Chapter 36

The following morning while having my breakfast, I thought about the week I intended to take off work, and what I would be doing then, and among my tasks I first listed taking the girls to the golf club whenever they wanted to go, but then I remembered that we intended to buy them a car, so I added that to my list, and made a mental note to mention it to Sally.

So when I rang her, I said: "There is one item I've remembered I need to do, and one extra for you as well."

"Car and car insurance?"

"Yes, you thought of it as well did you?"

"Just before I went to sleep last night, it was the next to last thing I am aware of thinking about — the last was you, of course. I need to tell my broker about my new address, and get insurance for Lucy. If I say it's for a Golf, will he be able to do it do you think."

"I doubt it. He'll need to know the model, engine size and so on. You could get your insurance sorted though, and tell him in outline what we intend, and as soon as I've bought the car, I'll phone you with all the details, and then you can tell him and get cover for the car. Car sales places seem to stay open until eight or nine in the evening at this time of the year, so if I can, I'll start looking this evening. I take it you haven't mentioned it to the girls."

"No, and Lucy can't hear me now, otherwise I would have been much more cryptic. I think we should let it be a surprise for when they arrive there, don't you?"

"Yes. All being well it will be in the garage here when they arrive. I'll put one set of keys in one envelope addressed to Lucy, and the other in another addressed to Angie. Or alternatively, leave the car in the garage and just tell them there's something in the garage for them. Which do you think?"

"The latter I think. It will be even more of a surprise when they open the door."

"Good luck in your competition, play well."

"Thanks, I'll try to. Have you anything special on today?"

"No, just getting on getting on. All routine stuff as far as I know. I'll ring you this evening when I get home."

"I look forward to it. Bye for now. Take care."

"And you. Love you. Bye."

When I got to work, I asked Jean if she knew anyone who had employed a cleaning firm that they could recommend.

"Well, the firm that does our office cleaning also does domestic cleaning as well I think, and they're pretty good. Are you looking for a regular cleaner?"

"Not at the moment, but we may well do. What I want at the moment is the whole house cleaning between the time it becomes ours, and the time that Mrs Roman arrives with our daughters."

"Would you like me to find the number for our cleaners and ring them?"

"Yes, would you? Tell them what I want, and if they might be able to do it, then I'll talk to them. Next question, do you know anybody on the staff who is knowledgeable about cars. I want to get one for the girls, and my knowledge is negligible."

"As far as I know, the person most people consult is Matt Lancaster who looks after the cars in the motor pool. Would you like me to ask him to come up and see you?"

"Er, no. Ask him when it would be convenient for me to come and see him. I'm wanting a favour, so I think I ought to go to him."

"Very well. Is there anything else?"

"No, I don't think so. Time to get some work done."

About a quarter of an hour later, the phone rang.

"I've got Mrs Curtis of Office Cleaning Services on the phone. She says she'd be able to arrange what you want, do you want to talk to her?"

"Yes please, put her through." She did. "Good morning Mrs Curtis, I take it my secretary's told you what I want."

"A whole house cleaning in a limited time."

"Yes. The date will, I hope, be a week on Friday, and I will conform that as soon as possible. It is quite a large five bedroom house with a two bedroom annex as well in Little Helsby. It isn't dirty as such at present, but I'd like it thoroughly cleaned before we move in. I don't yet know quite what time we will be taking possession, but I imagine it will be during the morning, and I'd like it done by about three in the afternoon. Is that feasible?"

"Feasible. Yes. Cheap, no. I'd need to get five or six cleaners in, and as this would be additional to their normal work, to get them to come, I'd have to offer them an incentive, and pay them at overtime rates, so if they were there for say, four hours, it will cost you fifty pounds each. Mind, we would be using industrial vacuum cleaners and polishers so the place would be spotless when we'd finished."

"That sounds all right. Can you make whatever preliminary arrangements you need to, and as soon as I can, I'll confirm the date and start time."

"By all means. Would you be wanting a cleaner on a regular basis? We do have a domestic cleaning section."

