Bob of Small End (10 page)

He tried the
technique and painted all the bodies and roofs of the carriages
then took a coffee break. After his rest he painted the doors and
the windows using the white paint. White window panes didn’t look
very good on top of the acrylic, maybe silver would be better.
‘I’ll have to see if the shop has any,’ he told himself.

The wood was
delivered at one o’clock, just as he was about to eat lunch. He
helped the man unload and, immediately after lunch, built four
racks. The shop looked much tidier once all the wood was placed,
upright, between them. Then he returned to painting and finished
the engines, the chimneys and all of the wheels by six. It had been
another very productive day.

Bob cooked
some of his frozen fish in a frying pan filled with water for
supper. It lacked taste and he wondered if there was a sauce he
could add. Frying did taste nicer even if it was not supposed to be
healthy to cook that way.

Thursday
morning he felt tired. His back ached a bit from hunching over the
bench when he was painting. He didn’t rush breakfast and thought
again about what he was doing. He wanted to enjoy his life and not
rush it so much. He knew now that he could make plenty of money if
the
Small End
toys sold as
easily in the future as they had in the past. He could probably
make five thousand pounds a year if he wanted, enough for two or
three holidays. He could make even more if he hired someone to help
him, a boy fresh from school perhaps, one who was interested in
working with wood. He sat in his easy chair by the window and
day-dreamed for a while about all the trips he could take in the
future. Then he picked up the book he had started on the flight
back from Portugal and read for a while. He’d take the morning
off.

But Bob
couldn’t resist the urge to complete the sets so after coffee he
returned to the shop and glued the parts together. He used hot
animal glue that he heated on a little hot-plate, the same glue his
Dad had used to mend furniture. It was quick to dry but he had to
be careful when applying it. After lunch he screwed the wheels onto
the engines and carriages and twisted the connecting eyes onto the
rear of the engines and the hooks and eyes to the front and back of
the carriages. He assembled one of the trains. The bright acrylic
paint greatly improved its appearance; it looked much better than
any of his earlier trains. Tomorrow, if Rose had the boxes, paper
and labels, he’d pack them, ready to be taken to the shops.

During his
supper, a curry and a bottle of beer, he made a couple of shopping
lists. He’d need more hooks and eyes, a big box of acrylic paints
and some silver and gold acrylic if they had any. Under his
workshop needs he listed his grocery items. He’d buy another piece
of salmon and cook it in water. The fish he had cooked that way
yesterday needed butter, lemon and slices of buttered bread to
boost its flavour; he’d look for a sauce of some kind the next time
he bought that kind of fish. Salmon didn’t need a sauce provided it
wasn’t overcooked. Maybe he should learn how to make a sauce. Well,
not just now, in the summer perhaps, when there was less to do in
the shop.

He
walked to Tyne’s
Gift Shop
Friday morning, catching Jack as he was leaving to go to the
Community Centre.

“
Hi Bob.
I got t’label designs. Want t’look at ‘em?”

Rose was
behind the counter and pointed to a box and a roll of paper in the
corner.

“
And
your boxes and wrapping paper have arrived Bob.”

“
Oh
thanks, Rose. Let me see the bill, I might have enough to pay you
right now. Ah, yes I have. Here.” He gave Rose the money then
followed Jack into their back room.

“
They’s
here. Wot d’you think?”

Bob looked at
the different designs then pointed to one of them. “I like this one
best, the one with the train and carriages. All the village labels
are good, which do you prefer?”

“
This
‘un, wiv’ houses an’ a duck pond.”

“
Yes
that’s good. Okay, that’s what I’ll have. Can you make fifty of
each?”

“
Aye,
an’ here sketches of t’ business cards. I put a hand drill in
t’corner of one. Like it?”

“
Yes.
That’s also the best. I like the font and the way the words are
spaced makes it very easy to read. Can you make a hundred of these
Jack?”

“
Aye,
but I’m usin’ jet print ink. It smears when wet. Wont me t‘spray
‘em wiv matt lacquer?”

