June 25th & 26th, 1970
Cameron and I had left the house early to spend the day in and around Aberdeen. As we were driving along the River Dee mid day, I noticed Duthie Park to our left and my mind drifted to the last time I was at Polmuir Road.
“Do you think Lily would be happy to see me?” I asked.
“I don’t see why she wouldn’t be,” Cameron answered. “Did you want to stop by? We still have time before the meeting.”
I thought for a moment and agreed. We took a little detour and within minutes were standing in front of her house. My hand hovered with hesitation in front of the door. I stole a glance at Cameron, and with a smile he knocked for me.
It took a minute for Lily to get to the door, but once she opened it I could see the surprise clear on her face.
“Hi, Auntie,” was all I said.
“Emily! Come, dear!” she exclaimed, pulling me into a hug and bringing me inside the house. “You too,” she told Cameron, who obliged and stepped inside, closing the door behind him.
We followed Lily into the kitchen, where she put the kettle on and took three cups out of the cabinet.
“I didn’t expect to see you so soon,” she chuckled as she turned back to face us.
“I didn’t expect to be back so soon,” I answered, glancing at Cameron. “It’s just me, though. Liliane isn’t here,” I added.
Lily sat down across from us and I could see how happy she was to see me again, as I was to see her. “I know, dear. I received a call from her yesterday, long distance of course,” she quipped. “Though she didn’t tell me you would be on this side of the pond.”
“I asked Emily to return,” Cameron answered. “You know that I’m a musician, and I’ll be touring for a few months with the rest of the band. I asked Emily to accompany me and she agreed.”
Lily looked at me and winked almost imperceptibly. “Where will you be travelling to?” she asked, obviously curious.
“We will be doing most of the tour in Germany and France,” Cameron began. “Some other dates are planned for Holland, and some British dates as well.”
“Very exciting!” Lily said as she stood to pour the tea.
“It is,” I agreed, my smile wide. “Auntie, would you mind if I gave Liliane a quick call? I’m sure she’s up now, it must be around eight for her.”
“Go ahead, I don’t mind at all.”
With that, I got up from the table and went into the sitting room. I sunk into the armchair by the phone and dialed the operator before giving my sister’s number.
She answered on the fourth ring. “Hello?”
“Hey, Lil,” I responded. “How are you?”
“Emily! I’m doing fine, how are you? The flight was okay? Cameron was there to pick you up?”
“I’m good too, and yes. Also, yes,” I added with a laugh. “We’re at Lily’s right now, I thought I’d give you a call and let you know everything’s fine.”
“I’m glad, thanks for calling. When do you leave to join the travelling musician’s club?” she asked me through a stifled giggle.
“Ten days or so. I’ll write you a letter not long afterwards, so expect that in a few weeks,” I informed her.
“Did you show him the photo of your painting?”
“I did. He loved it,” I told her.
“That’s great.” I could hear her smile. “I’m happy for you.”
“Thanks, sis. Well, our tea is ready and I don’t want to keep Lily waiting, I’ll let you go.”
“Wait, before you go. Thank Cameron for me, for keeping you safe. And remind him that if he doesn’t, he’ll have me to answer to.”
I chuckled, even though I knew she was being serious. “I will.”
“Love you.”
“Same here. We’ll talk soon.”
I hung up and went back to the kitchen, my cup of tea set on the table and Cameron and Lily chatting pleasantly.
“Your sister is doing well?” Cameron asked as I sat beside him.
“Yes, she is. I’ll write her a letter soon, so in about three weeks she’ll be hounding the postman for a letter every day,” I laughed.
When it neared two-thirty, we said goodbye to Lily and made our way back to the house in Cairnie. The rest of the band, plus Geoff and the girls, were to arrive at three, but when we pulled up to the house we saw that some of them had already arrived.
Willie and Dale were standing outside the door, smoking cigarettes and talking. We got out of the car and greeted them; Willie looked his usual solemn self but Dale was happy to see me.
“It’s nice you’ve come back to our keyboardist!” he exclaimed after we exchanged a brief hug.
