Monday, August 4th, 2076
Both women did actually enjoy the meal and the conversation. Alyce watched the back and forth between her companions and smiled. She has never really been much into sport, but knows how some people can be rabid about it. Alyce prefers to drink wine with her meal if it is available and takes a couple of glasses as she works her way through the very nice dinner.
On the way back to the train from the restaurant, a trio of street musicians had set up to entertain the evening foot traffic. A young man and woman are playing violins, while another young man is sitting on a chair with a cello between his knees. All three are dressed in jeans and wearing T-shirts decorated in the current psychobilly style. Both violinists have long hair, although the woman's is quite a bit longer. The cellist's hair is buzzed short all over. Most of the people passing by push on without really sparing the young musicians a second look, but some stop to listen for a bit before moving on. By the time Al and his companions leave the eatery and walk past them, the small group has collected a few bits of scrip and some coins in the battered instrument case in front of them. Alyce holds the others back for a couple of minutes then places some scrip in the case as she nods to the three and waits for them to take a break between songs. She holds out her hand to each one. “You are very good, young three. Do you take requests?”
The male violinist seems to be the spokesman. “Bloody right, that. You call and we’ll play it if we know it.”
The cellist calls out. “We mostly do covers, but we do have some original stuff.”
Alyce turns to her friends. “I think I will stay here and listen to these people for a bit, if you do not mind. No need to wait unless you want. I don’t think I will be long. I’ll be fine here if you want to get back to the train.”
Grace nods and looks at Al, taking her cue from his actions.
Alyce turns back to the man with the violin. “I sort of like the cello bits. Do you have any covers of something Robyn Lysander has done?”
“The blind chick? Sure, we’ve done her before, but let me make sure we have some music for that.” He turns to the cellist, who nods, and then the young woman, who has not said anything yet. As she nods, too, he steps closer and the three confer quietly for a few moments before the first man turns back to Alyce. “OK, we have some of her stuff.” He smiles and nods his head over at the sitting man. “Jimmy says to tell you that he isn’t as good as she is, so don’t expect that.”
Alyce nods and the three begin to play a medley of some of her songs, plus a few covers of other string instrumentals. Alyce lets the music wash over her and feels it begin the healing process for what she has been letting bother her. The number of people watching the trio varies but is never more that seven or eight at a time as some stop for a bit and are replaced by others when they leave. Alyce’s keen ear picks up the slight mistakes they make but they are neither so numerous or so blatant as to detract much from the overall sound. When they break, she nods to them. “You are all quite good. Thank you very much.” She motions for the male violinist to step forward and digs a credstick from her clutch. “Here, give me your ‘link so I can give a better show of my appreciation.”
The man fishes a battered Meta from a pocket and hands it to Alyce, who slots her stick and transfers some money to him. She hands it back and his eyes widen. “Bloody hell, lady. I think you put too many naughts in here.” He hands it back to her but Alyce shakes her head.
“I never make mistakes with naughts. Consider it an investment in your future.”
The young man, still a bit shaken, shows the ‘link to his friends, who likewise give Alyce some odd looks. In the noise, she walks up to the cellist and touches his arm. “I know a thing or two about playing one of these. May I try, please?”
The man looks confused but the other says, “Hey, Jimmy, she just gave us enough to buy you a new one if it breaks. Let her try it.”
Alyce shakes her head. “No, Jimmy is perfectly right. It is his instrument and he has every right to not want others to touch it.”
Jimmy looks at her and nods as he hands it over to her. “Sure. No problem.”
Alyce smiles at him and takes the cello from his hand and sits on the chair he had been using. She pulls the instrument to her lap and leans over it, lowering her head and speaking to the cello in a voice so soft that the words are not clearly heard. While speaking, she runs her hands along the wood, feeling the grain and the curve, and plucks gently at the strings. The trio of musicians watches this and shake their heads. Jimmy almost reaches out to take his instrument back when Jillian, the female violinist, takes his arm. “Hey, don’t. You remember when old Burnette got that new violin because, because, Frag what was his name? Right, Vinson, sat down and ruined Burnette’s old one? Remember how the guy spent a few minutes before class talking to the new one. We all thought he was crazy when he said we should always talk to an instrument we were not used to, just as a sort of introduction? Looks like she went to the same school as Burnette.”
After a couple of minutes of talking to the cello, Alyce places it upright, takes the bow in her hand, and begins to play. Jimmy is a good cellist, but Alyce is a great cellist and the difference in the way the instrument performs in her hands is clearly noticeable. All three young musicians look on in amazement as she goes through two songs. After silencing the instrument, Alyce looks at the violinists and waves her bow. “You can join me at any time.” Over the next half hour, Alyce and the two violinists entertain the passers-by and Alyce lets the music work its magic on her. The small crowd of onlookers grows, as does the pile of coins and scrip in the violin case. After the last song, Alyce stands and takes bows with the others and shakes hands all around as she gives the cello back. Jimmy smiles broadly and shakes his head. “I don’t know how you got it to sound like that, lady, but I’m not sure I could ever do that.”
Alyce nods and chuckles. “I felt exactly the same when I was your age. Keep at it and you will get better. I see a lot of potential in you.”
At that time, a man steps out of the crowd and raises a device in the air as he takes some photos of the four musicians together. “Tell me, Miss Lysander, what brings you to Bristol? I am sure that the readers of ‘Music Times’ would be interested in knowing.”
As her three new companions turn to the man first then back to Alyce, she nods. “Brian, right? Aren’t you usually up in London? You must be over here covering the concerts. I was down here for a couple of days to take in the wonderful city and listen to some classic psychobilly. And to get some impromptu practice in with these new friends of mine. Why don’t you come see me in London in a couple of weeks and I will give you my impressions.”
The reporter is pleased that Alyce remembers him from the two interviews he has done in the past, but he also knows when an interview is over. “Thank you, Miss Lysander, I will do that. Now, then, if you will excuse me, I was on my way to cover another venue when I caught sight of you here. It was nice to meet you again and I will leave you alone.” The man bows and heads of to cover his story. It is not unusual to find celebrities of all kinds at these concert events, and he is hoping to find someone with a little more star power than a concert cellist.
Alyce turns back to the others and shrugs. “Sorry about that. I was hoping to avoid that sort of thing. Anyway, listen, the London Symphony provides music internships for deserving musicians and I think that the three of you have the skills to do well there. You at least deserve the chance. I am sending each of you the name and public com code for Judith Merimar. She sits as the head of the selection board for this program this year and I would recommend that all of you contact her. The internships are invitation only and those of us on the board are allowed to make recommendations for the positions available. The selection board will meet in two months and I will be sending Judith a recording of your work that I heard earlier. I wish you luck. I am also sending you a link to the matrix site for the project so that you can decide if this is even something that you want to consider. Now, I should be getting back to my train. Thank you for a splendid after dinner evening and also thank you, Jimmy, for letting me use your instrument.”
The three young musicians are still watching Alyce with open mouths as she smiles at them and walks off towards the train.