Lewi's Legacy Page 6

  ‘Are you hungry girl?’ She barked in response, wagging her tail in expectation.

  Sally had eaten one of her tins of meaty food mixed with biscuits, washed down with water from the well. After all the running on the beach she was tired and chose her favourite place and slept, she was the picture of contentment. Edmund scanned the dedication again inside the little book’s leather cover He read it again. ‘To V. Till the next time L.’

  ’ But why should ‘L.’ dedicate the Myths and Ghosts from the Steppes book, to ‘V.’ in such a way? He asked to himself. It just didn’t sit right. He scanned the first few pages of the book which although it was written in English, was in very old script and grammar. Every ten to twenty pages there were hand drawn images of all sorts of frightening things so he slammed the book shut. He had seen enough for now.

  6 The Awakening

  Let’s get clean!

  Just before Louis’s sixteenth birthday, his father’s job was suddenly in jeopardy. Old Mr Scattergood keeled over in the shop suffering from a major heart attack. Sadly, he died where he fell, with no warning at all. For a few weeks Henry struggled to keep the shop going, whilst his and the other staff’s future were being decided by the probate lawyer. Mr. Scattergood died intestate, which meant there was no will. All the proceeds passed to his wife who was disabled in a wheelchair, so the only course of action was to close the shop and sell the proceeds to the benefit of his widow.

  Henry sat at home with little prospects of such a good job where he had been for over ten years. He looked back on his life since his wife died. Yes, Louis was a credit to him and he seemed to be making a good way in his life, but what about his own life? At the moment it was going nowhere. At that point he suddenly had a flash of inspiration; it was time to make a move, completely away from this miserable place, a new start in new surroundings.

  He waited for Louis to come home from school to broach the idea with him. His decision was, to move to France and seek out a relative of his wife and perhaps there might be something there. It was a gamble, but there seemed little alternative, he thought to himself.

  ‘How long do you expect to be there dad?’ Louis asked when he got home. Even the young lad could see that this was the first thing that could come between him and his father.

  Henry’s heart sank. With that simple question from his son, he knew that he would be going away on his own.

  ‘Dad, I’m sorry but I just can’t leave here right now that I’m friends with Susan, and we’re getting on so well, I really don’t want to lose her.’ Susan’s father owned a car dealership, and his deeper interest in Susan and cars were beginning to surface. Henry was not surprised, in fact he was a little pleased, as Louis’s interest was not entwined with his, and his son was spending most of his free time over there at the Gilberts.

  Having left the Secondary Modern school with few qualifications, many of his school mates would have chosen working in the coal mines or at the local steel plant. Louis had no interest in manual work, and the idea of shop work took a serious blow after what had happened to his father, after all his time with Mr. S., and to be left with nothing, and on the dole.

  It was four years since his encounter with Magda at the circus. He had developed well and even joined the school football team for a while. His running was an attribute to the team, but he quickly found out that just running in a football team was not enough. The physical side of the game like tackling was abhorrent to him and pretty soon he was mostly demoted to the bench, only called on to play when absolutely necessary. There was one benefit, Susan. She often sat with him on the substitute bench and she often waited for him after school to walk home with. Nearing the end of school life their friendship grew. It was quite normal to be holding hands, and of late she would give him a little kiss before they parted ways to home.

  Louis often accepted her offer to have tea at her home, which was a large detached house next door to the car showroom. Susan’s father, Bill, enjoyed showing Louis the car showroom and the garage repair shop. He could easily see that the boy showed much more interest in the selling part of the business rather than the more physical side needed by the workshops. Secretly Susan was pressing her father to set Louis on as his assistant in the showroom, and finally her persistence paid off one evening at dinner. The meals provided by Susan’s mother were exceptional, and Annie made sure that there was always plenty on Louis’s plate, knowing his background.

  They all sat quietly around the table after a good belt busting meal and Bill tapped his glass with his spoon.