“Well, I didn’t leave by choice,” I said with a chuckle.
We all entered the house and Cameron left the front door unlocked for the others to enter when they arrived. Soon enough, the house was full and we were just waiting for Geoff. Sylvia and I were chatting when he walked in a few minutes later and immediately called the band to the meeting in the studio.
“What’s it like having lots of snow?” Sylvia asked. “I’ve never seen more than a few inches on the ground.”
“Try three feet of snow by New Years Day,” I quipped.
“Three feet?”
“I’ll give you one better,” I said enthusiastically. “Nine years ago, at the end of February there was an ice storm. An inch of freezing rain fell in two days. And the wind uprooted trees and everything.”
Sylvia said nothing, only a shocked look on her face. After a moment, she began asking questions again and I amused myself by answering them. I was just about to explain how Niagara Falls is actually three separate waterfalls when Lee walked into the room and asked me to join the meeting.
"I thought it was a band meeting," I noted quietly as we walked down the hall towards the studio.
"I'll let Geoff explain," Lee replied, opening the door. All the heads in the room turned towards us, Cameron smiling at me and Willie brooding. Everyone else looked mildly surprised, as if I had food on my face. Knowing I didn't, I made no move and waited to be asked by Geoff to sit.
I pulled up a chair beside Cameron and sat down.
"Emily," Geoff greeted me, "we have a bit of an issue with the album, and Cameron thought you could help us out."
I glanced at Cameron and he gave me a slight wink. I looked back to Geoff and spoke. "What's the issue?"
"The man who was to airbrush a photo of the band for the album cover, his mum's sick and he's backed out of the contract." Then, seeing my face change, he continued. "Now, I'm all for sympathy but he's got a contract with us that's now been nullified, and we're in need of someone to provide us with an album cover."
"And you want me to do it? I've never airbrushed before."
"But Cameron has said you are quite a painter,” Geoff interjected. “Would you be willing to paint something?”
"Quick and dirty,” Willie added in a surprisingly interested tone. “We haven't got much time.”
I thought for a moment and realized that this might be the way to be accepted by the rest of the band, especially Willie and the manager, who didn't seem too happy with my presence. “I'll do it,” I said confidently. "But I'll need supplies, and some sort of idea to go on."
"Lee's got the sketches. He'll fill you in," Geoff said. "Meeting dismissed."
Everyone left the studio except Cameron, Lee, and myself. "Cameron, are you sure about this?" I asked worriedly.
"Yes. Talk with Lee, figure out what you need and we'll get it for you. I'll be right back," he said before giving me a quick kiss and heading towards the living room.
Lee took Cameron’s spot beside me and handed me a sketchbook. "So, Emily, this is what I’ve got sketched out…”
After an hour or so of talking with Lee and making my own sketches, he left with Cameron to get the supplies I would need. Almost everyone had left; only Clyde and Sylvia stayed at the house to keep me company, which I appreciated.
“You know,” Clyde began as he stood, “there’s always been something with Cameron.” Clyde flipped the record and lowered the needle.
“What do you mean?” I asked, curious at his words.
“Something missing. He’s never been one to fool around for the sake of it, but no one’s ever stuck,” he noted. “He’s different with you, though.”
“He’s right,” Sylvia added. “He’s more—”
All talk of Cameron ceased as he walked in the door with Lee, hands full with shopping bags of art supplies and rigid canvases.
I stood and grabbed a bag from Lee, setting it down on the kitchen table and beginning to unpack it. Acrylic paints, multiple styles and textures of brushes, many sheets of thick paper…
It was evening, and everyone had left by now; only me and Cameron remained at the house. He had a test pressing of the album with him and was playing it for me in the sitting room, where I had repurposed the kitchen table and laid down a large sheet to catch any paint. All my supplies were ready and waiting for me, but first, I had to hear what I was painting.
“It’s a shame that no one in North America knows about you guys,” I told Cameron as the last song began to fade. “You’d kick some major ass.”
