Bob of Small End (39 page)

“
That’s
also why I asked you to visit Bob. You’ll have everything when I
die. I was very close to Betty and I am your Godmother. I have no
relatives except you.”

“
You
won’t die for a long time Sally. You did very well today. I think
your oxygen tank will keep you going for many years.”

“
No I
don’t think so. I’d like you to have my car Bob. I was going to
sell it but now you can drive you might as well take it, I don’t
need it anymore. Rita has a car and she comes here three times a
week. She does the shopping and cleans the place for me. Sometimes
I go with her for a ride but driving to Boston’s supermarkets isn’t
much fun. I could ask her to drive me to other places but she has
other jobs to do and I don’t want to ask too much of her. So you
take the car.”

“
I can’t
Sally. I have to drive the van home.”

“
Oh I
don’t mean this time. Come again. I’ll get David to do all the
paperwork and we can sign it over on your next visit. You’ll have
to get here by bus and train though.”

“
Well
thank you very much Sally. I’d love to have it. I really enjoyed
driving it today.”

“
And
there’s the clock and the three pictures I’d like you to have. They
are in the dining room. I don’t go in there very much and I won’t
miss them. I don’t think that they are worth very much but your
grandmother owned them. If you take them today the lawyer won’t
have to included them when calculating inheritance tax. David will
state that the Vauxhall is worth less than £3,000 and I don’t think
that’ll be included either.”

“
I don’t
know anything about inheritance taxes. When my mother died it was
all looked after by the bank. I don’t think we paid
anything.”

“
Well
there will be some to pay when I die but don’t worry about it. Our
lawyer will contact you and he’ll periodically send you cheques
until the estate’s settled. That’s what happened to us when Brian’s
father died. Now I don’t want to go out any more today but I’d like
to tomorrow, if you have time.”

“
I’ll
have time Sally. I’ll not leave until the afternoon. Where would
you like to go?”

“
I’d
like to go to King’s Lynn, to the cemetery where Brian and my
mother and father are buried. I want to take some flowers from the
garden. Then I’d like to look at the school I attended and drive
back through Spalding to look at the tulips. Brian proposed to me
there. We could have lunch out or come home and have
something.”

“
Let’s
have lunch out Sally. I enjoyed the one we had today.”

“
Good.
That’s what I’d like too. Now go and look at the clock and pictures
and let me know if you want something to wrap them in. I’ve got
some brown paper somewhere.”

The clock, a
wooden mantelpiece clock, was on the sideboard. Bob wasn’t sure
where he would put it in his house but he’d make room for it. There
were two small pictures, about ten by fifteen inches, of rivers
meandering through meadows and trees. The third picture was twice
as large, showing a three-masted sailing boat scudding along in the
wind. That he would put in his living room; the smaller ones might
best be hung in his bedroom.

“
I think
that I should wrap the pictures in paper but the clock could sit on
the floor in front of the seat. It will be all right
there.”

“
You
should lock the mechanism and remove the pendulum of the clock
before you move it Bob. Open the back and you’ll see how to do
it.”

“
All
right.”

“
And the
brown paper is in the cupboard in the spare bedroom, I think. You
might as well wrap the pictures now because you won’t have much
time tomorrow if we go for a drive.”

He placed the
wrapped pictures in the front hall and the clock on the floor
beside them. After that they listened to the news on the television
then watched a documentary on penguins. Sally told Bob where to
find the Ovaltine and how she made it. As they drank she said, “I
always wanted to go to Antarctica to see the penguins but we never
did. If you want to travel Bob don’t put it off. Eventually you
won’t have the health to do it so go now, while you’re still
able.”

“
Yes I’m
thinking that way too Sally. I’m finding out that there are many
interesting places to visit in the world. I would like to see some
of them.”

“
Make a
list. I did. Brian and I visited some of ours. China and parts of
India were the most interesting. You should go there sometime. Put
them on your list.”

“
All
right Sally.”

“
And
watch travel shows on the television. You’ll learn about different
places and find the ones you’d like to visit. Lying on a beach
didn’t interest us, we preferred to see how other people lived. We
went to their museums and walked through the backstreets or sat in
the tiny squares and drank coffee, watching what everyone did. And
we preferred the local’s food, too.”

Sally
described some of the places they had visited and what they did
when they were there. After ten minutes Bob took a piece of paper
and made a few notes. Sally and he had similar interests it seemed.
About an hour later she said she was tired and would go to bed and
he followed her shortly afterwards.

After
breakfast the next morning Bob went to the garden and picked a
large bunch of flowers collecting those that were nearly opening.
He gave them to Sally who sorted them and put them in a heavy vase
and told him to “half-fill it with water, put it in this wicker
basket and kept it upright by pushing crumpled newspaper around the
sides.” This he did, then helped Sally to the car, locked the front
door and drove to the cemetery in King’s Lynn. Once there Bob
pushed her along the path to Brian’s stone-covered grave. She asked
Bob to remove the dead flowers from the pot standing in a hole,
clean it and fill it with water. “The tap’s by the front entrance.
And bring the basket with the vase and flowers from the car too
please.”

When he
returned she took half the flowers from the vase and arranged them
in Brian’s pot. Then he pushed her to her parent’s grave and helped
her tidy it. Her parent’s had paid for permanent care so the
covering grass was cut but stems near the headstone needed
trimming. Sally used the garden scissors she had put in the basket
with the flowers. Bob removed the dead flowers, cleaned the pot and
filled it with water.

“
How
often do you come here Sally?”

“
Every
month. It’s one thing I do ask Rita to do. Sometimes I skip a
month, if I’m not feeling too well or if the weather is too rainy
or cold.”

Then they
drove to the primary school Sally had attended.

“
It
hasn’t changed at all Bob. I had so many good times here and the
staff were so nice. I often visited two of my teachers after I’d
left.”

