Chapter 1

Home, pleasant though it continued to be, was becoming more complicated as time went on, Reg found. As his wives’ tummies started to bulge, they became less physically active except in bed and were much more sedentary around the house. Reg thought they were a fraction more fractious, but that may have been his own concern for them manifesting itself in his reactions to them. Their studies continued to occupy their time, so bedrooms had begun to be multifunctional; becoming sitting rooms cum study cum computer room. Each girl needed to have a computer of her own to work on, and a guarantee of easy access to a toilet, for they were finding a more frequent need to pee as their baby bulges slowly assumed precedence within their bodies.

Morning sickness affected only Fiona and Frances to any extent. Those others who experienced that symptom got past it quickly, but Fiona and Frances found it persisting for many weeks. Reg had his fair share of commiserating with his wives over their pseudo-sickness, as it never led to true sickness in any of them. It SEEMED as if they were about to vomit, but their system did not produce that final result. Many loving cuddles were needed by these ladies, but the other wives did not object: they preferred not to be nauseous in the first place.

The LeBrun twins were enjoying their continuing romance with the Pringle twins, and it had advanced – though they refused to say how far – but neither pair felt anywhere near ready to approach the marriage proposal stage yet. The girls felt they were too young, and the men felt their studies and freedom held a higher priority for the present. Their dates had become quite frequent, though none were overnighters.

The Recovery Enterprise Group had now been in existence for long enough to have snared several commercial contracts. One had been the local authority, as their tight budgets forced them to consider finding major savings. The R.E.G. company could do the investigation for 50,000 pounds and no more costs, unless and until enough savings had been identified to make the contract self-sustaining. R.E.G. managed to identify for deletion a number of pet projects within the authority’s structure that really did not fulfil their stated target functions. It was a truism that a professed aim of a project did not always result, and the proposers seemed to believe that persevering with it would magically solve the problem: it merely added to the cost. The company managed to persuade the council to scrap nearly a dozen of such failed projects, resulting in staff either being made redundant, or transferred to fill posts that were vacant elsewhere in the organisation; either solution led to staff savings, plus the concomitant costs, from premises to travel expanses and advertising, were also saved. It did not take long to cover the initial £50,000, so the rest was profit for the council, minus 5 per cent to R.E.G.

Other proposals that R.E.G. came up with for the local council were mostly a result of asking why certain changes to the method of operation of a service were made, when the existing operations had been functioning perfectly well. Most alterations to the operation of the services, which merely annoyed the users, appeared to have been introduced to justify the existence of certain headquarters staff who did not appear to have much productive work to do. The company suggested returning to the tried and tested systems, and look at what the instigators of change were doing with their time, and question whether these staff were really needed.

The local council took the advice on board, and found they could save again on salaries and other costs, eventually giving them reductions of many hundred thousand pounds. Paying the resulting five per cent fee to R.E.G was a small price for achieving the major savings overall.

A few large companies had also invested in having an examination of their operation by an outside group, and their confidence proved justified, as they saved money as well. Like so many organisations, certain processes continued beyond their target need, with no-one saying ‘stop’ until the R.E.G company showed that the halt instruction was due. Building private fiefdoms is not a system fault of government bodies alone; any large organisation has a tendency to act in that way.

Hermione Robson found her niche as the expediter for the company; mainly in fielding enquiries from local councils, companies, and non-commercial organisations. She would explain the company approach to clients as being one where the client would always benefit, never lose, with the sole commitment to the £50,000 initial fee. Being able to point to successful saving of hundreds of thousands for past clients was a potent argument, and her biggest problem was finding a slot in the schedule to fit in another customer, for it was part-time work for most of the staff, as they had their academic studies to concentrate on.

National government departments, under the control of civil servants, had so far failed to take advantage of the company’s cost-saving abilities, so it was just as well that the order book was full. There was an inbuilt resistance to change within such departments, unless the change was an increase in size! Hermione was now suggesting that approaching them through their political masters, the titular head, might be a more fruitful method. Telling a politician that his department could be run more efficiently, for less cost, was a no-brainer. She was certain the attitude would change swiftly.

Assuming regular command of a specific contract was not easy to fulfil and still concentrate on university lectures and tasks arising. Fortunately there were days that one or more pregnant wives felt uncomfortable enough to have to skip university classes. They could then spend some time at home scanning a company’s accounts at their own pace, or supervise Sidra and Elizabeth in doing the same thing if the girls were up to date with their own learning.

