Bob of Small End (29 page)

“
That
sounds fine to me.”

“
How
about you Joe. Do you see any problem? Do you mind us putting up
walls?”

“
Not if
you take the place for long enough. Five years or more
Ken.”

“
Ah. I’m
not sure about five years Joe,” said Ken, “I expect we’ll need a
bigger place by then. Let me think about it for a
moment.”

Bob, who had
felt his tension disappear when Ken said he’d liked the place
immediately began worrying again. A bigger place? Why think about
that?

“
Yes. I
can see how we might manage that. Yes a five-year tenancy will be
all right. How about you Bob.?”

“
I can’t
see us needing a bigger place Ken. What rent would you charge
Joe?”

“
Jane
and I talked about that last night. How about £50 a
month?”

“
That’s
very good, we could afford that, but surely the place is worth more
than that.”

“
Probably it is. But Jane said £600 a year would be enough
and that it wasn’t earning anything before. So £50 is fine by
us.”

“
Then
we’ll take it. Thanks Joe,” said Bob, glad to have it settled
before Ken changed his mind. “Thanks.”

“
You’ll
have to pay your own electricity, telephone and for any changes
made,” Joe added.

“
Yes of
course we’ll do that. I’ll arrange for the electrical conversion
and tell the Post Office we’re moving in,” said Bob. “What’s your
address Joe?”

“
100 Big
End Road, Small End, Hampshire.”

“
They’ll
tell me if I have to use another address I suppose.”

“
I don’t
know. You’ll probably have to register your business and they might
tell you about those things.”

“
Do you
have a tape measure Joe?” asked Ken.

“’
Ere’s
one,” said Jack.

“
Good.
Let’s make some measurements. I’ve some paper in the
car.”

“
Hold on
Ken. You don’t have to go so fast. It’s time for coffee and it’ll
be much easier to measure when the equipment’s removed. I can do
that first thing this afternoon. You can help, if you like, and
measure the place afterwards.”

“
All
right.”

“
Come to
the kitchen, the coffee’ll be ready now. You too, Jack.”

They moved to
the kitchen and told Jane what had been decided. She fetched a pad
of paper and wrote the details down. Joe, Ken and Bob signed it and
Ken drew out his cheque book and gave Joe a cheque for £50. “This
is for April Joe. I still think you should charge us more!”

“
Don’t
say that too often Ken. You might make me regret it.”

“
No
fifty is enough,” said Jane. “It’s money for doing nothing for us
and it’ll be fun watching what happens.”

“
Well
the next thing is to measure the inside and sketch where we want
the rooms.”

“
No,”
Joe interjected. “As I said, the next thing is to clear it out and
sweep the floor. Then you can do your measuring. If you all help I
won’t need the tractor to pull the machinery out.”

“
I can’t
help,” Bob said. “I’ve a driving lesson this afternoon.”

“
I can,”
said Jack.

“
So can
I,” said Ken. “How long do you think it’ll take to build the rooms
Jack?”

“
D’pends
on wot you wont. Wont t’walls up to t’ceilin’? Quicker an’ cheaper
that way.”

“
Yes.
We’ll need another room too, a sanding booth.”

“
We’d
also need a small waiting room, one that leads to the office and
the workshop but closed off so it remains clean. Do you agree Ken?”
said Bob.

“
Yes.
Good idea. Okay, you’re hired, Jack. We’ll meet at two this
afternoon, empty the place, clean it, then measure. I’ll rough out
a sketch during my lunch today and work from that. Can you join us
after your driving lesson Bob?”

“
I’ll
come right here when I’ve finished. It’ll be about 4:30. I don’t
suppose you’ll be finished by then.”

“
Probably not,” Joe said. “The equipment will take an hour or
more to move because I want to put it in the field. Don’t worry
boys, it’s not very heavy!”

“
Do you
know the approximate size of the room Joe?”

“
It’s
about sixty by thirty-five or thirty-six.”

“
Okay.
I’ll use that and make a sketch of what we want and show it to you
this afternoon Jack. One more thing Joe: the big sliding doors on
the side—can we remove those and fit a smaller door? We don’t need
the big ones, and they’d make the place harder to heat in the
winter.”

“
I
should think so. Yes you can. They’re easy to remove, they just
lift off the tracks. I’ll store them in one of the
barns.”

“
Thanks,” said Ken. “Well I must go now. See you at
two.”

“’
Bye
Ken.”

“
That’s
Ken,” said Jane, after he had shut the kitchen door. “Always on the
go. I don’t know how he’s survived these last months. You’ll have
to get used to him Bob. When you see Mary ask her how she manages
him.”

“
I think
I’d better,” he answered. “Joe’s already told me that I
counterbalance his eagerness. I don’t know about that. I haven’t
been able to slow him down yet.”

“
Give it
time Bob. Give it time. And you do have the final vote don’t you?”
asked Joe.

“
Yes.
But when you think about it, Ken’s doing no more than what I
earlier said I wanted to do. It’s just that he’s doing it in a few
weeks whereas I was planning to take two or three years. It’s his
speed that worries me.”

“
You can
trust him,” said Joe.

“
Yes,”
said Jane, “that’s right. Try not to worry so much Bob.”

On the drive
to Bournemouth Bob told Peter about their plans to move his
workshop to Joe’s old milking parlour.

“
You’re
expanding quickly, let me know if I can help in any
way.”

“
Thanks.
If I pass the driving test I’ll need a car to deliver the toys. You
or your Dad might help us that way, finding a good one that’s not
too expensive.”

“
You
might find a van would be more useful. You’d need a very big car to
carry as much as a small van would carry.”

“
I
hadn’t thought about that but you’re quite right, a van would be
better.”

“
I’ll
ask Dad if he knows a dealer who sells them.”

“
Thanks.”

