In the meantime, Beth had sped off early for her assignation with the organisers at the head of the Pride assembly point. There was a trace of sadness as she ate up the miles as she really wanted to be with her lover on a day like this. However, she'd angled to the the one to cover this event. She'd had competition amongst cynical and callow journalists in the Independent arts section who didn't care a jot about this and ey would turn out some flippant or callow pot boiler of an article and she didn't want that. She knew Karen's attitude to duty and this pushed aside her regrets so she focussed on the matter in hand. She finally slipped through the traffic in good time to coincide with the photographer's arrival to interview the Pride organising committee.
It was strange how she slipped so easily into her professional role as if she were some external functionary, aided by the fact that she'd never met the two men and two women before. Her questions sounded impersonal and professional and realised that, in their eyes, she was a fashionably good looking journalist in her formal red dress who didn't at least ask stupid questions. They took care to be formally enthusiastic in their turn while Beth's colleague blasted off a selection of shots of the committee and the lead float around which the early arrivals were clustered.
"So what would you be doing if you weren't paid to be here?" a guy finally asked her after holding himself back all this 's answer came right off the top of her head.
"I'd be with my girlfriend on the third float down, the Chix club float. She knows I have to be here to do best justice to this event but I still miss her."
The man's eyes opened wide. He squashed the obvious thought, 'I didn't know you were gay' and noted this woman's understated support for this event. The guy with her was obviously straight but he'd freely admit that he didn't find women particularly easy to read.
"I'm sorry that just for you, duty has to come before pleasure. If there's any more help we can give you, just say the word. I hope you catch up with your partner later on," he said in solicitous tones and his three colleagues' manner instantly warmed to her.
"Here's my business card in case we can talk at some time in the future. Thanks a lot you guys, we'll maybe catch up with you at the end of the parade," Beth replied a lot more chirpily than before. This guy had cheered her up and he knew it.
"Come on Jim. We're best off wandering round the crowds,doing short interviews and taking some photographs. After that, we'll head off to the central rally," Beth directed the young man firmly. He was a decent enough photographer, sticking to his brief in taking shots of the group but he was short on initiative and had to be pointed in the right direction.
"Where's that?" he asked vaguely.
"Trafalgar Square. I've been here before so I'll show you," she said shortly, not caring greatly what the guy might make of this.
Beth was certain that she'd find likely interview subjects as she knew some of them closely but wasn't certain how her professional persona would relate to her personal self.
"Hey that's Beth," Karen exclaimed, waving excitedly at her woman. she was intensely proud of the statuesque dark beauty as brief glimpses of her drew closer."I guess she'll interview us? I mean you're the obvious choice. " she asked of Trisha, looking to her of a lead. She didn't think it right to push in.
"We need a few of us to help trisha out. all of us are equally good at saying it as it is. I daren't risk ripping my tight dress getting down of this truck," Helen intervened decisively.
"That leaves Nikki and Cassie," George observed.
"Me? You don't know what I can do," Cassie protested in an uncharacteristic self effacing manner that endeared her to the others.
"We know that Helen and Nikki know you and Roisin well enough. They say nice things about you mothers certainly helps us," Jo Mills offered kindly. On the journey down, she'd observed these two women closely and had got to like them. Cassie listened hard to this last observation and this crystallised her unsteady confidence.
"Can you explain for the readers who are out there just what London Pride means for you all?" Beth started off asking a representative sample of participants who were also her friends while flashbulbs flared, seizing the chance while the procession was temporarily stalled. Trisha senses her friend's intense self-consciousness and avoided talking directly to her but to imaginary crowds out there in the leafy suburbs.
"And this is also for us mothers. We come here in different shapes and sizes you know. Hi you guys," Cassie found herself saying and waving excitedly to Michael, Niamh and Rose in their custom decorated T-shirts who waved and jumped up and down impulsively. Beth murmured an aside to Jim to snap this photogenic scene.
"We'd better talk to the kids afterwards to make sure they know what they're letting themselves in for before you can use this shot," Nikki said gently, intercepting Helen's concerned expression on her face.
"I'm sorry Nikki. It's the journalist side of me coming out. We won't use this shot if you have real problems," Beth answered apologetically, her uneasiness compounded by her impulse not to linger out of personal pleasure but to search out other mini-interviews in the crowds.
"Thanks so much Beth," Trisha said, kissing her friend on her cheek. With tears in her eyes, Beth blew a kiss to the crowd on the float, to her lover in her black dress. In a few seconds, she was gone. Trisha, Nikki and Cassie realised they had to clamber back up onto the float as the procession was sure to start up in a minute.
"And that's the Marble Arch," declaimed Roisin in marental mode as she pointed towards the large marble shape at the corner of the expansive greenery of Hyde park.
"Last time we came this way was the the second big antiwar march in 2004. you were there too Rose," Helen said in nostalgic tones to Nikki and Rose while they took a break from dancing.