The young teens were now being paid a basic hourly rate for such duties, with a bonus for each anomaly they could spot in the accounts, even if the anomaly proved to be an innocent idiosyncrasy of the organisation’s activity. This encouraged their enthusiasm, and was building up a little nest egg for each of them, as these bonuses went into a trust fund for each girl, accessible when they turned 21.

Reginald himself was becoming increasingly embarrassed by his notoriety at the university. He was being seen as a young genius who not only was doing well academically, but was involved in a commercial company as well. Add to that his unavoidable reputation as the university’s noted polygamist, and he had a lot of people either jealous of him, or fed up with his easy life, as they saw it, and often pushed minor obstacles in his way. Most of them, he simply ignored.

At home, his impending fatherhood was another aspect of his life that was unusual. The regular visits by the midwife, while reassuring to his ladies, left him feeling alarmed by learning all the things that could possibly go wrong in a pregnancy. His wives had assured him that the risks of anything were very low, but still he worried. Freda used her mathematics to show how low the risks of anything actually were, But he felt that as with flying, that while flying had a lower risk of accident than road or rail travel, accidents to planes still managed to happen.

He had checked with the university’s Administration department about his entitlement to parental leave when his children were born, and it seemed that he might be justifiably away for several months if his wives’ babies were spread over many weeks. He could not imagine missing so many lectures, but again the lecturers promised that he would be sent notes about the lectures, and in some cases an entire transcript. The science faculty were videoing most of their lectures to make them available to any students who were absent through illness, etc.

As one married lecturer pointed out, “Bonding with mother and child is mostly being around the home and at hand when needed, so you will have time to study and even write essays and reports; you shouldn’t get much behind in your studies.”

At the same time he and his wives had been preparing Sidra and Elizabeth for sitting exams. Elizabeth legally was not required to sit exams as a home-schooler, but Sidra wanted to gain leaving certificates to allow her more leeway in which universities might be considered for her to study at, when she was ready. Elizabeth then decided she should go the same route; she was a fan of Sidra, and this influenced her choice.

There were several colleges where such exams could be pursued, and Sidra was still not sure which she wanted to use. This annoyed Reginald, as it made no difference where you sat the exams, as long as you sat them and passed them. The completed exam papers went to external examiners, usually retired teachers of the subject, who marked them according to a standard set by the national exam body. To the markers, the exam transcript was just a name without any other identifying feature, therefore where the candidate sat the exam had little relevance.

He got to the point where he summoned Sidra to his study and demanded she make up her mind.

“Why now?” she queried the demand, and Reg explained, “Because it doesn’t make a blind bit of difference which locus you use. The completed exam papers all go to the same markers in the end, and they have no idea who you are. It is simply a question of where you will feel comfortable, sitting your exams.”

She took that on board, and promised a decision by the next day. Reg was satisfied with that.

Fiona was surprised to get a confidential phone call from her father. “My dear, I am telling you in confidence, so don’t spread it around, but it looks like you will have a brother or sister in about seven months time!”

“Wow! Congrats, daddy. She took the bait, then?”

“She did. The thought of not getting any hands at all on my money made her decide that producing a child was no big deal. What she will be like as a mother, we shall see, but at least the first step has been taken. I don’t want to make this public yet, in case she aborts or something; I just wanted you to know how things were going, as my only present heir.”

“Thanks for letting me know, Daddy. It was thoughtful of you. Your grandchild is still causing me some morning sickness from time to time, but apparently it usually disappears as the pregnancy goes further. I hope so!”

“look after yourself, Fiona dear. Keep in touch. Bye.”

A week or so after, Reg got a phone call from the local farmer on whose land he had made his initial discovery of a coin cache. This surprised him, as for the past several months he had not even looked at the metal detector.

“Mr Robertson, Have you still got your metal detector, that you used on our farm?”

“Yes, sir, I do. It is stashed away for the present, as I am too busy to even think of spending days at metal detecting. Apart from that, what with what I found on your farm and on your uncle’s farm in Yorkshire, I hardly need more income of any sort.”

“Oh, that is a pity, for I was hoping you could help me with a problem.”

“A problem? What kind of farming problem needs a metal detector?”

“I am not really making myself clear. My problem is actually other people with metal detectors. I know you understand that one has to get permission from the owner of the field before you can search it, but there are some nuisances who ignore the law. A few have been sneaking into my fields when they think I am away from the farm, or am working in another area, out of sight of them. I find their boot tracks in fields I have ploughed, and occasionally I have observed them and honked my tractor horn at them. They run off then, before I can get close enough to catch them at it.”

