Free Beyond the Sunset by Anna Jacobs Page A

you to do that, Prebble. What we asked for when we appointed you was that you continue running the shop as Mr Blake would have done until a permanent manager is chosen. Have you made any more changes that we don’t know about?’
    Harry hesitated, but decided this wasn’t the time to conceal anything, not till he’d won their trust. ‘I’ve stopped supplying those working here with dinners. It’s an extravagance the shop can’t afford in times like this.’
    ‘Mr Blake used to supply dinners to his staff?’
    He nodded. ‘Sandwiches and such.’
    ‘Then you should continue to do so.’
    ‘It really isn’t necessary. They’re well enough paid to buy their own.’
    ‘Do everything as he did it. If you can’t . . .’ He let the words trail away into an implied threat.
    Harry breathed in slowly and deeply before he spoke again. ‘About the new assistant we need to hire? You said to leave it to you and get someone temporary. I’ve got a lad who comes in now and then, but it’s hard to manage without someone who knows the shop. We have to keep valued customers waiting sometimes at the moment. Mr Blake must be turning in his grave. I can find someone suitable and—’
    ‘I have the matter in hand and shall appoint someone before the end of the week.’
    ‘Surely I should be involved in selecting this person? After all, I know what is needed better than anyone.’
    ‘How many times do I have to remind you that you are in charge here only until the new owners come back, Prebble. The responsibility for running the shop until then is Mr Featherworth’s, and he has delegated it to me. Do not get above yourself. No decision has been made about the future, because that’s the owners’ responsibility.’
    ‘I’m just trying to prove myself . . . sir. Surely that’s a good thing?’
    ‘Making changes only shows me that you can’t do as we’ve asked.’
    As Dawson said nothing else, just stared grimly at him, Harry spread his hands in a gesture of surrender. ‘If there is a fault, it’s—’
    ‘I don’t intend to revisit that subject, Prebble. And start providing dinners again for staff.’
    Harry watched sourly as the clerk walked round the storage and packing area, stopping behind the lad who was weighing out sugar and putting it into the special blue paper bags. He moved on to the shop, walking slowly round it, pausing occasionally to study something.
    You’ll not find anything amiss here, you old sourpuss, Harry thought. I keep everything perfectly clean and tidy.
    When one of the two remaining shopmen had shut the door behind the clerk, Harry fixed a smile to his face and hurried to serve an important customer who had just come in.
    Before the two shopmen and the shop lad left that evening, he told them he had arranged with Mr Featherworth’s clerk for a new man to be appointed to help in the shop. ‘Oh, and we’ve decided to start providing you with dinners again, as a reward for your hard work recently.’
    They smiled as they waited for him to dismiss them. They’d learned to treat him with respect since he’d taken over, and so would the new man, whoever he was.
    Pity. He’d been going to hire his cousin. Jimmy would have known how to show his gratitude for being helped to a good job by giving Harry a shilling a week from his wages for the first six months. And would have been absolutely loyal.
    Who knew what the new person would be like and who he’d really be answering to?
    Harry continued to feel annoyed at having his little scheme found out.
    When he was making up the wages, he put Zachary’s money in an envelope. The lucky devil! Where would his former workmate be now? Living in luxury on the ocean, that’s where. It wasn’t right to pay his family full wages as well. Not that Harry dared interfere with that, not with Dawson peering over his shoulder all the time.
    Still, he’d deliver this money personally on his way home, have a look at Zachary’s sister, see if there was