Cameron laughed. “The time will come. One day we’ll be known all over. And this album is the first step, now that we’ve got a contract for overseas release.”
I smiled at him. “I’m happy to be a part of it. Now, play it again.”
Cameron flipped the record back to the first side and set the needle down. I had sketched some ideas based on what Lee had shown me, but there was something missing from them.
“Is this album about someone?” I asked. “It seems almost like a plea, but for who, I don’t know.”
“You’ve got a keen ear,” Cameron noted. “It’s mainly about a man that Willie and I used to know, an old teacher of ours. He died in Korea. We were young and he had greatly impacted both of us,” he told me.
“I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be, love. It’s not your fault there was a war.”
“Still,” I commented, “it’s not fair to die in someone else’s war.”
“No, it’s not.” Cameron paused in thought and then looked back to me. “We wrote this album as a statement. People can come from very little and do very much with themselves.”
Cameron began to describe to me his teacher and the impact he made, and by midnight II had two completed canvases, and the last was half finished. Cameron was reading on the couch but dutifully kept the turntable going.
It was difficult to paint on a schedule and at the same time make something worthy of being the cover for an album they’d all worked so hard on. I had a few last touches to add when Cameron stood and came to stand behind me.
“It’s not finished, not yet,” I told him.
“It’s wonderful,” he answered. “You’ve painted all over your arms.”
“Always happens,” I explained. “This is the first time you’ve seen me paint, isn’t it?” I added a few small brushstrokes and set down the brush and palette I’d been holding. The third version of the cover art was finished.
“Yes, it is,” he said. “I love seeing you so passionate.”
“I haven’t been so happy to paint in a long time.”
“I’m glad I could help with that,” Cameron noted. “Now, let’s go to bed.”
We got out of bed in the early morning, again woken by the shrill sound of a telephone. Cameron answered it and came back to the bedroom.
“Don’t go downstairs in your panties,” he warned me. “Willie should almost be here.”
“For what?” I asked incredulously.
“To see your paintings,” he said as if it made sense.
“I’m not even sure they’re finished,” I moaned. “Why does he have to come right away?”
“Just be grateful he didn’t barge in here at three in the morning to ask if they were done,” Cameron said with a laugh.
“Why, is that like him?”
“Very like him.”
With that, I stood and quickly got dressed. Brushing my hair and teeth took less time than I thought, so after I signed the corner of the canvas I even had time for a quick toast before Lee and Willie arrived with too much gusto for so early in the morning.
“You two look dead,” Cameron noted.
I was glad I didn’t say it, because Willie shot him a stern look. Lee, on the other hand, looked apologetic. He came up to me and pulled me aside as Cameron and Willie discussed something on the other side of the room.
“So? How do they look?” he asked me anxiously.
“Cameron says they look great,” I told him. “But come see for yourself.”
We’d removed some art from the walls in the hallway to put the three canvases up to dry. I brought Lee there and he gasped.
“That’s amazing! I think Willie will like it too, even with that stick up his—”
“That stick up my arse?” Willie asked, startling both of us. Cameron was behind him, but slipped past to come stand beside me with an arm around my waist. Lee looked bashful, but Willie ignored him in favour of the canvases.
‘This isn’t the Louvre,’ I said to myself as he critiqued the first painting.
The second had a more dramatic feel to it, but it was the third painting that caught Willie’s attention. He turned to us and nodded. “This one.”
“That’s that, then,” Cameron said. “Give this to Geoff and tell him to get it to his man.”
Lee delicately took the painting in his hands and lifted it off the wall, walking behind Willie. He glanced back at me and winked, I smiled in return.
We saw them both to the door but once they’d left, I hugged Cameron tight. “That was nerve-racking.”
“Was it?” he chuckled. “I suppose Willie can be like that sometimes, but I’ve known him so long I barely notice it anymore.”
“Well, I respect your... whatever-it-is for him, but right now, I’m glad he’s gone,” I said with a chuckle.
Cameron laughed and hugged me closer to him. “I can understand that.”