Reginald voiced concern but puzzlement. “I can see your difficulty, but I fail to see what I can do about it. I don’t belong to a metal detector club, or anything.”

“No, that’s not what I want speak to you about. You see, if I can get you to run your detector over a few of my fields, I can in good conscience put up a sign at the gate to the field; a notice saying ‘This field has been checked over by a metal detector and there is nothing of value in it.’ I am hoping this will deter them from entering, as they will be wasting their time.”

“So why don’t you just put up such signs, and have done with it?”

“Really, Mr Robertson; you should see the error in that scenario. Let just one man use a detector in one of these fields and find something – be it a single coin – and the signs will become useless from that point onwards. I want my signs to be truthful, and free of such faults. If I know you have checked that field and found nothing, I will be confident about putting up such a sign for that field. Will you help me?”

“As I am a busy man, sir, may I be brutally blunt? Why should I go to that bother, just for your peace of mind?”

“Very well, can I offer a financial inducement? I will pay you £100 per field thoroughly checked, plus if you do find anything worthwhile, you can keep the lot: 100 per cent!”

Reg was more friendly now, but had to insist on another factor. “Before I can accept such a challenge, I have to have the approval of my spouses. Their opinion means a lot to me, so if they say NO, I will have to refuse your kind offer.”

“That is a reasonable proviso, Mr Robertson. I will rely on you to be honest about their opinion, and not use it as an excuse to say no.”

“I shall be honest about it, sir; and please call me Reg: you did it before.”

Okay, Reg. I’ll leave it for you to sort it out. You still have my phone number?”

“Yes. I put it into my phone. I have my own phone now; GPS and all.”

“Fine. I will look forward to your call, Reg. Goodbye for now.”

Life seemed to be full of unexpected events, he reflected. There was that early morning, about a week after all the boxes from the attic had been removed, when Frances’ father phoned Reg personally.

“Reg, I want you to do something for me, urgently, no questions asked by anyone. I want EVERYONE in the building out of there as quickly as possible. I have booked you rooms in the Excelsior hotel in town, and you will all go there and do not return until I say so. Got it?”

Reg gave a moment’s thought, and applied the logic.

“Yes, sir. You must have a valid reason, so we will get to it, now. What about the front door key?”

“Take it with you after you lock up. My man will come and collect it from you at the hotel. He will say his name is Jeeves: that should be unusual enough for a recognition signal.”

“Right sir. We are on to it right now.”

Reg hung up and went round the house, calling out to each of the household as he went. He simply told them: “Emergency! We are moving to the Excelsior Hotel immediately, until Mr LeBrun says otherwise. Pack an overnight bag and your outdoor things, and get to the front door. Those with cars will drive everyone else.”

To every question, he answered, “No more talk. I know nothing either.”

Outside the front door he detailed Frances to account for everyone, but did the same himself, to ensure by that double check that everyone was present. Once both were satisfied with their head count, he ushered them all into the cars, and the procession went to the hotel.

When they all trooped inside, the manager was there at once. “The LeBrun party?”

Being told that they were, he informed them, “Welcome to the Excelsior Hotel. My name is George Paterson. I am the Hotel Manager. You have the entire second floor. Mr LeBrun booked the floor for your use, so you can occupy any rooms as you see fit. Simply inform the desk which rooms you are occupying and how many in each room, and that will be fine.”

Surprised at this effusive treatment, Reg asked, “You know Mr LeBrun, then?”

The man’s eyebrows shot up. “Sir, his company OWNS our hotel!”

“Oh. I wasn’t aware of that; sorry. I may be his son-in-law, but I don’t know all his business dealings.”

“Perfectly all right, sir. What Mr LeBrun wants, Mr LeBrun gets.”

Reg told him, “I am sorry for the lack of notice, but he evacuated our building this morning, and I still don’t know why.”

“Such things happen in the hotel trade all the time, sir. We simply provide the hotel service to the standard expected by our patrons. Again, welcome to the Excelsior Hotel. If there is anything we can do for you, you just have to ask.

“Thank you, Mr Paterson. Your attention is exemplary, and bodes well for the rest of your staff. My name is Reginald Robertson, and the others are our whole household from the building.”

“Treat the hotel as your home while you are with us, Mr Robertson.”

