Bob of Small End (102 page)

Maria’s letter
arrived Friday morning. ‘It’s a lovely house and it’s so nice to
have a river along two sides. But isn’t it damp in the winter? I
guess you’ll find out soon. No, I wouldn’t like to cook on an Aga,
I’ve never used them. I’d prefer a conventional stove.’ Reading
that he decided to order the stove and refrigerator the next time
he was in Big End.

His bank
manager called him during his tea break that morning and told him
that a money transfer of £300,000 had arrived. “Do you want the
bank to put it in your savings account?”

“
No,
thanks. Put it in my checking account, please. I need quite a lot
right now. I’ll transfer what I don’t need later. Can I draw from
it today?”

Assured that
he could Bob called Arthur to tell him that he wanted to discharge
his mortgage. Jennifer answered his call and suggested he bring his
cheque book today. “And if you’re here before lunch we could start
the process today.”

He drove
directly to Arthur’s office. Jennifer told him that he should write
a cheque for £175,336, payable to Mr. Glone’s firm and leave it
with her. “It’s for the remaining principal and interest. Mr. Glone
had to go out but he’ll handle this when he returns. There’ll be a
few additional charges, not much, and he’ll send you his invoice
and the discharge papers once your cheque has cleared.”

Bob drove to
the appliance shop in Big End Saturday morning and spent over seven
thousand pounds buying a large fridge, a modern, convection stove,
a dishwasher, a washing machine, dryer and a microwave. They were
very happy with his order and promised delivery and installation as
soon as all of the appliances had arrived. He next collected his
photographs and looked through them as he ate his lunch in the Fox.
He shopped afterwards and collected more boxes, to hold clothes
this time, and was home in time for a bath and a nap before
supper.

At the Crown
that night Jane told everyone what the committee had decided about
the Christmas activities.

“
We’re
having both events at the Centre, a big party for children who are
under twelve on Saturday December 14th and a New Year’s dance on
Saturday December 28th. So most families will be happy. However,
there’s a catch, the New Year’s Eve do is fancy dress. If you don’t
wear some kind of costume the entrance fee’s doubled. So, how many
want to go?”

“
We’ll
go,” answered Rose. “I’ve got my grandmother’s dress and I’ll wear
that. And her hat too. What’ll you wear, Jack?”

“
Me
apron?”

“
Your
carpenter’s apron? No thanks! I’ll make you a sheik with a sheet if
you can’t think of anything better.”

“
Nay,
I’ll think o’ somat.”

“
How
about you Bob,” asked Rose. “What’ll you wear?”

“
I’ll
not be going Rose, I’ll be in Paris. How about you Joe. What’ll you
wear?”

“
I can
put on my work clothes and carry a hay fork.”

“
Too
dangerous,” announced Jane. “We wouldn’t let you in if you had one
of those. And you’re not wearing your old clothes either. If I have
time I’ll make something for both of us.”

“
I’ll be
sorry to miss this,” said Bob, “I hope you have one next
year.”

“
If this
one’s a success we probably will.”

“
Then
I’ll look for something to wear when I’m in Portugal.”

He enclosed a
labelled set of photographs when he wrote to Maria and told her
he’d ordered the appliances and the furniture for his study. ‘All
the rest I’ve left until you come. I want my study arranged the way
Ken had his, that’s why I’ve ordered those. It should all arrive
next week. I’m looking forward to December 22nd. Only six more
weeks. Love, Bob.”

Chapter 46 Towards Christmas

Those six
weeks drifted by slowly. Bob trained himself to get up a few
minutes later each day. The winter darkness and the many rainy days
helped him not to feel he was just being lazy.

He made
up for late starts by walking, sometimes tracing the footpaths that
criss-crossed the fields and woods around
Rivermead
. He knew most of them, for the house
was less than two miles from his former home. He walked every day,
even when it rained, skipping only the very windy or stormy
days.

He
continued to live in his old home but went to
Rivermead
when deliveries were expected or when
he had some work to do. Two days were spent removing Ken’s old work
bench from the garage and making a smaller one that better suited
his needs. He hung up most of his tools but left his wood-carving
tools packed in its moving box for he would not need them until he
began carving birds. He placed his garden implements in Mary’s
small greenhouse.

Bob spent
three days carefully drafting the boat house cum workshop. He
decided to make one long structure, built upon a single bed of
concrete. Jack told him that he’d have to obtain approval to make a
building that large and which was adjacent to the river so he
started the search to find out what he had to do and what
application forms he needed by talking to people at the municipal
office.

Once his new
appliances had been connected he did his weekly washing in the new
machine, revelling in the fact that it took the clothes dryer less
than an hour to dry them. He even tried the dishwasher but he
realised his two plates, a mug and a knife wasn’t a real test. He
would have to hold a party or save his dishes for a week or two to
properly test the machine’s capability.

He had a fire
in the study the evening his chairs were delivered and watched a
program on Sally’s television. It was nice sitting there but it
needed a rug he thought, and a larger television, one which should
stand on a bench or table. He added them to his shopping list. It
was exciting to be able to buy what he wanted without worrying
about what it might cost.