We laughed for a moment until my gaze fell to the two rejected paintings. "What will we do with these?" I asked.
"We'll decorate with them."
“Do you think Lily would be happy to see me?” I asked.
“I don’t see why she wouldn’t be,” Cameron answered. “Did you want to stop by? We still have time before the meeting.”
I thought for a moment and agreed. We took a little detour and within minutes were standing in front of her house. My hand hovered with hesitation in front of the door. I stole a glance at Cameron, and with a smile he knocked for me.
It took a minute for Lily to get to the door, but once she opened it I could see the surprise clear on her face.
“Hi, Auntie,” was all I said.
“Emily! Come, dear!” she exclaimed, pulling me into a hug and bringing me inside the house. “You too,” she told Cameron, who obliged and stepped inside, closing the door behind him.
We followed Lily into the kitchen, where she put the kettle on and took three cups out of the cabinet.
“I didn’t expect to see you so soon,” she chuckled as she turned back to face us.
“I didn’t expect to be back so soon,” I answered, glancing at Cameron. “It’s just me, though. Liliane isn’t here,” I added.
Lily sat down across from us and I could see how happy she was to see me again, as I was to see her. “I know, dear. I received a call from her yesterday, long distance of course,” she quipped. “Though she didn’t tell me you would be on this side of the pond.”
“I asked Emily to return,” Cameron answered. “You know that I’m a musician, and I’ll be touring for a few months with the rest of the band. I asked Emily to accompany me and she agreed.”
Lily looked at me and winked almost imperceptibly. “Where will you be travelling to?” she asked, obviously curious.
“We will be doing most of the tour in Germany and France,” Cameron began. “Some other dates are planned for Holland, and some British dates as well.”
“Very exciting!” Lily said as she stood to pour the tea.
“It is,” I agreed, my smile wide. “Auntie, would you mind if I gave Liliane a quick call? I’m sure she’s up now, it must be around eight for her.”
“Go ahead, I don’t mind at all.”
With that, I got up from the table and went into the sitting room. I sunk into the armchair by the phone and dialed the operator before giving my sister’s number.
She answered on the fourth ring. “Hello?”
“Hey, Lil,” I responded. “How are you?”
“Emily! I’m doing fine, how are you? The flight was okay? Cameron was there to pick you up?”
“I’m good too, and yes. Also, yes,” I added with a laugh. “We’re at Lily’s right now, I thought I’d give you a call and let you know everything’s fine.”
“I’m glad, thanks for calling. When do you leave to join the travelling musician’s club?” she asked me through a stifled giggle.
“Ten days or so. I’ll write you a letter not long afterwards, so expect that in a few weeks,” I informed her.
“Did you show him the photo of your painting?”
“I did. He loved it,” I told her.
“That’s great.” I could hear her smile. “I’m happy for you.”
“Thanks, sis. Well, our tea is ready and I don’t want to keep Lily waiting, I’ll let you go.”
“Wait, before you go. Thank Cameron for me, for keeping you safe. And remind him that if he doesn’t, he’ll have me to answer to.”
I chuckled, even though I knew she was being serious. “I will.”
“Love you.”
“Same here. We’ll talk soon.”
I hung up and went back to the kitchen, my cup of tea set on the table and Cameron and Lily chatting pleasantly.
“Your sister is doing well?” Cameron asked as I sat beside him.
“Yes, she is. I’ll write her a letter soon, so in about three weeks she’ll be hounding the postman for a letter every day,” I laughed.
When it neared two-thirty, we said goodbye to Lily and made our way back to the house in Cairnie. The rest of the band, plus Geoff and the girls, were to arrive at three, but when we pulled up to the house we saw that some of them had already arrived.
Willie and Dale were standing outside the door, smoking cigarettes and talking. We got out of the car and greeted them; Willie looked his usual solemn self but Dale was happy to see me.
“It’s nice you’ve come back to our keyboardist!” he exclaimed after we exchanged a brief hug.
“Well, I didn’t leave by choice,” I said with a chuckle.