“
Do you
want to look at your secondary school too?”

“
No. My
time there was okay but I don’t have the same fond memories of it.
If it was the weekend I’d probably ask you to push me around the
outside and I could show you the classroom I liked the best but I
can’t do that now. The children would watch us rather than their
teacher!”

They returned
to the car and drove towards Spalding looking for a coffee shop and
eventually found a rather dilapidated restaurant. They had coffee
and shared a stale cream cake. They did not linger to chat as they
had done on Thursday but continued towards Spalding, passing many
fields covered with tulips, most in full bloom, looking for the
field where Brian had proposed.

The farm they
sought had become a popular place to visit because people were
allowed to drive along a track to a small parking lot in the middle
of the field. The farmer had placed three benches on a rise so they
could sit and fill their eyes with colour. Sally showed him where
the entrance was and he followed the track then parked the car. The
place was empty. Sally pointed to the middle bench.

“
That’s
where it happened. There weren’t benches there then; that’s where
he parked the car. I was quite surprised when he asked me to marry
him for I thought we were just having an affair, but no, he wanted
to get married. It took me a minute to say ‘Yes’.”

“
Was it
the right decision Sally?”

“
Oh yes.
He wasn’t the kind of man I thought I would marry but he turned out
to be all right. It’s a pity we didn’t have any children but that’s
my fault, not his. I suggested we should adopt but he didn’t want
to do that. In a way I miss not having bought up children but we
had a good life, never-the-less.”

“
Betty
and I had children as you know, and I’m very glad we did although I
don’t see much of them these days. Nor the grandchildren. Just a
few times each year. I had a good marriage and I think that Betty
had a good life too.”

“
Yes,
she did Bob. She told me so one summer holiday, that time you
looked after the children and we went to Eastbourne together. For
some reason Brian couldn’t take a holiday that summer.”

“
Yes I
remember that. I took Sam and Regina out to dinner each night when
you and Betty were away. We almost lived on fish and
chips!”

“
You’re
making me hungry now. Let’s find a place to eat but not fish and
chips.”

“
Do you
like curry?”

“
Yes
very much. The first time I had it was when we were in India. Brian
didn’t like it but I did. Sometimes I ask Rita to bring me a curry
dinner from the supermarket.”

“
Well I
saw an Indian restaurant when we drove near here on Wednesday. Why
don’t we go there.”

The meal was
excellent. Bob had a beef madras, Sally a lamb korma. One naan and
some rice and dish of mango chutney. Bob had a bottle of beer and
Sally some water, saying she didn’t like wine with curry. After the
meal they drove directly back to Sally’s home, for she knew it
would be a long drive home for him. He helped her into the house
then returned for the wheelchair. Then he parked the car in the
garage and returned the keys to her.

“
I’ve
very much enjoyed your visit, Bob, and I know you much better now
than I ever did before. When can you come next? The car will be
ready for you by next weekend.”

“
I can’t
come for a while Sally. The conference I told you about is next
week and it will, I hope, provide the names of several retailers
who’ll sell our toys. I’ll have to visit them before I can return
here. I don’t know how many there will be but, with that and the
new shop, I think it will be three or four weeks before I can come
back.”

“
All
right, I understand, you must be very busy. Well, come when you
can.”

They kissed
goodbye. Bob climbed into the van, drove it into the road, parked
and closed the gate. He waved to the house as he drove by but
thought she wouldn’t be able to see him. Then he settled down to
the drive home. The van didn’t feel half as comfortable as the
Vauxhall. Fancy! Next time he came here he would drive home in a
smart-looking car. He wondered if parking it on his new driveway
was the best place for it. But where else could it go? If he built
a garage the only place it could go would be on the driveway where
the van was parked. He didn’t think he would like that, it would
block half the view from his front window. Then he turned his
thoughts to the new shop, wondering how it looked now and what Ken
had done in the last three days. ‘I’ll stop there on my way back.
Maybe there’ll be someone there, though it’ll probably be seven or
eight o’clock.’

He followed
the same route home as he’d used going to Boston, stopping once for
petrol and another time to use the toilet in a town.

There was
nobody at the workshop when he drove up and he didn’t have a key so
he drove home and parked the van in his driveway. He put the clock
and the three paintings in the front room and decided to unpack his
suitcase tomorrow. All he needed was his pyjamas, toothbrush and
slippers. ‘It’ll be nice to put my slippers on’.

There was an
envelope waiting for him on the mat by the front door. A credit
card. He had received unsolicited credit cards in the mail before
and had simply thrown them away but this one was from the National
Westminster bank and the card was his business card. Using it might
be a bit of a problem for he’d never had one before. Then he had an
idea; the van needed petrol so he’d fill-up at Tim’s garage and use
the card there. Tim would show him what to do if he ran into any
trouble.

Then he called
Ken. Mary answered and told him that Ken was out, having a drink
with a friend. Bob asked her to tell him that he’d called. He
opened a can of baked beans, warmed them in a small bowl and spread
half of them on some buttered toast for his supper. He put the rest
in the fridge to have another day.

Chapter 14 Craig

Ken phoned at
eight Saturday morning. “Hello Bob. Did you enjoy your
holiday?”

“
I
certainly did although my aunt isn’t very well. She’s got emphysema
and uses oxygen. But we went for a couple of drives and had lots to
talk about. How did things go at the workshop? I’d like to see what
you’ve done.”

“
I can
be there at nine. How about then?”

“
I’ll be
there.” He sat down to eat his porridge and make his shopping
lists. His grocery list started with ‘coffee,’ the brand he
preferred and couldn’t get in the Small End grocery shop and ended
with fish. Then he made a separate list for workshop items adding
‘six safety glasses’ and ‘four overalls.’