Chapter 24 On the road
When Bob entered the shop Monday morning Ken was talking to Craig. “Would you supervise, that is, be in charge of the shop, when Bob and I go to lunch today? We’ll be gone for about three hours. Can you manage that?”
“Yes, of course. I’ll be glad to. We’d just carry on as usual?”
“Yes.”
“What time are you going?”
“About twelve thirty. Good, I’ll tell the others in the tea break.”
No one minded when Ken told them that they were taking some retailers for lunch and that Craig would be in charge when they were away. “We’ll be back about three,” he added.
“Where are you going?” asked Lori.
“The Windlass Tree.”
“In Warmly? That’s where my parents took me to celebrate my high school graduation. It’s a nice place.”
“In that case we should go there for our next lunch,” said Luke.
“Maybe for Christmas,” said Bob. “It’s a bit too expensive to go to a place like that each month.”
“I know a good pub we could go to,” said Luke.
“So do I,” said Jake.
“Why don’t you make a list of places you’d like. We’ll veto any that might be too expensive,” said Ken. “Okay, it’s time to go back to work.”
Rose was busy behind her counter when Ken and Bob arrived to pick her up. “Give me a minute to finish this and get my mackintosh,” she called. Twenty minutes later they collected Jenny and at ten to one the car splashed through the puddles into The Windlass Tree’s parking lot. Leo was sitting at a small bar waiting for them when they entered.
“Hello Leo,” Bob said.
“Hello everyone,” he replied.
Rose hugged Leo and Jenny shook his hand. “It’s nice to see you again,” she said.
A waiter approached, asked them if they were ready to eat then, after Ken had said they were, led them to their table. It was in the bow window, as requested. Once they had sat down he handed out the menus and said he’d be back to take their orders in a minute or two. “Would anyone like to order a drink now?” he asked.
Ken told everyone to order what they wanted and Leo said he’d probably have some wine with the meal, Jenny asked for a Bloody Mary, “because I’m not driving,” she added. Rose said she’d have a gin and tonic. Ken and Bob said they’d have something with the meal.
Leo turned towards Jenny and said, “I haven’t seen you for a year or more. How’re things?”
“They’re good Leo. Business was a bit slow after Christmas but it’s fine now.”
“Same for me. We closed the shop for two weeks at the end of January and went on a cruise to the Canary Islands.”
“We took our holidays about that time,” said Rose, “but in little pieces, a few days one week and the same the next.”
Ken told them that he and his wife, Mary, would be going on a cruise, “but not until September. We’re going to the Mediterranean.”
“Let me know how you like it,” said Leo. “Lena wants to go there next winter.”
“I will.”
“What are you going to do for a holiday Bob?” asked Jenny.
“I’m joining a group and touring the Lake District in August. There are many places I haven’t seen in England and that sounded like an interesting place. There are many good walks there, I’m told, and I’d try some if we have any free time.”
The waiter brought the drinks and some warm rolls and pats of butter. “Would you like to order now?” he asked.
“Sorry no. We haven’t looked at the menu yet.”
Everyone opened their menus then wondered what to order. Bob said he would like to start with one of the soups because it was a cool day, in this way suggesting to the others that they might also order a starter.
Two minutes later the waiter reappeared. Rose said she’d have the watercress soup and the Lancashire Hotpot; Jenny chose a garden salad and the Shepherd’s pie, Leo asked for the vegetable soup and the steak and kidney pie, Ken also had the vegetable soup and the roast beef. Bob said he’d have the watercress soup and the fish pie.
“You seem to specialise in pies,” Ken said to the waiter. “It’s a bit different from the times I have eaten here before.”
“We changed the head chef two months ago. The one we’ve got now thinks that people might like pies this time of the year. He changes the menu at the end of each month. Would you like to order more drinks now?”
“A bottle of red wine might be nice with the meals we are having,” said Ken. “What do you think?” he asked the table. No one disagreed and Ken ordered a Merlot, thinking that most people would like that.
