Bob of Small End

by David Hockey

  Chapter 23 Where next?

  There were three loads of washing to do Saturday morning, two whites, mostly of overalls, and one dark. The line full of clothes waving in the breeze reminded him of the times when Betty had everyone’s washing hanging there. As the kids grew older there was less and less room on the line and she had told him to put up another one. He had never done that but it looked as if he might have to do so in the future if they hired another four workers.

  He did a little hoeing, pulled some carrots and all the peas that were at least three-quarters full. They would be nice with his chops on Sunday. The rest of the morning he cleaned the house. After lunch he took his usual walk but stopped at Betty’s branch to tell her about his new life. ‘I think she’d be pleased that I’m doing this,’ he thought, as he walked on. ‘She never wanted me to spend all my spare time in my workshop.’ He didn’t go to his parent’s grave but did go to the village shop for his staples but they still didn’t carry Thai sauces. He’d look in bigger shops when he was delivering.

  No one at the Crown knew of any barns or places to rent. Jack knew just about everything that was on the market or empty within twenty miles but he knew of nothing. Joe said, “The only thing is to wait until the industrial development is opened. Do you know how long that might take Jane?”

  “No I don’t. They are about to build houses on two of the sections above the railway tracks but I’ve heard nothing about the industrial area. I don’t expect it will be long; there has to be places for people to work if they’re going to bring in such a large number. Not all of them will be retirees.”

  “’Ow’s t’Centre comin’ Jane?” asked Jack.

  “Oh I can tell you that,” said Bob. “The roof, windows and doors are on. I went there last night and took a look. There’s nothing inside yet.”

  “That’s right. They’re putting up the walls for the rooms next week,” said Jane. “You’ll be able to see the layout once the framing’s done.”

  “I won’t be able to see anything until the end of the week,” said Bob. “and the gyproc’ll probably be on by then. We’re renting a bigger van and I’ll be driving east, towards Brighton, visiting shops in the towns along the way most of the week.”

  “Brighton? Are you going to drive there and back each day?” asked Rose.

  “No. I’ll stay in a hotel or bed and breakfast, in a place where there’s room enough to park the van.”

  “If you want places that are nice but not too expensive you’d probably have to stay on the outskirts. Do you belong to the AA? Their guidebook’s good. It tells you where they are and how much they charge.”

  “No I don’t. Does anyone?” he asked.

  “No,” said Joe. “I can fix most things if ever something went wrong.”

  “Nay,” said Jack. “’Wot you doin’ wiv t’old van?”

  “We’ll use it to visit shops that are not too far away.”

  “Is Ken going to be driving?” asked Joe.

  “No he’ll stay in the shop. We’ll have to hire a man to drive it.”

  “Hey,’” said Jack. “John or I cou’d do that.”

  “It’d only be for a day or two each week I expect.”

  “Tha’s okay.”

  “Well good. Ken or I’ll call you when we need a driver.”

  Rose gave Bob a cheque for £286.50 as they left the Crown. “That’s the May’s sales. I sold five trains, eight villages and nine farms. There’s a list in the envelope.”

  ‘So Rose has sold about four sets each week. I wonder what the others have sold,’ he thought as he walked home. ‘I bet we’ve done well this month.’

  Sunday morning he added the May bills. They had spent £5,782.92, although there might be a few more expenses from Ken. Not the barbecue, he’d already included the forty five pounds for that. The biggest expense for May was the salaries. They came to £2,250. The next biggest expense was the boxes, the pasteboards cost £1,000 and the plastic cost £307.50. The routers, blades and safe were the other big items, all the rest were relatively small amounts. No, there would be the van to pay for as well.

  He then checked how much there should be in the bank. On May 10th, after adding the income they’d received from Rose, Jenny and Leo and paying Craig and Lori’s salary there should have been about £1,050. Then he and Ken had added five thousand and they had money from other sales of £1,639.50. So they had over seven and a half thousand in the bank. That meant there was enough to cover the May expenses and he could write the cheques.

  He did another quick calculation. After paying any additional May expenses there should be over £1,500 in the bank. That, plus the May income, should give them enough to pay the June expenses. ‘So we won’t have to borrow from the bank. I’m very glad about that,’ he thought. ‘I hate the idea of paying nine or ten percent interest.’

  It took most of the morning, although he took rather a long coffee break, to do all the calculations and write the cheques. Afterwards he wondered how long it would take Lori to do the same job. Probably about the same time, but maybe not, since she would use the computer. However it was going to become harder when they hired part-time drivers and more helpers. Perhaps they should hire an expert to look after the books. He would know how to keep accurate records and how to minimise their income tax.

