Bob of Small End (13 page)

“
It
certainly looks like it. You know, I forgot to ask you about your
holiday when we were at the Crown. What did you do?”

“
Well
we’ve had two short trips. We went to Bournemouth for the first one
and stayed in one of the hotels on the cliff. We went to the
theatre one night and walked through the gardens and along the
coast path several times. I liked that even though it was a bit
cold. We visited Salisbury the second trip. I’d never been inside
the cathedral before; it was magnificent. We stayed in a hotel on
the main street and went to the movies one night when it was
raining. We mostly ate pub meals but had one good dinner in our
hotel on each holiday. I was so glad to have a change from cooking
all the time. Jack enjoyed himself too.”

“
I’m
glad you had such a good time Rose.” He put the plastic bag on the
counter. “I’ve just finished making some village sets and I’ve six
of them here. Would you like them?”

“
Yes.
I’ll open one of the boxes and put it in the window but I don’t
have room to display its pieces, I’ll do that the next time I
rotate. Come into the back room and I’ll write a
receipt.”

“
Have
you sold any sets this month Rose?”

“
No, not
yet. We’ve only been open at weekends, don’t forget, and I don’t
think there have been any tourists.”

“
Well,
there’s one now. She’s staying at Bonnie’s. Her name is Maria.
Jane, Joe and I met her in Lagos during our holiday. If you and
Jack eat at the Crown tonight you’ll meet her. She’s going to eat
with us. I think you’ll like her.”

“
I’ll
see if Jack has anything planned but we’ll likely be there. Here
Bob, here’s the receipt.”

“
Thanks.
Hope to see you tonight then. Cheers.”

Bob walked
slowly back to his house thinking how nice it was to be outside
when the weather was as warm as this. He took the bags for Big End
to the window and sat in his chair watching the road as he waited
for Maria. He jumped up as he saw her drive past, picked up the
bags and was at the curb when she pulled up.

“
Hello
Maria. Isn’t this a lovely day?”

“
Yes it
is. Bonnie tells me it’s going to be warm all day. That’s why you
don’t have an overcoat I suppose.”

“
Yes,
that’s right.”

As they drove
to Big End they discussed what they might do. Bob said he usually
caught the bus in; visited Jenny’s shop; had a coffee; went to the
bank when he needed some money or had a cheque to deposit; did his
special shopping; then caught the bus home.

“
Don’t
you have a car?” asked Maria.

“
No. We
never needed one. I’ve worked at the railway station ever since
leaving school and we were always short of money. Our priorities
were to raise the children and give them a good education. We
travelled by train when we went on holidays since I could get
discounted fares. Betty used the bus when she worked in Big End and
we all had bicycles. So I never had a car and I don’t know how to
drive although I took some lessons a long time ago. I thought about
buying one during my walks in Lagos. If my business takes off a car
would be very useful. I’d need something to take sets to the
retailers. I also thought about taking driving lessons, not now,
but maybe this summer.”

“
Good
for you Bob. It’s very useful to be able to drive. If you have a
licence you can rent a car anytime you’re on holiday and see more
of the country.”

“
Yes,
and that’s what we should do today. Since it’s going to be nice I
suggest we buy some sandwiches and have lunch on a beach I know.
Would you like that?”

“
Sounds
nice Bob.”

“
All
right. Slow down now Maria, Jenny’s shop is not far from here. You
can park there,” and he pointed to a spot just ahead of
them.

They
walked along the pavement to
Home and
Holiday
looking into the windows of the shops they
passed. There were no customers in the shop when they entered, just
Jenny and Susan arranging items on the shelves.

“
Hello
Jenny, Susan. I’d like you to meet my friend, Maria. She’s from
Portugal”

“
Hello
Maria. Welcome to Big End and
Home and
Holiday
. Have you been here long?”

“
I’ve
been in England just over three weeks. I’m researching tour
opportunities for the travel agency I work for in Lagos. We may
develop one to go along the south coast.”

“
It’s a
nice part of England. I hope you do. People like coming
here.”

“
I hope
we can offer one Jenny. It’d be nice to come back.”

“
Do you
have any more sets for me Bob?”

“
I’ve
six village and six farms.”

“
That’s
good. We haven’t sold any since I saw you last Bob but don’t worry
I’m sure we will before long.”

Jenny wrote a
receipt for Bob while Maria looked around the shop. During coffee
Maria said she’d like to look for a gift to give her sister on her
birthday. When finished they bought sandwiches, Maria had chicken
salad and Bob had roast beef and horseradish. They both chose
bottles of orange juice to drink.

Bob went to
his bank and deposited his cheques whilst Maria walked along the
street looking for something her sister might like. She didn’t find
anything so they drove to the mall where she finally bought a
wooden basket of jams, chocolates and coffees.

“
She
likes all of these so she’ll be happy and it’s not too heavy for me
to carry onto the plane.”

They drove
slowly along the coast road and Bob told Maria to stop next to the
path that lead down the cliff to Smugglers Cove. They worked their
way down to the deserted beach and they carried their lunch to a
nearby tumble of rocks and sat in the sunshine to eat. Afterwards
they walked to the far end of the beach where Bob showed her the
entrance to the cave where smugglers used to store their brandy
from France. “Joe and I searched the cave many times but never
found anything. We planned to come back with a shovel and dig along
the edge at the back but never did.”

“
That
sounds fun. I’d like to do that.”

“
Then we
must, and we’ll share whatever treasure we find Maria.”

Climbing up
the path to the road reminded Bob of the time he was there with
Claire. Did he want to hold Maria’s hand and help her up? He didn’t
have to answer that question for Maria grabbed his hand when the
slope increased.

“
We used
to run all the way to the top when we were young,” Bob told her, as
he pulled her up a steep part. “Can’t do that any more.”