He shopped,
buying a rug, a television, a stand to hold it and a wall cabinet.
He put his drinks and glasses into the cabinet the day following
its delivery and added ‘Port’ to his shopping list. The bottles he
had bought last Christmas were still nearly full or unopened. He
measured the empty space on either side of the fireplace and made
shelves to hold his books, a few of Betty’s ornaments and
photographs of his mother and father, Regina and Sam and his
grandchildren.

Cheques
arrived and were deposited. Money accumulated in his savings
account and when a cheque for £100,000 arrived from Mr. Radley he
asked his bank manager for a safe place to invest it. ‘Unit trusts’
were recommended, those supplied by the bank, of course. He bought
a few. And a gold bracelet for Maria’s Christmas present.

He
phoned Ken one Sunday evening, telling him that toy sales had
increased and asking him where he bought his firewood. Ken told him
that he’d been to Germany ordering new equipment and was busy
setting up the production lines. He said that Mary spent much of
her time looking at houses that were for sale but they hadn’t found
any thing they liked yet. Both Bob and Ken had received an
invitation to the
Small End Wooden
Toys'
Christmas party. It was to be held on Friday,
December 20th. Bob told him he would be going and Ken said he and
Mary would also be there.

He lost
interest in learning new dance steps when Maria, in one of her
letters, told him she didn’t dance much and he should not expect
her to be able to follow all his steps but he continued taking the
lessons until the classes ended mid December. Maria wrote, telling
him she had booked her flight to England and would be arriving
Friday, Jan 3rd and would be returning Sunday, Jan 12th. ‘We’ll be
busy,’ she wrote, ‘choosing furniture for your house will take a
lot of time but I’d like to visit Ken and Mary if we can.’

November
23rd Craig helped him load the van with his bed and the furniture
he would take to
Rivermead
.
He told Craig that he and Lori could use the house immediately and
move in whenever they wanted and gave him a set of keys. He told
the Post Office and his children that they should use the
Rivermead
address in future but that
he would still have the same telephone number.

It was a warm
but empty and a rather lonely home when he was living there by
himself. He hoped it would become more cozy when it was filled with
furniture. It was lovely to have an ensuite bathroom. Eating his
meals in the lounge while watching the river and the birds was very
pleasant. He borrowed a fishing rod from Craig and caught a small
fish one morning but put it back in the river. A six inch fish was
too small to eat. He twice raked the leaves and burned them. He
redesigned the flower beds, making all of them smaller except the
one he would use to grow vegetables. Thus the days went by and
Christmas drew nearer.

Friday,
December 13th he stayed with Regina and watched Roy perform in the
school play. Bernard was more congenial towards him than he had
been in the past; perhaps it was the money he now commanded or his
new house. He left Christmas presents for them, a mohair scarf for
Regina, a bottle of expensive scotch for Bernard and the latest
computer game for Roy.

Saturday he
stayed at Sam’s house for the night, taking them out for dinner and
leaving a GPS unit as Sam’s Christmas present, a book token for a
hundred pounds for Lilly and cheques of fifty pounds for Jane and
for Bess. He thought that they’d know best what they would like to
buy. Lilly was recovering from a bad cold but, luckily, he didn’t
catch it.

The
Wooden Toys
Christmas party was held in one of the large rooms in Big
End’s main hotel. It had been decorated by the hotel’s staff and
they also managed the bar. Lori footed the bill for the drinks and
the buffet. Jose operated the record player and Luke was the MC.
Bob made his way amongst everybody describing what he had been
doing and asking about their Christmas plans and their families.
Mary told Bob that she had found a suitable house and they had made
an offer that morning but added that, if accepted, it wouldn’t be
theirs until February. “Do bring Maria to visit when she comes. I
really want to meet her.”

The Crown
suppers continued and Bob drove to them each Saturday. He learned
that the children’s party was a resounding success. Joe and Jane
would become pirates and Jack would turn into Napoleon at the New
year’s Eve dance. Jane and Rose made the costumes and promised to
make one for Bob and Maria, if she was here, for the one next year.
“That’s if you haven’t already bought one,” Rose said.

December 22nd
eventually arrived. The drive to Heathrow was easier and quicker
than Bob had expected. After more than an hour’s wait he boarded
the plane and listened to the safety announcements in English and
in French, trying to remember the few French words he’d learned at
school. He spent most of the journey looking out the window at the
clouds and thinking back through the past year. So much had
happened and all of it because he had met Claire. What a year it
had been. And what a difference it had made to his future!

###

A note from
the author

I hope you
enjoyed my first novel. Perhaps you might like
Sam's Dream
,
a short story.

A few years ago
I wrote
Developing a Universal Religion.
This book explores
how we think, how we solve practical problems, how moral problems
arise and how we solve them. Along the way it summarises how the
universe, stars, planets and life evolved. It ends with a wish that
we might benefit by formulating a religion that looks forward
rather then backwards and use that to guide the morality of a
global civilization.

David
Hockey