“
Okay.
Now about your driving today. We’ll park in the parking lot at the
test centre. Then I’ll put you through the steps I think the
examiner will use. We’ll do the whole thing and talk about it
afterwards. If there’s anything you should practice we’ll do that
before we go home. Is that okay?”

“
Yes.
Thanks. I’m beginning to feel nervous again.”

“
As I
said, it’s normal. Nearly everybody feels that way.”

Five minutes
later Bob pulled into the parking lot and parked the car. Like
before, Peter asked him to get out, walk around the car, then
return to the driver’s seat. He then told him to start the car.

Forty minutes
later Bob arrived back at the parking lot and stopped.

“
You’ve
passed the test Bob, with flying colours. But there’s one thing we
should practice. Do you know what it is?”

“
Yes.
Sudden stops.”

“
That’s
right. What you did was fine but I saw you tense up as soon as I
told you to do it. Let’s do two or three of them then we’ll drive
home.”

Bob felt al
lot more comfortable after completing several sudden stops. “I
don’t mind them now Peter. I think I’ll be alright” As he drove
back to Small End they discussed the most important driving
regulations. He parked the car behind Peter’s office, switched off
and gave the key to Tim.

“
Now
don’t look at the manual again. You know all that you should and
don’t have to swot. Just let your mind relax. You’ll pass the test.
I’ll pick you up on Wednesday at 7:30. That will give us plenty of
time.”

“
What
about our Tuesday lesson?”

“
You
don’t need one.”

“
If you
say so. Then, thanks, Peter.”

Chapter 11 The Milking Parlour

Everyone was
studying Ken’s sketch as Bob walked into the milking parlour. The
big doors and the equipment had been removed and the place looked
much bigger than it had earlier. Someone had chalked lines on the
floor showing where the walls would be.

“
Hello
Bob. You’ve come just at the right time, all the hard work’s been
done!” said Ken. “Here, let me show you the lay-out. We can change
the plans easily if there’s something you don’t like. Look, that’s
the door customers or trades people enter,” and he pointed to the
door in the wall next to the yard. “The room on the left of the
door as you come in is the waiting room, although I expect it will
be mostly used as a tea room. I don’t think we’ll have many
customers or tradesmen visiting us. We’ll put three or four soft
chairs and an electric kettle; that’s where we can have tea or
coffee. Now, the room on the right-hand side of the door is the
office. It’s twelve by twelve. Do you think that’s big
enough?”

“
I’m
sure it is. Why do we need one so big?”

“
Because
we’ll both need a desk and we’ll need some filing cabinets. The
waiting room is the same size and that leaves a twelve-foot, unused
space behind it. I’ll store new wood there in some racks. This door
here,” and he pointed to the sketch and walked to the chalked lines
that marked the spot, “leads from the waiting room to the workshop.
Now come over here,” and Ken took Bob and Jack to the other side of
the milking parlour. “The room on the right is the first-coat paint
shop. It’s small, only twelve by eight, but I think that’s all we
need. Next to it is another eight by twelve room. The second and
third coats can be painted here. What do you think so
far?”

“
Let me
see. The new wood will be stored in the racks next to the waiting
room.”

“
Yes.
They would be delivered by a new delivery door, a smaller door,
that will be where Joe’s big doors were.”

“
Okay
but after the wood has been cut it would have to be sanded
right?”

“
Ah yes.
I’ve forgotten about sanding. We’ll need a booth for that. Now
where can that go?”

“
Why not
here, the other side of the back wall? Just past the back door. A
twelve by six foot room would fit there and the dust extractor duct
could go through the wall. Would it be okay to cut a hole in the
wall Joe?”

“
Sure,
as long as it could be covered if you later leave the
place.”

“
Right.
Then that’s what we’ll do. Well, do you think it’d work
Bob?”

“
I’m
pretty sure it would. If it doesn’t then we can change it later
can’t we Jack?”

“
Aye. Do
t’walls fer sandin’ room go t’ceilin’?”

“
Yes,”
said Ken.

“
Where
will you assemble the toys?” asked Bob.

“
On a
second long bench. See those chalk lines? We’ll have two benches,
the first, nearest the side door, for cutting and shaping and the
second for assembling, gluing and boxing.”

“
Okay.
The whole process will be like an assembly line then.”

“
That’s
right. Once the wood has been cut it’ll be sanded, then painted
then assembled on the second bench.”

“
Where
will you store the full boxes Ken?”

“
Ah. I
thought that you could store them in your workshop Bob. You’ll be
the one delivering them so that would be the logical place to use.
Don’t you think so?”

“
I guess
so. Oh Peter said I should buy a van, not a car, to deliver. It
holds more and costs less to run. We could use that to move the
boxes to my shed.”

“
Sounds
good. Any other suggestions or ideas Bob?”

“
There
was a toilet here wasn’t there Joe? What’s it like?” asked
Bob.

“
Come
and see.”

They walked
out the back door. The toilet was on the right and Joe opened the
door.

“
It’s
messy ‘cos we didn’t clean it. I’ll get rid of the rusty pails and
give the place a sweep.”

“
I think
the walls should be painted Ken, otherwise it looks fine. Does the
toilet flush?”

“
I’ll
have to turn the water on first. The valve’s by the house,” Joe
replied. “I don’t mind paying for your water, I don’t think you’ll
use much.”

“
Thanks
Joe,” said Ken. “How long do you think it’ll take to make the rooms
Jack?”

“
Wi’
John, four, five days. Once t’wood’s here. Give me t’sketch,” and
he pointed to the sketch in Ken’s hand, “an’ I’ll order t’wood an
stuff. Do you want windows in t’office?”

After some
discussion they agree that they should have a windows between the
office and the waiting room and small ones near the doors of the
painting and sanding booths.