by AD Hartley
Carlo shuffled in his seat. He understood what had happened with the social services who had expressed doubts about a school child being bequeathed a large company, especially an orphan who in their minds was likely to move to Italy soon. A lot of people had argued vehemently on Carlo’s behalf that he should be allowed to inherit the company and eventually a compromise had been reached whereby he would own the factory but Randy would run it in his name and would officially be named his guardian with the blessing of his family. It was a great victory in many ways, but no one had actually asked Carlo if that was what he wanted and by the time they did… well, he didn’t.
‘And then it took months to work out the new deal…’ Carlo added uncomfortably.
Randy nodded. ‘So you see it’s not a case of the staff not wanting to come back. It’s more a case of them being able to. It’s been nearly two years. Most will have new jobs or will have retired.’
‘I’m sorry, Uncle Randy, I really am. I didn’t mean to be this much bother.’
‘I know, Kiddo, I know. I think you need to do something before we make any more plans. I want you to go back to the factory at some point and take a look through those staff files. Take a really good look at them. They are the people who used to be the heart of Leodoni’s. Without them, your father and I wouldn’t have lasted as long as we did. When we closed, it was their lives that were affected. If we re-open, even if it’s with different staff, there will still be a lot of families that your decisions will influence. It’s a huge and quite grave responsibility. I want you to try and take that in before you decide you really don’t want to sign the papers. Do you understand?’
Carlo nodded, but didn’t say anything.
Norton stared up at the gates. ‘If you don’t hurry up, I’ll just climb over.’
‘You couldn’t climb over these. You had trouble with the four foot wall into the cemetery the other day.’ Ben said.
‘I’ll have you know that I am sprightly and athletic!’ Norton retorted. Ben laughed and cupped his hands together to give his friend a leg up.
‘Go on then…’
‘Got it!’ Carlo muttered, unfastening the chain that locked the gates. Norton made a face that suggested he had just been about to jump into action and was disappointed that he now didn’t have to. Ben pushed him towards the now open gates.
‘Come on then, Hero. You can show off your athleticism another time.’
The group passed into the courtyard, over to the huge factory doors and waited as Carlo started fumbling with another set of keys. Abi took the opportunity to hop onto the old decaying tricycle with the awkward parasol and buckled wheel.
‘This would be cool if we could fix it.’
Norton walked over and began to inspect the trike with the air of one who knows all there is to know about everything. ‘A bit of oil… perhaps a new wheel… yeah, it could be a goer again.’ he said, kicking the back wheel in what he thought was a meaningful manner.
‘Brake pads, brake cables, chain, sprocket, gears, seat, three new wheels etcetera, etcetera…’ Newton intoned as he circled around the tricycle giving it a brief glance before throwing a weary look at Norton. ‘Oh yes and some oil…’
‘Are you lot coming or not?’ Carlo called from inside the factory. Seeing that he had opened the small hatch already, Abi jumped off the tricycle and started herding Norton, Ben and Newton towards the dark opening in the huge, blue doors.
The lights were already flickering into life as they entered and Carlo turned to see his friends stood stock still with reverence. ‘What?’ he asked, being rather blasé about the factory having spent so much time there down the years.
‘You can smell the Ice Cream goodness.’ Norton whispered.
‘You can almost taste it.’ Ben added
Newton fell forward to the railings and started reviewing the apparatus spread out on the factory floor below him with an eager glint in his eye. ‘Can I?’ he asked turning to Carlo and flicking his head back to indicate the machines.
‘Go on then…’ Carlo agreed sounding like a father who had only seconds ago entered a fairground and found the children had disappeared already. Newton scampered off towards the stairs next to the service ramp and was soon out of sight. Norton and Ben looked at each other wearing matching grins and then set off after Newton.
‘Children!’ Abi exclaimed dramatically watching the boys vanish amongst the machinery.
‘You want to go as well, don’t you?’ Carlo said to her with a grin.
‘Yeah, can I?’ She answered quickly, before running off after a nod from Carlo.