"Yes but I was so little. It's not fair I can't remember it," complained Rose against the limitation of human biology to general laughter.
"Even you caqn't remember that far back Rose," put in Michael with tender affection.
"Hey, look at that nice hotel, the Dorchester Hotel," Michael exclaimed as the firm lettering against the elegantly rounded frontage came into view.
"That's where Cassie first declared her love for me. Mind you it wasn't the easiest situation for us both," pronounced Roisin proudly. The aptness of this parade passing by this monument to their past was striking.
Cassie grinned at the way her partner had understated the situation by a mile. She'd expressed her desires for Roisin when her frustration had boiled over. The smart suit and evening dress monument to heterosexuality at this evening meal and dance clashed with her binocular vision of Roisin's loveliness. That history was a long time ago and it was curious that this was the first time they'd passed by this hotel since then. Roisin squeezed Cassie's hand as they shared this thought.
As time went on, the parade moved irrevocably ever onwards and the music and percussive sounds echoed and reechoed down the streets. In the cab, Sally- anne had become comfortable with cruising gently down the city streets. She felt as if she was in a waking dream though she knew she wasn't. Women smiled and waved at her from every side as she drove the truck masterfully ever onwards. Finally shouts of joy cut a sharp edge through the massed sounds as the high pillar of Nelson's Column came into view under which a large stage and wraparound canopy came to dominate perspectives. Even the majestic buildings that surrounded them intio the square couldn't detract from their destination.
"Wow," was all Michael could say about the majesty of their surroundings and the enthusiasm radiating off the crowds that were already filling the square amidst which fountains shot cooling water into the air..
A Pride steward flagged down Sally as she pulled into the square and she opened the window.
"This is the drop off point for you guys. Here's a map showing where to park your truck on the embankment and how to get back here. We've got some friendly police to keep an eye on your truck while you're away," called out the friendly woman. when sally-Anne got out and passed word to the others, the DJ switched off the music and the crowd started to disembark down the stepladders and trod the tarmac with whoops of joy.
"Hey, the ground feels so wobbly," Cassie called out with wide eyed innocence.
"That comes from hours of adjusting to the flatbed which has been bouncing around. I remember that from a fwew Prides I've been to in the past," commented Nikki as past mental images floated back to her while the crowd started to assemble.
"I'll be with you in a bit when I've parked up," sang out Sally Anne from high up as she moved off and away. The crowd waved to her and started to merge into the crowd ready for the spectacle of music and spoken word to take place. Presently, they found themselves getting close to a blockage where the fountains both impeded the traffic and shot sprays of water high into the air.
In the meantime, Sally Anne drove the truck down Northumberland avenue and turned onto the Embankment and spotted the sign designating the parking spot. There were only a few places taken so far and she dropped the truck neatly into its spot. As she stepped down from the cab after locking it up, she faced none other than Ros Farmer, one of the friendly neighbourhood policewomen and a Chix regular along with her longtime partner Jenny , she'd never conmnected the ultimate pleasurable cause with someone else's official duty.
"Well hi there Ros," was all she could say.
"Some women have all the luck in casting an eye on the trucks so no idiot steals or vandalises them while you're off to the party," Ros replied in her useful forceful manner.
"I'm ever so sorry," she said in flustered tones.
"I'm joking Sally. Jenny's been at the head of the parade while I've been elsewhere on the march but this is a nice little overtime earner for us both for something we believe. Go on and enjoy yourself. You and Trisha are always doing parties for other women so you've earned it."
Reassured by this friendly woman and knowing that the truck will be in the best possible hands, Sally Anne hastily nipped along the road where she could hear party sounds at a distance. They sounded curiously detached from her after hours of being in the middle of the action. She paced back up the street and, with minimal attention to the traffic, made a bee line for the crowd and phoned Trisha on her mobile to locate her in the midst of the rapidly swelling crowd as more of the demonstration joined the crowd in Trafalgar Square.
The whole event was hugely overwhelming in colour and noise but at some point in the proceedings, Michael Niamh and Rose in particular found themselves becoming restive as they realised that they were running short of the endless energy and drive of the past few hours. This was starting to catch up with them. Being in a huge crowd of grownups put them at a disadvantage as everyone was taller than they were. They could hear a mixture of sounds and music but they couldn't see. They felt how all the grownups around them were happy and excited but they couldn't feel the same. It put them at odds with themselves and they felt grouchy and guilty atr the same time but couldn't put it into words. Finally, in a gap in the proceedings, Rose pulled at George's black sleeve and her green eyes managed to look upwards and catch George's eye.
"I'm really sorry to say it but I'm really tired and want a rest. Niamh and Michael feel the same," she said in a disconsolate tone of voice.
