Adventures of Devon Carlton - 8. ADC Chapter 8

While the band members and Devon where eating, the band manager informed them that the next two planned concerts had been postponed to a later date, due to problems with the next venue, and security issues, this now gave them five full days before the next stage of the tour begins, and it was suggested that they find a good hide away and have a short holiday. Devon smiled and stood up and walked over to a corner away from the group so he could make a phone call.

“Hello Cousin, this is Devon Carlton speaking… ha, ha, ha, yes I guess my Aussie accent is a dead giveaway, I’m calling to check two things, first is it ok to arrive a few days early, as in late tonight?... and the other thing is a big favour.

I have five very good friends with me, all of them well behaved and in need of a short holiday before they continue with their business next week, you will understand when you meet them, I can’t say any more than that… yes, that is great thank you so much, I look forward to meeting you face to face tonight, Bye for now”.

Devon was far enough away for the others not to hear what he was saying on the phone, and they were in deep discussion on what to do for five days. “Guys I may have a solution for your short and sudden holiday before I knew you guys were performing in Inverness, I had contacted a distant relative who has a remote estate deep in the highlands, and I was planning to spend two weeks with them.

I just contacted Douglas and asked if I could bring five friends with me and he said that would be fine, so if we check out soon and get going, we will be at the estate at about 9.30pm.” Devon said hoping to spend more time with his friends and get to know them better.

The band manager shrugged his shoulders and walked off to do other things, Devon walked over to the fridge to get some more juice, while the guys talked about the offer that Devon suggested, when Devon returned and saw the big grins on his friends faces he started to back off but it was too late, the cup of juice was snatched out of his hand and Devon was once again the recipient of a 5 way bear hug.

Once Devon had sat down and recovered from the hug, he looked at his friends, “I guess that means it’s a yes” he said cautiously not wanted to get into another bear hug so soon, all five of them nodded their heads yes, and the manager returned to say the limo had arrived.

Devon decided he would make his own way back to the hotel, in case photographers managed to get photos of him in the limo, and he stayed behind and ate some more sandwiches, while his friends got into the Limo and headed back to the hotel.

About half an hour later Devon walked through the passageway to the admin area, where he was shown to a side door by Natasha, a venue staff member, who slipped her arm around his waist as they went out the door, where there where a few reporters and photographers hanging around.

When they saw the venue staff member in uniform with her presumed boyfriend, they didn’t bother to ask any questions or take any photographs, and let them pass them, Devon leaned over and kissed her on the cheek and whispered thank you to her, and she blushed quickly.

When they had walked a block away from the venue, Devon ushered Natasha into a café, where they ordered a pot of tea and cake, once seated Natasha said she sometimes had to escort VIP’s out and pretend to be attached to them to avoid the media, she didn’t mind doing it, as it was the end of the working day and she now had two days off.

When Devon heard this, he decided to let her meet the band personally before they get going, so he dashed to the counter, cancelled the order, paid for it and returned to the table.

Grabbing Natasha’s arm, Devon asked her to trust him and led her the remaining two blocks to the hotel, and showing his room key, they were allowed past security, as a number of photographers and reports were hanging around outside.

Once on the 4th floor, he went straight to room 418 and knocked, then he stepped back so Natasha was in front of the door, when Hugh answered the door and saw the venue uniform and then Devon standing nearby with a big grin, he smiled and invited them in.

“Guys this is Natasha, she was kind enough to assist me out of the venue, pretending to be my girlfriend, as the paparazzi where still there, so I thought as a big thank you, I would introduce her to you guys” Devon said, and the other guys stood up and walked over to Devon and the young lady, who was in shock to be face to face with EQD.

After about five minutes of talking and signing autographs for her, plus a signed copy of the CD, the band manager walked in and announced that the media were still camped outside, and it was getting late. Devon turned to the manager.

“Is the limo in the garage waiting for the band? he asked, the manager and the 5 guys looked a bit confused at the question, “Natasha and I will take the limo and take them on a wild goose chase for a while, while you guys order a minivan hire, here use my platinum credit card, so they can’t trace you, head west to Dingwall, I will meet you guys there in about an hour” Devon said.

The manager smiled, “I think you would make a great assistant manager young Devon” he said and he picked his phone to arrange the minivan, the guys thanked Natasha for her part in this plan, and each gave her a kiss on the cheek, making her blush really badly.

Devon laughed at this, “Come on Tasha before I start getting jealous” he said slipping his hand into hers and giving her a soft smile, and they made their way to the garage level to see the Limo there waiting.

