Page 59 of Escape to the Country

Chapter 18

Tom walked carefully back downstairs, having changed into his cargo shorts in preparation for what was likely to be a wet bath for him, as well as Dylan.

His foot was a bit sore having been pulled and prodded, but he definitely felt far more clear-headed for taking himself off the painkillers.

He still felt guilty about the moonwalk and had apologised again to Annie earlier that morning.

‘It doesn’t matter,’ she had told him. ‘Honestly. I think we still raised a ton of money.’

He asked for the details of the hospital from her, intending to add his own personal contribution later to the other donations.

‘Hey,’ said Sam, heading across the hall to see him as he reached the bottom of the stairs. ‘We’ve just had the most amazing news. It turns out that Chris Martin has contracted some kind of virus, unfortunately.’

Tom raised his eyebrows. ‘I’m not sure that’s amazing news, especially for Chris.’

But he could sense the excitement bubbling away at Sam. ‘Yeah, I know. But that was Emily Eavis and they’d like you to do the Sunday night gig instead of Coldplay.’

Tom hadn’t had much sleep, thanks to Dylan howling the house down until he had brought him upstairs to sleep next to his bed. ‘What are you talking about?’ he said, dragging a hand through his hair.

‘Glastonbury, mate. I’m talking about you headlining a week on Sunday at Glastonbury!’

Tom was shocked. ‘Me?’ He immediately began to shake his head. ‘I don’t know if I’m up to that. What about my foot?’

‘Nobody’s asking you to dance.’

Tom’s gut reaction was that he really didn’t want to play Glastonbury. Which was ridiculous, he told himself. It was the ultimate festival. The most famous one in the world. It was likely to be a once-in-a-lifetime offer. But he had just taken himself away from all the pressure and crowds. His massive world tour had just finished. He really just wanted some peace. However, he could sense Sam’s excitement. And after all the recent bad publicity, it would probably help smooth things over with the record company.

‘Come on,’ urged Sam. ‘You know you want to. And you’ll be my first ever artist to headline at Glastonbury!’

The reviews would probably be awful, thought Tom. The press were likely to have the knives out for him. And he’d end up doing his foot more harm than good.

But after looking once more at Sam’s excited face, he finally nodded his agreement. He owed his friend so much that he should do this one big favour for Sam.

‘Fantastic!’ said Sam, whooping with delight. ‘I’ll get back to them.’

Tom took a deep breath, still somewhat in shock. He was therefore pleased to see Eleanor playing with Dylan on the back lawn and went out to them, thankful of the distraction.

Dylan leapt up to greet him.

‘Hey, boy,’ he said, crouching down on one knee to stroke the dog’s head. Dylan wagged his tail in response.

‘Is he ready for his bath?’ asked Eleanor.

‘Hemight not be,’ said Tom. ‘But it was pretty smelly in my bedroom this morning so, yes, definitely.’

Dylan was less than impressed about his bath but he stood relatively still whilst Tom hosed him down with water near the outside tap on the patio. The dog almost seemed to enjoy the rub-down when Eleanor used the mild dog wash that her mum had given her.

‘He’s going to need at least another bath before he’s fully clean,’ she said, rubbing his back into a frothy, foamy cloud. ‘And a clip. Mum knows someone who could give him a decent haircut.’

Tom began to rinse Dylan down with the hose. At least he was beginning to look and smell better. ‘He might have to wait for the next bath,’ he said. ‘I won’t be around at the weekend.’ He paused. ‘I’ve been asked to step in to replace Coldplay at Glastonbury at Sunday.’

Eleanor looked up at him. ‘That’s amazing,’ she told him. ‘You must be thrilled.’

He nodded. Was he thrilled? He wasn’t sure.

Tom had just finished giving Dylan his final rinse down when the dog gave himself a good shake, causing water to shower over them both.

‘Eewww!’ cried Eleanor, now dripping with water.