  ‘Louis, a certain person in this room, who shall not be named, has told me that you might make a good car salesman, and I ought to offer you a job with me. What do you think Louis my boy?’

  ‘Sir, nothing would make me happier than to work for you.’ Looking at Susan who was beaming all over her face, he said, ‘When can I start?’ Susan walked him to the gate holding hands. He looked into her big brown eyes.

  ‘It was you who persuaded your dad to agree, thanks Susan.’ For the first time he pulled her to him and gave her a real hug, and of course she hugged him back.

  He threw himself totally into his new job. His first task was to learn everything about all of the models of car that they sold. Bill told him that he wouldn’t be able to sell a car until he could to answer every question that a potential customer might ask. He also said that at every spare moment Louis would be asked questions, both by himself and the workshop foreman. Considering Louis’s educational results, he didn’t expect to have him in the showroom selling for long.

  He hadn’t realised, however that the boy had become obsessed by cars and in only a matter of four weeks that Louis could answer any technical question on the whole range. Soon he was standing by his boss watching and listening to every tiny comment or statement that Bill gently put across to a visitor showing interest. He noticed that things were not going too well, and it seemed the inquirer was losing interest with Bill’s banter. In the corner of Louis’s eye he noticed a young couple enter the showroom, at once they were opening the car doors and sitting in the drivers seat. Louis kept a sharp eye on the couple as they got closer to Bill and the inquiring customer. He guessed they would have to wait until Bill was free.

  ‘Right Louis, this is your chance, don’t rush it, and let the customer lead, right?’ Bill whispered.

  With more luck than judgement, the couple had been in before, so the questions were more direct, and he was able to guide them to a particular model that could suit their needs. Of course he expected them to want to wait for Bill to close the deal, and not a ‘wet behind the ears’ teenager, but no, they sat in the front seats firing questions at him and smiling at his prompt answers.

  As expected, Bill’s customer did not buy, just took a brochure and went on his way. He looked around the showroom looking for Louis and his customers, but he couldn’t see them at first. Then he looked at the far corner to his office where Louis was sitting at his desk with the couple opposite. He walked in quickly and expected to take over from him, but instead of butting in he stepped back and waited.

  ‘And you’re happy with the price then? How do you want to pay for it?’ They handed him their cheque shook his hand and he organised delivery the following week. As they stood up and shook his hand, he turned and looked at Bill.

  ‘Ah Bill, this is Mr. and Mrs. Smith they have just purchased the purple Morris Minor, delivery next Tuesday.’ Bill shook their hands and they walked out of the office. ‘Well, Bill, how did I do?’

  ‘Firstly I’m not Bill to you, I’m Mr Gilbert. Secondly I think you did bloody well my boy, bloody well!’ He put his arm around the young man. ‘Who would have believed it?’ They both laughed heartily.

  At dinner that evening, whilst Annie and Susan were in the kitchen preparing to serve, Louis broached the subject of his father asking him to go to France with him, as he was going to look for his wife’s family. He told Bill that he had already said no to his father. Susan overheard
the conversation and rushed into the dining room.

  ‘Where will you stay, Louis? Dad, can he stay with us? Please!’ She pleaded. Her mother quietly stood behind Susan and nodded her approval to her father.

  ‘Well I don’t know Susan. It’s a lot to ask of the boy, living next door to his job, he might not like that’. Bill feigned a worried concerned look at Louis.

  Susan looked at Louis, then her mother and then her father. Well Louis, what do you say?’ she asked.

  ‘I don’t know exactly when dad is going to France but I will ask him tonight and let you know. Louis answered. Susan jumped to hug him, he felt her strong arms around his neck and she pressed herself hard against him. Embarrassed, he pulled away as he looked at Bills face.

  ‘Then if all of you think it’s a good idea then of course, I’d love to.’ As he looked around the three of them again, just by the look on their faces, it was a full approval from all of them.

