Free The Way Ahead by Mary Jane Staples

interest charged by loan companies. What we had in mind was a fair return for the firm.’
    ‘Uncle Sammy!’ Emma sat up straight and looked Sammy in the eye.
    ‘Do I suspect you’re offended?’ said Sammy.
    ‘Offended?’ said Emma. ‘I should say not. Well, I’m not, and neither is Jonathan, are you, Jonathan?’
    ‘I don’t feel any kind of offence coming on,’ said Jonathan. ‘I feel more like I’m falling off this chair.’ That reaction out of the way, he eyed Sammy seriously. ‘Mr Adams, are we talking about a house and home waiting for Emma and me as soon as the war’s over?’
    ‘That’s the idea,’ said Sammy.
    It’s a lovely house,’ said Susie, ‘fully detached, with four bedrooms, a boxroom, large kitchen, and apple trees in the garden.’
    ‘Oh, my sainted aunt,’ said Emma.
    ‘Is that me?’ smiled Susie.
    ‘No, I meant – well, yes, why not?’ said Emma. ‘I know Ferndene Road, and I know the kind of properties there. Jonathan knows it too, but only because it was one of the roads we took in this afternoon.’ She looked at Jonathan, her mouth parted and excited little breaths escaping. ‘Say something, Jonathan.’
    ‘I will,’ said Jonathan. ‘Could I ask you to outline the terms, Uncle Sammy?’
    ‘It was an offer, fully furnished, for a sum that hurt me ears,’ said Sammy. ‘But the firm acquired it for five-ten, which was only slightly painful. Terms for you and Emma? Well, you pay for it at the rate of seven pounds a month for six years, plus ten per cent simple interest, which is fourteen bob a month, and which means that at the end of six years it’ll have cost you five hundred and sixty-one quid in all. That’s a lot less than if you took out a loan or a mortgage. Fair?’
    ‘Fairer than anything else I ever heard of,’ said Jonathan.
    ‘Especially as Aunt Susie says the house is lovely,’ said Emma, flushed with sheer delight. ‘I can always believe you, Aunt Susie.’
    ‘Thank you, Emma,’ smiled Susie.
    ‘Uncle Sammy, we adore the prospect of having the house on those terms,’ enthused Emma. ‘Jonathan will tell you so too, won’t you, Jonathan?’
    ‘I think I’ve already made that clear,’ said Jonathan. ‘It’s a very fair deal, Uncle Sammy.’
    ‘All in the family,’ said Sammy. ‘Right now, it’s let on a lease for the duration of the war to an American major and his wife. He’s holding down a centenary job with the Allied Command’s London headquarters.’
    ‘Centenary?’ said Jonathan.
    ‘That’s it, it’s a desk job,’ said Sammy.
    ‘Sedentary?’ suggested Jonathan.
    ‘Knew it was something like that,’ said Sammy blithely.
    ‘Yes, something like that,’ smiled Susie.
    ‘The rent from this happy Yank, who wangled a passage over for his Philadelphia missus, helps us look after genuine maintenance costs as landlords,’ said Sammy. ‘Which means we don’t pay for any furniture or windows they break if they have a ding-dong. Just any natural deterioration. It’ll leave a bit over for the property firm’s bank account, which is a consideration that accords with Susie’s business principles.’
    ‘Mine, Sammy?’ said Susie.
    ‘Glad you’ve got the right kind, Susie,’ said Sammy. ‘What I’m saying, Jonathan, is that when you and Emma move in after Hitler’s been fried, the house’ll be in good order. Mind, I won’t be able to speak for the furniture, which’ll depend on how Major Happy Yank and Mrs Happy Yank use it.’
    ‘I’m not going to object to them having happy times on the sofa, and I won’t be bothered if the armchairs take a beating,’ said Jonathan. ‘I’ve got a job lined up with a firm of City accountants after the war , so I’ll sign up on your terms, Uncle Sammy.’
    ‘As Jonathan’s better half,’ said Emma, ‘I’ll sign up too. Aunt Susie, I don’t believe in wives being left out of important documents, do you?’
    ‘I’ve had some problems with Sammy, Emma,’ said Susie,