Carlo watched her run after the boys, who he could see occasionally popping up from behind a large mixer or inspecting the inside of a giant oven. ‘Don’t climb on anything. Or in anything.’ he added after a moment’s reflection. ‘And don’t press any buttons!’ he called out, perfectly aware that they probably weren’t listening. He wouldn’t have been.
Wishing he could go and join them, he trudged off to his right towards the office and the waiting pile of staff profiles that Randy had asked him to look through. Sitting behind his father’s desk Carlo reached for the first folder on the pile and pulled it onto his lap. “Neil Wrigglesworth – Shift Manager” the front sheet declared with a picture of a man that Carlo recognised glued to the left hand corner.
Neil had apparently been with the company for some time and Carlo remembered him standing by the main gates counting out the vans on a summer’s morning like an Air Chief Marshall counting out his planes on a mission into enemy territory. He remembered his father had always suggested that Neil and his fellow shift manager, Lucy Lightfoot, had considered themselves to be the “real” managers of the plant being, as they were, the people who counted in and out the vans and made sure that the produce was produced, the deliveries delivered and the staff were doing what staff should do.
He had never really spoken to Neil before, but he certainly remembered Lucy Lightfoot as a scary woman who continually seemed on the verge of an angry outburst. She had once shouted at Carlo for knocking over a pile of boxes containing wafers as he was running through the factory to get to the offices. Many of the fragile wafers had broken and Lucy was apoplectic with rage.
He moved Lucy’s file to the side placing it on top of Neil’s and then, not wanting to think about her, swiftly switched them so Neil’s was on top and covering the angry faced picture on Lucy’s file. Carlo looked at the next one; Elspeth Bertholini’s. A smile appeared on his face as he looked at the picture of a happy woman in her early forties with long blonde hair, huge glasses and a wide smile. Although he recognised her face, the picture did not sit well with his memory of Elspeth who he had last seen at his father’s funeral. Whilst the glasses and the smile remained the same the face had been more lined and hair more grey. Carlo found the date of the document at the top left corner and understood that the photograph of his father’s feisty secretary had obviously been taken some 25 years earlier.
As he made his way through the pile one by one it slowly occurred to Carlo that he knew nearly all of the people in these folders and that they had all in some small way been a part of his life as a child. Whether they had spent 5 minutes entertaining the young Carlo while his father made a phone call, or giving him a sneaky free ice cream when the shift manager wasn’t looking, they had all taken the time to be friendly to a young boy.
‘You OK?’
Carlo jumped as he was yanked from his reverie by Abi standing at the door. ‘God, woman! Don’t do that!’ he said falling back into his chair.
‘Sorry.’ She said. ‘Thought I’d come and see how you were getting on.’ Carlo gave her a doubtful glance as he bent down to pick up the folders he had just dropped.
‘OK, Norton was heading off towards the vans so I decided to scarper before he broke something.’ she said, more truthfully. ‘Oh, I’m sure he won’t touch anything really…’ she added seeing Carlo’s rather anxious face reappear from under the desk. From the factory
floor behind her “You Are My Sunshine” started blasting out from one of the vans followed by a whoop of joy from Ben and Norton. Abi had the grace to look embarrassed and quickly shut the door behind her with a slight grin.
‘Watchya doin’?’ She asked throwing herself into the comfy chair against the wall and folding her legs beneath her.
Carlo indicated the pile of folders. ‘Uncle Randy asked me to look through these. Apparently they are the people we need to get back if we are going to open up without everything going wrong. But…’ Carlo paused looking glum.
‘But what?’ Abi asked.
‘But… I don’t think they will come back. It’s been ages; they’ve probably all got other jobs. And they used to work for my Dad, not me. Why would they come back and work for me?’ Carlo said looking more worried than usual.
‘Because you’re his son.’ Abi answered in her normal manner that suggested that no other point of view was necessary now that hers had been voiced.