  After mailing the cheques he walked over to the old Community Centre and read the notices on the board by the front door. The one that interested him the most was a notice stating that, after June, there would be no more activities in this Centre. Everything in future would take place in the new Centre, probably starting in August. Sports in the field would continue but the Centre would be closed and members would have to change in the toilets at the edge of the field during July. ‘Well if there’s nothing going on in here then perhaps we could rent this building. I bet we could put eight or ten work benches in the hall. And there’s plenty of places to store the wood and boxes. I must talk to Jane about this.’

  He walked, almost ran, to Joe’s farm and knocked on the kitchen door.

  “Who’s that?” called Jane.

  “It’s Bob, Jane. Can I speak to you?”

  “Of course. Come in Bob. Here, sit down while I put these pies in the oven. I should have made them earlier this week but didn’t have time. I’m taking some of them to Howard and Shirley tomorrow. What did you want to talk about?”

  “It’s the old Centre, Jane. What’s the village going to do with it?”

  “I don’t know Bob. Why do you ask?”

  “It’s exactly what we want, a place where we can have a bigger workshop. Could you find out what they’re going to do with it? Can we rent it for a year or so? Or could we buy it? Surely they’re not going to pull it down. It would be ideal for us. If we had it we’d provide work for some of the new people that are coming to this village!”

  “Wow, Bob, slow down. I’ll ask the committee what’s planned but I don’t think anyone has talked about it yet, we’ve all been too busy thinking about the new one. There’s a meeting next Friday afternoon and I’ll raise the subject. So you would buy or rent it?”

  “I’m not sure about buying it, maybe, Jane, but we’d love to rent it. And for a year at least.”

  “Okay. I’ll not say anything about buying it but I’ll tell them Wooden Toys would like to rent it for at least a year. I’ll let you know what they say.”

  “Oh, thanks Jane. It would be such a relief. We have to expand because we’re doubling the number of shops that sell for us. Can you telephone me as soon as you know?”

  “Saturday evening at the Crown would be too late for you?”

  “Oh yes. I couldn’t wait the extra day!”

  “All right Bob. Would you still keep this place?”

  “I would think so. It’s all set up and we’ll need as much room as possible. If we can rent the old Centre Ken and I will talk about what we’ll do in the milking parlour but I’m sure we’ll keep it.”

  “All right. I’ll tell J
oe that. He might worry if he thought you were going to move out although he shouldn’t; what you’ve done adds value to the farm so we’ll get more for it when we have to sell. Now, here, have a piece of pie, the first batch should be cool by now.”

  “Aren’t you taking them to Howard?”

  “Not this first lot; they’re for Joe and me. Here, try this, and she handed him a slice and took one for herself.

  As Bob ate he relaxed a little and they began talking about holidays. Bob told her what he planned to do in August and Jane told him a little about their intended visit to Spain. After finishing his tea he bid goodbye and walked back to his house. He decided he wouldn’t say anything to Ken until he heard what Jane found out. It would be a shame to excite him if they said they didn’t want to rent it.

  Sally called him after supper just before he was going to phone Sam and Regina and gave him her new telephone number.

  “How do you like the residence Sally?” he asked.

  “There’s three on the staff I remember but all the other’s are new. There’s one lady still here that I used to visit and I said ‘hello’ to her but she didn’t recognise me. I think she has Alzheimer's.”

  “Is your room a nice one?”

  “Yes. Although I wish I’d kept my chair, the one they provide isn’t as comfortable.”

  “You old one was sold with the rest of your furniture?”

  “Yes. I sat at the back and watched the auction. I was surprised by some of the prices. Things I thought to be worth little fetched high prices and some of the expensive furniture fetched very little. It was sad to see it go and I’m glad Brian wasn’t there.”

  “Why not buy yourself a new chair, the same kind as you had before?”

  “I might. But I might get used to this one. We’ll see.”

  “And how’s the food?”

  “No complaints, but I’ve only been here a day so it’s too soon to tell. I hope they vary the menu each week. We have three entrees to choose from at lunch and at dinner. When are you coming to see me?”

  “Not for a few weeks. There’s a hundred or so new shops to visit first. I hope to come after that.”

  “There’s a room I can rent here if you want to stay in the building.”

  “I’ll decide that when you tell me if the food is always good Sally. But we’ll go out for meals when I come.”

  “Good. Well, don’t leave it too long. ‘Bye Bob.”

  “’Bye Sally.”

  Then he called Sam and Regina and asked how their month had been. There was little news; a sprained finger from catching a cricket ball, lots of homework in preparation for the exams, sports days that were coming soon and some new clothes for their holidays. He wondered if he should ask if he could visit when he was in their area but he couldn’t fix a date so he didn’t say he’d be near them in three weeks time. He could always drive over for a Sunday lunch now he had the car but with all the driving he was about to do he probably be too tired to do more on the weekend.