Matt, Bosko, Tinhead, Leo and Jerome were up bright and early to see the sun rise. The longest day of the year, a four-thirty alarm call, a fresh, clear morning and the seductive sight of the sun slowly rising in the distance behind the petrol station. Yes, I know that they were supposed to be at Stonehenge, but it didn't *quite* work out like that. They did get to Stonehenge, but it was shut. Well, it didn't open until 9am, to be accurate (in reality, they wouldn't actually have got close enough to discover even that), so they turned around and parked up at a motorway service station for the night.
Quite where this was supposed to be, I'm not sure, because Stonehenge isn't actually very near a motorway. Yes, there's a Welcome Break services on the M3, but that's heading towards London and not really en route to or from Liverpool. So, it could have been Membury on the M4, which isn't *that* close or Gloucester which is even further away. Hmm, I don't suppose it matters too much, since it's not real (I keep forgetting!).
Jerome's miffed because he's not seeing any return on his £300, so Matt and Bosko set up stall in the service station car park and start pedalling their wares from the car boot (and *that's* definitely a no-no). This achieved nothing other than discovering the sharp end of a genuine druid's tongue. He accused them of giving druids per se a bad name and at the same time making them out to be a laughing stock. 'Charlatans' was what he called Matt and Bosko, which peeved Bosko just a tad: "I haven't even got any of their records" he moaned. LOL!
I said that the chastisement from the druid was all that the boys achieved. That's not quite true, for it did cause Matt to have a 'vision'; a change of plan if you like (sorry, a "marketing strategy"). Apparently, they are now to be the "counter culture", the "new rock and roll", they're to become. . . .(wait for it. . . .) "Indie Druids".
Yes, but of course! Given that the Stonehenge thing was a washout (metaphorically speaking), the logical course of action is to cut their losses there and head for Glastonbury, where nothing can go wrong (can it?). Hmm. Jerome's not certain, but since he wants a return on his investment or his stake money back, he's not got much choice. So, Glastonbury it is then.
Back on the Close, Greg's trying to work out what to say to Margi who is liable to arrive back at any time following her weekend in London. No doubt Margi will demand to know why he hasn't done any further work on the extension. Well, not the extension she has in mind, anyway! Even now, Greg can't concentrate properly as he watches Susannah in the Close, washing her car.
A taxi pulls up and delivers the returning Margi and Nikki to the Close. They're both full of the joys of spring and Margi, seeing Susannah, calls over: "Hope my Greg didn't keep you awake all night" (if only she knew).
"He's been hard at it all weekend" responds Susannah. LOL.
It didn't take Margi long to notice that the extension looked no different now compared to before she went away and she gave Greg the hard time which he'd been expecting. Margi accused him of not doing any work at all (a criticism which, unbeknown to Margi was a perfectly accurate and valid one), but Greg wriggled out of it by saying that he'd put all the wiring in. It was just that you couldn't see it!
A possible clue for the future here, is how much Margi and (especially) Nikki enjoyed London. Nikki even said that she'd like to live there.
Having got the issue of the extension out of the way, Margi was looking for some encouragement from Greg on her new job. He wasn't particularly interested - his mind was on something else. Well, *someone* else, actually.
Greg and Margi's troubles were compounded somewhat by Nikki getting it into her head that she's the reason for her parent's current rough patch what with all the business with the rape.
Ron and Little Ruthie had been kept in hospital overnight. They're both okay. Sinbad was just treated for cuts and bruises and allowed to go home. He didn't, of course, he wanted to stay with Rachel and keep an eye on Ruth.
I don't know whether Ron needed the most treatment because he was hit by more pieces of flying glass or because Sinbad landed on top of him. Anyhow, when Ron was eventually released, he insisted, against Mike's better judgement to go and see how Ruth was. Mike knew that Sinbad would be with her and tried to dissuade him.
"Michael, I've done nothing wrong, son. I just want to see how Ruth is, give her my best wishes" was what Ron had to say on the matter.
Sinbad, however, wasn't impressed with Ron's concern for his daughter and rounded on him as soon as he got through the door.
"Have you seen the state she's in because of you? Well, I hope you enjoy the few pence you saved by putting that knock-off bleach in them lemmo bottles."
"Look, I wasn't to know that there'd be a kiddie playing in my shop, was I? Just glad that Doctor Darren was there. Look, I'm *really* sorry but it *was* an accident."
"Oh, *another* one? It's not you that ends up getting messed up though, is it?"
and later. . .
Sinbad: "Hey, you don't know the meaning of the word sorry. As long as you're alright, you don't care about anything else."
Ron: "And you're just happy to blame all your troubles on me, aren't you? Well, let me tell you something. I haven't messed your life up, you've done a good enough job of that yourself."
Sinbad (lunging at Ron): "Have I?" He has to be restrained by Mike.
Ron <to Mike>: "Never mind about me, it's him <Sinbad> who doesn't give a damn about anyone else." <To Sinbad>: "*And* you're gonna be getting a bill for that window."
Sinbad: "I wouldn't be surprised if you charged Ruth for the bleach she drank." <Ouch, Sinbad! Tut!> "This isn't the end of this Dixon."
Oooh, don't you just love a good quarrel? And wasn't that a great line about charging Ruth for the bleach? It caused a sharp intake of breath throughout the country, no doubt, but it was certainly realistic - that's what people say in those situations, isn't it? I'm enjoying this little feud, it's building up nicely.
Is there any time *at all* when Ron isn't falling out with someone, be it Sinbad, Mick, Max, Jimmy etc? No, probably not!
Summary © 1999 Graeme Selway
Brookside and all related materials are © Mersey Television 1982-2001