"I rather think that we will, but I'd need to consult higher authority about that." I laughed, and so did she.

"Well, when you've consulted the boss, if you would like us to clean for you, anything from one morning a week up to every day, ask her to ring me. Our ladies will also deal with washing and ironing if you require it. In fact we can provide any service that you require, including car washing and valetting or gardening."

"We have already got a gardener, the present one is going to continue. Thank you. As for everything else, we'll let you know when we've decided."

"Thank you. I look forward to hearing from you with confirmation about a week on Friday then. Good morning."

"Good morning."

As soon as I had hung up. Jean came in and said: "Matt says he'll be in the car workshop all morning if you want to go and see him."

"Good. I suppose I might as well go now before I start in to this lot again." I waved my hand at the papers on my desk.

There was only one person in the motor pool when I got there, a long-haired youth with greasy looking hands wearing overalls.

"Matt Lancaster?" I asked.

"Yes, Mr McKenzie?"

"That's right. My secretary rang you."

"What can I do for you?"

"Basically, find me a car. I know nothing about cars, other than how to drive one, and I want to get a car for my daughters. I'm looking for a hatchback with folding rear seats so that they'll be able to get two sets of golf clubs and trolleys in it. It has to be an automatic, because only one of them can drive at the moment, and she's only ever driven automatics. I don't want anything to powerful either, just something they can get about locally in. Obviously I want it to be reliable, and fairly low mileage. We were thinking of a VW Golf."

"Well that would do what you want, right enough. Even a Polo would do. Then there's the small Rover, or Renault or Peugeot, in fact there are no end of cars that would fit the bill. You want something that you can get serviced locally though. Where do you live?"

"We'll be living in Little Helsby."

"Mmmmm, the nearest Main Agent would be VW, so a Golf would be a good idea. A mate of mine works there, do you want me to see what they can do for you? I'll make sure he sees you all right. Can I tell him the car will be coming to them for all it's services and so on?"

"Yes, definitely. There's one more thing. I want to buy it now, or in the next day or two, but I've nowhere to keep it until a week on Friday, so I'd want them to deliver it to Little Helsby then."

"You could keep it here if you want. There's plenty of space, and it's secure at night. That would make sure none of their staff borrowed it themselves after they'd sold it to you."

"That would be ideal. Would you see what they've got available then?"

"I'll ring now if you want."

"OK, do you want me to wait?"

"No need. I'll call you when I've spoken with them."

"Thanks very much."

"That's all right."

I returned to my office, and about an hour and a half later, Jean said that Matt Lancaster was on the line.

"Hello Matt, Peter McKenzie. How did you get on?"

"Well they've got several Golfs in stock, but the best one for you would be one that's only done about fifteen hundred miles, and they'll give you the two and a half years or so of the original warranty. It's taxed for the next eight months, and they say its in perfect condition. It's not the smallest engine size, but with an automatic that's just as well, but it isn't a souped up bomb, either. The only thing is, they say that they've someone interested in it who's going to look at it this evening, so if you want it, you ought to get there before then. I don't think they're saying this just to get a quick sale, because I've had dealings with them before, and they know I recommend a lot of people about what and where to buy, so they wouldn't bugger me about."

"Look, would you be able to come with me to look at it at lunch time. I'll buy you lunch somewhere while we're out. I'd really value your opinion of it."

"I could do that all right, except I only have half an hour for lunch. Can I tell the Transport Manager I'm taking extra time to go with you?"

"Yes, and tell him to ring me if there's a problem. What time do you want to go?"

"Whenever you like. We could go now if you want, as soon as I've spoken to my Manager."

"Ring him now, then, and I'll speak to him if you wish."

He phoned his Manager who didn't raise any objections, and then I rang Jean, telling her I would be out for the next hour or so, but that my mobile would be turned on.