By the time they had finished speaking, Reg discovered that his family and staff had all been swept up by the hotel staff and removed to the second floor, where they were told much the same as Reg was being told by the manager.

Reginald thanked Mr Paterson and went to head for the stairway, but was directed to the lift, instead. As he was gestured inside, the Manager insisted, “Use the lift at all times, for your convenience, except during a fire drill. No-one should use the lift in a fire situation, Mr Robertson, in case it gets stuck: stairs don’t have breakdowns!”

“I will note that, sir, and will pass it on to my household. Now I had better see that they are settled in before some of them go off to their university classes. They may be late, today. And I should check on how we will cope with our company work during this hiatus.”

Reg inspected their temporary accommodation, and was impressed at the décor. There was even a print of Munch’s “The Scream” on one of the walls, and he mentioned this to the manager. “One of my ladies said it was an important work of art, Mr Paterson. Where did you get it?”

The man was not in the least concerned. “It will be a modern print of that famous image, Mr Robertson. Mr LeBrun dropped it off a few days ago and asked us to hang it in the best suite. To my mind it is a hideous picture, quite frightening, but apparently it has somewhat of a reputation as a highly regarded work of art, so that must be why Mr LeBrun picked it up to enhance the decoration. One would have to be an art connoisseur to really appreciate it, I think.”

Later, Reg kissed his wives before they set off, reminding them to return to the hotel. “I’ll follow in a taxi, once I get the company activities sorted out.”

Sorting out the company work was mostly a matter of instructing Hermione Robson, his P.A., on who to tell which information on the hiatus. “Let each client know simply that we had to evacuate our building on professional advice, and are unsure when we can return. Say that if the delay is more than 48 hours, we will get back in touch with an update for them.”

Hermione was fine with that, but her sister Jemima, who dealt with public relations, wanted more. “Reg, we should be giving out some additional information, to keep our clients in the loop, so potential clients do not get put off.”

“Jemima, I would if I could, but I can’t! I don’t know the reason for the evacuation, but I trust Mr LeBrun enough to follow his evacuation instructions without a quibble. As soon as I know more, we can see about a press release, provided the information is suitable for the wider public.”

Hermione added, “Do we give out the hotel phone number for contact, if any clients want to get back to us?”

“Yes. The manager is keen to help, considering that Mr LeBrun’s company owns the hotel! Just ask him to get his staff to answer the phone as: “Excelsior Hotel and Recovery Enterprise Group temporary office. Which do you wish to speak to?”

With these two staff now knowing what to do, Reg moved to speak with the LeBrun twins.

“Girls, there is no way you can do your normal work while we are in this hotel, but it happened because of your uncle, and as he also owns this hotel, why don’t you speak with the manager? Tell him your normal duties and ask if you could do some unpaid work for the hotel, as your uncle owns it. They may have some gaps in their staffing, where you could fill in temporarily. This may give you a wider work experience, even if only for a day or two. That would be useful, wouldn’t it? The Pringle twins have to be at their university lecture anyway, so this will save you lounginmg around doing nothing.”

“But Reg, what if we WANT to lounge around, doing nothing?” This was said with a smile, so he knew it was a joke, but he turned it back on them. “As you are being paid by us to work, then work you shall do! He smiled as well. “Seriously, you may enjoy seeing how a hotel operates. If the company gets asked to investigate a hotel chain, this could be valuable information to our company.”

“Would we get paid extra?”

“Certainly. Your input as expert advisors would be paid for. The amount you received would be determined by the job.”

Their eyes lit up at this opportunity. Carol thought to mention, “As Sidra and Elizabeth are not at home to get their home schooling, might they help out at the hotel, to give them some experience as well?”

“Good suggestion. Speak to them about it: same argument as I gave you; experience. Can I go off to my classes now?”

“Yes. I’ll ask the manager to get a taxi for you. Have fun with your studies.”

Ten minutes later, the man arrived from the LeBrun company and asked for Frances’ key, which she had left with Reg. The man gave the correct name, so Reg handed over the key, and that was that.

The rest of the day was pretty normal, and he joined his girls on the trip back to the hotel. He asked Frances if she had heard from her father about their home, but she hadn’t.

It was as they were dressing for dinner in the hotel restaurant that the call came to Frances, and she took it.

“Hi, Daddy. Anything to report? ... Oh, dear. I can see why you were worried ... No, that’s fine ... Can we leave that until tomorrow? Thanks for being so caring. Bye.”

She turned and found the rest of the family looking at her in anticipation.