We all entered the house and Cameron left the front door unlocked for the others to enter when they arrived. Soon enough, the house was full and we were just waiting for Geoff. Sylvia and I were chatting when he walked in a few minutes later and immediately called the band to the meeting in the studio.
“What’s it like having lots of snow?” Sylvia asked. “I’ve never seen more than a few inches on the ground.”
“Try three feet of snow by New Years Day,” I quipped.
“Three feet?”
“I’ll give you one better,” I said enthusiastically. “Nine years ago, at the end of February there was an ice storm. An inch of freezing rain fell in two days. And the wind uprooted trees and everything.”
Sylvia said nothing, only a shocked look on her face. After a moment, she began asking questions again and I amused myself by answering them. I was just about to explain how Niagara Falls is actually three separate waterfalls when Lee walked into the room and asked me to join the meeting.
"I thought it was a band meeting," I noted quietly as we walked down the hall towards the studio.
"I'll let Geoff explain," Lee replied, opening the door. All the heads in the room turned towards us, Cameron smiling at me and Willie brooding. Everyone else looked mildly surprised, as if I had food on my face. Knowing I didn't, I made no move and waited to be asked by Geoff to sit.
I pulled up a chair beside Cameron and sat down.
"Emily," Geoff greeted me, "we have a bit of an issue with the album, and Cameron thought you could help us out."
I glanced at Cameron and he gave me a slight wink. I looked back to Geoff and spoke. "What's the issue?"
"The man who was to airbrush a photo of the band for the album cover, his mum's sick and he's backed out of the contract." Then, seeing my face change, he continued. "Now, I'm all for sympathy but he's got a contract with us that's now been nullified, and we're in need of someone to provide us with an album cover."
"And you want me to do it? I've never airbrushed before."
"But Cameron has said you are quite a painter,” Geoff interjected. “Would you be willing to paint something?”
"Quick and dirty,” Willie added in a surprisingly interested tone. “We haven't got much time.”
I thought for a moment and realized that this might be the way to be accepted by the rest of the band, especially Willie and the manager, who didn't seem too happy with my presence. “I'll do it,” I said confidently. "But I'll need supplies, and some sort of idea to go on."
"Lee's got the sketches. He'll fill you in," Geoff said. "Meeting dismissed."
Everyone left the studio except Cameron, Lee, and myself. "Cameron, are you sure about this?" I asked worriedly.
"Yes. Talk with Lee, figure out what you need and we'll get it for you. I'll be right back," he said before giving me a quick kiss and heading towards the living room.
Lee took Cameron’s spot beside me and handed me a sketchbook. "So, Emily, this is what I’ve got sketched out…”
After an hour or so of talking with Lee and making my own sketches, he left with Cameron to get the supplies I would need. Almost everyone had left; only Clyde and Sylvia stayed at the house to keep me company, which I appreciated.
“You know,” Clyde began as he stood, “there’s always been something with Cameron.” Clyde flipped the record and lowered the needle.
“What do you mean?” I asked, curious at his words.
“Something missing. He’s never been one to fool around for the sake of it, but no one’s ever stuck,” he noted. “He’s different with you, though.”
“He’s right,” Sylvia added. “He’s more—”
All talk of Cameron ceased as he walked in the door with Lee, hands full with shopping bags of art supplies and rigid canvases.
I stood and grabbed a bag from Lee, setting it down on the kitchen table and beginning to unpack it. Acrylic paints, multiple styles and textures of brushes, many sheets of thick paper…
It was evening, and everyone had left by now; only me and Cameron remained at the house. He had a test pressing of the album with him and was playing it for me in the sitting room, where I had repurposed the kitchen table and laid down a large sheet to catch any paint. All my supplies were ready and waiting for me, but first, I had to hear what I was painting.
“It’s a shame that no one in North America knows about you guys,” I told Cameron as the last song began to fade. “You’d kick some major ass.”
Cameron laughed. “The time will come. One day we’ll be known all over. And this album is the first step, now that we’ve got a contract for overseas release.”
