Bob of Small End (100 page)

“
Yes, of
course. I’ve got to do the same thing. I need one for the down
payment on Ken’s house.”

Those
transactions filled most of Wednesday morning. After the drafts had
been given to Arthur, Bob told him that Lori would be buying his
house on January 1st and asked him if he could look after the
transfer.

“
Not
January first, I’m afraid. The office is closed. It’ll have to be
before or after.”

“
Oh, I
didn’t think of that,” said Lori. “Can we buy it before Bob? The
landlord will want ours on the first.”

“
Sure.
What date would you like?”

“
How
about before Christmas? It would be nice to have Christmas
there.”

“
That’s
fine with me. How about the beginning of December. Would that be
okay?”

Lori looked at
Arthur’s calendar. “December the second is a Monday. That would be
perfect. It’d give us plenty of time to make any simple changes and
move our things in.”

“
Tell me
the selling price and the deposit and I’ll have Jennifer draw up
the agreement right now,” said Arthur.

They told him
and drank a cup of coffee while it was being typed. As they were
driving back to the workshop Bob told Lori that they would stop t
four tomorrow, “We want to say goodbye to everybody.”

“
That’s
good. Everyone will want to say goodbye to you too.”

“
Think
of all the things that have happened this year Lori. Hasn’t it been
great?”

“
Yes,
with a bit of worry thrown in to spice it up! We’re lucky people,
Craig and I, aren’t we, to have such an opportunity and my Dad and
his brothers willing to support us.”

Bob’s farewell
dinner to Ken and Mary that evening began with drinks in the small
lounge then moved to a table near the fire. Each had the chef’s
mushroom soup, Ken and Bob had the roast grouse and Mary ate prime
ribs which she said were excellent. A bottle of cabernet suited
everyone. Desserts, coffee and a liquor followed. Afterwards Ken
handed Bob a set of keys.

“
This is
our spare set Bob. Arthur called me to say that he has your bank
draft and suggested I give you the keys. It’ll save you a trip to
Southampton. I’ll put all the others into the door mail box after
we’ve locked up. Arthur said he’ll send you the papers on Friday or
you can collect them yourself. Phone Jennifer and tell her if
you’re going to collect them. The moving company will take our
furniture Friday morning and we’ll drive to Manchester once it’s
all gone.”

“
What
about the electricity, gas and telephone?”

“
I’ve
phoned them. They’ll read the meters and make the changes.
Everything will be ready for you.”

“
When
will you move in Bob?” asked Mary.

“
Slowly,
I guess, during November. Lori and Craig take my house the
beginning of December. Maria has agreed to help me choose the
furniture so I’ll only move a few things, the bed, some chairs and
so on.”

“
When
will she be here? I’d like to meet her.”

“
Not
until the new year. January, I hope. Maybe we’ll drive up and see
you then. Send me your phone number.”

“
I will
we can’t host you, our place is very small and the second bedroom
will be filled with things from this house.”

“
No
problem, there’ll be plenty of hotels nearby. What do you want me
to do with your share of the weekly cheques from
We-Have-It
, Ken? Send the cheques to
you?”

“
No.
Just deposit them in my personal account. I’ll keep it open for
several months.”

“
All
right. Here’s the dates and what we’ll be getting,” and he gave Ken
the list. “It looks nice, doesn’t it?”

“
Yes, it
does,” and he handed it to Mary.

“
It’ll
help us buy a really nice house Ken,” she said.

Dave phoned
Thursday morning and told Lori he wanted 1,200 farms, 1,500
villages and 700 trains. She was jubilant.

“
I told
you,” said Dave. “Retailers are beginning to fill their shelves,
getting ready for Christmas. However, I should also tell you that
it’ll be unusual if it goes up much between now and Christmas. It
usually levels off by the end of November and it might even
decrease, if items don’t sell.”

“
Well,
it’s a good beginning to our ownership.”

“
You
don’t get the income from this order, I understand.”

“
That’s
right. I’m just guessing what next week’s order will
be.”