‘But that…’
‘Look!’ Abi butted in. ‘It’s natural to feel worried coz lets face it, you’ve never ran an ice cream factory before. It’s a big step up from chemistry homework on a Tuesday night. But you’re not actually going to be running the place are you? Randy is. So there’s no need to worry about that bit for a while. And if they can, I’m sure they will all come back because this is Leodoni’s and you’re the last Leodoni.’
‘No… there is another.’ whispered a voice from the doorway as Ben’s head appeared from the other side of the door. ‘Not ready are you!’ he added in his best mystical, squat Jedi Master voice, to the general amusement of his sister.
‘I know that.’ Carlo added wretchedly. ‘And anyway, I’m not the last Leodoni… I’m just the last one here.’
‘Same difference.’ Abi pointed out.
‘Look, are you two girls quite finished?’ Ben asked bouncing up and down on his heels.
‘Why?’ asked Abi looking, if anything, slightly more annoyed at her brother’s term than Carlo.
‘Coz you’ve got to come and check this out. We’ve found something.’
‘Where’ve you been? Where’ve you been?’ Norton shouted as Ben, Abi and Carlo came into view. They were standing at the very back of the factory next to a door behind the last of the ice cream vans. The door was open and Norton scampered inside followed by Ben and Newton.
‘Hey!’ Carlo shouted after them, ‘We can’t go in there; it says staff only.’
‘It’s your factory, you doughnut!’ Ben shouted back to him.
‘Which makes us staff!’ Norton added.
Abi shrugged when Carlo looked at her and made to follow the boys. Noticing Carlo’s reluctance she grabbed him by the arm and dragged him through the door with her.
‘Have you not found the lights yet?’ Carlo heard Ben ask from the pitch black that was now surrounding them.
‘What do you think?’ Newton replied from the darkness.
‘Careful, you two,’ Ben said, ‘there’s steps in front of you. Wait a sec… Here.’
A lighter lit up from somewhere below them and Carlo and Abi could just make out some steps leading down towards Newton, Ben and Norton who were gathered next another much larger door. Carlo immediately saw the cause of all the excitement and just in case he hadn’t he could see Norton hopping from foot to foot in joy and pointing to a large sign on the door that could easily be read in the gloom.
TOP SECRET – LEODONI ONLY
‘Can we? Can we?’ Norton pleaded.
‘I dunno… maybe we should ask Uncle Randy about it.’
‘Logically, he won’t be able to help.’ Newton pointed out. ‘He’s not a Leodoni and the sign does seem to be very clear.’
‘Yes it does, which means that even if we do open it, I’d be the only one allowed in.’ Carlo said, then waited until the expected chorus of displeasure died down. ‘Look, we have no idea what’s in there. It’s probably dangerous machinery or even just boring papers.’
But even he was beginning to lose heart in his own argument. What on earth could be behind the door that even Randy had not been allowed to see?
He looked at the eager faces of his friends and instantly changed his mind. ‘Is it locked?’
‘We don’t know. We were waiting for you before we tried to open it.’ Norton said, still hopping around impatiently.
‘Yes, it’s locked.’ Ben added slightly more honestly.
Carlo pulled out the huge bunch of keys that Randy had given him and began to search for one that looked like it matched the lock. Ben held the lighter nearer to the bunch and despite one or two interruptions as Norton excitedly pushed his head in the way of the light so Carlo couldn’t see, they soon picked out a key that looked big enough to fit the rather ornate bronze lock on the door.
Abi gently pushed Carlo towards the door and the others crowded behind him looking over his shoulder or in Norton’s case, under his arm.
‘Go on, Carlo.’ Newton urged, quietly.
Carlo hesitated but then pushed the key slowly into the lock and turned clockwise, yet it wouldn’t turn. Norton groaned, but Newton reached out and gently twisted Carlo’s hand the other direction producing a satisfying clunk. Carlo took hold of the door handle and turned it before resting his shoulder against the door and pushing. He had expected the large door to need a bit of a shove, but despite being extremely heavy it glided gently open with ease and having expected more resistance he had to take a step forward to steady himself. Groping in the shadows of the room, Carlo tied to find the light switch.
