‘Come on, Toots, let’s go.’ Bessie grabbed the Doctor’s hand and led him away.
Bessie and the Doctor headed off on the iBike, which Bessie had steadfastly refused to sell. She took the road that ran alongside the railway line. She knew the tuneful clickety-clack of trains and some old school Jamaican rocksteady would settle the Doctor’s aching heart.
‘My goodness,’ he said to Bessie. ‘I’d forgotten what a wonderful contraption this is.’
Dr Boogaloo hadn’t ridden the iBike for years. He’d been so busy fixing other people’s tunes he realised he’d been more than a little neglectful of his own.
An afternoon train slid up alongside them.
Ka-ch-ka-chaar … ka-ch-ka-chaar … ka-ch-ka-chaar … ka
ch-ka-chaar.
The Doctor’s bones relaxed. He breathed a deep sigh. His breath emptied out.
The weather changed. It began to sprinkle. Bessie headed for the Yellow Moon Hotel in town. A tall glass of their yellow lemonade would be just what the Doctor ordered. Opposite the train station, the only traffic light in town turned red. Bessie stopped the iBike and waited for the green. The rain fell harder.
Suddenly, the iBike stopped playing music. Instinctively, Bessie and Dr Boogaloo looked around and tuned in to the landscape. They could hear the rain and three birds singing on the electricity wires above them. Wa waar wa waar. Then, out of the pedestrian tunnel that ran beneath the train station, wafted some sort of music.
‘I don’t recognise that music. Do you, Bess?’
Bessie shook her head. This was a highly unusual situation.
‘Let’s have a listen, shall we, Bess? For old times’ sake?’
‘Let’s,’ said Bessie.
They parked the iBike and wandered into the tunnel. Busy people, with their eyes on their phones and heads bowed, walked swiftly past.
In the middle of the tunnel the Boogaloos found a scruffy three-piece band. Their clothes were torn and dirty. Their hair looked as if they’d just got out of bed. But their playing was extraordinary. The drummer, a hairy podgy fellow, played unlike anyone Dr Boogaloo had ever seen or heard. Stirring and stroking the drums, the beat swirled and eddied like a fast-flowing stream. The guitar – played by a young boy who, apart from a pair of bright purple sneakers, almost blended into the grey walls – twinkled like the stars. On piano, the Doctor immediately recognised a wizard. Not an ordinary wizard, of course, but a musical wizard of the highest order. He had long hair and a long pointy beard. His fingers were encrusted with rings. His neck hung heavy with pendants and beads. His tiny piano, balanced on his knees, bounced about as his feet tapped along. And his playing sounded like the breath of all living things.
Music filled the tunnel, just like a swan-bone flute. It was the saddest music in the entire world. Everything the Doctor felt about being unable to help Blue swam through his body. He bowed his head and began to weep. He wept and wept and wept. Bessie held his hand and wept too. Even the musicians cried. Tears fell onto the piano keys and splashed onto the skins of the drums.
After a while, Dr Boogaloo stopped crying. He looked at Bessie. ‘We’ve got to go.’
‘Where to?’ asked Bessie.
‘To Blue’s house.’
CHAPTER 18
A Dash of Red Castanets
Before they had a chance to knock, Blue burst out the front door.
‘What are you doing here?’ she said, hugging them both. ‘You’ve got to stop the sale, you can’t close the clinic. You can’t, you can’t, you just can’t.’
‘Never mind about that now. You have to come with us,’ said Dr Boogaloo. ‘Quickly!’
Dr Boogaloo and Bessie grabbed Blue by the hand and they ran to the iBike.
‘How are we going to fit?’ asked Blue.
‘On the iBike?’ said Bessie. ‘There’s room for a quartet, let alone a trio!’
Blue squished her way up between Bessie’s arms. ‘I never thought I’d get to ride this lovely machine again,’ she said. ‘Oh, how I’ve missed my rides with you, Bessie.’
‘We’ve missed you too, Blue. Go ahead,’ said Bessie, nodding towards the musical gears.
Blue pulled the jukebox lever. A Mexican mariachi band began to play, mixed in with a bit of honky-tonk piano.
‘I know this one,’ said Blue excitedly.
‘Thought you might,’ said Bessie.
‘Such sweet violins and those trumpets! And that big warm guitar sounds just like a cuddle. I’m pretty sure they’re playing live on a hillside. I can hear the notes bouncing off the slopes,’ said Blue.
‘You’re right, luv. How far you’ve come. And listen to the piano – played near a river on a bright sunny day, wouldn’t you say?’
‘Definitely. I can hear the sun shining on the piano keys, and the soft flow of the river mingling with the notes.’
Blue closed her eyes. Seconds, or maybe days, later her nose tingled with the familiar smell of burning rubber. She felt an abrupt thud. They were outside the pedestrian tunnel near the train station in town.
Dr Boogaloo leapt off the bike. ‘Come on!’ he said, breaking into an impolite trot. ‘There’s no time to waste.’ The three of them ran towards the tunnel. The rain was falling hard, hammering their faces like sharp nails.
As they entered the tunnel, the music hit them. Gravity doubled. They struggled to walk against the force of the music. Blue felt it penetrate every atom of her being. Her chest heaved beneath its weight. The music was so unbelievably sad. As she stood and watched the strange trio, Blue realised this music was how the Doctor and Bessie felt about being unable to help her. Blue couldn’t hold back her tears any longer. She began to cry.
Heads bowed, Blue, Bessie and the Doctor all wept together. Without even knowing it, Blue reached into her pocket and pulled out her castanets. She pressed them together. Her fingers danced, tapping out the tune of their unbearable pain.
Trains came and went above them. The lights in the tunnel had flickered on. A warm shade of electric yellow. Blue looked at the weeping