“
It’ll
be more, I bet. Who’s going to deliver this lot?”

“
I will,
with Craig, so you’ll meet him. We’ll buy you a fish and chip
lunch.”

Bob waited
until the end of lunch bell had rung to tell everybody that they
would be ending work at four that day because there would be a
short meeting. “We’ll say ‘goodbye’ then.”

“
We’re
sad that you’re going,” said Diane.

“
You
don’t have to feel sad for us,” replied Ken, “it’s what we both
want to do. We’ll miss all of you, of course, but you’ll be fine
with Lori and Craig running everything. You know that.”

After everyone
had found a seat at four Bob stood up, made a little speech saying
how happy he and Ken had been while working with everybody. “And,
although we won’t be here at Christmas we did say we’d probably
give you a bonus then. So, here it is,” and Ken handed out
envelopes with their cheques to everyone. As they were opening and
expressing their surprise Ken opened the first of four bottles of
champagne and Bob handed out the flutes.

“
Here’s
to the company’s health,” called Ken.

“
And to
Lori and Craig’s success,” added Bob.

“
And to
a very happy future for everybody,” Lori added. Everyone cheered,
raised their glasses and drank.

When
they were passing the bottles around for more Bob said, “As you
know, as of tomorrow, Lori and Craig will be the owners of
Small End Wooden Toys
. So we’ll now
give them our keys.” Bob gave his to Lori and Ken gave his to
Craig.

“
Thank
you Bob and Ken,” said Lori. “We’ll do all we can to make the
company a success. To celebrate the change of ownership, tomorrow
will be a holiday for everybody. So here’s another envelope for
you, it’s your paycheque for this week, from Monday to today. Craig
and I will also pay you for tomorrow because we’ll not be having
our celebration lunch this month. It will be added to next week’s
paycheque. I hope that will be all right. Now, we will start on
Monday as usual, at nine.”

There were
hugs and handshakes from everybody as they said goodbye. Diane and
Jean also kissed Bob and Ken on leaving. Afterwards Ken retrieved
the half-bottle of champagne he had hidden in the container at the
bottom of the fridge and opened it to say farewell to Lori and
Craig.

“
I’m
going to miss both of you very much,” he said. “Let me know how
you’re doing, please. A short letter at Christmas would be nice,
more often if you like.”

“
I’d
like to write or call you if I run into difficulties,” said Craig,
“and thank you for the generous cheques you have given Lori and me.
We appreciate it.”

“
You’ve
both been so very helpful,” said Bob.

“
Call me
any time you need help,” said Ken, “anytime. Bob will let you know
my phone number. We don’t have it yet.”

“
I’ll
drop by each week to collect the
We-Have-It
cheques Lori,” said Bob.

They
walked out of the workshop. Lori locked the doors and Bob and Ken’s
ownership of
Small End Wooden Toys
ended.

Chapter 44 Retired again

Friday morning
arrived. Bob lay in bed and didn’t know what to do. He guessed that
Lori and Craig would soon be loading the van but he couldn’t offer
to help. He couldn’t help load Ken’s furniture, their movers would
do that. He couldn’t even work in his own shop because he’d packed
all the tools. He got up, dressed and went to the kitchen for
breakfast.

It was a
dreary day, windy, blowing intermittent traces of rain and walking
would be miserable. He sat at the kitchen table feeling a bit
depressed. ‘This is ridiculous,’ he told himself. ‘This is what I
wanted to do. I should be happy.’ He stood up, washed the porridge
bowl, made a pot of coffee and took it to his easy chair, gradually
cheering up as remembered all the things he had to do. He picked up
his pen and made a few notes.

Finishing his
coffee he removed the list of items he’d take to Ken’s house from
the fridge door and walked once more through the house adding items
as he went. He’d have to have enough drawers in the bedroom for
Maria so he added Betty’s dressing table to the list then added her
end table. He would borrow the van from Lori to move them over and
he might as well do it next week. He smiled as he worked his way
through the house; it was surprising how having something to do,
something to work towards, took depression away.