“
I know
I can’t, either. It’s a nice beach and well worth the climb
back.”

In Twinner
Maria stopped beside an art gallery. After looking at the four
pictures in the window they entered and were greeted by a smiling,
middle-aged woman.

“
You had
some watercolours painted by a local artist, Robert Crankshaw, when
I was here a few days ago,” Maria said. “Do you still have
them?”

“
We sold
one yesterday but we still have these,” and the woman pointed to
four paintings hanging on the wall.

“
Oh, you
moved them. Yes, that’s the one I liked,” and Maria pointed to one
of them. “Tell me, is that Smuggler’s Cove beach and
rocks?”

“
Yes it
is. Robert only paints scenes near Twinner and that’s a popular
place for many people.”

“
I like
it and it’ll remind me of today. We have just been there and I’d
like to buy it.”

“
Well,
good. Would you like to meet Robert?”

“
Does he
live nearby?”

“
Yes,
very close. I’ll phone him.

She did, but
there was no reply.

“
Well
perhaps I’ll meet him the next time I come,” Maria said.

As she paid
for the painting Bob asked her how she was going to carry it home
safely. When told that Maria was flying back to Portugal the
assistant put it in bubble wrapping. “That’ll protect it and it’s
small enough to pack in your suitcase if you have enough room.”

“
I’ll
make room.”

Walking back
to the car Bob noticed a toy shop on the opposite side of the road.
“Do you mind if I look in their window Maria? I’m looking for shops
to sell my toys.”

They crossed
the road and stood outside. ‘Yes,’ he thought, ‘it looks as if they
would stock them.’

“
Let’s
go in and see if they are interested.”

Bob greeted
the man behind the counter and gave him his business card. “At the
moment I make trains, farms and villages. Unfortunately I don’t
have any with me but I can bring you some if you’re interested.
Rose Tyne and Jenny Wood, who have shops in Small and Big End, sell
them.”

“
Oh, I
know both of them. We talk about how we are doing at shows and
conferences. If they sell your things I’m pretty sure that I could
too. When could I see them?”

“
How
about next Saturday?”

“
That’ll
be all right, I’m here all day, come anytime you want. Bring three
of each kind, that way, if I like them, I could take them all. My
name is Leonard Tinnet. People call me Leo. Say ‘Hello’ to Rose and
Jenny next time you see them.”

“
I
will.”

They drove
along the lanes through Easing then over the bridge that crossed
the Tusset River on their way to Small End and Maria dropped Bob at
his house.

“
What
time do you go to the Crown for supper?” she asked.

“
Just
before six so I can grab the table by the fire. I’ll come to
Bonnie’s about 5:45. All right?”

“
Okay.”

Bob waited at
his gate and waved as Maria drove away. ‘She’s a very nice woman,’
repeating his previous thought, ‘but I’ll not get any romantic
ideas this time.’

Inside the
house he checked his lists. He had three train sets and eight
villages. He’d have to make some farms and decided to make twenty,
even though it would take nearly two weeks to do all of them, but
he would concentrate on finishing three before Saturday. ‘I might
get all of them done in a week if I work hard. Maybe I should try
that. I really should keep a stock of each toy on hand, that way I
wouldn’t be in such a rush when more are needed.’ He sat in his
chair and thought about how he would organise his production to
finish early and fell asleep, waking an hour later. It was five
thirty so he quickly washed, put on his overcoat and walked to
Bonnie’s, arriving a couple of minutes late. Maria was waiting for
him at the gate.

“
Sorry
I’m late Maria. I fell asleep.”

“
That’s
from pulling me up the slope!”

On the way to
the Crown they stopped at Rose’s shop. She had closed it early so
they just looked in the window.

“
We’ll
likely meet Rose and Jack at the pub. Rose has been selling my
trains for three years. I only started making farms and villages
this year. That’s one of my village sets. If Leo sells them I’ll
probably make enough money to have two holidays each
year.”

“
That
sounds nice. Will you always go to Lagos?”

“
No, I
don’t think so. There’s a lot to see in Europe. You could tell me
where to go. Not yet though, not until I know how much money I
have.” Bob opened the pub’s door and they crossed to the
bar.

“
Hello
Len. This is Maria Schroeder. We met in Portugal. Maria works for a
travel agency and she’s been researching the south coast, looking
for places that tour groups might visit.”

“
Hello
Maria. Welcome to the Crown. I hope you’ll bring many groups to
Small End.”

“
Hello
Len,” said Maria. “I’d like to, for it is a nice place.
Unfortunately the groups I have in mind wouldn’t come to Small End.
I’m only here because Bob, Jane and Joe live here. We met in a
Lagos pub. It looked a bit like this pub.” As she was saying that
Joe and Jane entered and joined them.

“
Hi
Maria. Welcome to Small End.”

“
Hello
Jane, Joe. I’m happy to see you again.”

“
Why
don’t you two ladies sit down and we’ll get the drinks. What would
you like Maria?” asked Bob.

“
A glass
of red wine please.”

“
Gin and
tonic for me Bob,” added Jane.

Joe and Bob
ordered their usual bitter. As Len poured the drinks Joe pointed to
the blackboard. “That’s an unusual menu,” he said.

“
It’s an
experiment. I want to find out if Small Enders will eat local food.
The rabbit and pheasant came from one of the farmers and the
mackerel’s from a Lymington fisherman.”

“
It’s a
bit more expensive than our usual stuff Len.”

“
Yes I
know. That’s the problem. I don’t know if our lot will like it
enough to pay the extra. Visitors would but I’d need both to order
it to make it worth preparing.”

“
Well
we’ll tell you what we think after we’ve tried it.”

Joe drank
nearly half of his bitter while they were talking and said to Bob,
“It’s been a hot and busy day for me in the greenhouse.”