“
If that
will stop the ink from smearing, yes.”

“
Okay.
When d’you want ‘em?”

“
Can I
have them tomorrow Jack? I’ll come down at nine to collect them if
that’s all right.”

“
Aye.”

They returned
to the front of the shop and Bob picked up the package of boxes and
roll of paper.

“
I’ve
got some more train sets Rose,” Bob said. “Do you want any? I’m
using a different paint now and they are brighter than the earlier
ones.”

“
In that
case I’ll take three but I won’t put them out until I have sold the
ones I’ve got already. I’ve still got eight from the ones you gave
me in December. I’ve a cheque for the farm set I’ve just sold. Here
it is, £15.75.”

“
Thanks
Rose. Would you mind paying me at the end of each month from now
on? I’d prefer that. It’ll make my book-keeping easier.”

“
Of
course. That’s what I do with most of my sales—pay at the end of
the month. I’ll send you a statement of how many I’ve sold that
month with the cheque.”

“
Great.
Thanks.”

Bob had his
morning coffee when he returned to his house. It was another cold
day and he turned on the electric fire as soon as he entered the
workshop. He wondered if the cost of the electricity used in the
shop would be a deductible expense and supposed it must be but
couldn’t think of a way to estimate how much he used there and
dismissed the idea.

He unrolled a
length of tissue paper. A piece about a foot square amply wrapped
an engine or a carriage. He placed the wrapped engine and three
carriages in a box and fastened the top with some cello tape.
‘That’s another thing to put on my shopping list,’ he told himself.
All the box needed now was the label.

After he had
boxed all the sets he took them into the house. He’d glue the
labels on the boxes in the house where it would be warmer. He
wondered if he should put his business card in each box but decided
not to. He didn’t want to open the boxes now he’d taped them and he
didn’t want Rose or Jenny to think he was including the card in the
hope that customers would come directly to him. He wasn’t going to
steal their business.

Bob spent
Friday afternoon making lists and doing a bit of book keeping. He
headed one sheet of paper ‘Expenses’ and drew several columns on
it. He headed the first column ‘Date,’ the second ‘Item,’ the third
‘Amount’ and the fourth ‘Number.’ Then he took out the envelope
where he had put his invoices. He had only two, the wood and the
paint; it was easy to add them to the expense list. He numbered
each invoice after he had copied the details, put the same number
in the ‘Number’ column then he clipped the invoices together and
put them in a box. He added how much he had spent and pencilled it
at the bottom of the page. Then he wondered if he should he open a
business account at the bank? But no, it was too soon to do that.
He’d just keep a good paper record of his costs and income.

He headed
another list ‘Income.’ This was going to be a much nicer list to
keep although there wasn’t much to put down yet. He didn’t include
anything from last year. He would start his ‘business’ this year
even if it didn’t turn out to be a business in the end. ‘If I ever
earn lots of money I’ll buy a computer. I could use it to track my
income and expenses. It could do the addition much quicker than I
can. And I could make my own labels and type my letters too. I
wonder how hard it is to learn how to use one? Jack would teach me
I expect, if I paid him. Hmm, I’m beginning to like doing all this;
starting a business might become quite enjoyable.’

Jack phoned
Bob at eight on Saturday morning. “I’m goin’ t’bring you t’labels
an’ yor cards right now. Okay?”

“
Yes,
okay Jack.”

He had just
finished his breakfast when Jack arrived. “Hi. Do you want a cup of
tea Jack?”

“
Nay,
can’t stay, me helper’s sick an’ wood’s comin’ t’cottage.” He put a
small package on the table.

“
Thanks.
Have you got a bill for me?”

“
Aye.”

Bob fetched
his cheque book and wrote a cheque.

“
How do
you keep track of all your income and expenses Jack?”

“
On
t’computer.”

“
I
thought you might. I’ve begun keeping a record of my expenses and
income but I’m doing it by hand. I’m filling in columns on
paper.”