  By November, he was well settled into a real family life for the first time, and his progress at the showroom continued to amaze his boss. In fact by that time there were very few occasions when the young man had to refer to Bill for any advice, he seemed to take to the job as if he was born to it. Just before Christmas Bill actually heard himself asking Louis for some advice on a car they rarely sold. The lad was a pleasure to work with; never before had he met anyone with such an appetite for car statistics.

  Bill’s attitude to car sales was ‘slow and sure’, always allowing time for the customer to change his mind, after all it was, in most cases their biggest single purchase apart from perhaps their house.

  At seventeen the following summer Louis was quite an accomplished little salesman. Yes he did make mistakes, but he never repeated the same one twice, and he was as just as enthusiastic on his last sale as he was with his very first one. By now, for every car that Bill sold, Louis was selling two, and every time a customer came into the showroom asking for Louis by name, initially Bill found this a hard pill to swallow. How could he argue though, his business had tripled in just twelve months, even the BMC car supplier was sitting up and taking notice.

  One day Bill was out delivering a new car to a customer, an operation that was never rushed, as he taught Louis that a satisfied customer will always return to them when they want to replace it. Leaving Louis alone in the showroom was now quite normal, but this morning when he opened the door on his return, he could hear a raised voice coming from his office, and started to worry. The seventeen year old was at his desk on the phone looking a little flushed. ‘Well Adrian, it’s about time too!’ He put the receiver on its cradle.

  ‘What’s going on Louis?’ Bill asked

  ‘Don’t you remember, you asked me to order those six new replacements, didn’t you?’ Bill nodded. ‘Well, because he normally speaks to you, he tried to charge me ten percent more for each vehicle. What he didn’t know was that I had his last invoice to us on the desk, here it is, and I told him no way.’ Louis said.

  Bill pointed to his chair and Louis reluctantly stood up as he pushed by and grabbed the phone. He dialled Adrian’s number.

  ‘Ah Adrian, sorry about the last phone call, my assistant got a little carried away, now what were you saying just then?’ Louis shrugged his shoulders and sauntered into the showroom, pretending to polish the nearest car to the office door. ‘What!’ Bill shouted down the phone, ‘What did you say? Yes that’s perfectly alright Adrian, thank you very much.’ He then replaced the receiver slowly.

  Bill looked up at Louis as he came back into the office. ‘I was so angry that he had tried to take advantage of me, that I told him that we were doing so well that you were thinking of going over to a Ford dealership.’ Louis looked at Bill as he got up from his chair and walked over to his assistant. He beamed as he put his arm around Louis’s shoulder.

  ‘You just got me another fifteen percent. It’s time we talked about your wages my boy, sit down.’

  The past year had certainly been one of self discovery. Louis had found something that he enjoyed. He was appreciated, not that his father didn’t appreciate him, but Bill did in a different way. He was pleased that his employer was willing to invest in him as the new way, the young way and not making him feel inferior.

  He was sure that the constant ‘prodding’ of her father by Susan had a lot to do with it and he was most grateful for that. In these past twelve months he had only received three letters from his father in France. All three were from different addresses, the first from Paris, then Lyon and the third, received yesterday was from Marseilles. For the whole of this period Henry had a constant companion, his wife’s cousin to whom he was living with. By the tone of his letter, it didn’t seem likely that his father was going to return to England, certainly not in the near future anyway.

  Louis knew that up to the time he left school, his father had struggled to bring him up, especially after the shock of losing his wife. Thinking back, he had never heard his father complain, and therefore he assumed that Henry was happy. Now Louis realised that after his sacrifice, his father had finally found some real happiness at last.

  As usual, Louis wrote back to Henry’s new address with all the news from the car business and how happy he was with his adopted family. He also told him that he had passed his test first time, so he hinted that one day he would drive down to Marseilles and look him up. At the end of the letter he wrote a post script;

  ‘Bill tells me that they drive on the wrong side of the road over there, but that would be no problem for me as I do it already!’

  The third Monday in August, Bill showed Louis a letter he had received inviting him to Birmingham to catch a flight to Ibiza the following weekend and join all the other ‘Best dealership owners in the UK’.

