Bob of Small End (96 page)

“
Hello
Bob. Joe and Jane won’t be here tonight. They’ve gone to Howard’s
for the weekend. I’ve just been asking Jack about using all your
toys in the window, having a village and the train set on one side
and the farm with animals on the other. What do you think? Would it
be too many wooden items? Jack thinks it would be and thinks I
should show more of the china and jewellery.”

“
I think
he’s right. I wouldn’t just show toys Rose. I’d put the things you
sell most in the window, though it’d be nice if you did have a bit
of the farm or village there as well.”

“
Christmas is still a long way off Rose,” said Jack. “Let’s
eat, I’m hungry.”

“
All
right. I’ll have the curry.”

“
Roast
beef,” said Bob.

“
An’
me,” said Jack.

Jack went to
the bar, ordered the food and returned with two beers and a gin and
tonic.

“
Thanks
Jack. How’s business?”

“
Busy.
Can’t do you ‘til a’ter Christmas Bob.”

“
That’s
okay, there’s no hurry and I may not need to make any changes after
all. I’m going to buy Ken’s house and sell mine. I probably
shouldn’t do anything before selling. People buying the place might
want something different.”

“
Wot?”
said Jack, “Ken’s place? Ain’t it too big fer you Bob.”

“
Not if
Maria was there as well,” said Rose. “Will she join you
Bob?”

“
I don’t
know. She might. For some of the year perhaps. I like the place
very much and I can afford to buy it. I’d rather live there than in
my current house if Maria came to stay with me. So I’m going to
sell mine. What do you think it’s worth Jack? You should know the
value of houses around here.”

“
Abat
thirty thousand. Could be more, ‘cos you’ve a workshop; but maybe
less, ‘cos there’s no garage.”

“
Ah, I’d
thought it might be worth about that. And should I sell it now or
in the spring?”

“
Not
now, no one’s buyin’ in t’winter.”

“
But
there’ll be a flood of houses for sale in the spring Jack, I’d have
much more competition.”

“
Aye,
but they’re already competin’.”

“
That’s
a different market, they’re new houses and much more
expensive.”

“
Aye.
S’right.”

“
What do
you think it’ll fetch at this time of the year?”

“
Maybe
twenty five.”

“
Hmm,
I’d lose five thousand. Well I wouldn’t want to keep it once I’m in
Ken’s house. It’d be another thing to worry about. I’d be afraid
that someone’s broken in or thrown stones and smashed the
windows.”

“
Well,
tell Len. ‘e might find some ’en.”

“
Not
yet. I’ll think about it first. I’ll tell Len next weekend if I
decide to sell.

They talked
about the dancing class next. No one wanted another drink and all
felt tired so they paid for the food and walked home.

He pulled all
the remaining vegetables Sunday morning, storing the cabbages and
the broccoli in the shed. It was better to put them in there than
in his workshop; he’d be heating the shop when he was working
there.

In between the
rain showers, luckily light ones, he dug the whole plot and raked
it. It looked attractive. Ken’s place would probably have a better
soil, he thought, that is, if the river had been wider in the past.
Mary certainly had nice flower beds. He would grow better
vegetables there in all likelihood. That’d be nice.

He was too
tired to walk in the afternoon. He looked at the carving knives and
hand tools in his shop and made a mental note to start collecting
boxes so he’d have something to hold them in when he moved to Ken’s
place. He’d use the van to move the few things he’d be taking. He
wouldn’t move as soon as Ken moved out because he might want to
paint or change something first. And any carpets they left might
need cleaning. It’d be nice if Maria could know what the rooms
looked like before she came. He’d photograph each one and send her
the pictures. She could suggest things he might buy or do even if
she wasn’t there.

After supper
he wrote to Maria and told her that he would be buying Ken’s house.
‘I’ll take some photographs when he’s left to show you what it
looks like. I’d like you to make suggestions about how I should
furnish it. I have some ideas but I’d like yours too.’ Then he told
her he was going to book his flight because he wanted to learn how
to do that. ‘What airport are you landing in and when? I’d like to
be there when you arrive. It’s a long time to wait until Christmas,
isn’t it? Lots of love, Bob.’

The milk had
not arrived Monday morning so Lori walked to the store to buy it
for the tea break. When she returned Ken was in the shop and Bob
was sitting at his desk and adding figures. He was wondering how
much money he would have to buy new furniture and he was estimating
how much the chairs and sofa he wanted would cost. Lori looked at
him as he worked away. “Are you checking our expenses Bob?”

“
No, I’m
estimating what new furniture for Ken’s house might
cost.”

“
What
are you doing with your old house?”

“
I’m
going to sell it. I don’t know when though, now or in the spring.
I’d get more for it in the spring.”

“
Oh. How
much are you asking Bob?”

“
Thirty
thousand, but Jack says it’d only fetch about twenty five if I sold
it now.”

“
You
know, it’d be a good place for Craig and me to live, that is, if we
do get enough money to buy
Wooden
Toys
. Save us a lot of bus rides and it’s close by. If
there are things to do on the weekends or in the evenings we can
easily get here. Can we look at it?”

“
Of
course. Anytime. Would you like to come tonight?”

“
No, I
wouldn’t buy it if we didn’t buy this place. I’d be a bit afraid
that the new owners might change the way we work. If that happened
we’d probably look for other jobs.”

“
Yes, of
course. And you wouldn’t want it if you weren’t
managing?”

“
No,
we’d not like to do less than we’re doing now.”

The next
morning a very happy Lori and Craig were waiting for Ken and Bob.
Ken arrived first and was told that the last two mortgages had been
approved. He cheered and hugged Lori. Bob, when he came in shortly
afterwards, was even more happy.

“
Ah,
that solves so many problems,” Bob said. “I’ll sleep a lot better
from now on! I’m so glad,” and he hugged both Lori and
Craig.

