Bob of Small End (85 page)

“
I
thought about cancelling Ken.”

“
Yes, of
course, you would, but I’m glad you didn’t. Maria will be there
won’t she?”

“
Yes.”

“
When do
you come back?”

“
I was
going to return August 19th but I’ll come home Thursday 15th and
will be in on Friday.”

“
Would
you? So you will be able to drive to Basingstoke that
Friday.”

“
Sure.
Oh, I told Lori that she could deliver to the warehouse sometime.
We had talked about her going in the fall but she could do it next
week, if you like. She’d probably be the best person to
go.”

“
Yes.
Okay I’ll ask her.”

“
What
about phoning those two young women who asked for a job a couple of
weeks ago. You still have their names and phone
numbers?”

“
They
should be in here, somewhere.” He opened his centre drawer and
searched through a mess of papers.

“
Yep.
Here it is. I’ll call them right now and see if they can work for a
couple of weeks. They could move wood, wrap and box the toys, do
the simple things. It’ll all help.”

There was no
reply from the first number but the woman who answered the second
call said she would love to work.

“
How
about your friend? I called her but there’s no reply.”

“
She’s
on holiday with her boyfriend.”

“
When
does she come back?”

“
Next
weekend.”

“
Okay.
Well can you be here at nine on Monday?

“
Yes.
Oh, what’s the pay?”

“
£125 a
week.”

“
Okay.
Thanks.”

“
Well,
Bob, that’s a help, and if she’s any good we might not need her
friend.”

“
Depends
on how many toys Dave wants, I guess.”

“
Yes,
everything does. Come to think of it, my holiday and the factory’s
holiday is only three weeks away.”

“
We
won’t be the first company to have a holiday. I’ll tell Dave to
call me at home and I can deliver that week. That’s if we have
enough stock. If not, they’ll have to wait.”

“
I guess
so.” Ken stood up, “let’s go and get the benches ready.”

They made 900
farms that day. After work had finished Bob and Ken sat in the
office and planned the work for next week.

“
We can
make two thousand farms and another two thousand villages by Friday
morning if we work hard Bob. That’d give us 3,300 of
each.”

“
We
already have 700 trains so that’s probably the best plan. Trains
are less popular too.”

“
Okay
that’s what we’ll do, though, if Dave calls on Wednesday we’ll be
short on Friday.”

“
I don’t
know whether to call you each evening to find out how things
are.”

“
No
don’t do that Bob. Try and forget about us. A holiday’s no good if
you worry about work all the time. I know because that’s what I did
until my doctor told me to stop.”

“
All
right, but I won’t be able to stop thinking a bit about you and the
work.”

“
Yes, it
was the same for me.”

Bob drove home
with the overalls and put the first load into his washer before
having a quick bath and changing. He put his dried clothes in the
bedroom and hung the damp overalls on the line. Then he put the
rest of the overalls in the washer and walked to the pub for
supper.

His friends
were already sitting at the table, discussing the need for
Community Centre volunteers. It reminded Bob of Ronald Teller and
he asked how many were in his group. “His name sheet listed eight
people, six women and two men. It’s a good beginning,” said
Jane.

“
Jenny
Painter had eleven at her first class but dancing ‘s more popular I
suppose,” said Bob. “Oh, how was your girl’s night out?”

“
A good
movie; I’m glad we went, aren’t you Rose?”

“
Yes. We
must do it again.”

“
Good
job Jenny drove,” said Joe. “I think that Jane had had a drink or
two afterwards!”

“
We all
did. We had to keep up with you lot!”

“
Err,
yes. We had a drink or two, too.”

“
Or
three?”

“
Enough
about last Saturday,” said Joe, changing the subject a little too
obviously. “Let’s order some food.”

They did that
and had another drink. Bob got up to leave first, reminding them he
wouldn’t be there next Saturday. Joe told him to have a good time
with Maria. Everyone grinned, including Bob.

He hung the
last load of overalls on the line and felt the others. They were
still rather wet. As he was doing that the door to the Community
Centre opened and the blare from some guitars and drums hit his
ears. ‘Must be the youth dance again. I hope they don’t wake me
like they did last time.’ The noise broke through his dreams at
eleven and he got up and shut the window, went back to bed and
slept until six.

Bob ate toast
and jam for breakfast, nothing more, having decided not to eat the
kippers for their odour might cling to him throughout the day. He
poured the last of the milk down the sink, removed the overalls
from the line and put them on the back seat of his car. They were
still damp but they would dry before Monday morning. He drove to
the workshop and hung them on the pegs in the cloakroom then
returned home. It was not yet seven o’clock.

After checking
that his shop and shed doors were locked he did a quick dust over
the furniture then put his suitcase on the bed and filled it with
the clothes he thought he’d need for the holiday. He’d put his
blazer on the back seat of the car so it wouldn’t crease. Then he
walked around the house, checking that all the windows were closed
and the kitchen door locked. He stopped at the front door and
thought through everything again. Had he forgotten something? He
couldn’t think of anything but decided that he’d make a list of
things to do before going on a holiday and things he should take
when he returned. It’d save a lot of last-minute worrying.

‘
It’ll
take me about six hours to get to the hotel if there aren’t any
traffic jams,’ he told himself as he drove through the village.
‘Registration doesn’t start until four so I’ve plenty of
time.’

Bob didn’t
hurry but he did follow the faster A and M roads, stopping at
Coventry, just before joining the M6, where he had a coffee and a
short rest. The traffic hadn’t been heavy and it should be even
lighter once he was on the M6. He’d be early at this rate but he
didn’t mind. It’d be nice to see Maria before she became busy
looking after the other participants.