When the driver saw them approach and recognised Devon, he opened the rear passenger door, and let them slide in before closing it again. “Andrew, there has been a change of plans, the guys are staying for one more night as the media is causing some issues, so Natasha here is showing me around town for an hour before we drop her off home” Devon said with a smile, the driver nodded that he understood and they drove out of the garage in a hurry, to try and avoid the media.

Soon there were a number of bikes and vehicles in hot pursuit of them and after about twenty minutes, they stopped at a classy restaurant where they went in before the media could get to them to take some photos, the Maître-de was waiting for them, as Devon had made a phone call ahead, and they were ushered to the back door, where a taxi was waiting for them.

Devon handed over a sizable tip, thanked him and climbed into the taxi after Tasha. During the limo ride, Tasha had asked Devon how is he going to get to his destination once she had been dropped off, Devon shrugged his shoulders and said he hadn’t worked that bit out.

Tasha said she would be honoured to drive Devon to the next destination in her car, and so that was the plan, but first Tasha had to pack a small overnight bag, so once at her small apartment, Devon sat in the lounge, while Tasha ran around gathering things, feeding the aquarium fish, changing out of her work uniform and packing the overnight bag.

Once on the road heading west, Devon telephoned the guys to say they had just left Inverness, with Tasha driving him as they had trouble dealing with the media following them in the limo, so they changed the plans a bit.

Just over an hour later Tasha drove into Dingwall, and Devon spotted the plain looking van parked outside the police station, and Tasha parked beside it, standing beside the van Devon could see two of the guys snoozing in the front seats and presumed the other three were doing the same in the back.

“Ello, Ello, Ello, what’s going on in there may I ask? Devon said in a deep and loud voice trying to imitate the local police, and Hugh and David seated in the front jumped in fright, making Tasha and Devon burst into laughter.

After seeing everyone recover, Devon said he was just going to check Tasha into the local hotel for the night and he would be back, and they drove off still laughing at the trick Devon just did, once Tasha was booked in for two nights with all meals included and paid for by Devon, he kissed Tasha on the cheek and thanked her for all that she had done and left, walking quickly back to the minivan two blocks away.

Once in the van, Devon telephoned his cousin to say they were in Dingwall, and would be about 45 minutes away, and apologised for the lateness of their impending arrival, and explained that they would see why they were late when they arrived.

Entering the address into the navigator, they drove on towards the village of Glen Affric, which was the nearest populated area to the estate, a 2600-acre farming property with 750 head of highland breeding cattle, with a manor, that was built in 1706.

The manor has three accommodation wings, the central wing has 6 very large bedrooms, each with its own bathroom and private lounge, the east wing is the family sleeping area and has 5 bedrooms with semi ensuitebathrooms between 4 of them, the master bedroom has its own bathroom and private lounge, plus there are a nursery bedroom, a playroom and a nanny’s bedroom with private bathroom.

Finally, there is the west wing, which has six bedrooms with semi ensuite bathrooms between them and one large lounge room at the start of the passageway to the wing. At the front of the manor on the most upper level, there are the servant’s quarters, consisting of 8 bedrooms with semi ensuite bathrooms between them, and a large lounge room and a small kitchen.

When they finally arrived at the manor, it was just after 11 pm and everyone was exhausted, as they climbed out and stretched their tired limbs, soon 4 staff appeared soon followed by the Lord of the Manor, Sir Douglas Edgar Carlton, dressed in pyjamas with a thick dressing gown over the top, he was aged about mid-thirties, short ginger hair and he was wearing a cap on his head. Stepping forward towards Devon he held out his hand to greet his cousin, but instead of a handshake Devon was pulled into a big hug which made Devon groan and the 5 guys just laughed.

“We give him lots of those and he complains about getting squashed all the time” Hugh said and this made Douglas laugh too as he released Devon, and ushered the guests inside, and stepping in, Devon and the band members found themselves in a giant two storey high long hallway, with stairs located halfway down the hall on both side walls.

Douglas ushered them into the drawing room, the first room to the left, which was also huge, but not as high, “Now let me guess, are you guys by any chance known as EQD” Douglas asked as he poured himself a whiskey and offered one to his guests, who declined.

“That is correct cousin; allow me to introduce them, Robert and David are first cousins from Glenrothes, Scotland I believe, James is from Douglas, the Isle of Mann, Hugh and Thomas are brothers from Wicklow, Ireland, together they make up EQD, guys this is my 2nd cousin once removed, Sir Douglas Edgar Carlton” Devon said as formal introductions were made.

