Chapter 28

The talk with Carol, whenever it was, ended with an invite to see our house the first convenient Saturday. I was warned not to interfere in any way; just sit in an armchair, reading, so that I could be observed in a non-threatening pose in a comfortable environment. Sandy informed me that all three women would come over and kiss me as their husband, so that Carol could see them interact with me, male and female, in a friendly and easy fashion. Sandy was anxious that I should do and say nothing that might disturb Carol’s feelings during the visit.

I demanded to know what Carol actually looked like, her age and attainments. Sandy informed me that she had grown somewhat since fourteen and was slightly taller than me and was a bit on the pudgy side. That put me off, but Sandy waved my bad reaction aside, telling me “Her breasts are similar in size to those of me, Georgie and Janet, so she fits your personal definition of attractive. Her dumpiness comes from comfort eating, so if she could be weaned off that, she could soon have a shape like us wives. She is a brunette, and the only physical defect I noticed was that she has several tattoos on her arms. These tattoos are all based on heart shapes, so I concluded she is romantically inclined underneath that generalised fear of men. No names with the hearts, unsurprisingly.”

I queried, “Perhaps her romantic inclinations are towards women instead of men, after her attack?”

Sandy lifted her eyebrows and thought back to the meeting. “No, I got the distinct impression she is looking for a knight in shining armour coming to rescue her.”

I grimaced.

“Well she can’t get that from me! Wait, how old is this girl? You haven’t said. Is she thirty-something and foul-mouthed, or otherwise obnoxious?”

“Bob! Don’t assume the worst. She is eighteen, has grown as much as she is likely to grow, and is very polite in her speech. She works in a beauty parlour; a women’s beauty salon as you might expect, so she has picked up the speech patterns used in the shop; a mix of deference, politeness and calmness in every way. Meeting her in the salon you would never know she was the survivor of a rape attack.”

“You liked her then, Sandy,” I surmised.

“On the face of it; woman to woman. How she will react to the presence of a man is another matter entirely.”

I nodded. “Yes, we shall have to wait and see. I promise to behave and just sit there like a dutiful husband.”

Our architect, James Thorogood, asked to see us the first Saturday when we would both be in Gourock. He invited us to his office so that he could show us his preliminary drawings for the extension, so I booked a taxi to take us there, in case of bad weather.

It was a good precaution, for it was wet and windy that morning. We arrived at the stipulated 10.30 a.m. and he unveiled his work.

The sketches looked marvellous at first sight, though we had little knowledge of architect’s drawings. He had to explain what each drawing section meant, and we saw how he had marked the main entrance with its vestibule, leading into a square hallway with the staircase at the back. Going up the stairs to the half-landing and up the next flight in the opposite direction took you to the corridor above the ground floor, and rooms off it, mostly marked as bedrooms with en-suite facilities, almost like a hotel. He admitted that much of the design was based on the last hotel he designed

“What you asked for is very much like hotel accommodation, wanting showers and toilet for every room; sort of self-contained single rooms. Is that what you want?”

Sandy told him it was, so he continued his elucidation.

Back at the staircase, on the upper floor there was a similar corridor with windows facing the street. The extension was narrower than the main house, so that rooms off the corridor all had windows towards the back of the plot. On the ground floor the extension had a similar plan of rooms looking towards the back.

He explained that his design converted the two bedrooms in the main house into a large dining room, meaning that all the bedrooms were in the extension and upper floor, and that meant that the shower, washbasin and toilet for each bedroom could be efficiently linked for water supply and also drainage, the piping running under the floor upstairs next to the wall, and downstairs the pipe runs would be below the wood floor in a dug-out cavity where the new concrete foundations would support all the load-bearing walls; and all the drains ending in a connection to the mains sewer system.

He told us that all rainwater would go via gutters to down pipes and into the drains. He bemoaned the fact that rainwater from roof gutter and foul water from the sanitary facilities all went into the one sewer. A more sensible plan would be to have two sewers, one for foul water and one for rainwater that could be channeled into a recovery system for usage on gardens and so on, but costs always seemed to preclude sensible drainage systems.

