Chapter 46 Towards Christmas
Those six weeks drifted by slowly. Bob trained himself to get up a few minutes later each day. The winter darkness and the many rainy days helped him not to feel he was just being lazy.
He made up for late starts by walking, sometimes tracing the footpaths that criss-crossed the fields and woods around Rivermead. He knew most of them, for the house was less than two miles from his former home. He walked every day, even when it rained, skipping only the very windy or stormy days.
He continued to live in his old home but went to Rivermead when deliveries were expected or when he had some work to do. Two days were spent removing Ken’s old work bench from the garage and making a smaller one that better suited his needs. He hung up most of his tools but left his wood-carving tools packed in its moving box for he would not need them until he began carving birds. He placed his garden implements in Mary’s small greenhouse.
Bob spent three days carefully drafting the boat house cum workshop. He decided to make one long structure, built upon a single bed of concrete. Jack told him that he’d have to obtain approval to make a building that large and which was adjacent to the river so he started the search to find out what he had to do and what application forms he needed by talking to people at the municipal office.
Once his new appliances had been connected he did his weekly washing in the new machine, revelling in the fact that it took the clothes dryer less than an hour to dry them. He even tried the dishwasher but he realised his two plates, a mug and a knife wasn’t a real test. He would have to hold a party or save his dishes for a week or two to properly test the machine’s capability.
He had a fire in the study the evening his chairs were delivered and watched a program on Sally’s television. It was nice sitting there but it needed a rug he thought, and a larger television, one which should stand on a bench or table. He added them to his shopping list. It was exciting to be able to buy what he wanted without worrying about what it might cost.
He shopped, buying a rug, a television, a stand to hold it and a wall cabinet. He put his drinks and glasses into the cabinet the day following its delivery and added ‘Port’ to his shopping list. The bottles he had bought last Christmas were still nearly full or unopened. He measured the empty space on either side of the fireplace and made shelves to hold his books, a few of Betty’s ornaments and photographs of his mother and father, Regina and Sam and his grandchildren.
Cheques arrived and were deposited. Money accumulated in his savings account and when a cheque for £100,000 arrived from Mr. Radley he asked his bank manager for a safe place to invest it. ‘Unit trusts’ were recommended, those supplied by the bank, of course. He bought a few. And a gold bracelet for Maria’s Christmas present.
He phoned Ken one Sunday evening, telling him that toy sales had increased and asking him where he bought his firewood. Ken told him that he’d been to Germany ordering new equipment and was busy setting up the production lines. He said that Mary spent much of her time looking at houses that were for sale but they hadn’t found any thing they liked yet. Both Bob and Ken had received an invitation to the Small End Wooden Toys' Christmas party. It was to be held on Friday, December 20th. Bob told him he would be going and Ken said he and Mary would also be there.
He lost interest in learning new dance steps when Maria, in one of her letters, told him she didn’t dance much and he should not expect her to be able to follow all his steps but he continued taking the lessons until the classes ended mid December. Maria wrote, telling him she had booked her flight to England and would be arriving Friday, Jan 3rd and would be returning Sunday, Jan 12th. ‘We’ll be busy,’ she wrote, ‘choosing furniture for your house will take a lot of time but I’d like to visit Ken and Mary if we can.’
November 23rd Craig helped him load the van with his bed and the furniture he would take to Rivermead. He told Craig that he and Lori could use the house immediately and move in whenever they wanted and gave him a set of keys. He told the Post Office and his children that they should use the Rivermead address in future but that he would still have the same telephone number.
It was a warm but empty and a rather lonely home when he was living there by himself. He hoped it would become more cozy when it was filled with furniture. It was lovely to have an ensuite bathroom. Eating his meals in the lounge while watching the river and the birds was very pleasant. He borrowed a fishing rod from Craig and caught a small fish one morning but put it back in the river. A six inch fish was too small to eat. He twice raked the leaves and burned them. He redesigned the flower beds, making all of them smaller except the one he would use to grow vegetables. Thus the days went by and Christmas drew nearer.
Friday, December 13th he stayed with Regina and watched Roy perform in the school play. Bernard was more congenial towards him than he had been in the past; perhaps it was the money he now commanded or his new house. He left Christmas presents for them, a mohair scarf for Regina, a bottle of expensive scotch for Bernard and the latest computer game for Roy.
Saturday he stayed at Sam’s house for the night, taking them out for dinner and leaving a GPS unit as Sam’s Christmas present, a book token for a hundred pounds for Lilly and cheques of fifty pounds for Jane and for Bess. He thought that they’d know best what they would like to buy. Lilly was recovering from a bad cold but, luckily, he didn’t catch it.
The Wooden Toys Christmas party was held in one of the large rooms in Big End’s main hotel. It had been decorated by the hotel’s staff and they also managed the bar. Lori footed the bill for the drinks and the buffet. Jose operated the record player and Luke was the MC. Bob made his way amongst everybody describing what he had been doing and asking about their Christmas plans and their families. Mary told Bob that she had found a suitable house and they had made an offer that morning but added that, if accepted, it wouldn’t be theirs until February. “Do bring Maria to visit when she comes. I really want to meet her.”
The Crown suppers continued and Bob drove to them each Saturday. He learned that the children’s party was a resounding success. Joe and Jane would become pirates and Jack would turn into Napoleon at the New year’s Eve dance. Jane and Rose made the costumes and promised to make one for Bob and Maria, if she was here, for the one next year. “That’s if you haven’t already bought one,” Rose said.
December 22nd eventually arrived. The drive to Heathrow was easier and quicker than Bob had expected. After more than an hour’s wait he boarded the plane and listened to the safety announcements in English and in French, trying to remember the few French words he’d learned at school. He spent most of the journey looking out the window at the clouds and thinking back through the past year. So much had happened and all of it because he had met Claire. What a year it had been. And what a difference it had made to his future!
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A note from the author
I hope you enjoyed my first novel. Perhaps you might like Sam's Dream, a short story.
A few years ago I wrote Developing a Universal Religion. This book explores how we think, how we solve practical problems, how moral problems arise and how we solve them. Along the way it summarises how the universe, stars, planets and life evolved. It ends with a wish that we might benefit by formulating a religion that looks forward rather then backwards and use that to guide the morality of a global civilization.
David Hockey
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