“
That’s
‘ard. Mus’ go now Bob. See you at t’Crown ternite.
Tarra.”

“‘
Bye
Jack. Thanks for making these so quickly.”

Bob used a
bottle of liquid glue to fasten the labels to the top of the boxes.
‘Very impressive,’ he thought. ‘I should have put my train sets and
bird ornaments in labelled boxes years ago. Now they look
professional and more people might buy them as gifts.'

He decided to
have an early coffee then go to Big End. He’d take six trains to
Jenny, buy a bigger box of acrylic paints, some silver and gold
acrylic if they had it and get his Big End groceries. He added
paint, bottle of glue and cello tape to his list. He’d have lunch
at the Fox and go to the library. ‘If they have a book showing
coloured pictures of farms I’ll borrow it.’

Jenny smiled
at Bob as he walked into her shop. “I’ve sold another farm set. I
hope you’ve got more for me. Is that what’s in the bag?”

“
No,
sorry Jenny. I’ve a village set and some train sets. We talked
about them last time I was here.”

“
Yes we
did. I’d not forgotten. Let me see them.”

Bob put the
bag on the floor took out a box and put it on the counter. He
opened it and unwrapped the train and carriages.

“
Here’s
a train set. Rose sells them for fifteen pounds. If you like the
look of them do you think that you could sell them at the same
price?”

“
Yes I
could. And I’ll take just twenty five percent. Your stuff’s easy to
sell and when I sell them I also sell some animals. We talked about
my taking six sets, do you have that many?”

“
Yes I
do.” Bob put the bag on the counter and gave Jenny one of his
business cards. “You can phone me if you want more. At the moment I
have another three. If I don’t have any when you call me it would
take about a week to make more. Here, let me show you the village
set.”

He took the
box out of his bag, opened it and put each piece on the counter.
Susan joined them as he built a village and exclaimed “This is fun.
We should have some of these Jenny.”

“
Yes.
Can we keep this one and have another six Bob?’

“
Yes of
course, but it’ll be a while before I have them.”

“
All
right. Bob, how do you want me to pay you? What I usually do is pay
my suppliers at the end of each month. Would that be okay with you?
I send them a cheque but I could give you cash, if you’d prefer
that.”

“
A
cheque’s fine Jenny. Monthly’s good too. That’s what I’ll be doing
with Rose from now on.”

Bob said
goodbye to both of them and stepped out into the cold wind and
headed for the pub. It was nearly lunch time. He’d eat early, go to
the library and do his shopping afterwards.

After eating
his steak and chips Bob pulled out his pocket book, thinking ‘I’ll
have to make another list to keep track of the sets, how many Jenny
has and how many Rose has, as well as how many they’ve sold each
month. That way I’ll know how many and what I should make next
time. A bit more paperwork but it seems necessary.’

There were no
tourists in the Crown that night and Len had only two choices for
supper, fish and chips and pot pie with chips and Bob chose the
fish. Joe and Jane joined him with their drinks just as he was
finishing.

“
Hello
Bob,” said Joe. “How was your week? Still busy?”

“
Yes. I
made twelve train sets. Rose has taken three of them and Jenny has
six. There are so many new things to think about now. I suppose
it’ll become easier when things settle down. How do you handle all
the planning, buying, selling, all the paperwork attached to
running a farm? Do you do some of it Jane?”

“
Well,
we split the task. Joe phones his buyers around December and asks
what they might want next year. He orders the seeds, fungicides,
pesticides and fertilisers, usually during January. During the year
he organises his helpers, telling them what to do and making sure
the vegetables are shipped out on time. I look after the paperwork.
I used to do all that by hand but two years ago I bought a computer
and learned how to use it. The
Vegetable
Growers’ Organisation
had a special program written
and most of the market growers use it. The organisation paid the
program developer to prepare and run a course on how to use it and
I went. The program makes all the paperwork much easier to
handle.”