Chapter 21

"You go on up," Reg said to Eleanor when they arrived at work the next morning. "I want a word with Len.

Eleanor squeezed his hand and left him.

"Len, we've got a problem," said Reg when he found him. "Two in fact."

"Well, I've got one. Four out of the eight of us have to go and give statements to the police and we've still got a day's work to do."

"Right! The second problem is that I have a suspicion that Dobsons' won't be turning up today either."

"Shit!"

"Right! Give me half an hour and I'll be back to you. I'm going to see if the police will send a guy here to take statements and I'll have a word with Ray about transport."

"OK!" Len grinned. "You're the boss now."

"Stuff it, Len!"

Len just smiled. "Go on, lad," he said gently.

Reg was touched. His big, tough foreman was treating him with respect and gentle friendship.

"Can you let me know what we're due to ship out today?" he asked.

Len handed him a sheaf of papers. Reg took them and nodded his thanks.

As he made his way slowly up the stairs he could not help but think of what Eleanor had and was doing for him. He went to their office and kissed her gently.

"What was that for?" she asked.

"'Cos I love you mostly. Got to see Ray."

Ray looked at him sternly but his eyes gave him away.

"Well, Reg? I thought I said no heroics," he said.

"There weren't any."

"Hmm. Tell me your side of the story. I've had Len, the police and the media so far."

Reg told him.

"Do you know who the guy was that you and Eleanor stopped from escaping?"

Reg shook his head.

"Malcolm Dobson."

Reg's jaw dropped and then he thought briefly. "Makes sense," he said.

"I'm going to ring his father and cancel the contract with immediate effect."

Reg nodded. "That's why I came to see you. We've got a bundle of shipments due out today and I guessed it was Dobsons' boys last night. Len and his gang, Eleanor and me are required at the police station to give statements. We're not going to be able to get those shipments out."

Ray nodded. "Leave the police to me. I'll try and get them to send someone here to take statements. In the meanwhile, you give your friend Will a ring and see what he can do for us, not just today but from now on."

"OK."

He went back to his office. Eleanor looked up but seeing the expression on his face said nothing. He rang Will.

"Will? Reg! They attacked last night and Malcolm was leading them."

"Shit!"

"Yeah! Well, we've terminated our contract with them..."

"Have you ever!"

"But we've still got stuff to get out today. Can you help?"

"We'll try. What've you got?"

Reg told him from the data Len had given him.

"Hang on."

Reg could hear a muffled conversation in the background.

"Yes, Reg, we can. The truck for the Bristol run will be with you in an hour. I'll let you know the details of the rest in twenty minutes time but the last truck probably won't be available until six-thirty."

"No problem." Reg chuckled. "More overtime. Will, keep going on your plan to take over from Dobsons' but can you take us on now?"

"Yes, Reg, and we'll gear the prices to what we agree in the end."

"Great! Thanks, Will."

"Our pleasure. Hey I want to hear the details of this affair. Would you and your lovely lady have lunch with me? Same time, same place?"

"Thanks, Will. Yes please."

"Great! See you at half past twelve."

"Did you get that, darling?" Reg asked Eleanor.

"Yes, my love. Mostly. What was the 'Yes please' though?"

"Lunch for you and me with Will."

"Yum!" She blew him a kiss.

Reg reported to Ray.

"Well done!" said Ray. "The police have agreed to send a guy round. He'll be here about eleven-thirty. Would you meet him?"

"Sure."

The rest of the day went well and Eleanor stayed for supper.

"House-hunting," she said afterwards.

They discussed what they wanted and where. It was nothing large, just a starter home.

"I'll look on the internet and ring round the estate agents," said Eleanor.

Back at work the next day Ray told Reg to start work on the expansion of the warehouse keeping an area free for garaging and a refuelling point. He instructed him in obtaining estimates and tendering.

"Keep me up to speed on a daily basis," he ordered.

On Saturday Eleanor and Reg looked at four houses. Only one began to match up.

"Don't worry," said Eleanor cheerfully. "There are still four more on the list. We can do them next weekend."

They found one the following Saturday. It was five miles out of town in a small village called Bruton which was also about five miles from David and Bridget.

"Equidistant from the parents," commented Eleanor.

It had three bedrooms, one bathroom with a shower (not a very big one which made them giggle), a sitting room, a dining room and a small but adequate kitchen tacked on to which was a boot room. The garden was small and mostly laid to grass.

Eleanor paid the deposit and both signed for the mortgage.

"So now you'll be the Belle of Bruton," said Reg.

"Poop!" Eleanor snorted but secretly she was touched. "So now we can get started; re-decorating, furniture and, my darling, fixing a date for the wedding."

The last was done the next day, Saturday in six weeks' time. They booked the church after the 'old fashioned' service. Reg managed to read many of the words of the hymns although 'consubstantial, coeternal' fixed him. He was very pleased with himself as was Eleanor. He also much enjoyed singing the tenor part.

There were no further alarms or excursions at work and each was able to get on with their projects. Ray continued to be impressed by Reg, not just his diligence but his common sense and ability to see things from different aspects. A transport contract was signed with Will's firm and Will stated his requirements for garaging and fuel supply. Within a month Reg had three firms working up a tender for them and the new warehouse. Eleanor spent much of her time on the shop floor with the production manager.