  ‘I don’t know if I should leave you in charge for three days Louis.’

  ‘I think its great Bill, it’s the first time you’ve been appreciated isn’t it?’ Louis asked.

  ‘Well, if you’re sure you can cope without me?’ Bill asked him feigning a worried look. ‘I’ll give you a list of prospects that might be calling in to see me, are you sure?’

  ‘Look Bill it’s only a few days, what can go wrong?’ Louis asked.

  At dinner, Bill declared that he was going to an all expenses paid jolly in Spain and he was leaving Louis in charge. His wife came in from the kitchen with the apple pie, put it on the table and stood behind Louis with her hands on Louis’s shoulders. Squeezing his shoulders firmly she asked,

  ‘And what is Louis going to be in charge of then, Bill? Don’t worry, you go and have a nice time, don’t worry about us, we’ll be fine, won’t we Louis?’ She gripped his shoulders even more tightly. Louis did not get any of the innuendo in Annie’s voice, but he did feel a little uneasy as her fingers dug in deeply.

  One of the garage mechanics took Bill to Birmingham airport as the rendezvous time was at eight o’clock, so Louis didn’t see his boss leave. However he was at the office at eight, an hour before it opened, and Susan breezed in saying that she would be out at a friend’s all day and would be home late as they were all going to see the Kinks in concert in Nottingham that night.

  The morning dragged somewhat as he only had a few time wasters, ‘tyre kickers’ as Bill would call them. Annie brought two mugs of milky coffee into the office and chatted a while promising a sandwich later on. She had a different dress on that day, short, above the knee and quite flimsy material. As she left, and the sun was streaming through it, it seemed that her whole body shape was in full view. Louis tried not to look, but as if she knew, she turned and gave him a very strange smile. Louis was confused for a moment, and then he picked up the phone when it rang and thought no more about it.

  The afternoon’s business was much brisker; Louis completed three sales and two firm enquiries, one of which was a top of the range sports car. If they had had one in stock he would have certainly had some thing to shout about, but he did take the deposit to enable him to put the car on order for the custom
er.

  Annie was back to pick up his empty plate from lunch laden with another mug of tea at around three, as usual. As she leant over to retrieve the plate the low cut summer dress, revealed ample breasts that were just about touching his face. No mistaking that signal. He could have sworn she wasn’t wearing a bra either. He watched her more intently this time as she swayed her body a little more exaggerated, it seemed, yet he still didn’t get the real signals. She looked back as she opened the exit door to give him a smile, but was disappointed to see that he was writing on a piece of paper on the desk.

  The end of the day had arrived, with a few more enquiries but nothing concrete to report. He locked up the showroom, set the alarm and headed next door for his meal. Walking back the few yards, his mind began to focus on the fact that he and Annie were going to be the only two people in the big house for the first time, and at the same time he was remembering her last visit in the showroom again.

  ‘Sausage and mash for tea Louis!’ Annie shouted as he ran upstairs for a bath. ‘It’ll be on the table in ten minutes!’ She called, as he shut the bathroom door.

  Never one for lingering in the bath, he was downstairs in his tracksuit as she was bringing his meal into the dining room. She stood in the doorway holding the plate as he squeezed by, he could see her watching him and he followed her gaze as she looked at the bulge in his tracksuit bottoms. His face was blushing a little, as he went to sit at the table.

  He sat uncomfortably as she leaned over him placing the meal on the tablecloth, the low cut dress leaving nothing for his imagination. She could easily see what effect her actions were taking on him. Plus the fact his face was getting more crimson by the second. He nearly burst out laughing as he looked at the meal. A large mound of buttery mashed potato with two thick sausages on the side, and one other sausage stuck with one end in the mash and the other protruding, this sausage had just had some gravy poured on it and was dripping from its erect end. ‘Enjoy’ she whispered in his ear. He felt sick as he tried to hide his own embarrassment, but she was watching him intently ensuring that she didn’t miss a thing.