Bob of Small End (89 page)

They had fish
and chips and Bob had the curry but only drank a lemonade. When Sam
asked him if he’d stopped drinking he laughed and said, “No. But
I’ll be working on the line this afternoon and I don’t want an
accident. When can I visit your campsite? How about Saturday or
Sunday?”

“
That’s
no good Dad. We’re leaving on Saturday. We have to get everything
ready for school.”

“
Then
it’ll have to be tonight or tomorrow night. How about tonight? I’ve
got a party tomorrow lunchtime.”

“
Yes,
that’d be good,” said Lilly. “We’ll be packing Friday.”

“
What’s
the party Dad?”

“
We have
one at the end of each month to celebrate a good production. It’s
fun for everybody.”

“
I wish
we had one at work! That’s a great idea.”

“
Suggest
it to your boss and see what he says. Right, sketch a map of where
your campsite is.”

“
Come
for supper Grandpa. We’re having hot dogs, done on the
grill.”

“
We’ll
have sausages as well,” added Lilly.

“
Can you
come about six Dad?”

“
Sure.”

“
Good.”

“
I must
go back to work now,” said Bob.

“
All
right. Time to go girls.”

They made just
over fifteen hundred villages that day. Bob checked the stock list
before leaving; they had about 3,800 farms, 2,300 villages and
2,500 trains.

The tents at
Sam’s campsite were pitched in open areas among trees that boarded
a small field dotted with swings, roundabouts and slides. A big
sandpit sat on one corner. Many children were playing there but
Bess and Jane were at the tent, helping their mother put things on
a picnic table.

“
Perfect
timing Dad,” called Sam. “The food’s just cooked. Do you want a
beer?”

“
Yes,
that’d be nice. Thanks.”

He stayed for
about an hour and the girls showed him around the place.

“
We like
it here Grandpa. There’s lots to do,” said Bess.

“
Is it
better to have a holiday here than go to Snowdon?” Bob
asked.

“
That
was good too. I’ll have to tell everybody about what we did there
when I go back to school. But it’s easier to make friends at this
camp.”

“
Yes
even boyfriends,” said Jane.

“
Yes. We
both have a boyfriend Grandpa.”

Bob didn’t say
anything even though he thought it was a bit early for the girls to
think about boys. He thought that didn’t happen until they were
fifteen or sixteen but supposed it was different these days.

At nine that
night he had a phone call. It was Ken.

“
I’ve
just found out what the two men who visited this shop were
interested in Bob. Me. They want to hire me! They have a factory in
Manchester that has made luxury wooden office furniture for a
hundred years or more and they want to expand. They want me to help
them do that and manage it’s growth. In fact they want to triple
its size.”

“
Don’t
they have their own people to handle all that? Why do they want
you?”

“
The
owner is retiring next year and doesn’t want to oversee the change
and his two sons, the men who visited, are very progressive. They
want their employees to like their job, to be like ours are. They
saw how our people behaved when they watched the BBC show but they
don’t know how to achieve the same result. They came to see
first-hand if everybody was always like that. And to see me I
suppose.”

“
Do they
want me as well?”

“
No Bob.
Just me.”

“
Good. I
don’t want to move to Manchester. Are you interested?”

“
I think
I am. But it will mean so many changes. We’ll have to talk about it
tomorrow.”

“
There
won’t be much time to do that tomorrow Ken. Someone has to drive
to
We-Have-It
and we’ve the
lunch and party as well.”

“
We can
we discuss it afterwards. All right? I’ve told them I’m on a cruise
for the next two weeks and won’t give them my decision until I
return. I want to know what you think about it before I leave on
Sunday.”

“
Okay.
Let’s talk after the party. I’m glad you phoned me, it’s a lot to
think about.”

Bob
slumped in his chair after hanging up. ‘If Ken moves what’s going
to happen? I don’t want to run the shop. Craig and Lori could do
it, I suppose. I’d have to pay them more but I could afford it. And
Ken’s share of the company, what he going to do with that? Will he
keep it or sell? And who is he going to sell it to? I’m not going
to agree if he said
Great
Toys
. I suppose I could buy it, over time, with my
share of the profits. But I don’t want to do that; I just want my
holidays and an easy retirement. Oh dear, what a mess.’

He slept
poorly, waking every half-hour and thinking about the future for an
hour or so before drifting back to sleep. He was glad when sunlight
brightened the room. He got up, had a bath and put on comfortable
clothes. He’d drive to
We-Have-It
, that is, if Dave called, and take
his time. He didn’t want to return and start working in the shop.
He just wanted to think.

He drove the
car to work Friday morning, ready to take three or four to Lori’s
party at noon. All the employees were excited, laughing as they put
on their overalls and talking about what they would be doing for
their holidays. Lori was quieter, probably thinking about the party
she and Craig were about to give. Ken and Bob had their thoughts
elsewhere and were very quiet, hardly speaking. Bob was glad when
Dave called and made his order and happier after he had loaded the
van and was driving away. What was going to happen if Ken said
yes.

He avoided the
motorway and drove along the back roads to Basingstoke, stopping
once to let a herd of cows pass as they were driven from one field
to another. The wide verge where he was parked and the peaceful
view over the wooded slopes and fields would be a good place to
picnic with Maria though he wouldn’t have time to spend doing that
if he had a workshop to oversee.

He moved
his van to the side of
We-Have-It’
s parking lot after delivering the
load and went into Dave’s office. “Hello Dave. I’ve just dropped
off the toys. I thought I’d let you know we’ve included the last
three hundred trains this time. So you have all you ordered now.
Here’s the list of what I’ve delivered,” and Bob handed it to him.
“2,000 farm, 2,000 village and 1,500 train sets. You phoned for
1,000 train sets earlier.”

