Bob of Small End (98 page)

“
Yes, me
too, though it might not be until the Easter holiday.”

“
You’ll
visit us when you come back from Paris?”

“
Yes.
I’ll phone and we can decide when.”

“
All
right. Don’t work too hard! My love to you and Maria.”

“
My love
to you too. ‘Bye Sam.”

“‘
Bye
Dad.”

Bob then wrote
to Maria, telling her that he’d sold the company to Lori and Craig.
‘They have been with us from the beginning. Lori looks after the
office and the finances and she knows what the place is worth.
Craig runs the shop when Ken and I aren’t there. They’ll be able to
manage it just as well as we did and they’ll do all right. So I’ve
now got lots of time, or I will have starting in November when they
take over. I’ll tell you all the details when we meet. I’ve also
booked my flights to Paris. I’ll be waiting for you when you
arrive.’

As he was
getting up Bob thought that the week would be much like the last,
everybody working hard, making plenty of toys, an order from Dave
on Friday that he would deliver, but that was not to be.

It started
with good news. Ken told him that he had rented one of the houses
the agent had shown them.

“
It’s in
Stockport, five miles from the factory. It’s in a good location, we
don’t have to drive through Manchester to get to Nottingham. I’ve
only taken it for three months because I hope to buy a place. That
should give us enough time to find one.”

“
You’ve
got it from November first?”

“
Yes.
It’s furnished so we’ll store our stuff until we find a suitable
house. It’s not very big, only two bedrooms, but that’s all we
need.”

“
Mary
likes it?”

“
Not
much but it suits our needs and it’s not for long.”

Then Simon
Delare arrived and more or less took over the office. By nine
fifteen Simon was sitting at Bob’s desk. He began by aligning the
bank statements and Lori’s account books. Then he checked each item
against the expense and receipt slips she had filed. He joined the
others for a short tea break when Bob told everyone what he was
doing. Lori added, “Mr. Delare’s making sure we’re all right
financially.” At the end of the day he spoke to Bob and Ken and
said, “Everything looks good so far except for your Unemployment
Insurance contributions. They should be looked at by someone to see
what has to be paid. I can do that if you wish.”

“
Oh,
yes, please do that,” said Bob.

“
There’s
no rush and there’s unlikely to be much to pay. I’ll talk to Lori
and Craig about it. They’ll probably ask you to pay any amounts
owing up until the date the company is sold.”

“
I see.
All right.”

“
Apart
from that, I’ll probably be finished tomorrow.”

Tuesday Simon
checked items in the storage rooms and the tools on the benches,
finishing with a cursory look into the cupboards in the tea
room.

“
You
don’t have anything to worry about,” he told them, as Lori walked
into the room. “I’ll write a report and you’ll get it early next
week, with my invoice.”

He looked at
Lori and said, “You did an excellent job. I’m sure you’ll look
after everybody’s interests until the debt is fully paid but I can
check again when that’s done, if you like.”

“
Lori,”
added Bob, “Simon told Ken and I that there might be some
Unemployment Insurance contributions owing. He’ll check that and
let us know what he finds. Ken and I will pay the amount up to
November first.”

“
All
right Bob.””

“
Thanks
for doing this so promptly Simon,” said Ken.

Then came the
bad news. Bob was making his supper Wednesday evening, planning on
having a bath and going to the dancing classes, when the phone
rang. It was Lydia Pettish, the manager of Sally’s residence. She
told him that Sally died that morning.

“
We had
been expecting it as, I think, you must have. It was a peaceful
death. The staff had just taken away her breakfast tray—she hadn’t
eaten anything—and were tucking her in when she died. She just
drifted off, quietly and peacefully.”

“
Oh,
dear. I wish I’d gone up to see her again. She told me that she
wouldn’t live much longer last time I saw her. What can I do? What
arrangements must I make?”

“
It’s
all been done. Sally arranged everything two months ago. The doctor
saw her this afternoon and signed the death certificate. The
undertaker came shortly afterwards and has taken her body. I’ve
informed the minister and the funeral will be this Saturday. Will
you be coming?”

“
Oh,
yes. What time will it be?”

“
At
twelve. She’ll be buried alongside her husband.”

“
Then
I’ll drive up on Friday.”

“
Can you
come here as soon as you arrive? I’d like you to clear her room.
She told me she wanted you to do that and to take anything you
wanted. The rest, she said, could be given to us or to a
charity.”

“
All
right. I’ll be there.”

He phoned his
children immediately afterwards and told them that their great-aunt
Sally had died. They knew of her but had only seen her a few
times.

He did not go
to the dancing classes but sat for a while recalling things they
had talked about when he had visited her. He felt depressed and
drank a glass of port hoping it would make him feel better but all
it did was make him sleepy so he went to bed.

He told Ken
and Lori Thursday morning that he’d be taking Friday off.

“
Sally,
my aunt, died yesterday and her funeral will be on Saturday. I’ll
be back Sunday, or even on Saturday, if there’s nothing for me to
do there.”

“
Can you
deliver to Basingstoke on your way?” asked Lori.

“
Well I
could, it’s on the way, but I’d rather not. I don’t want to drive
to a funeral in a delivery van. Can you deliver?” he asked
Lori.

“
Yes.
I’ll tell Dave I can’t have lunch with him because we’re short
staffed. We can do that next time.”

Bob left at
nine on Friday, after the traffic has decreased. He didn’t hurry
and switched on the radio but hardly heard it. Most of the time he
was reminiscing, thinking of the days he’d visited Sally and his
uncle Brian. He stopped at a road house for lunch and arrived at
the residence just as the afternoon tea was being cleared away. He
knocked on the manager’s door and entered. Lydia was expecting him
and asked if he would like a cup, pointing to the tray. He was
thirsty but refused, preferring to clear Sally’s room first. He
would relax later. So Lydia walked with him to her room.

