Chapter 2

The next morning Grace dropped her outdoor clothes off at her office and told Angie that she was going across to the vehicle and then the workshop offices.

Terry was looking relaxed.

“Looks as though all’s well this morning,” Grace said to him.

“Yeah and we’ve also got Nick Lowe and Gareth Jones back in.”

“Great! Wally all right?”

Terry chuckled. “Still grumbling about boy racers but then he wouldn’t be happy if he didn’t have something to moan about.”

Jane laughed. “He didn’t sound that unhappy on the phone yesterday.”

Terry chuckled again. “No, he wouldn’t have. He had something valid to grumble about. The lads call him ‘Happy’.

“One of Snow White’s Seven Dwarfs!”

Terry laughed. “He stands six foot two!”

Grace and Claire joined him.

“Your saying that ties in with something I’ve been thinking about,” said Grace. “I really know hardly any of the drivers. By the time I get in every day they’ve gone out on a detail. What time do they come in in the morning?”

“Seven normally. They do their morning vehicle check and then come in to be briefed on their detail for the day.”

“That must be pretty swift.”

“Yes. Most of our runs are regular repeats so they know them already.”

“OK. Would you mind me sitting in for a few mornings just to get to know them better? I promise I won’t get in the way.”

Terry smiled delightedly. “You bet. I’m sure they’d appreciate it.”

“Great! Terry, I’m off to see Jeff now for about fifteen minutes. When you’ve got a chance would you come to my office for about half an hour? Yesterday got me thinking and I’d like to chew over some things with you. Claire can put any emergency calls through to you.”

“Yeah, sure!”

“Thanks. See you later.”

Two minutes later she was warmly greeted by Jeff despite a slight sting in the tail.

“Good morning, Miss Grace! Good to see you. It’s been a while.”

“Good morning, Jeff! Yes, I’m afraid it has and I’m sorry. As you know there was a driver crisis yesterday and Terry told me that you couldn’t help him out because the flu was causing you to fall behind. Is it bad?”

“It isn’t good but it’s not critical. I got two guys back this morning and haven’t had any others go down with it in the last three days so, fingers crossed, we may be over the worst.”

Grace raised crossed fingers and Jeff smiled.

“While I was standing in for Terry yesterday I suddenly realised that I didn’t really know many of the drivers and then that I knew even fewer of your fitters. I’m sorry and need to put that right. The trouble is that I don’t want to get in the way wandering round your workshop or distracting your guys who are working on an urgent job. What do you suggest?”

“Come whenever you like and I’ll take you round, introduce you and get you talking. If I’m up to my eyes I’ll get one of the foremen to look after you.”

“That’s very good of you, Jeff.”

“No it’ll be fun and get Sarah off my back for a while.”

His assistant growled and stuck the tip of her tongue out at him.

All three laughed.

“See what I mean?” grinned Jeff. “These youngsters lack respect these days.”

“Thorry, thir,” lisped Sarah.

There was further laughter.

“In that case,” said Grace, “why don’t we strike while the iron’s hot. How about a first visit at half past two this afternoon?”

“Great! You’re on.”

Grace left. She reckoned that if Sarah was anyone to go by Jeff ran a happy workshop. She looked forward to the afternoon. Then another though struck her. If she was going to be moving in an oily, greasy workshop smart business suits were not suitable dress. Nor were they for dirty trucks. She would nip home at lunchtime and change. In fact, she still had a couple of pairs of her old army coveralls. She would bring one in to the office on a permanent basis. She was looking forward to this change in the way she did her job.

Angie had nothing for her when she got back to her office but offered her a mug of coffee.

“Thanks, Angie, but hold it for half an hour if you would. I’ve asked Terry to come up for a chat and if I’m not pulling my hair out by then let’s wait until he arrives.”

“OK.”

“By the way, have you got his CV?”

“Sure, hang on a mo ... Here you are.”

“Thanks.”

Grace did not take it to her desk to read but merely scanned it quickly. There it was: ‘A’ for Maths and ‘A*’ for Physics at ‘A’ Level. Why was he working as a driver? He could do much better for himself.

“Thanks,” she said again and handed it back to Angie who said nothing but had wondered herself what Terry was doing as a driver with those qualifications.

Terry’s timing was perfect and Angie produced coffee for both.

“Thanks, Terry, for coming over,” said Grace. “Yesterday got me thinking and I’d like to chew some thoughts over with you. I won’t go ahead on any ideas we come up with until Greg gets back and I can talk them over with him as well.”

“OK.”

“First though, Terry, you. With ‘A’ Level Maths and Physics with an ‘A*’ what are you doing here as a driver?”

Terry smiled. “I wondered when you’d cotton on. I want to go to college or university and read mechanical engineering. I wasn’t good enough to get a scholarship and my parents can’t afford to send me so I decided to get a job and earn enough to pay my own way. I’ll have been here for three years in August and hope to be able to afford to start a course in September. I can probably manage to do the course in two years rather than three if I really work at it. I’m not aiming for Oxford or Cambridge but Birmingham would be handy as I could live at home and go in daily so I’d really only have tuition fees.”

Chapter 3 »