After nagging her parents to death, Susan was finally allowed to "visit her cousin in the Wirral" but everyone knew that she was really going to see these Beatles she kept talking about. A trip was arranged for January, almost a year passing between her last visit to the cavern. She couldn't wait to go, and Christmas seemed to drag by. Her little brother really couldn't understand what she was complaining about - an endless Christmas and a visit to relatives that never seemed to come sounded heavenly! To make the waiting worse, a second record was coming out in the same month and Susan was nearly dying of excitement as each day slowly passed.
The new year finally came, and Susan made the short train journey to Merseyside. Everything was just as she'd left it, even the weather - it was still raining! Jill welcomed her and held out her belated Christmas gift - a cavern club membership card. Susan was ecstatic, but her aunt couldn't understand all the fuss about a pink bit of cardboard.
After unpacking, the two cousins went wandering around Liverpool and ended up at NEMS where Susan bought a brand new copy of "My Bonnie". Jill stared in the direction of the counter, and nudged her cousin.
"That's Mr.Epstein!" she smiled, pointing in the direction of the smartly dressed man at the counter. "He's not in here very often now."
Susan looked at her, puzzled and wondered what on earth she was chattering on about.
"Oh you know! He's their manager now." Jill exclaimed walking towards him. Jill started talking to "Eppy" whilst Susan paid for the record. When they walked out into the street, Jill told her all about what had happened to the Beatles since he had taken over from Alan Williams. Maybe it wasn't the same after all if everything she said was true.
Susan felt so overjoyed as she walked down Mathew street and saw the cavern up ahead. It was still the same, but when her Beatles appeared they were very different from what she had seen before. They were as they had appeared on the television - smartly dressed in new suits, and on their best behaviour. No more fooling around on the stage or chatting with the audience. They had become professional and not as wild. Their music remained better than she had ever heard and their new experience had improved them so much - that was if you could hear them above the screams from the audience. All the magic was still there but it wasn't the same. Instead of feeling exhilarated, she became dizzy and felt like screaming along with the rest. As soon as they stepped off the stage, all of the screaming crowds disappeared, leaving all of the original girls behind.
They all gathered together at the tables along the side and began chattering and complaining about all of those screaming kids who had now vanished.
After a while, a head topped with the familiar Beatle haircut peeped round from the back of the stage.
"Have they gone yet?" it whispered in their direction. The girls nodded and he stepped out to join them. Jill looked across at her cousin.
"That's Ringo - he's an absolute sweetie, you're bound to like him" she smiled "Not even Pete's fans could dislike him for long, he's just too nice to fall out with." Susan remembered him from when he was the drummer for Rory Storm. She had seen him when they used to play at Butlins, but this was obviously not the same bearded teddy- boy that had scared her witless before. Ringo crept over to her and smiled.
"Hi! I'm Ringo, but you probably guessed that." he said, flashing his ringed hands about. Susan giggled. Just then they heard a scream as George came running out with a mischievous looking John Lennon chasing him. Paul stepped out and was just ready to chuck a glass of coke over John's head when a cry of
"Hey! Look at the talent." came from George. John grinned, as they walked over to join Ringo. Susan now realized why the girls had stayed behind - a chance too see their Beatles without the screaming mobs. They were even funnier in person than they had been on the stage and continued to joke about.
After a while, Susan got used to their strange sense of humour and joined in the jokes. It seemed that they spent most of their time having a go at Ringo, but he didn't seem to mind. He eventually got fed up and wandered off, coming back with two cokes from the bar. He sat down and handed a coke to Susan.
"If I were you I wouldn't stare at Paul that much. He's too big headed already!" he laughed. She nearly died of embarrassment and blushed uncontrollably when she noticed that the others had heard. John began asking her strange questions - just like him to do this when she was so embarrassed already.
They got up to leave and Paul turned round to wink at her before rushing off.
For the rest of that week, Susan and Jill rushed around Liverpool, seeing all the beat groups, and of course making more visits to see the Beatles at the cavern.
