Part Seven:             

In every sense Chris was a talented lad. He made Darcy laugh as she had never laughed before. He made her feel special by bringing roses to the hotel, where she worked, and leaving them at the desk for her. He took her to places she had never been and she accompanied him on all of his gigs. The band was very popular, so there were quite a few of those.

The nights were becoming later and later, as the gigs came up further and further away, until one night the band was too tired to drive back. Chris and Darcy stayed with the parents of one of the other band members, travelling back in the morning.  The governors were not impressed. They had not liked her going out in the evenings. They said she was a bad influence on the other residents and made her promise not to continue this way.

Of course, Darcy could not keep that promise. To her, Chris was everything she had been missing and therefore, much more important to her than anyone she had ever known. There were no more nights away from home but she still went to his gigs and so stayed out later than was acceptable.

One Saturday morning, Darcy was catching up on her share of chores, as she always did, when one of the other girls came in waving a leaflet. It was an advert for a summer festival where Chris’ band was playing for the whole weekend. The others all gathered round. They were plotting to sneak out and go en-mass. Darcy kept quiet, praying they would not get caught, but of course they were overheard in their excitement and, when questioned, they blamed her for setting the trend.  The governors took action. Darcy was grounded and forbidden from seeing Chris again, until she was eighteen.

The heart will hold out pitiful hands

To plead for what it has been starved

Where iron roses gather rust

The lovers see their names there carved

Each letter gouged to represent

A love that never can repent

Why oh why must rules step in

To tear asunder two as one

Such a gift cannot be wrong

When all around love has begun

It’s too much for a heart to take

The right choice now or heart will break

After several heated disagreements with the inflexible hostel governors about ‘bad behaviour’ and ‘proper conduct’, Darcy made a decision. On the Friday afternoon, when the house was quiet, Chris came to the side door. He and Darcy hurriedly piled her belongings into his big blue van then they took off to the summer festival.

The time has come to make a trade

A choice of comfort, safe within

Or heart’s desire to live life full

Even though that choice is sin 

Prepare to flout, rebel, rescind

And throw all caution to the wind

Adventure starts out with a risk

A leap of faith, that’s if you will

Whilst blinkered you’ll not see the sun

Nor feel excitement at the thrill

Of taking life in both your hands

And watching as your world expands.