January 1977
"Dad. Where are we?" Alice grumbles, waking up from her car journey nap. She looks out the window to see a very large house/mansion.
Roger doesn't want to tell Alice they're moving house yet because he doesn't think she'll take it very well, "We're in Surrey, a few miles out of London."
That means nothing to her, she frowns, "Why are we here?"
"To have a look, Queen might be filming a music video here," That's not a lie, Queen will be filming here but they're actually here so Roger can see if Alice likes her new home.
The estate agent shows them around and it's as the man is talking that Alice twigs onto what is going on, "Dad, are we moving?"
Alice is a smart girl so he can't try and cover it up now, "Yes, we are. With Queen's popularity growing, the press is outside our door a lot lately and I can't guarantee your safety anymore. Moving here, there's a secure wall around us and it's out of the way."
"I'll leave you two to talk for a moment," The estate agent leaves the room feeling a tension forming.
"But what about school and my friends?" Alice is happy at her school and she has Rami and Hazel, they're her best friends.
"I'm not taking you out of your school, I know your happy and settled there." It will mean travelling to get there but he knows he'd be pushing the boat too far if she moved schools, "I wouldn't take you away from your friends. Putting that aside do you like this place?"
"It's very big when there's only me, you and Biscuit."
"Well, it's not going to be just us three. Dominique is moving in with us too." That was the other thing he needed to tell her, things have been going really well between the couple and once the house is his, Dominique will be moving in.
"Oh," Alice mutters unsure how she feels about that but she makes her dad happy so she doesn't say anything, "Which room would be mine?"
Roger smiles, still not entirely convinced she's okay with Dominique moving in but it will do for now, "Whichever one you like, just not the master bedroom. Have a look around and meet me at the front door in 20 minutes, I'll go speak to the man."
She rushed off to explore and he didn't see her again for the full twenty minutes, "I've found my room," Alice grins, running back down the stairs to meet where he said.
"Yeah, which one?"
"The room at the top of the house."
The surprises him, he's seen the rooms himself and the room at the top of the house is not small but it's one of the smaller rooms, "Why that room?"
"Secret," She whispers, "Also only uncle Freddie can help me decorate my room."
He eyes her suspiciously, "Why?"
"Because I trust him to keep my secret." She kept her mouth tight shut after that not saying anything till they got home and she'd go quiet if he asked.
A week later they're back at the mansion in Surrey, Roger's offer on the house was accepted and they're waiting on the paperwork to be completed.
But Roger, Dominique and Alice are here to see what needs decorating and what furniture can go where. Roger had invited Freddie to see the place since Alice has been asking for him.
"Uncle Freddie!" She pulls him aside as he comes in the door.
"Hello lovie, your dad said you requested my presence," Freddie doesn't mind the summonses, he wonders if perhaps John is starting to lose his title as the favourite
"I have a secret to share with you, but you have to promise not to tell daddy or the others until the project is finished?"
"Intriguing, we can't talk here though they're listening," Freddie nods his head towards the spying pair.
Alice takes Freddie's hand and leads him upstairs to what will soon be her bedroom, "I need your help decorating it."
"So why the secrecy?" He can't see anything to keep a secret.
"Look," She shows him the secret, "I need help decorating this too but I don't think Daddy or the estate agent don't know it exists."
Freddie loves this little secret and will keep it to himself until Alice is ready, "You have my word, I won't tell a soul."
------
Over the next couple of weeks, moving day came and went. The new family of four have been between houses packing and unpacking boxes for days and Roger still hasn't seen his daughter's room and neither has Dominique.
Freddie has been over helping her decorate every day and finally a week after they moved in Alice runs down to the living room, "Do you want to see my room?"
Roger and Dominique couldn't have abandoned their task of unpacking quicker, Freddie is waiting outside the bedroom door paint on his hands. Alice pushes the door open and Roger is very surprised, "Wow."
"This is really good but I don't see anything to be secretive about?" He can see Freddie's influence on the room too but he's not sure it's a six-year-olds bedroom.
"I mean the walk-in wardrobe is amazing, is that the secret?" Dominique wonders, she would have loved such a big wardrobe as a child.
"No, this is the secret," She leads them into the wardrobe and at the back is another door she slides it to the side and behind is some steps twisting to the left and up.
Climbing up the stairs brings them to a room that Roger is sure even the estate agent doesn't know exists, it feels very cosy.
"This is incredible," Dominique beams admiring the little room, "You two did a good job."
"Of course we did, Alice knew the right person to come to," Freddie muses.
Roger couldn't agree more, "How did you know that door was there?"
She shrugs, "I was just looking in the wardrobe and there was a light curtain covering it. So I moved it and found the door, there wasn't much up here before but I think it's cool now."
"To right, it is," Roger laughs, "I'll have to get you to explore the rest of the house, see if you can find anymore."
"Well, Biscuit likes it up here," Dominique smiles as the retriever makes himself comfy on the bed looking out the window. "Are you going to leave the ceiling plan?"
"No, I need to find the box with my photos in so I can stick them on the ceiling."
"That sounds like a beautiful idea."
------
Once they're settled in their new home, Freddie, Brian and John come over to film the music video for Spread Your Wings and We Will Rock You.
Alice was sat in her hideout with Biscuit watching as the crew start packing everything away when Brian and John come up the stairs, "Your dad said you had a secret hideout?" John grins, "We thought he was lying."
"It's pretty cool up here," Brian admires the few photos she's put up on the ceiling, "I like the skylight too," He loves that there's no light pollution so the stars in the night sky are clear and visible.
Later that evening, Roger came to tuck Alice into bed and she's not in her room, he takes the stairs up to her hideout finding her sat under the skylight looking up at the stars and acoustic guitar in hand. Biscuit curled up beside her.
"You like it up here, don't you?"
"It helps me think," She nods, "I like looking at the stars and it inspires me."
"Inspired you to write a song?" Alice has never really taken must interest in music. He taught her to play the drums and Brian taught her to play the guitar but he's never heard her sing and he's never seen her play outside of being taught.
"It's only the beginning but I think I have something."
"Well, when you have something, I'd love to hear. Now, it's time for bed monkey, come on," He waits for her to get up and follows her down the stairs.