“
Hello
Bob. Yes, I did. Good. Thanks for telling me though I’d know what
you’d delivered before the end of the day, I get a copies of all
delivery receipts so I know what’s happening. What’s happened to
Lori?”

“
She’s
busy in the office and in the factory.”

“
She’s a
good woman. You’re lucky to have her working for you.”

“
Yes we
know. And she’s looking forward to her lunch with you later this
year.”

“
Oh
good. Maybe I can persuade her to come and work for me. I’m looking
for a good secretary.”

“
Don’t
you dare Dave. I’ll not let her do the deliveries if you’re going
to do that!”

“
Just
kidding Bob.”

“
I want
to tell you that we’re on holiday next week. The workshop will be
closed. Call me if you want more stock, here’s my card.”

“
You’ve
just been on holiday haven’t you Bob?” asked Dave.

“
Yes I
have, but no one else has yet. That’s why we’re closing the
workshop. It’s just for one week.”

“
What do
you have in stock right now?”

“
Nearly
two thousand farms, a thousand villages and probably over a
thousand trains.” Dave made a note. “Okay, I’ll keep that in mind.
I’ll phone you if we need some, which we almost certainly will.
I’ll phone before nine thirty all right?”

“
Yes.
Thanks.”

Bob was a bit
more cheerful on his drive back. Ken hadn’t yet decided to go and
perhaps he wouldn’t. If he did something would work out. It always
did. He arrived just after twelve as they were packing up. He saw
that Lori had updated the stock lists and checked them; they now
had 1,800 farms, 1,000 villages and 1,200 trains, just about what
he’d told Dave.

Lori and
Craig, Diane and Jean crammed into Bob’s car and were the first to
leave. When they got to Lori’s apartment she told them what they’d
do. “We’ll put the trays of snacks in the oven to warm and take all
the beer out of the fridge and put it in the cooler. Then we must
reload the fridge with more beer. That’s about all, everything else
had been done.”

As soon as
everyone had arrived, been shown around the place and had a drink
in their hands Lori shouted out that there were three menus and
some paper on the corner table.

“
Look at
the menus, choose what you want to eat and write it on the paper.
Make sure you put it on the paper headed by the restaurant that
provides what you want or you won’t get it. When that’s done we’ll
order the food. So if you’re hungry you better do it now. I’ll
place the order in ten minutes.”

The food was
ordered fifteen minutes later and it arrived just as they had
finished the last of the snacks. By two o’clock some people were
saying goodbye and others started to clean up and wash the dishes.
Ken and Bob stayed until the end and helped Lori and Craig finish
tidying up.

“
Was two
hundred pounds enough Lori?” asked Bob.

“
Oh yes.
There’s about forty pounds left. Here it is, and
thanks.”

“
No, no,
you keep it.”

“
Yes,
it’s yours,” said Ken. “It was a great party; much better than the
ones we have in a pub.”

“
Thanks.”

“
Well,
have a good holiday,” said Bob. “What are you going to
do?”

“
Just
take a couple of day trips, I think,” said Craig. “We’re saving
money for the wedding now.”

Ken asked Bob
if he’d come to his home to discuss the man’s proposal as the left
the apartment so Bob followed him there. He didn’t see Mary when
they went in and Ken said she was playing bridge with some friends.
They went into Ken’s study to talk.

“
Have a
scotch Bob?”

“
Yes
please.”

They sat in
the same chairs they used when Bob first visited the house. Ken put
the bottle and soda siphon on the table beside him.

“
Let me
tell you a bit more about the offer Bob. The company’s called
Goodner’s, you may know the name.”

“
I don’t
think so. Was it a good offer Ken?”

“
Yes.
Very good I think. They’d give me a three-year contract, pay me
£200,000 a year, although half of that would be in five-year
options. They’d pay for the move, give me a car and make me the
CEO. And I’d be on the board of course.”

“
Sounds
as if you want the job Ken.”

“
Yes,
I’m pretty sure I do. And Mary wants me to take it. Manchester’s
only seventy miles from Nottingham where James lives. We could get
there in a couple of hours, less if we bought a house in the right
place.”

“
Are you
going to tell them you’ve decided today?”

“
No. I
said I’d let them know what I want to do when I came back from my
holidays. I’d have to visit them first and talk to their father. I
want to see if the chemistry is right before finally deciding. But
I’d like to say yes. So the issue now is, what do you think about
me doing this?”

“
I’m not
happy about what will happen to the workshop Ken. I’m happy for
you. And for me, I think, as long as I don’t have to be the one to
run the place. Maybe Craig and Lori can run it and you and I can
just be the owners, although I don’t really want to be an absentee
owner because one of us should keep an eye on the place and you’re
too far away to do that. But I guess things will work out,
somehow.”

“
I hoped
you’d feel that way. Look, I know that this is a big change. Think
about it while I’m away and see if you can come up with a better
way of running things, one you’ll benefit from too. For instance,
if I do agree to move do you know anyone who might want to buy the
company, one who’ll keep it in Small End?”

“
I don’t
know anyone who’d want to do that. If I could find someone would we
sell for half a million?”

“
Sure.
We know it’s making more than that each year right now but we also
know it might collapse anytime. The selling price doesn’t matter
that much to me, I already have a pension and the new
job.”

“
I had
enough money before all this started,” said Bob, “but it’s nice to
have a bit more. Two hundred and fifty thousand pounds would be
fine for me. Okay, I’ll think about who might want to buy it but I
won’t say anything to anybody until you’ve decided. You’ll keep it
quiet too?”

“
Yes,
only Mary knows right now. Okay. How about another
drink?”