I smiled at him. “I’m happy to be a part of it. Now, play it again.”
Cameron flipped the record back to the first side and set the needle down. I had sketched some ideas based on what Lee had shown me, but there was something missing from them.
“Is this album about someone?” I asked. “It seems almost like a plea, but for who, I don’t know.”
“You’ve got a keen ear,” Cameron noted. “It’s mainly about a man that Willie and I used to know, an old teacher of ours. He died in Korea. We were young and he had greatly impacted both of us,” he told me.
“I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be, love. It’s not your fault there was a war.”
“Still,” I commented, “it’s not fair to die in someone else’s war.”
“No, it’s not.” Cameron paused in thought and then looked back to me. “We wrote this album as a statement. People can come from very little and do very much with themselves.”
Cameron began to describe to me his teacher and the impact he made, and by midnight II had two completed canvases, and the last was half finished. Cameron was reading on the couch but dutifully kept the turntable going.
It was difficult to paint on a schedule and at the same time make something worthy of being the cover for an album they’d all worked so hard on. I had a few last touches to add when Cameron stood and came to stand behind me.
“It’s not finished, not yet,” I told him.
“It’s wonderful,” he answered. “You’ve painted all over your arms.”
“Always happens,” I explained. “This is the first time you’ve seen me paint, isn’t it?” I added a few small brushstrokes and set down the brush and palette I’d been holding. The third version of the cover art was finished.
“Yes, it is,” he said. “I love seeing you so passionate.”
“I haven’t been so happy to paint in a long time.”
“I’m glad I could help with that,” Cameron noted. “Now, let’s go to bed.”
We got out of bed in the early morning, again woken by the shrill sound of a telephone. Cameron answered it and came back to the bedroom.
“Don’t go downstairs in your panties,” he warned me. “Willie should almost be here.”
“For what?” I asked incredulously.
“To see your paintings,” he said as if it made sense.
“I’m not even sure they’re finished,” I moaned. “Why does he have to come right away?”
“Just be grateful he didn’t barge in here at three in the morning to ask if they were done,” Cameron said with a laugh.
“Why, is that like him?”
“Very like him.”
With that, I stood and quickly got dressed. Brushing my hair and teeth took less time than I thought, so after I signed the corner of the canvas I even had time for a quick toast before Lee and Willie arrived with too much gusto for so early in the morning.
“You two look dead,” Cameron noted.
I was glad I didn’t say it, because Willie shot him a stern look. Lee, on the other hand, looked apologetic. He came up to me and pulled me aside as Cameron and Willie discussed something on the other side of the room.
“So? How do they look?” he asked me anxiously.
“Cameron says they look great,” I told him. “But come see for yourself.”
We’d removed some art from the walls in the hallway to put the three canvases up to dry. I brought Lee there and he gasped.
“That’s amazing! I think Willie will like it too, even with that stick up his—”
“That stick up my arse?” Willie asked, startling both of us. Cameron was behind him, but slipped past to come stand beside me with an arm around my waist. Lee looked bashful, but Willie ignored him in favour of the canvases.
‘This isn’t the Louvre,’ I said to myself as he critiqued the first painting.
The second had a more dramatic feel to it, but it was the third painting that caught Willie’s attention. He turned to us and nodded. “This one.”
“That’s that, then,” Cameron said. “Give this to Geoff and tell him to get it to his man.”
Lee delicately took the painting in his hands and lifted it off the wall, walking behind Willie. He glanced back at me and winked, I smiled in return.
We saw them both to the door but once they’d left, I hugged Cameron tight. “That was nerve-racking.”
“Was it?” he chuckled. “I suppose Willie can be like that sometimes, but I’ve known him so long I barely notice it anymore.”
“Well, I respect your... whatever-it-is for him, but right now, I’m glad he’s gone,” I said with a chuckle.
Cameron laughed and hugged me closer to him. “I can understand that.”
We laughed for a moment until my gaze fell to the two rejected paintings. "What will we do with these?" I asked.
"We'll decorate with them."
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