We went in my car, with Matt navigating, and I found that the garage was only about ten minutes from the new house. The car we were interested in was bright blue, which I thought would appeal to the girls, and I let Matt look it over. He had a good look under the bonnet, and then asked them to put it up on a ramp so that he could have a good look underneath. Being satisfied so far, he asked if we could take it for a test drive, which they were quite happy with. He offered me the keys, but I declined, saying that he would learn more than I would by driving it. After about ten miles of driving, he said that he thought that it was a nice little motor, with nothing that he could see wrong with it.

"How much are they asking, and what do you think they'll accept?" I asked.

"They want eleven nine nine five, but I think they'd take eleven and a half as you'll be local."

"OK, I'll try for that then."

When we got back to the garage, I entered into discussion with the salesman, and eventually settled at eleven and a half, with a full tank of petrol. There was a full service history to go with it, not that it was very old, and I wrote a cheque out there and then. When I also offered my business card, and knowing that Matt had brought me in and introduced me as working at the same place as he did, they said I could take the car away then, without waiting for the cheque to clear. I was aware, though, that they had phoned my bank, so they weren't taking too much risk.

"Can you drive it to the Office, Matt, and are you insured?"

"Yes, my insurance covers me fully comprehensive for all cars," he said.

"Where shall we stop for lunch?"

"Why not leave both cars here? There's a pub round the corner that does good food."

We did as he suggested, and had a very pleasant lunch, and I made a note that this was somewhere to bear in mind whenever we wanted a pub lunch after we'd moved.

When we'd finished, and just before we left, I said to Matt: "You only had a Coke with your lunch, because you're going to be driving. What do you drink when you're not driving?"

"Coke," he replied, "that's all I ever drink."

"Are you married?"

"Yes."

"What does your wife drink, then?"

"She usually drinks Bacardi and coke, why?"

"Because I want to give you something to say thank you for helping me. I feel a lot happier that someone who knows about cars has had a look at it, and found it for me. We passed an off-license walking here from the garage, so we'll stop there on the way back."

"There's no need, Mr McKenzie, I look for cars for everybody."

"Well, I'm very grateful, and so will the girls be, so let's be on our way, and we'll stop at the off-license, and you needn't argue."

We duly stopped, and I bought a bottle of Bacardi and a couple of six packs of Coke, which I gave to Matt, saying thank you again.

"Well when you want the car bringing across to your house, just let me know," he said, "and I'll bring it over, and arrange with one of the lads to come as well in my car to get us back."

"That would be ever so helpful, thanks very much. It'll be a week on Friday, all being well, but I'll let you know as soon as it's confirmed."

"OK."

We drove back to the office, and Matt took the Golf into the vehicle workshop, and I went back to my office, having written down the registration number and all the details of the Golf so that I could pass them on to Sally for her to arrange insurance. The rest of the afternoon passed in catching up with all the things that had accumulated.

It was about half past six before I got home, and after making myself a cup of tea, I rang Sally.

"Hello, Peter," said Lucy, to my surprise, as I expected Sally to answer.

"Hi Lucy, how's the world?"

"Pretty good, thanks. Mum rang to say that they're having a meeting of one of the Ladies' sub-committees, and she won't be back till well after seven, in all probability. I asked her why she bothered as we'll be leaving soon, but she said she was still on this committee until she resigned, and so she had to be there. Seems silly to me."

"It may do. That's what's known as taking your responsibilities seriously. I'll be here all evening now, so when she does arrive ask her if she'd like to call me, will you?"

"Yes. We loved the photos you took of the new house, Peter, particularly all those you took of the shed. We're really looking forward to coming to see it on Saturday, if you're not too tired to drive us."

"I don't think I'll be too tired, Lucy. All being well I'll be coming up Thursday night, so I'll have Friday to recover if necessary. I understand you want to redecorate the shed, is that every room, or just some of them?"

"The kitchen and bathroom aren't too bad, but we'd like to do both bedrooms and our lounge. Why, are you volunteering?"

"I'll volunteer to help, or to show you how to do it, but I do mean help. If you want me to help, you've got to be prepared to work hard as well."

"That's what Mum said. I think there's a conspiracy between you two make us into DIY freaks."