After lunch he
walked to the village grocery shop and bought a steak. He’d grill
that for supper in the oven. Perhaps the next one he cooked would
be on a barbecue.

Ken called him
at four o’clock. “We’re leaving Bob. The movers have just left.
I’ll put the keys in the door mail box. Enjoy the place.” Bob
wished them a safe journey and hung up. Now, should he go over and
look at the house or should he wait for tomorrow. The damp and dull
day decided him, he’d wait.

Bob was up at
six and breakfasted was eaten and cleared away by seven. The
weather was no better than yesterday, dark clouds, squalls of rain
and gusty winds but he couldn’t wait any longer, he had to see his
new house. He put his camera, the spare roll of film, his notepad,
measuring tape, ruler, two pencils and an eraser in a carrier bag;
all the tools he needed to draw a floor plan of the house.

He parked the
car in front of Ken’s garage and looked for the key on the set Ken
had given him. There was nothing to fit the lock on the big door,
just one to open the small one at the back. He entered that way,
switched on the light and there, on the wooden bench, were two door
openers. Of course, Ken had an automatic door opener. He pressed
one of the buttons and the door lifted. ‘Well, I’m certainly going
to like that,’ and he put one of the openers in his pocket.

He closed the
door, crossed the flag stones to the back door of the house, found
the key which opened it and went in. He didn’t know this corridor
for he’d always entered by the front door. There was a metal rod
for hanging clothes on his right. It would be useful when entering
from the garage or garden. He’d put a boot tray on the floor there
he decided. There was a door just past it which he opened. It was a
laundry room with water and electrical outlets waiting to be
connected to machines. Two more things to buy. It would be nice to
be able to dry clothes in a machine and not worry when it rained.
He walked along the corridor to where it joined the hall. He knew
the rest of the house. There was a powder room on his right, the
kitchen and the dining room were facing him and Ken’s study and the
stairs were on his left. He walked to the front door, switched on
the lights and collected the keys from the mail box. He turned and
looked down the hall, past the kitchen, dining room, study, stairs
and across the lounge, drawn by the rosy glow, lit by the light
from the rising sun. It was shining on patches of the grey clouds
that covered most of the sky. It drew him into the lounge and he
walked to its windows and looked east. The river on that side of
the garden was covered with choppy waves. They disappeared as the
river curved right to run along the bottom of the garden where the
water was sheltered by trees on the far side.

He turned and
walked back to the kitchen, turning on all the lights as he
entered. They had taken all the appliances. He rather expected that
although he wouldn’t take his when he sold his house. He’d buy new
ones, maybe an Aga if Maria wanted one. That is, if there was
enough room for one. He left the lights on and entered the dining
room. Plenty of room here for all his family but he’d have to buy a
big table. He was glad Mary had left the curtains, they made the
empty room much more cheerful. He crossed the hall and went into
Ken’s study. It, too, was empty. Only the curtains remained but he
could remember how Ken had furnished it and planned to arrange it
in much the same way, two easy chairs and a small sofa set around
the fireplace, a small desk and chair next to the window and a wall
cabinet when he could keep his wine and liquor, glasses, books and
two or three family photographs.

He climbed the
stairs and visited each bedroom leaving the master until last. Mary
must have cleaned the rug that they had left in one of the spare
rooms because it looked so bright. He would move it into the master
bedroom and use it until they had bought a new one. Then he went
downstairs, out to his car and collected his bag. He would measure
each room then photograph them from it’s doorway.

It was eleven
thirty before he’d finished. He thought about measuring the garage
but decided to just photograph it. All he would do there was remove
the bench and replace it with a smaller one. He’d have a bigger one
in a workshop he planned to build in the garden. He took a photo of
the house and garage from the road and used the last two shots to
photograph the garden looking eastwards and then to the south-west.
He locked the house and closed garage door, tested the garage
opener to ensure it worked from inside his car, then drove
home.