Bob of Small End (42 page)

Once the fan
and it’s bag had been properly installed they showed Bob how well
it worked then they decided to stop for the day. Craig left first,
collecting his bike from the side of the shop and riding off.

“
He’s
asked if we can provide a place to chain his bike. He doesn’t think
it’ll be stolen but he doesn’t want to worry about it. I’ll ask Joe
if he has something we can bolt onto the shop wall.”

“
Will
you hire him?”

“
Yes I
will. He learns quickly and is good with his hands. I’ll tell him
he can have the job if he guarantees he’ll stay with us for at
least one year. I don’t want to take him on then find that he wants
to take a different job in a month or so. And Bob, I want another
helper. We’ll need one if the conference brings in lots of
customers. If he’s as good as Craig we’ll be in clover.”

“
All
right. Do you want me to put the same sign in Rose’s
shop?”

“
Yes
please.”

“
Okay.
The conference is very important, isn’t it? It worries me. If I
don’t find lots of retailers all this is for nothing.”

“
Now
don’t think like that. You have to have a positive outlook when you
meet people otherwise you’ll turn them away. Remember, ‘Don’t
worry, We’ll be alright,’ that’s our motto. Keep it in
mind.”

“
Yes.
You’re right. Okay. Tomorrow’ll be fine.’

“
Good.
Well I’m going home now. Enjoy the next few days and let me know
what happens as soon as you can.”

“
Okay.
Cheers Ken.”

Ken locked the
door, got in his car and waved as he drove away. Bob walked home,
thinking more positively about the conference. ‘Well it’ll be a new
experience, that’s for sure,’ he told himself, ‘I might as well
enjoy it.’

Chapter 15 The Conference

Bob was in the
bath at six o’clock on Wednesday morning, scrubbing his back with a
Betty’s loofah; he couldn’t sleep any more. Normally he bathed in
the evening before going to bed two or three times a week. Having a
bath in the morning always made him wish that he had installed a
shower but Betty didn’t like them so he had never installed one.
Perhaps he should now; selling toys was different from getting coal
or sawdust in his hair during the day. When he was working at the
station he would be out in the rain, moving packages and luggage or
sweeping the floor or stoking the stove and no one noticed if he
smelled a bit. A bath at the end of the day made sense then; in his
new job it would probably be better to shower each morning.

He put on his
new suit after checking to see that there were no tags or labels
attached. He didn’t find any; Mr. Hankins must have removed them.
Bob still had plenty of time, the conference manager told him when
he eventually replied to his phone call that he could set up his
booth any time after eight. He also said that the conference’s
registration began at 9:30 and people wouldn’t arrive much before
then. Bob knew he’d only need fifteen minutes to set up his booth
but still planned to arrive at nine. He’d set-off at eight because
he didn’t want to worry about slowdowns or tailbacks as he drove to
Bournemouth.

He loaded
everything in the van—table, poster stands, posters, the sheet and
company name, bowl and box, introductory notes from Rose, Jenny and
Leo, business cards and toy sets. Then he visualised the table—did
he have everything? No, he’d forgotten the screwdriver he needed to
fasten the poster stands to the table and fetched one. Driving away
he remembered that he was going to put some sweets on the table so
he stopped at a newsagent’s shop and bought some wrapped toffees
and a box of chocolates. He’d cover the top of the box with paper
and put the toffees in that. He’d keep the chocolates for
himself.

He parked in
the lot behind the Nextoria hotel and walked through the door at
the back. A man holding a clip board was walking towards him so Bob
told him he had a table to set up for the conference, adding, “My
name is Barns, Bob Barns.”

“
Ah,
yes, Mr. Barns. You have six foot, I think. Come, I’ll show you
where you’ll be.”

He took him
along the corridor and pointed to a space between two marker posts.
“This is yours.”

The corridor
they were in was wide and already had a few display booths set up
on each side. People were opening boxes and putting out their
wares, moving them from place to place and arranging table lights.
Bob, seeing that, wished he’d brought a light, they highlighted
items and greatly improved their looks. He’d bring one
tomorrow.

He
fetched his table, screwdriver and the poster stands from the van
and set them up. Then he collected the sheet, the company’s name
and two drawing pins and set them up, hanging the
Small End Wooden Toys
sign across
the front of the table by hanging the cord from the pins driven
through the sheet and into the ends of the table. He positioned the
rest of his display: the letters were placed in the centre of the
table with Leo’s on top for he’d be the person most people would
know; some of the toys were arranged along the back of the table;
the bowl for retailer’s business cards, a pile of his cards and the
box lid with the toffees were all placed along the front. He walked
backwards and forwards along the front of his booth, making sure
everything was suitably placed. As he thought, it took only fifteen
minutes to set things up. He sat behind the table on a chair the
hotel had provided and wondered what else he should be doing.
Nothing came to mind so he decided to see what other people were
selling.

There were
several stands where toys were sold. Labels on the boxes suggested
that most of what they were selling came from China. Many tables
were covered with china figurines, coffee mugs, T-shirts, belts,
stuffed animals—all the things normally found in a gift shop. There
were very few wooden items and no wooden toys that he could see.
‘Why not,’ he wondered. ‘Had they tried selling them? Did retailers
not like them? Did the three retailers that sold for him stock his
toys because he was a local man?’ If so he’d be in trouble, maybe
none of the retailers would sell his toys. He walked back to his
stand and sat down, a little dispirited.

A young woman
was busy arranging lights over the jewellery that was on the table
on his right. Two men were putting jars of jam, honey, cakes,
toffees, fudge, and other edible items on small stands on the table
to his left. He wondered if they made all these themselves but
thought not. There were too many different items and he assumed
they were distributors.