Lunch passed quickly, often with two conversations at the same time. Leo spoke mostly to Ken about business topics. Jenny and Rose chatted away and Bob interjected in both conversations from time to time. A second bottle of wine, coffee and desserts—bowls of trifle, bread-and-butter and sticky toffee puddings and an ice cream topped up their already-full stomachs.
“That was a lovely,” said Jenny.
“Indeed it was,” echoed Rose. “Thank you, Bob and Ken.”
“Yes, thank you,” said Leo. “I must come here with my wife before they change the menu. It was a great meal.”
“We’re very glad you could come,” said Bob. “You’ve all helped Ken and me so much as we started this business. Thank you, everybody.”
They said goodbye to Leo as he drove off then climbed into Ken’s car. The rain had stopped and they were able to see some of the coastline as they drove back to Big End. Ken parked beside the National Westminster bank.
“Bob has to visit the bank. Then he’s going to rent a bigger van and drive it to the shop so we don’t have to wait for him,” he explained to Rose and Jenny.
“I’ll get out here too,” said Jenny.
“All right,” Ken replied. “I’ll see you later Bob,” and he drove off.
After ordering more cheques Bob walked to Charles’ garage, glad the rain had stopped, for he’d left his umbrella in Ken’s car. The van, looking rather large to Bob, stood near the exit.
“Hello Bob. That’s it, the one near the road,” called Charles, who was standing at the door to his office. “Do you think it’s a suitable size?”
“It looks perfect Charles. Can you open the back? I want to see how I might separate the toys. We might have to build some kind of walls.”
“Open the doors and have a look.”
“Okay. Ah, we’d have to build two temporary walls. Do you mind? Made of plywood. We wouldn’t have to fasten the walls to the floor, plywood across the bottom and top would hold them in place.”
“You can do anything you like as long as you remove it before returning and don’t mark or make holes in the van.”
“Good. Thanks.” He closed the doors. “What’s it like to drive?”
“Easy. It’s automatic with power brakes, steering and windows. You’ll have no trouble. Come and do the paperwork and you can find out for yourself.”
After filling the forms Bob told him they wanted to keep the smaller van for another two months. “That would be £425, right?”
“Yes. £425 for the small one for two months and £350 for the big one for one month.”
“Would you give us a discount seeing we are renting two vans from you?”
“Well I think I could. Just for you. How about ten percent?”
“Thank you. So I’ll give you a cheque for how much?”
“Let me see. The calculator here says £1255.50.”
After receiving the cheque he gave Bob the keys and watched as he climbed into the cab. Bob adjusted the seat’s position and the rear-view mirrors, checked all the instruments, switches and knobs. Then he told Charles he would like to back it into the yard before driving it away, “Just to be sure I understand everything.” He did that successfully then waved ‘goodbye’ and drove slowly out into the road. “Take it easy until you’re used to it,” shouted C
harles.
Bob drove slowly through Big End toward the lumber yard where he stopped and bought six sheets of plywood and some four-by-twos. The van was much smother to drive and more comfortable than the smaller van. He parked it near the side door of the shop and walked into the busy workshop.
“I’ve got the new van Ken.”
“Hi Bob. What’s it like?”
“It’s warm and comfortable. Much easier than the old one to drive. I’ve looked in the back and we’ll have to build a couple of walls to separate the sets. I’ve bought the wood. Can you give me a hand?”
“Sure.”
An hour later the walls were firmly in place and Ken asked Luke and Jose to load the van before going home.
“Tell me every time you’ve added a hundred of each please, I don’t want the top ones to squash those at the bottom,” said Bob. “Put the farms in the left compartment, the trains in the middle and the villages in the right, long-wise, so they won’t roll out when I open the doors.”
Bob told them to stop loading after they had loaded twelve hundred.
“There’s twelve hundred sets in the van now, four hundred of each,” he told Ken. “That gives me enough to go to eighty shops and give five of each toy to each. That will be more than I need for one week since I’ll have to talk to the owners, but it’s nice to have more. I don’t want to run out if someone wanted a lot. Of course, if we are just delivering we could carry another four hundred as well. All we’d have to do is put a platform half-way up to stop the ones on top from squashing the ones below.”