All this time, the fair-haired woman had been incredibly excited about being at the heart of this life affirming experience along with her lover and closest friends so that she was exceptionally attuned to emotion. Somehow, she found emotional space for this darling little girl for who she'd already had a soft spot which made up for her lack of emotion in her reduced share in bringing up her own daughter Charlie. Her two friends had grown on her as the three of them had thrown themselves into helping this grown up enterprises. It moved her that these children's experiences were distinct and not hers.
"Trisha, I think the children could do with a rest," she called out in her clear carrying voice. The other women picked up on the conversation and started up a rapid emergency conference. when they'd done, Helen and Roisin looked kindly on their offspring and looked to George to make the announcement.
"We've decided to have a slap up meal at that restaurant along the way. You children have really worked hard and must be terribly tired with all the work you've done. We've earned the right to take a break and we rather like the idea as well. It's on me," George said in her kindest tone of voice.
"Is it right to leave the others to it? It doesn't feel right," Michael asked as he was worried by the thought of the grownups being made to break ranks.
"Hey relax Michael," Nikki said in her most easy going fashion."Your sense of duty is great but we've got a lot of experience of Pride demonstrations and it's pretty common for people to take a break. We're not letting the others down."
"Cassie and I are new to this but we'll go along with the rest," interjected Roisin eagerly and loyally.
"Besides, we're going to have an interesting experience. George and I with our legal get up, your T-shirts and the others who are colourfully dressed will be flying the flag in the restaurant. It will keep people guessing aqnd there's enough of us to handle any trouble," finalised Jo in sober tones and an amused glint in her eye.
The accumulated weight of strength and insight passed into the three children's senses, cleansing them of any conflict. It all sounded mischievous. If these women and their mums in particular were up for this meal, then everything was all right.
"All right you guys, let's go," Trisha said. leading the way out of the crowd. as they moved off the square and across the wide road, they felt a curious sense of detachment and separation from the collective experience that had surrounded them for all these hours. George took over the lead as she zeroed in on the restaurant. She took hold of the brightly polished brass door handle and pushed the door open with a good feeling of breaking down barriers.
The boisterous young lads clustered at the bar with pints of bitter turned their heads as the restaurant doors blew open and two really attractive older women in legal get up convinced them that this was some kind of joke. They clocked the bunch of women as part of a hen night as they were in various kinds of fancy dress and bulked up the crowd. The children in T-shirts with Pride stencilled on the front made them think again and stare in puzzlement till the penny dropped that these were some kind of lesbians. As their bus had been delayed for an hour or so by this garish noisy demonstration till they finally got to pop in for a drink, they started to glare angrily at these interlopers. However, the short-haired woman dressed in her mannish looking suit moved to the front and looked hard so they downed their drinks and moved off elsewhere, muttering remarks under their breath.
"Thank God for that," exclaimed Roisin with a shiver."They were really making me feel uncomfortable."
"It clears the way for us to eat, drink and be merry," grinned Jane, always ready for a party. The children felt secure and comfortable, especially as they were offered comfortable seats round the long bar table while the grownups got hold of some the fime, subdued echoes of music and various sounds perxcolated through the restaurant walls and sounded softly hypnotic. Suddenly, the women realised they were more tired than they'd realised as an emotional and physical kickback from all their intense energies were suddenly expended. They sighed with pleasure as they collapsed into the restaurant chairs for an unmeasurable timespan. The children weren't much better.
George was the first to take action. Comandeering a sheety of paper and pen from a passing waiter which made the others grin at her boldness, she briskly asked of them what they wanted off the menu.
"And what about us? Are we to have children's portions?" Michael asked of George. Roisin winced slightly at her son's adolescent bid to be treated as equals when he and the others had already proved themselves.
"Take a look at that meal being served," smiled George broadly in her expansive fashion."if you think your stomach can handle it, then go for it. It's up to you three."
Michael grinned easily at that unselfconscious compliment to his maturity.
"And if Niamh and I can't quite finish it?" Rose asked in doubtful fashion.
"If in doubt, don't take on more than you can handle," Jo advised soberly which decided the two girls to play safe.
"but if you do overestimate, there are enough gannets around to help out Michael if push came to shove," joked Karen in her typical manner to a ripple of laughter around the table.
"And as for drinks?" asked Roisin who, like Cassie, felt a golden glow of pleasure coursing through her tired system.
"Us kids will stick together with coke. We don't feel like anything else," Michael answered after a quick silent confab. With a final squiggle, George wrote out the meal order and called over one of the young waiters.
The afternoon sunshine filtered its way through the restaurant windows with faint echoing music or was it the memories of being in the thick of loud dance music pumping out from the Chix float? It all chimed in with a gloriousd feeling of togetherness. They'd accomplished so much this day. The three children sensed in warm satisfaction the way each woman was paired off psychically with another with the exception of Karen whose partner Beth was somehow out there somewhere. The world felt good and natural.