Chapter 17

A Caroline Mather rang on Monday. She was to be Reg's dyslexia therapist. Reg liked the sound of her and they agreed to meet on Tuesdays and Thursdays from half past five to seven o'clock. She was more than happy for Eleanor to accompany him.

Reg and Eleanor took to Caroline immediately. She was a motherly woman in her fifties with a ready laugh and, as they subsequently discovered, endless patience. The course comprised much more than just learning to read. There were plenty of exercises to develop Reg's recognition of patterns and shapes. She also gave Reg exercises to do at home which Eleanor was encouraged to help him with. Almost needless to say, Reg attacked the course with determination which Eleanor helped to sustain. DRD paid for the course.

True to his word Ron had spoken to Will Hornbeam who rang Reg on Tuesday. Reg explained his physical predicament and Will was understanding. They agreed to meet for a pub lunch on Friday and Will was delighted for Eleanor to be there too.

That lunch was a success. Will took to both Eleanor and Reg and they to him. Eleanor outlined the profitability scheme in outline and how this had pointed up the warehouse being a bottleneck exacerbated by Dobsons'.

Will nodded understandingly. "Harry Dobson's OK," he said, "but he was never capable of running more than a small haulage firm. His two sons are in with him now and they are ambitious. The trouble is that Malcolm, the elder of them, isn't averse to cutting corners and that is reflected in the shoddy service they give. They bite off more than they can chew with a small fleet of elderly vehicles which are poorly maintained."

"That was the impression I got," said Reg.

"For your ears only," added Eleanor and Will nodded his agreement, "they sucked our warehouse manager into defrauding us."

"That smacks of Malcolm," Will replied. "I wouldn't trust him further than I could throw him. So what are your transport plans?"

"We've only been able to make outline plans and tentative costings but," answered Reg, "we reckon the way forward is to hire trucks from a manufacturer who would do all the routine maintenance and servicing."

"Makes sense provided you're not just thinking of two or three trucks."

"We're thinking of six or eight big ones and a couple of smaller ones for delivery to single customers. Some of the delivery runs would be two or three day jobs. We hope too that the manufacturers would be able to provide return loads to spread the cost.

"Before we can start to make detailed plans though we shall have to talk to our customers suggesting monthly deliveries to cut costs. Their reaction will probably depend on their storage facilities and we shall have to adjust our deliveries as necessary. When we've got a better idea then we would be very grateful for any advice you can give us on sizes and quantities."

"I'd be delighted."

"Then we'd want to talk to you about what we need in the way garaging, workshops and fuel."

"That'll depend on who you hire from. If they've got a local hire depot you might not need any at all."

"That would be a help," interjected Eleanor. "We need to expand the warehouse to accept palletisation and increased production and we haven't got unlimited room."

"I can see you've still got a way to go," said Will and then grinned. "It might be that we can help you. We've got a large, diverse fleet and we're local."

Reg and Eleanor grinned back and they all laughed.

"Anyway, Reg," Will went on, "you've got my phone number. Give me a bell when you're surer of exactly what you want and we'll talk some more."

"You just go on surprising me, Reg darling," Eleanor said as she drove home.

"How?"

"You've clearly been doing some more thinking. You've never mentioned the monthly delivery idea before."

"I thought you had enough on your plate and that I'd mention it to Ray when I next saw him."

"I'm going to mention it to him tomorrow. That will help focus his thinking a lot."

Reg shrugged. "He's probably thought of it already."

"I wouldn't bet on it. And then the way you led him into his firm showing an interest in tendering. Brilliant!"

Reg shrugged again. "You know it might be an idea to ask him to do that anyway with things as they stand. It'd let us get shot of Dobsons'"

"You, my darling man, are going to get a monster kiss when we get home."

"Yum!"

"Is that all you can say?"

"Yup!"

"You might get a smack for cheekiness too."

"Ow!"

Eleanor laughed. "Oh, my Reg! My monosyllabic man! How I do love you!"

She did indeed relay the conversation to Ray the next morning.

"There's even more to your young man than I thought," he said. "Your father tells me you're engaged."

Eleanor nodded, her eyes alight with happiness.

"Great news, my dear. I wish you both every happiness for years to come."

"Thanks, Ray."

"So when is your fiancé going to come in and earn a day's pay."

"Fingers crossed, on Wednesday. He's got an outpatients' appointment on Tuesday."

"Good luck! Are you both confident?"

"Pretty."

"Excellent!"

Bridget also rang that week to speak to Daphne and arrange for the parents to meet. She was all for lunch the next Sunday but Daphne explained that Ron would be working and that she needed ten days notice so that he could get the roster changed if necessary.

"Right," said Bridget, "shall we try tentatively for the following Sunday?"

"Thanks very much. I'll let you know the day after tomorrow."

"Wonderful! That doesn't mean that we two can't meet and have a chat in the meanwhile. I know you're working so how about lunch together one day next week?"

They agreed to meet at a pleasant café close to where Daphne worked on Wednesday.

At physiotherapy on Monday Anita wished Reg luck the following day.

"As far as I'm concerned you're ready," she said. "Your knee, ankles and feet certainly are although I'd like you to keep coming in for the next two weeks."

Reg readily agreed to that.

The next day as soon as Reg and Eleanor arrived at Outpatients Reg was whisked away and a technician removed the plaster on his arm. He did not see Mr Renfrew but one of his team who made him flex his knee, move his ankles around and wiggle his toes. He also played with them himself asking about any pain. He then examined Reg's arm and made him move his wrist and fingers.