“Great. Well, they’ve all left now and I’m going to close the shop. Mary and I are eating with friends tonight. You’re going east tomorrow?”
“Yes. Probably be back on Thursday.”
“Okay. Take it easy.”
“Will do,” and Bob climbed into the van and drove it to the new Community Centre’s parking lot.
He took the tourists route toward Portsmouth Tuesday morning, stopping in an occasional gift shop. He showed each retailer Julie’s article in the Gift and Toy Association’s newsletter which helped introduce him and the company. They all took five of each set and agreed on a forty percent commission. He stayed the night in the Journey’s End motel on the eastern side of Portsmouth. He counted his receipts after eating supper in a small steak house; he had eleven.
Wednesday he continued his journey eastwards and stayed the far-side of Brighton. Sixteen more retailers agreed to sell his toys that day.
Thursday he headed north, to Winchester and turned down through Eastleigh, arriving home at 6:30. Adding that days thirteen shops gave him a total of forty for the week. He parked in the road for there were two lorries and a crane in the Centre’s parking lot. The crane had probably been used to install the centre’s roof.
Bob arrived at the workshop at nine on Friday, glad to be back. Everyone was busy but Ken put down the block he was working on and joined him in the office.
“How was the week Bob?”
“A bit tiring but I’m glad I’m driving the bigger van. It’s much easier and the radio’s a great help.”
“How many new shops did you get?”
“Forty. I’ll give the receipts to Lori to tabulate.”
“We’ve had another 26 requests. Some of them are from shops close to, or in, Southampton. It’s a pity you didn’t know or you could have seen them on your way back.”
“Well, I could phone you each night to check. How about me doing that, would you mind?”
“No, it’s a good idea. What time would you call?”
“What time’s best for you? What I’ve been doing is stopping at a motel that’s near a restaurant, eating supper then going to my room.”
“What about nine o’clock. Would that be all right?”
“Yes. That’s a good time. Okay, I’ll phone then. How many did you make this week?”
“It’ll be nearly eight hundred by four o’clock this afternoon. It’s like we are working to a rhythm—everyone pulls together. And I think it’s time we gave everybody a raise. I’m sure we can afford to do that now. We’ve already received £2,332 for the May sales and that’s only from a few of our shops.”
“All right. Let’s do it. What do you have in mind?”
“I’d like to give everybody another £50 a week. That’s the profit from only five sets for each person, if you look at it that way.”
“Okay.”
“And I’d like to promote Craig and make him a supervisor and give him an extra £25 a week. And I’d like to make Lori a helper/secretary/financial officer and give her an extra £25 a week as well.”
“What’s a ‘helper/secretary/financial officer’?”
“It’s what she is doing right now. She works in the shop but also in the office. And I’d like her to handle our expenses and income too. You said it’s a lot of work for you at the end of each month. She can do it daily on the computer and we’ll review it each Friday, or each day if you like. She must have used the till when she sold dresses so I’m sure she’ll be trustworthy.”
“Okay, we’ll try it, but I wouldn’t want her to sign cheques.
“That’s fine, though she’d have to use the credit card sometimes, when ordering supplies from a new supplier, for instance. Do you mind that?”
“Let’s not give her too much responsibility yet. Why not have her call you if that’s needed.”
“All right. Then I’ll tell everyone about the raise at tea time and tell Craig and Lori about the extra jobs we would like them to do, separately, in the office afterwards.”
“Why not tell them now? Then you can tell Jose and Luke about everything during the tea break.”
“You’re right. Can you take over Craig’s work and tell him to come and see me now?”
“Sure.”
Craig and, later, Lori, were delighted that Ken thought so highly of their work and that they would be promoted. The tea break was a bit longer than normal as Ken explained why they were increasing everyone’s’ wage and making Craig a supervisor and promoting Lori to be the financial officer.
“We will have to hire more people soon,” Ken said. “Bob has another forty shops selling for us and he is likely to have another sixty to eighty more in two weeks time. That’s why we need a supervisor, to teach and help the newcomers as well as doing some of the work. And, as you know, Lori already keeps our records and she’ll be looking after our expenses and income from now on.”