He had seen
the reception table at the end of the hall near the front of the
hotel and a table with cups and saucers stood next to it. A young
man wheeled a trolley holding four large jugs along the corridor
towards it. When he saw that he guessed they held coffee and tea
and asked the woman with the jewellery if the coffee was for
them.

“
No,
it’s not for us,” she said. “We have to buy ours from the hotel’s
cafeteria. Is this your first time here?”

“
Yes.”

“
Well I
wouldn’t go for it now. Retailers are arriving and it’ll be busy.
I’ll show you where to go when they begin the
conference.”

“
Okay.
Thanks.”

People in twos
or threes began to drift by. No one stopped; they preferred to
speak to each other but most took a quick look at each display as
they passed.

“
What
they’re doing is what they usually do,” the woman said. “They talk
to their friends. They’ll be back before or after their lunch break
and at other times. I always remain at my table if there’s nothing
on their agenda. Did you collect one?”

“
An
agenda? No I didn’t.”

“
Well
look at mine,” and she handed hers to Bob then read over his
shoulder. “See, they begin the conference at 10 and continue to
12:30. There’s a lunch break until 1:30. I always have my lunch
after they have finished theirs. There’s a half-hour break at 3:30,
and there’s a social from 5 to 6:30. You won’t see many people that
hour but I stay at my booth until 7, that’s when they have their
dinner, in case any of them come here then.”

“
Well
I’ll do the same. Thanks. I’m Bob, Bob Barns,”

“
I’m
Tina Liscome. Hello Bob.”

“
Hello
Tina. How long have you been selling jewellery?”

“
This is
my tenth year. I started making jewellery as a hobby and gave it to
my friends, then other people asked if they could buy it. That’s
when I started selling it. Eight years ago I quit my job and have
been making jewellery full-time ever since. Do you like
it?”

“
Well I
haven’t really looked at it. It looks fine to me but my wife used
to choose her own jewellery, not me. So I don’t know much about
jewellery. It all looks very bright. What’s it made
from?”

“
It’s
mostly silver and gold, that’s why it’s shiny. What happened to
your wife? You said she used to choose her jewellery, not she
chooses it.”

“
She
died three and a half years ago.”

“
Oh, I’m
sorry.”

“
That’s
okay.”

More people
were walking along the corridor now so they stopped talking, hoping
someone would stop. Bob stood behind the table while he waited but
the woman sat. One or two groups paused to see what Bob had on his
table but didn’t say anything. He wondered if no one stopped
because he didn’t have lights, most booths had plenty of lights
brightening their display by now, or because they weren’t
interested. Tomorrow he would bring both the bedside lamps he made
after they were married. The lamps weren’t too big and were made of
wood so they’d be in keeping with the company’s theme. Trouble was,
there wasn’t much room on the table for two lamps; he’d probably
have to put the train or one of the carriages on one of their
bases. That might look alright though.

At ten the
retailers disappeared and Tina told Bob that she was going to have
a coffee. They walked together to the cafeteria, bought their
coffee and chatted as they drank it.

“
How’s
business Tina?”

“
Pretty
good. I rent a shop in the centre of Bournemouth and make the
jewellery at a small work bench at the back. What about
you?”

Bob told her
how he began and that he and another man had just formed a company
to make and sell their toys.

“
I saw
the company’s name on your stand but I don’t know Small End. Is it
really small?”

“
It is
at the moment but it’s growing and will be almost as big as Big End
in a few years. Do you know Big End?”

“
Oh yes.
I’ve been there two or three times since I’ve lived
here.”

“
Where
did you live before?”

“
In
London. I left when I decided to make jewellery full-time. I might
have sold my things in the city but the shops were too expensive
for me. I once had a holiday in Bournemouth and thought that would
be a nice place to live so that’s why I moved here.”

They talked a
little more then Tina looked at her watch and told Bob she wanted
to go back to her booth to finish a piece she was working on. Bob
looked at his watch then said he’d go for a walk to pass the time.
The Nextoria was near the highway but Bob found a side road that
led to a small sub-division and he explored that until it was time
to return.

The doors of
the large conference room opened at twelve thirty. Many of the
participants went to the cafeteria but about half stayed and walked
along the corridor looking at the displays and talking to some of
the people behind them. A steady stream visited Bob’s booth. He
showed them what he and Ken made, taking extra parts of the toys
from the boxes if they seemed interested. He explained the
arrangements he had with his current retailers and told them the
wholesale and usual retail prices. When he mentioned Leo people
picked up interest and took a closer look at the letters he had put
near the centre of the table. Most of them dropped their cards in
the bowl and took one of his toffees. Several said they’d see what
Leo or Rose said about his toys. None of them ordered any and he
began to worry. He hoped that was simply because they wanted to ask
Leo how they sold before placing an order.

He was busy
every minute until 1:30 then sat down and rested. Talking to people
while standing took more energy than he’d expected. Maybe that’s
why Tina sat most of the time but she’d been busy too. He asked her
if it was a successful lunch-hour and she said that most of the
people she talked too were retailers who already sold her things
but there were a few new ones as well.

“
You
know,” Bob said, “it only just struck me that you sold through
other retailers as well. Earlier I’d thought you just sold through
your own shop but you wouldn’t be here if you didn’t have others
sell for you.”

“
Well I
didn’t have the shop when I first came to Bournemouth. For the
first four years my stuff was sold only by others. They continued
to do so when I started selling. I make more when I sell them
myself but I still make a good profit when they sell. I’m going to
have my lunch now Bob.”

“
Me too.
Are you eating in the cafeteria?”

“
Yes.
There’s nowhere else around here.”

“
Mind if
I join you?”