The staff had
already done most of the work. Sally’s clothes had been folded and
were placed with her shoes and slippers on the stripped bed. Beside
them lay the two paintings and photographs, her purse, a vase and
the remote control of the television that stood on a small table. A
box held toiletry items, a hairbrush, two combs, some creams and a
toothbrush.

“
What
should I do with the clothes and shoes?”

“
If you
don’t want them we’ll give them to the charity shop. You’ll take
the other items?”

“
I’ll
take everything, but not the toiletry things. I’ll take the
hairbrush though. It looks like a new one.”

“
All
right. Can you come to the office and sign a receipt for them once
you’ve put them in your car. We’ll be sending her final statement
to her lawyer. He’ll pay it.”

Bob spent the
night in the hotel he and Maria stayed in when they had visited
Sally and he checked out after breakfast. There was no need to stay
longer for there was little he could do; Sally had arranged
everything.

There were
sixty or more people at the funeral. Bob was surprised to see so
many, presumably they were friends or from her bridge club or
former patients. Lydia and one of the residence’s nurses were there
and David, the garage owner who looked after Sally’s car joined
him. He said, “I knew you were here as soon as I drove up because I
saw Sally’s Vauxhall parked near the gate.”

Bob was
standing at the grave after David and most of the others had left
when a man approached and introduced himself.

“
I’m
Gilbert Radley, Sally’s lawyer. You’re Bob Barns, aren’t
you?”

“
Yes.”

“
Did
Sally tell you about her will?”

“
She
said she was going to leave everything to me some months
ago.”

“
That’s
what she did. You’ll receive everything, everything except five
thousand pounds which she’s giving to this church. She’s given me
your address and telephone number. I can send you the cheques or
deposit them in your bank account. It’ll take several months before
Inheritance Tax, probate and various other expenses have been
sorted out but I’ll be able to send portions during that
time.”

“
How
much do you think there will be Mr. Radley?”

“
About
£550,000 I’d guess, after everything’s been paid.”

“
Wow. I
never expected that much!”

“
Her
husband was a successful stock broker you know. Now, I’ll be able
to release £300,000 in about three weeks. The rest you’ll receive
over the next six months. Do you want me to transfer the money
electronically to your bank account or send cheques to you by mail
Mr. Barns?”

“
Can you
transfer the £300,000 electronically Mr. Radley. It would be safer
that way. But could you send the rest of them by cheques. It’ll be
a lovely surprise opening them.”

“
All
right, I’ll do that. Please call me if you have any questions,” and
he gave Bob his card.

Bob drove home
in a dream. He could pay for Ken’s house easily now. And pay for
the furniture and still have lots left for holidays. He could even
buy a Rover if he wanted! But that, he decided, would not be
sensible. ‘I’ll have to learn how to invest what money’s left after
setting up the house, not spend it.’

He parked his
car and walked to the Crown for his supper but it was nearly eight
and his friends had already left. He thought about telling Len
about his inheritance but decided not to. He’d tell Ken, Maria and
Joe but it wasn’t something everybody had to know.

He told Maria
that Sally had died when he wrote to her and that she’d left
everything to him. ‘I will have lots of money for holidays now,
even after paying for Ken’s house and furnishing it. Why don’t you
quit work completely and come and live with me? It would be
wonderful if you’d did that. With tons of love, Bob.’

Ken asked if
the weather had spoiled the funeral when he entered the office on
Monday morning.

“
No, why
should it?”

“
We had
a lot of rain around noon and I thought the funeral might have been
postponed. I’m glad it didn’t affect you. Were there many people
there?”

“
Over
fifty, I think. And Sally’s lawyer was there. He spoke to me
afterwards and guess what, Sally’s left everything to me. I’ll be
able to discharge the mortgage on your house as soon as the money
comes in. Tell Arthur to make sure I can do that.”

“
Okay, I
will. I haven’t spoken to him about selling my house to you yet.
He’ll need to know the down payment and details like making it
repayable anytime.”

“
Well,
we must have more than one hundred and fifty thousand in the bank
now. Let’s withdraw most of it then I could give you my half as the
down payment. Oh, hello Lori, Craig.”

“
Hello
Bob. Was the funeral all right? Did the rain affect you?” asked
Lori.

“
Ken
just asked me the same thing. We didn’t get any rain and it went as
planned. Did you deliver the toys to Dave?”

“
Yes.
Driving was difficult much of the time and I had to drive very
slowly.”

“
Did you
let him buy your lunch?”

“
Yes I
did. I changed my mind about that, hoping the rain would be less in
the afternoon. We talked about how Craig and I would run the
company. He was very interested and said that he’d be able to sell
our other products too. He wants to meet Craig. You’ll come with me
when we own the company won’t you Craig?”

“
Yes,
and I’ll buy the lunch this time. Not an expensive one though,
we’ll be very short of money our first year.”

“
Fish
and chips Craig. He’ll settle for that.”

Bob checked
the order: Dave wanted 500 farms, 600 villages and 300 trains and
the stock at the end of Friday was 11,300 farms, 10,400 villages
and 5,200 trains. He wondered if Ken would make more trains to
equalise the quantities. They should be soon receiving bigger
orders as retailers built their inventories ready for
Christmas.

He worked in
the shop most of the week. Tuesday a cheque for £33,000 arrived; it
was the payment for their August 30th sale to We-Have-It.

Lori held up a
bank draft for three hundred thousand pounds when she and Craig
came into the office Wednesday morning.

“
It’s
from my uncles and Dad,” she told Bob and Ken. “We’ll use it to
open a new account. Then we can separate the transactions that
relate to you from when you owned the company from those that
relate to us when we take over.”