There were a few hugs and one spilt mug of tea before they went back to the shop. Afterwards Bob asked Ken how he was going to find more helpers and where they would work if he found them.
“I’ve been thinking about that and I think we could run two shifts. One starting at six, that’s the earliest anyone could get here from Big End by bus. That one could end at one. And the next shift could start at one and end at eight.”
“Two seven-hour shifts. Then neither will make as many sets as the eight-hour shift we have now.”
“No, but we’ll get about fourteen hundred sets a day that way. I’m still only thinking about how to arrange it, I’ve got to find more workers first.”
Bob was tempted to tell Ken about the chance to use the old Community Centre but he didn’t want both of them to be disappointed if the committee said they wouldn’t rent it. He’d tell him tomorrow if they agreed, then they could both celebrate.
Bob worked in the shop for the rest of the day then loaded both vans with sets. Jack would deliver the sets that had been requested by shops in the east and, since he was going north next week, he’d deliver the ones that way. The requests from the west could wait until the following week unless they were urgent.
He was sitting in his lounge after supper, sipping a glass of port, when Jane phoned.
“I’m sorry Bob. I told the committee that you’d like to rent the old Centre for a year or more and we discussed it for nearly an hour. Some people want to tear it down and build a small ornamental park. It’s a good spot for that,
the existing park’s mostly grass and used for playing games. Others say we need a shopping mall, saying that we have to cater to our new residents otherwise they’ll all go to Big End and we’ll lose all the income a mall’s retailers might bring us. But some said we shouldn’t discourage what seems to be a successful business and that waiting a year might help us decide what’s the best thing to do for the village. So we didn’t decide what to do and we are going to talk about it again next Friday. Keep your fingers crossed; you still might get it.”
“I will Jane. Thanks for asking them. I haven’t said anything to Ken in case they say ‘No.’ I didn’t want to disappoint him.”
“Then I won’t say anything to anyone else either Bob. Are you going to the Crown tomorrow?”
“You bet.”
After breakfast Bob walked over to the new hall and looked through the windows. The interior stud walls were up, ready for the electrician to run the wires. Unfortunately, Sam wasn’t there so he couldn’t get inside or ask if everything was still on schedule.
The rest of the weekend followed it’s usual routine. Jane had no more news about when the new Centre would open, Joe was still very busy and rather tired, as he usually was this time of the year, and Jack was glad he had a day’s work delivering toys. And the village grocer still didn’t carry Thai sauces.
When Lori walked in Monday morning she told Ken that she’d talked to the boy who was looking for a job.
“I thought you didn’t know where he lived.”
“I saw him again Saturday. He lives in one of the new houses. He has a job now and isn’t interested in changing but he’ll tell his mates at work about this place in case they know of anybody who’d like to work here.”
“Oh thanks.”
Then Lori added, “Why not call the high school? The head will know boys who are finishing this year and there might be some who are interested.”
“Ah yes. I’ll call them again.”
When he called the secretary told Ken that the headmaster was in a meeting, “but he will call you back as soon as he is free,” she said. Twenty minutes later he did. Ken told him that he was looking for four people to help make wooden toys in their workshop in Small End. “We have four of your graduates already,” he said, and told him their names.
“Oh I remember Lori. She was an excellent student. I’m surprised she didn’t go to college or university. All right. I’ll talk to the shop teacher. He’ll know who’s likely to be interested. I’ll give you a call later this week to let you know what happens.”
Bob overheard most of this conversation as he checked to see if there were any northern shops that wanted more toys. For some reason there were none so he waved goodbye to Ken and headed out the door.
“‘Bye ,Bob.”
“I’ll call about nine. Let me know how you are doing and if any more money comes in Ken. ‘Bye.”
He drove north towards Basingstoke stopping at two gift shops along the way, showing them the newsletter and his toys and leaving five of each set when they agreed to sell them. Basingstoke had changed so much from the way it used to be. ‘That’s how Small End will become if we expand to the south as well as to the north,’ he thought. ‘Let’s hope it doesn’t go that way.’ He then drove to Reading and stopped for the day at six o’clock, having another ten receipts in his envelope.