“
I’ll
phone Arthur and we’ll see him today if he has time. Jose and Luke
can be in charge while we are away.”

Ken picked up
the phone and called Arthur and Jennifer answered.

“
Yes,
he’s free at twelve. Are you ready to sign the contract
then?”

“
Yes.”

“
Tell
me, are there any changes from the way it was set up last
time?”

“
No,
it’s exactly the same.”

“
Then
everything’s ready for you. I guess you are all very
pleased.”

“
Yes, we
all are. Thanks Jennifer. See you at twelve.”

Arthur stood
up and smiled at them when they walked into his office.

“
I’m
glad that everything worked out. You have the money then
Lori?”

“
No, not
yet. They want to see the signed agreement before taking out their
mortgages. But each application has been approved. We’ll have the
two hundred and fifty thousand pounds when you want it.”

“
I’ll
need it the first of November.”

“
Yes. I
know that and they know it too. They’ll put all the money in my
Dad’s bank a couple of weeks before then and I’ll transfer it to a
business account that Craig and I’ll set up. We’ll do that in time
to get a bank draft for you. I can let you have it October 31st, if
you like.”

“
Yes,
please do that. Er, Lori, you’ve got three uncles haven’t
you?”

“
Yes.”

“
Then
you’ll have three hundred thousand pounds, won’t you? What’s the
extra fifty thousand for?”

“
To run
the business until Craig and I start receiving income from the
sales. That won’t be until January.”

“
Ah,
yes, I see. Good. Then I’ll ask Jennifer to come in and witness the
signatures.”

They
signed six copies, one for everybody and two for the lawyers. Then
they left and Ken drove them to the
Moat
Manor
for lunch. They drank a bottle of champagne in
the bar first, then ate steaks and drank another bottle of wine. No
one had dessert but they all had coffee. There was much talk about
the future and, as they stood to go home, Lori said “Can we see
your house tonight, Bob? If Craig and I like it I’d like to talk to
Dad about lending me more money. You’d take a mortgage for the rest
we’d owe you?”

“
Yes of
course, provided the down payment was big enough.”

“
Good. I
couldn’t ask him to lend me all of it. He’ll be in a good mood when
he hears we’ve signed the contract.”

“
What do
you think about moving to Small End, Craig, now you’ve just painted
your flat?”

“
I like
the idea. We should live in Small End once we own the company. Lori
and I have already looked at some of the new houses but they are
all too expensive. I never thought about buying your place until
Lori talked about it last night.”

“
Well,
we’ll go and see it after work. I’ll drive you back to Big End
afterwards.”

“
And,
Lori,” said Ken, “we’ll ask Simon to audit the company to be sure
the books are okay. I’ll phone him when we get back.”

“
Oh,
good. I want everybody to be sure I’ve not made any mistakes. He’ll
do it before November 1st won’t he?”

“
I
should think so.”

Simon did not
answer the phone when Ken called him but called back at four
thirty.

“
Yes, I
can look at your books but not until next Monday. I’ll come first
thing and stay as long as needed. You’ll have all the account
books, bank statements, receipts and inventory figures right there
for me to look at?”

“
Yes.
Lori will have everything you need.”

Ken told Bob
and Lori when Simon would come and what he’d need to see.

“
The
only thing I don’t have,” Lori replied, “is an exact count of the
number of toys we have. I only have an estimate, though I know it
won’t be far wrong.”

“
Well I
don’t suppose he’ll want the exact number. If he does we’ll have
one or two people help him count them. Don’t worry about
it.”

After work Bob
walked Lori and Craig to his house. They looked at his short
driveway and the garden, then went into his workshop, shed and
peered into the lean-to. Then he took them back to the front door
so they could see how it looked as they entered that way.

“
It’s an
old house. My parents owned it before me. And it’s not very large.
It has three bedrooms upstairs but the bathroom is on this floor. I
planned to change it this winter and put the bathroom in one of the
rooms upstairs and I have sketches and Jack can give an estimate
about how much it’ll cost to do that. You could borrow the plans if
you want to look at them.”

He took them
through the lounge, showed them the bathroom and the kitchen then
they climbed the stairs to look at the bedrooms.

“
You
said it’d be worth about twenty five thousand now Bob. Would you
take that if we offered it?” asked Lori.

“
Yes, to
you, I would.”

“
What
down payment would you want?”

“
What
could you give me?”

“
I could
probably get another five thousand from my Dad. Would that
do?”

“
Yes,
that’d be fine. I’d take a mortgage for the rest.”

“
All
right. Craig and I will talk about it tonight and, if we agree,
we’ll go and see my Dad. I’ll let you know tomorrow what we
decide.”

“
Fair
enough. Take the plans for the changes I was thinking of doing,
they might interest you. I’ll drive you home when you’re
ready.”

On the way
back he wondered if Craig liked the house. He thought Lori did.
Both knew how sensible it was to live close to the workshop but he
didn’t know if Craig liked living in an old house, or taking on one
that needed renovating. Well, he’d find out tomorrow.

Lori told Bob
their decision as soon as she and Craig walked in to the office
Wednesday morning.

“
We’d
like to buy your house Bob. My Dad will lend me the extra five
thousand but we can’t take possession until January first. We have
to give two month’s notice before moving out of our flat. Will that
be all right?”

“
Oh yes,
that’d be fine,” and they shook hands.

“
Driving
home I thought you might prefer to live in a modern house Craig.
You didn’t say much when you were looking at it.”

“
Well,
you’re right, I’d much prefer that. There’s a lot to do at your
place and I’ll probably be the one to do it. I’d much rather live
in a house that doesn’t need any work, especially now, because
we’ll be busy at work and I expect there’ll be lots to worry about
there.”