‘I can’t see anything’ Ben whispered trying to peer beyond Carlo.
Norton jumped up with his hands on Ben’s back to try and get a look. ‘What is it? What is it?’
Carlo took another two steps into the room but jumped back with a start as something brushed against his face. ‘Wha! Oh… God, it’s just the light switch.’ he said with relief, pushing out his hands to try and find it again. Norton and Ben sniggered behind him. Carlo turned to throw a withering look their way just as he found the swinging cord again and gave it a tug.
But before the light came on Carlo was screaming.
Luigi Leodoni’s Diary
Carlo was still screaming and writhing on the floor even as the others were crumpling to it in hysterics. He eventually managed to throw what appeared to be a life sized rag dummy off him, which had fallen from the ceiling as he pulled the light switch.
‘Thanks Dad!’ he muttered as he pulled himself up using a small bannister next to four steps that led into a large room lit from all sides by elaborate wall lights. The dummy had all the hallmarks of a Mr Leodoni practical joke. ‘Yeah, yeah. Laugh it up, fuzzball!’ he said, gently kicking Ben in the bottom as the others struggled to regain their composure.
‘I can’t breathe!’ Abi wheezed trying to stand.
‘I swallowed my chewing gum!’ Norton added, which set them off laughing again.
Carlo hopped down the steps into the room for a closer look. At the far end there was a huge oak desk behind which there was a large, red leather wingback chair. The oak panelled walls were lined with book cases and glass displays.
‘Why’d your dad have a museum down here, then?’ asked Norton sounding very unimpressed by the discovery.
‘It’s not a museum, it’s a war room.’ whispered Newton in awe. ‘It’s the nerve centre of the Leodoni Empire!’
‘I think it’s just my Dad’s study.’ Carlo replied looking around the room. ‘I remember him mentioning it, but I never knew where it was.’
‘What on earth is that?!’ Ben shouted, striding past Carlo towards the glass case against the wall. ‘Cool, remote control cars!’ he said as he looked across a collection of old models of various ancient looking ice cream vans.
‘I don’t think they work.’ Newton said, ‘But this might.’ he added pointing at a polished metal ice cream machine hanging on the wall. It was a large shiny contraption of steel and chrome, with various pipes and v
ents that looked like a 1950’s idea of the future. ‘Your Dad made it.’ Newton continued, reading the label on the wall next to it. ‘It was supposed to be a steam powered device that would revolutionise ice cream delivery for remote areas without power.’
‘How?’ Abi asked.
‘Don’t know.’ Newton replied with a shrug. ‘It doesn’t say.’
‘Does it matter?’ answered Ben excitedly, ‘It’s an ice-cream machine. Who cares why Mr Leodoni made it. Let’s try it!’
‘We can’t. It’s locked.’ Newton pointed out. ‘Anyway, I’d like to study it first before we use it. It might be dangerous.’
‘You sound like my mam.’ said Ben.
‘Well, it might be!’
‘It’s an ice-cream machine! How dangerous can it be?’
‘It doesn’t matter, it’s locked.’ Abi repeated. ‘Plus, we don’t have any ice-cream, so we can’t try it anyway.’
‘We’re in an ice-cream factory; of course we have ice-cream.’ Norton joined in.
‘An ice-cream factory that hasn’t made any ice-cream for ages!’ Abi persisted.
‘Must be some in the fridge.’ Norton suggested looking up at the roof to where he imagined a freezer brimming with ice-cream was waiting for him on the factory floor.
‘Carlo can you tell this idiot that you have no ice-cream!’ Abi asked, waving her hand towards Norton. ‘Carlo?’ Abi span on the spot looking for him. ‘Where’s he gone?’
‘We have no ice-cream and the machine doesn’t work.’ intoned a voice from the corner of the room. Carlo was sat behind the desk, flicking through a large book.
‘What’s that?’ Newton asked, walking over to him.
Carlo looked up at his friend and closed the book. ‘It’s a note book. I think it’s my Dad’s.’
