The Ned Wood Archive

You can find your way home on the 303
You can let somebody know on the 303

Kula Shaker, 1996

Ellie

They all sleep until Fleet services. Not just Abi; all of them. So when they roll off the bus at Fleet, it seems like that’s when the day starts. All the hassle of getting to Victoria is just a dream.

“It better not be bloody raining when we get there,” says Lauren. It was dry at Victoria, but it’s raining now.

“Let’s see,” says Phoebe and opens up the weather app on her phone. “40% chance.”

“What’s that even mean?” asks Lauren.

“Oh, you can’t trust those things,” says Ellie. She’s right.

“You’ll be OK in Italy though, won’t you. Nice and sunny.” says Abi.

“It does rain in Milano sometimes,” Ellie points out. She’s right.

“What are we going to do without you?” asks Lauren. There is some sarcasm in her voice, but, as they say, many a true word spoken in jest and they all know that they won’t be as organised when Ellie’s not around.

“We’ll miss you,” says Phoebe, also with sarcasm. Also with some truth.

“Oh, I’m not going forever,” she says. “I’ll come back for a week at Christmas. And you’ll all come out to see me, won’t you?”

She had wanted to go out and live in Italy for years. Ever since she was old enough to appreciate that being half Italian gave her the opportunity. She’d thought about doing it before Uni as her gap year, then straight after Uni before she got a real job, but now she’d got the option of going out with work. Which means being paid for being there! Things really couldn’t have turned out any better. There was no doubt that it was the right thing to do.

She’d be able to stay with her Nonna outside Milano. That beautiful old house she’d visited often with her parents and a couple of times on her own. The faded pink stucco exterior. The stone floors. The wrought iron stairs. The open windows and the smells from the garden in summer. Nonna cooking up a fabulous meal for dinner. The smells from the kitchen. She’d stay there to begin with, in that wonderful old house with Nonna, then hope to find somewhere in the city. She’d love for Phoebe and the rest of them to come out. Just maybe not all together.

So, for Ellie, this trip to Glastonbury was the big leaving party. All her stuff for Milan was sorted and packed. She’d sorted out her place in Hackney. All the stuff not for Milan or Glastonbury was safely stored. She was ready to go. Just a couple of days after they get back and she’d be off again. Right now, sitting back on the coach, watching the M3 and the A303 go past, as she sees Stonehenge come and go, her mind was ahead of her, thinking about going to Nonna’s place. As she got closer to Pilton and she got back into the Glasto spirit she’d be fully focussed on the festival, but for now, she was dreaming of conquering the fashion houses of Milano. Tutte le case di moda.