Free Bob of Small End by David Hockey Page A

him.
    Supper, two
pints, speaking to those in the pub filled the evening. At 9:30 he
said ‘Good night’ to Len. “It’s time for bed. I’ve lots to do
tomorrow.”
    After Bob had
left Len commented to the two men they had been chatting with, “I
wonder what changed his mind? Before Christmas he was happy to be
retired and his wood-carving was just a hobby. Now it seems like
he’s a different man. He’s got more energy and drive. It’s like
he’s ten years younger.”
    Bob was back
at his bench at seven on Wednesday with a table light taken from
Regina’s bedroom shining on his work. On the calendar that his
insurance agent had given him for Christmas he wrote “6-V” on
Tuesday’s square to note how many hours he had been making village
sets. He would also note how much wood and paint he used. ‘I’d
better do that to know exactly what each set costs to make,’ he
told himself.
    With short
coffee and lunch breaks and no tea break, he was able to write
“10-V” on Wednesday’s square. Then he thought he should also record
what parts of the set he had made during this time and wrote
“houses” for Tuesday and “shops, church, pub and post office” for
Wednesday and put “2” in a circle to note that he had made two
sets. ‘I can probably finish all the other parts tomorrow,’ he
thought, ‘and I’ll sand them on Friday then start painting.’
    He was right
about the time, he did finish the set on Thursday. The hedges still
took a long time to make but he knew they were important; they
greatly improved the appearance of the village when positioned.
Friday morning he took everything outside and sanded them. Luckily
it was a warmish and dry day; after lunch he gave the set its first
coat of paint.
    He had given
everything a second coat of paint by lunch-time on Saturday and was
tired and ready for a break. It had been a very busy week,
something Bob had not experienced in the last few years. However he
had to do his weekly Big End shopping so he took the bus there
after lunch.
    Since he
didn’t have the train or village sets to give Jenny he didn’t enter
the shop but looked in the window. There it was, one of his farm
sets, complete with animals, right in the centre of the display.
Two boys were looking in the window. Bob couldn’t see if they were
looking at the farm so he moved a little nearer to hear if they
mentioned it, but they were talking about the electronics kit; one
of them wanted to build a radio and was telling the other boy that
he had asked his Dad to buy the kit for his birthday.
    Bob pulled out
his shopping list. Ah, yes, last night he had wondered if there
were quick-drying paints and had added “Art shop” to his list. They
might know if there was such a thing. If there was he might be able
to do all the painting in one day.
    At the shop
the assistant told him about acrylics. “That’s a quick-drying paint
and it comes in many bright colours. Here, look at this box.”
    Bob liked what
he saw and bought a cheap student’s set to experiment with. He put
the receipt carefully in his shirt pocket; he would need it when he
did his book-keeping and completed his income tax return. His next
stop was at the building suppliers. He thought he might be able to
make twenty farm sets, twenty village sets and twenty train sets
during the next two months and had made a list of the wood he’d
need. He gave them the list, paid for the wood and was told they’d
deliver it next Wednesday. His last job was to shop for the foods
he couldn’t buy in Small End. He went to the fish shop and was told
there wasn’t enough demand for them to carry fresh sardines so he
bought two salmon filets. At the supermarket he bought a package of
frozen white fish then caught the three o’clock bus home.
    At the Crown
that night he told Joe and Jane what he had been doing and repeated
much of it when Rose and Jack joined them. Joe wanted to know why
he had decided to do so much. Jane wanted to know if he