“I’m in Reading Ken. We now have another ten retailers. What’s the news from the shop?”
“More cheques arrived today. Lori tells me we’ve now got £4,381. It’s in the safe. All are from May sales. She asks if you paid all the May bills?”
“Yes I did. A week ago. So she’s already handling the money side of things?”
“Yes. She’s shown me the spreadsheet she keeps on the computer.”
“And it looks okay? You understand what she’s done and it’s correct?”
“Yes I think so. You’ll have to check it when you return.”
“I’ll do that each week. Anything else?”
“There are a few requests for more sets. Lori tells me she’ll separate them into areas and I’ll let you know which are on your way when we know where you are driving. Where are you going tomorrow?”
“Swindon and the roads around there.”
“All right. You’ll call me tomorrow?”
“Yes. Same time?”
“Yes. Take it easy Bob.”
“You too Ken.”
A day driving around Swindon in the rain and dashing with a container full of toy sets from the van to the shops quickly tired Bob, who was only cheered by the fact he’d another sixteen shops selling for him. He was glad he wouldn’t be delivering to them in the future, they’d hire someone else to do that. His meal was uninteresting too— over-cooked vegetables and two under-cooked chops. He tried to be cheerful when phoning Ken, there was no sense in upsetting him.
“Another sixteen Ken. How are things your end?”
“£7,443 now Bob. And fourteen more requests for more deliveries. I talked to the gang about doing overtime today but only Craig is interested. I haven’t heard from the school.”
“Did you offer time-and-a-half for overtime?”
“Yes. It wasn’t a money thing. They all find it hard work and felt they couldn’t work at our rate for more than eight hours a day.”
“Oh are we pushing them too hard?”
“I don’t think so, they set their own pace. I think they each work hard to show the others they can handle it.”
“Interesting, let’s hope it continues that way. I’m going to Marlborough and Andover tomorrow. Are there any requests I can handle on that route?”
“Well there are another nine around Southampton. I’ll read out their names and addresses.”
“Okay.”
Ken read them out then Bob told him to ask Lori to print a copy of all their retailers with their addresses. “I won’t have to copy them all down when I have that list. You can just give me their names and I’ll put a mark by their name.”
“All right. Are you coming home tomorrow?”
“Yes. It’s been a hard day and the rain hasn’t helped. I’ll not call tomorrow night and I’ll be in the shop on Thursday.”
“All right Bob. Cheers.”
“Cheers Ken.”
It was raining again on Wednesday but Bob added thirteen new shops and dropped off the extra sets in the Southampton area. As he drove towards Small End he thought about supper. He didn’t want to go to the pub, he was tired of eating out, so he’d just heat a pot pie.
There was a letter on the mat when he opened the door. The handwriting and the stamp told him that it was from Maria. He took it to the kitchen and put the pie in the oven to warm before he opened the envelope. He expected it was a reminder to pay the balance of the money for the August holiday, but no, it wasn’t that, Maria wrote to say that a church group liked the description of what they read in one of their brochures and that they asked the agency if they could run one especially for them. They had twenty two people who would go if they could run it in June. It took a lot of last minute organising, finding hotels that had enough room, or finding two of them close to each other when needed, and arranging all the speakers but it had been done and they would be arriving Saturday June 15th and she would be the guide. She said that it would be returning Saturday June 29th and asked, ‘do you want to meet me then? I have arranged to fly back on Sunday. I thought we could go to a show in London. Please can you call me this Friday night at nine o’clock or later that evening to discuss this. I hope you receive this letter in time.’ It was signed ‘with love from’.
He immediately cheered up. Maria did think about him and she did want to see him again. Of course he could make it. If there had been anything on he would have cancelled it to see her, but, of course, that weekend was no different from any of his others, nothing had been planned. He’d drive the Vauxhall to the airport, no more buses for him. Presumably she would be arriving at Gatwick. He’d have to ask about that and find out wh
at time she arrived. And tonight he’d have a beer with his pie and a glass of port afterwards!