‘We must feature Jo and some of her menagerie in the programme about animal friends,’ he said when Jo had nipped out to use the cloakroom. ‘Sounds like she’s pals with all her animals.’
‘That’s Jo.’
‘Is she single?’ asked Gary.
‘She is.’
‘Do you think she’d have dinner with me?’
‘What are we, Gary? Fourteen? Ask her yourself.’
‘Out of practice. Can’t you ask for me?’
‘I think she’d have dinner with you.’
He grinned. ‘Seriously? Excellent.’
‘And make sure you tell her how gorgeous she is.’
‘I will. She is. In the meantime, I hear you have a lead on finding your friend.’
‘We do. That’s why we came into the office, to do a bit of research and printing out.’
Gary left us to it for the rest of the afternoon. The link that the Wikipedia page had provided for old members of the Rainbow Children led to further links. One had a phone number that I tried immediately.
‘Hello,’ I said, ‘I got your number from Wikipedia. I’m looking for previous members of a group called the Rainbow Children.’
‘Can’t help you,’ said the voice on the other end. ‘We’re a life insurance company.’
The next number led to a dull tone telling us that the number was no longer in service.
‘What about the food chain? What was it called?’ Ally asked.
Jo checked the page again. ‘Rainbow Foods then became … what was it Sara?’
‘Harvest. It’s just down the road from where I live, about a ten-minute walk but, as I said, all the staff are kids.’
‘Try phoning,’ said Ally. ‘Ask who the founding members were and if any of them are still around. You never know.’
‘Good idea,’ said Jo, and googled for the phone number. ‘Got it,’ she said a few minutes later.
‘Put it on speaker,’ said Ally, as Jo punched in the number and a moment later, a woman answered.
‘Hi. I’m looking to track down an old friend and believe one of your founder members there might know her or someone who knows her. Is there anyone who works there who was involved in the Rainbow Children, a group who were around in the—’
‘Yeah. I know who they were,’ said the woman. ‘You need to speak to Tom Riley.’
‘Is he there?’
‘Not often these days, and he’s on holiday in Goa at the moment.’
‘When will he be back?’
‘Next week some time, I think.’
‘Can I leave a message?’
‘You could. He’s pretty hopeless at returning calls, so I suggest you come in and try and catch him. What’s the name of the friend you’re tracking?’
‘Michelle, Mitch Blake.’
‘Nah. Don’t know her.’
‘Is there anyone else there who was involved with the Rainbow Children.’
‘Nah. Don’t think so. Only Tom.’
‘So near but so far,’ said Jo after I’d switched off the phone.
‘At least we’ve got a lead,’ said Ally. ‘We just have to wait.’
‘So what’s next?’
‘Meeting Ajay, then out onto the street to further our research into what makes a friend,’ I said. ‘This time we’ll be asking the public.’
*
Half an hour later, we’d met up with Ajay and were busy filming sound bites on Ladbroke Grove. Some people were happy to be filmed, others shied away from the camera.
‘Do you have any rules for your friendships?’ I asked a white-haired elderly lady who was waiting at a bus stop.
‘Stay in touch,’ said one old lady. ‘And if you choose your friends wisely, they’ll last a lifetime.’
‘Don’t talk about your friends behind their backs,’ said a teenage girl who was standing behind her. ‘It always gets back to them.’
‘Keep your mates’ secrets. No exceptions,’ said her friend.
‘Be kind and show your appreciation,’ said a lady on her way into the chemist.
‘Accept your mates for who they are, even if they’re mad,’ said a teenage boy.
‘Be loyal and don’t post rubbish pictures of them on Instagram,’ said another teenage girl, ‘or they might do the same with crap photos of you.’
‘Tell your friends you love them,’ said another elderly lady. ‘It can cheer them up no end. We all need a bit of love in our lives.’
I turned the camera on Jo. ‘Be a friend to yourself,’ she said.
I looked over at Ally. ‘Be yourself with real friends,’ said Ally. ‘And what about you, Sara?’
‘Er … listen as well as talk,’ I said, and Jo and Ally laughed. Cheeky sods.
We got some good stuff, which could be edited to use interspersed throughout the series as well as added to my list of rules for friendship. All in all, a good day, I thought when we finally headed home.
Chapter Thirty-Five
Mitch
Summer 1975
On the journey down to Devon, I discovered that the latest in the Rainbow expansion was to be a school. Many parents involved in the movement felt that state schools didn’t always provide what they wanted for their offspring. These were children of the golden age and their parents wanted their education to reflect that.
A friendly bearded man called Derek drove me from London to the southwest.
‘And what’s my role to be?’ I asked.
‘Domestic cocoordinator,’ he replied.
‘Cooking?’
He laughed. ‘More than that, a lot more than that. There are about forty people living in the area where the school’s to be. Three different groups and no one to oversee them.’
My alarm bells began to ring. ‘Why are there three different groups?’
‘The people who want to live the commune life, then there’s the teachers and their families and, lastly, the others who work the land.’
‘So where do they all live?’
‘At the moment, some inside, others are in caravans on the site and some are in the outbuildings. Problem is, there’s one big kitchen area but everyone is preparing their food and eating separately. No one’s sure of anyone’s role or whose food is whose or when they can get in to cook. It’s a mess, so they need someone to pull