He arrived
around three and parked near the front doors. It was a big hotel,
situated midway between Braithwaite and Keswick. Maria was sitting
at a desk to one side of the lobby reading some papers. She looked
up when he entered and waved to him.

“
Hi
Bob.” She stood up and kissed his cheek. “It’s nice to see you. Has
it been a tiring journey?”

“
Hi
Maria.” He felt for her hand and squeezed it but did not dare kiss
her back in the hotel lobby. “No, not really. I was thinking of you
all the way.”

“
Oh yes?
I bet! Sit down. I’ll give you your key and a name tag. You are in
the room next to mine. Remember, I won’t be able to see much of you
during the tour; I have to look after everybody. Even during the
night,” and she looked at him.

“
That’s
too bad. We still have next week together?”

“
Oh yes,
I wouldn’t let the agency change that. We won’t stay in this hotel
though, I’ve booked another, a quieter one, for us.”

“
Good.
Where’s your assistant? Didn’t you tell me you’d have
one?”

“
I do.
Her name’s Polly Kitt. She lives near Gatwick but knows this
district very well. She has helped me before and will be with us
all the time. She’ll be the one to take the group back to the
airport when they leave. She’s shopping right now.”

“
Oh.
Will the group be doing a lot of that?”

“
No.
It’s not a shopping trip. There are two free afternoons when people
can do that if they wish. Polly will be the bus guide and tell us
about the places we’re going to visit and what we’re going to do at
each one. You’ll meet her at supper. Ah, there’s another couple
coming over. We’ll talk more later. Supper’s at six-thirty in one
of the hotel’s restaurants. They’ll show you where to go. Here’s
your key Bob. Oh, can you move your car to the parking lot at the
back of the hotel?”

“
I’ll do
that now.”

He drove the
Vauxhall to the rear lot, collected his suitcase, blazer and
mackintosh and entered the building by a back door. His room was on
the second floor, en suite and had a double bed. He could see trees
and rolling fields out of the window then a range of hills. It was
a very comfortable room with two easy chairs and a large
television. He unpacked, had a shower and changed his shirt. He
decided that it was too warm to wear a coat so put on a light
sweater, locked the door and walked down the stairs to the main
floor. Maria was busy, talking to a group of people and didn’t see
him as he walked to the entrance and down the steps. He strolled
around the big garden at the side of the hotel, admiring the
flowers and bushes and the benches near two pools. He sat on one
for a while just staring at the hills in the distance thinking that
it would be nice to have a garden like this then stood up and
walked back to the lobby. Maria saw him coming in and waved but, as
she was talking to another lady, he didn’t approach but went to the
bar and ordered a bitter. He carried it to one of the soft leather
arm chairs and sank into the seat. There were a dozen people
drinking there but he didn’t feel like asking if the couple near
him were with the group. Time to do that later.

At six-thirty
a man entered the room and said, “If there are any tour-group
members here will you please follow me.” Bob and about eight other
people stood and the man took them to the group’s dining room where
about twenty other people were already seated. Bob found a seat at
a table with seven others. As he was about to introduce himself
Maria clinked on a glass and began to speak. First she introduced
Polly, saying that she would be the one who would tell them about
the places they would be visiting, then told them that they would
have a short meeting after dinner each day to describe the next
day’s activities and to answer any questions. “I’ll take you there
after dinner tonight.” With that she sat down and waiters came to
each table delivering menus and asking if anybody would like to
order a drink. Nobody wanted one and Bob wondered if he was sitting
with an abstemious group. He looked at the menu and ordered a salad
and poached salmon then he asked if he could have a glass of white
wine. Several others also then chose a wine. Someone on another
table asked Maria if they had to pay for the wine and she said,
loudly enough for everyone to hear, “Sorry, drinks aren’t included
in this tour. You’ll have to pay for them. The waiters will ask you
for the money at the end of each meal.”

Dinner passed
easily since the Portuguese guests wanted to practice their English
and they livened up each table. Bob told one of them near him that
he was in Lagos in January and a lady from Yorkshire on the other
side of the table said she and her husband were there at that time
as well. That led into a discussion of holidays and the places they
had visited. The meal was eaten and coffee served long before they
had run out of conversation topics.

The meeting
room was at the end of their dining room’s corridor. Maria led them
there and after they were seated asked everyone to state their
names, say where they came from and why they had chosen this
holiday. Bob didn’t want to say that he had booked it because Maria
was leading so he said he just wanted to see more of England. When
he said he was from Small End he noticed that one of the ladies
looked at him with interest and he wondered if she knew the name of
the village from buying their company’s toys. Maria then gave
everybody a map of the area and Polly took over.

“
Our
hotel is marked with a cross on the map. So we will start from
there every day. Can you find it? Okay. Now tomorrow we’re
travelling south to Windermere Lake. We’ll go along its shore to
Newby Bridge, then west and up to Coniston Water, then home. I’ll
not tell you about the interesting places we’ll see until tomorrow,
that way it’ll be fresh in your mind. We’ll stop for coffee or tea
and at places to take photographs. Lunch is at a nice lodge and
there will be time to take a short walk as well if you want to. You
should wear your heavy shoes and take a mackintosh because there’s
a chance it’ll rain tomorrow. Are there any questions?”

“
What if
we don’t want to walk?”

“
You can
stay in the lodge or in their garden. When we stop for walks if we
are not at a lodge or hotel then you can sit in the bus or on one
of the benches near where we park. The walks will only last twenty
minutes or so.”

“
So
we’ll be gone all day tomorrow?”

“
Yes.
We’ll return here for lunch only on Wednesday and Saturday. Will
that be a problem?”