“Although you are all welcome to stay, there will be one slight problem; I have some VIP guests arriving in three days’ time’ for the weekend, they will take the executive wing of rooms, it’s just I’m not sure how you will take who they are, oh and also one other problem, my daughter is a huge EQD fan” Douglas said cautiously.

“If you don’t class EQD as VIP guests; then who else is coming to stay, the queen? Devon asked, and this made Douglas laugh a little.

“Cousin, you are very close with your guess, it’s actually His Royal Highnesses the Duke of York, and the Duchess of York, although they are divorced, they still see each other often and have private getaways when they can arrange it, and they sleep in separate rooms. They arrive on Friday evening and leave after dinner on Sunday” Douglas said.

Devon and the band members were all a bit stunned on learning that they would have royalty staying in the same manner as them, and eventually Devon asked “So what do we do, when they are here, how do we respond to them, and oh hell I’m going to faint” Devon said sitting down hard into a nearby chair.

“Just act normal, be formal at first meeting and wait for instructions on how to address them after that, so it’s Your Highness for the first introduction, followed by Sir or Ma’am after that, keep the bowing to just a small bow of the head as a sign of respect, let them lead the conversation and never interrupt them when they are talking” Douglas instructed, taking another sip of his whiskey.

“Now the staff would have taken your luggage up to the west wing by now, so I will let you all settle in for the night, goodnight all” Douglas said and he left the room.

After a few minutes of silence, the door opened and a butler said he would direct them to their rooms when they were ready, and so they followed the butler upstairs and turned right towards the west wing, passing two large double doors opposite the top of the stairs, which was presumed the executive suites.

Devon and the guys were impressed with the comfort of the rooms; they were big and airy with high ceilings, and comfortable furniture, Devon found his luggage in the lounge and took it to the bedroom next door, where he had a shower and went to bed straight away, falling asleep almost immediately.

The next morning at about 9 am, Devon was woken by the sound of a scream coming from downstairs, and it brought everyone dashing out of their rooms, Devon was the quickest to dress and he made his way to the top of the stairs, Douglas appeared and looked up.

“It’s alright guys, I just told my daughter who our guests were” and disappeared again, Devon smiled and went back down the passage and found the guys dressed and sitting in the lounge room, “Miss Eliza Carlton has just been informed who the mystery guests are” Devon said with a grin, the others just smiled, as Devon motioned them to follow him downstairs for breakfast.

Entering the formal dining room, by following their noses, the Carlton family was seated at the table and eating, and Julia Carlton gave her daughter a warning frown, to behave in front of their guests. Devon walked up to Julia and gave her a peck on the cheek.

“Good morning Julia, it’s nice to meet you at last” he said cheerfully to the hostess of the house, “Good morning Devon, it’s wonderful of you to come and stay with us, may I introduce our daughter Eliza who’s 13 years old next month and our twin boys Rupert and Angus who are 11 years old, our oldest son Edgar who is 15, is away at boarding school, in Inverness, but will be home on the weekend before our other guests arrive, Julia said formally.

“May I introduce you to Robert and David who are first cousins from Glenrothes, Scotland, James is from Douglas, the Isle of Mann, Hugh and Thomas are brothers from Wicklow, Ireland, together they make up the Gaelic band known as EQD?” Devon said indicated each of his friends as he introduced them.

The boys from the band sat in the five seats on one side of the long dining room table while Devon sat between Eliza and the twins on the opposite side.

After breakfast was finished, Julia dragged her children out of the room and closed the door, Douglas smiled as he saw his wife wink before she closed the door

“Now, gentlemen, this is a working estate and I have plenty to do, the stables are just out the back, just follow the gravel road to get to them, you are welcome to ride the horses any time, just let the stable hands know how good a rider you are and they will select the right horse to suit you.

I have arranged for young Simon to be your guide today, so just ask him anything you like and he will do the best he can, I will see you all for lunch” Douglas said and he stepped out of the room, leaving the doors open, and within moments, Eliza was at the door with an autograph book and pen in hand starting to act shy as she entered the room, and silently passed the book and pen to the first member of EQD that was closest to her, when all five signatures where in her book, she dashed off out of the room, and could be heard dashing up the stairs.

“Eliza Carlton stop running or you will trip over and break your neck” came the scornful voice of her mother from another room in the manor.