He also said that his proposed design included a mechanical ventilation and heat recovery process which would draw hot air up by ducting to a motor that would circulate it into cooler rooms, and in summer would combine outside air to cool the airflow going back down to the rooms. This system should save on heating costs but required a fixed level of natural ventilation. Too much natural ventilation would undermine the efficiency of the mechanical ventilation system, but the new build aspect would allow for new windows and good thermal insulation in walls and roof.” I was impressed, and I could see that Sandy was also.

“I know remarkably little about architecture, Mr Thorogood, but what you are proposing appears to be what we are seeking. Sandy, are you in agreement, or have you other ideas?”

“Can I assume that you don’t propose any changes to the existing kitchen area?”

“You can. I see no value in making any alterations there, as these would simply be being finickity. Apart from converting the two bedrooms to one large dining room the main house remains as it is, with the second floor added. My calculations indicate that the walls and foundations will take the addition of a second floor without need for more strengthening. The original plans on file with the planners show a strong set of foundations and walls of adequate construction strength.”

I had one concern to state.

“Above the existing front vestibule there are what I might call glass panels on the roof. These must remain in place during the rebuild.”

“Ah, yes; I had noticed these and recalled reading about this invention in New Scientist recently: solar panels, converting sunlight directly into electricity. A few of the latest artificial satellites use them to provide electrical power for the satellite. What shocked me was finding them in Gourock, as I understand the efficiency in good conditions is only about eight per cent. That is found around the equator, so at this latitude the light value of sunshine is much lower. That means poor results with current technology.

However, I tested their output with my electrical tester, and the output of these panels showed them to be about fifty per cent efficient; amazing! That means they could work well here, so I must assume they were installed as an experimental set-up to get some measurable results in a practical setting. How did you get involved with such an advanced experiment?”

“It was not us, Mr Thorogood. The previous owner died suddenly, and we were able to purchase the building at a reasonable price. It was obviously built as a one-off, to house a single man, so that may be it: an experimental solar house which stopped being of value to the experiment when the owner died suddenly.

However it may be, we want the panels to remain and we’ll derive the benefit, as long as it continues to work. There are test controls in the vestibule and all the electrical equipment, large battery and so on, is in the electrical room immediately behind. We have that room locked for electrical safety reasons, as you might guess, and so if and when you need to take the roof off above either part, you must prevent water ingress as that would cause havoc with the electrics.”

“Fine, fine; if that is your preference,” he said. “I wonder who financed the experiment, as it seems to me that it would be a success if continued with such good results.”

I offered, “I believe that he financed it himself, as he was a single man with considerable assets. We heard that he had collapsed with a stroke or a heart attack, and was dead before he was found. We haven’t found any written records of the installation, so we have nothing to work on if we wanted to tell others about it. I have my own finances, so I don’t need to have scientists scrabbling around in our house, thank you very much! Like all good inventions such as the light bulb and the telephone and television, there are always other inventors competing for the best design and to be first in the field.”

“That is so, Mr McIntyre. I can have men enter the loft space and cover the existing ceilings with tongued and grooved boards to make a solid surface, and use mastic to fill any remaining gaps.

I will see what, if any, changes are needed for the roof at these locations, and simply remove the panels, disconnect them and reposition them after the new roofing is in place. I will ensure I use identical cabling for the extension runs to the new site for the panels; south-facing, of course, as near as I can manage. I will apply that to the other panels on the main roof.”

“There are panels up there too?” I queried, surprised.

“Naturally. You would need a lot of panels to get a decent amount of electrical power, based on existing models. These new panels must produce a hellova lot more power. What do you do with it all?”

“It seems he was testing new batteries as well, for the capacity seems large. It certainly supplies all the electrical needs of the house and stores the extra in the batteries. I expect it switches itself off when the batteries reach full capacity.”

“That would make sense, Mr McIntyre. You are well up in technology, for your age.”

“I did higher physics at high school, and scored quite satisfactorily in my exams, so I am no dullard, sir.”

“I can see that. Bright and well-to-do, eh? A good combination, and a lovely wife as well? What more could a man want?”

