I’m not ready to stop yet”
“That’s ok” he said “I’m enjoying it too but just
another half an hour, you are looking a bit pale”
“Fair enough” she agreed
As it turned out she only managed fifteen minutes
as fatigue set in and she asked
“I think I need to go home now, will you take me?”
“Of course” he said and helped her down the steps
then she took his arm and they walked slowly to the door.
Once outside they started down the steps and her
legs went wobbly so he scooped her up in his arms.
“Goodness knows what I’m going to tell your mother”
he said
“Tell her you found me sitting in the gallery” she
responded quietly
“I don’t like lying to her” he said
“If you tell the truth she might not let me see you
again” she said in barely more than a whisper
“And you wouldn’t like that?” he asked
“No I would not” she retorted
“Then I shall fib” he declared and smiled
The
Vicarage door was open by the time he got up the path and her mum was by the
door, but she had no question for him, so no lie was required, instead she led
the way and he followed on and he carried her upstairs and lay her on her bed and
then her mum and sisters took control and he was surplus to requirements.
The Great Vigil of Easter, is a service held in traditional Christian
churches as the first official celebration of the Resurrection of Jesus, which
is held in the hours of darkness between sunset on Holy Saturday and sunrise on
Easter Day, most commonly in the evening of Holy Saturday, and is the first
celebration of Easter.
There is some music during the service, but there was more prayer and meditation than music,
but Harry was not meditating on Christ’s Passion and Death, his thoughts and
prayers were exclusively for Hazel and her well-being and he swore a vow never
to put her at risk again.
At the end of the service proper when his
contribution was over he went to a vacant pew and knelt on a hassock and prayed
and after a few minutes Mrs Payne knelt beside him and put her hand on his.
“She wants to see you”
“She’s alright?” he turned and asked her
“She’s
fine now, she was just exhausted” she said then she smiled and added
“Organ
playing will do that to you”
“You
knew?”
“I
always know” she replied “What I was unsure of was whether it was you or the
music that was keeping her there”
“And?”
“And you will need to go and see her to find that
out” she replied enigmatically and left him to ponder.
In truth his pondering lasted milliseconds and he
headed as quickly as was expedient without breaking into a run.
When he got back to the Vicarage he was met by a
smiling Heather who said
“Wow that was quick, go on up, she’s waiting for
you”
So without responding verbally he went up the
stairs to Hazel’s room.
The door was open slightly but before he proceeded
he took a moment to collect himself, took a deep breath and then knocked.
“Come in”
Harry accepted the invitation and pushed the door
open to find a radiantly smiling Hazel sitting up in bed looking the picture of
health, albeit with the assistance of her sisters, and a touch of makeup.
Suffice is to say that that Easter marked a special
beginning for
Harry and Hazel, and Holy Saturday in particular would forever mark the
anniversary
of when two accomplished organists became a duet.
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