I left that unanswered as a rhetorical question and we moved on. Solar panels? So that is what was powering the travel device? It began to make more sense now: 2026 technology in efficient solar panels and improved batteries, as well as all the facilities of that hidden laboratory. With a bit of luck, we can continue to benefit from it all. If most modern houses had such systems, any excess electricity might be exported to the National Grid.

We agreed to defer decorative finishes to nearer the time; for the present we were concentrating on internal structures, piping and cabling to all the rooms, and the ducting for the air circulation system.

Sandy left most of the talking to me, as she regarded it as man-talk using terms that she was unfamiliar with; she would need to have these explained, and that would slow the discussion.

At last we left James to work on what he now had, and walked along to see if Janet was around. I admitted to Sandy that I had neglected to ask if Janet was working today, and she glared at me before saying, “She is on the ten till two shift, so if we go in for lunch she won’t be able to join us, if that is what you are thinking.”

“Well, I didn’t want to have to pretend she is not part of us now, if she is serving when we go in.”

“Darling, that ship has already sailed. She has been seen sitting with us enough for them to put two and two together, and conclude that she has a close association with us. The exact association won’t be clear to them, but when she is seen kissing you in my presence, they can see how the land lies.”

“Oh.” I came to the belated conclusion that Janet was now seen as belonging to my family, one way or another. They may see her as romantically with Georgie, with my and Sandy’s blessing; or attached to me with Sandy’s approval, or some other combination. It must confuse them, I chuckled to myself, but Sandy had not finished.

“Another thing, darling: Carol is visiting this afternoon, so devote yourself to reading or otherwise be on your own in the house when she is around. Someone may alert you that we are about to enter the lounge, but don’t depend on that. Get your mind into a book or magazine so that you are genuinely surprised when we appear.”

“In that case, I’ll see if I can buy a copy of New Scientist and read that. It seems to be an interesting read, from what James told me.”

We dropped into the newsagent along the road and I bought my copy of this week’s edition of New Scientist, and stuffed it into my jacket pocket for later perusal. We went over to the Cafe Continental for lunch – just a snack lunch today, Sandy insisted, and went to the main counter to see what the choices were. We tried the panzarotti, which we shared, followed by an apple crostata, a sort of apple pie.

We had moved on to coffee and briscotti when Janet appeared on the other side of the counter.

“I thought it was you two. Hiding from me?” she said with a smile.

Sandy fired back, “No, just trying to avoid giving you too much work, Janet. These snacks are delicious; please tell the chef.”

“I’ll do that, Sandy. He will be pleased, for most customers forget to pass back their opinion on the food; especially good opinions.”

“We have Carol scheduled to visit us this afternoon. Will you be able to be there?”

She grimaced, “More absences, so I may have to stay and help. I am sure you and Georgie can cope. Oh, and my period didn’t arrive, this time.”

I beamed and Sandy grinned, saying “Congrats! I hope it is not a false alarm, Janet.”

She turned to let me know, and saw my face. “So you know what this means, my dear husband?”

“Yes, dear. It means waiting another week for Georgie.”

Sandy shrugged, saying, “Perhaps. Don’t count your chickens, my boy.”

“No dear, just hens...” and dodged her pretend slap.

We were home in plenty of time for Carol’s planned time of arrival, so I got a cup of tea and settled in the exceedingly comfy Howard armchair to read the magazine. I noticed it was weekly, so it would be bang up to date on science news. Most of the items were short descriptive pieces, very informative and written in a popular style that kept your interest.

I was fascinated and didn’t even hear the door when Carol arrived. I was absorbed in a story about the latest development in hovercraft design. To me, it had potential as a future aircraft carrier, as it would be entirely above the water and thus unable to be hit by a torpedo unless the warhead had a very sensitive proximity fuse that might detect the structure a number of feet above the surface; highly unlikely. The carrier would also be able to travel much faster that a normal surface vessel. The only vulnerability I could envisage with be the flexible skirt holding in the air that it rode on. On the other hand, if there were a series of rubberised skirts designed into the underside, damage to an outer skirt by impact or failure could be compensated for by another skirt swinging round to fill the gap.

“Bob?” Sandy’s voice broke into my reverie.

“What?” I came back to the present, and Sandy was standing at the open door of the lounge. “Oh, hi, Sandy. I was absorbed in a story, sorry my love.”