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  ‘Would you like me to help, Mr Grundy?’ he offered.

  Solly was up a ladder, minutely inspecting a length of cable that looped around the roof skirting and helped to feed the current of electricity running through the metal pads lining the roof of the dodgem ride that made the cars run. He looked down at the younger man. ‘You never mentioned you were a sparky when I interviewed you for the job or I’d never have just had you labouring. I’d be delighted with your help.’

  It took Tom a moment to work out what a sparky was. ‘I’m not an electrician, Mr Grundy, but I’m sure I could spot a break in a wire. Where would you like me to start?’

  Solly was impressed by the young man offering to forgo his break in order to assist him. He had observed Tom quite a few times going about his work, and whenever he had seen him he was always busy, never idling or larking about, which was the case with most of the other gaff lads, who needed constant supervision and keeping in check. And if he or Tom could just find the break in the wire, he might still have time to enjoy his dinner before opening time.

  They had only been working away for a couple of minutes when another young man approached. This wasn’t one of Solly’s employees, but an outsider, with an official air about him, wearing a suit and carrying a briefcase.

  ‘Been told the boss man is around here somewhere,’ he said.

  Solly stopped what he was doing and looked down from the ladder. ‘That’s me. What can I do for you?’

  ‘I’ve come to collect the council dues.’

  Solly eyed him, surprised. As far back as he could remember, in this town the boss of the fair visited the town hall to pay the fee. Obviously, the council had changed its rules. Saved him time paying a visit, though. ‘As you can see, I’ve my hands full at the moment,’ he said. ‘You’ll need to see Mrs Grundy about payment. Head off into the living area and ask someone there to point you in the direction of her van. She’ll sort you out.’

  The young man nodded, then set off towards the living vans.

  It was Solly who found the break in the cabling ten minutes later. Just a small cut; impossible to fathom how it had happened, but enough to break the electrical circuit. The whole length of cable would need replacing, but for now gaffer tape would suffice as a temporary measure.

  He thanked Tom and was about to tell him to go and enjoy what was left of his dinner hour when a thought struck. The least he could do was offer him a proper home-cooked meal, something the gaff lads only got on moving day, when the community women banded together to provide a vast spread sufficient to feed all of them. It never occurred to him that he should consult his wife before surprising her with a dinner guest. Gem would welcome the lad, and even if she hadn’t got enough food in, she would make it go around.

  Tom was taken aback by the boss’s offer to sit at his table. If the other gaff lads got to hear, he’d be in for a lot of ribbing for hobnobbing with the hierarchy. They’d suspect he must have been brown-nosing to get the invite. But his mouth watered at the thought of a home-cooked meal rather than the now-cold chips and two-day-old bread that was waiting for him back at the van. Besides, it would be very rude of him to refuse. He smiled. ‘I would be delighted to accept your very generous offer, Mr Grundy.’

  Solly did a double-take at Tom’s response, still not used to dealing with such a well-mannered employee.

  As Solly knew she would, Gem enthusiastically welcomed their guest and hurriedly set a place for him at the table. She had heard all about Grundy’s latest recruit, who spoke like he’d been born with a silver spoon in his mouth, but hadn’t as yet come across him in person, so now was her chance. She had held dinner back for as long as she could so that the whole family could eat together, but time went on and Solly had not appeared, and she had just been about to start serving when he had arrived with Tom. She had made a huge pot of stew – whatever remained would make a pie for dinner tomorrow – so there was more than enough to go around.

  Already acquainted with Tom through work, Robbie and Jimmy both fell into easy conversation with him. As Gem started to pile food on their plates, her husband asked her, ‘Where’s Jenny?’

  ‘She had something to do,’ Gem said. ‘She didn’t say what, but she’s already eaten. Say when for potatoes,’ she told Tom as she spooned a pile onto the plate before him.

  Picking up his knife and fork, Sonny looked appreciatively at his plate. ‘This is a sight for sore eyes, my lovely,’ he said. ‘I’m that hungry I could eat a rabid scabby dog.’

  Just about to tuck in herself now, Gem gawped at him mortified and hissed, ‘Solly, we have a guest, remember.’ She was glaring at him in a way that told him Tom was not their usual sort of gaff lad.

  ‘Actually, Mrs Grundy,’ said Tom, ‘I was thinking exactly the same as Mr Grundy.’

  They all laughed then.

  As the men chatted amicably whilst they ate, mostly about work, Gem appraised her visitor. He was coming across as a very personable young man who took pride in himself. Solly was obviously impressed enough to invite him into their inner sanctum. He had told her when he had first taken Tom on that his father had worked for a titled gentleman, and she wondered why he wasn’t using his education to do better for himself. But she supposed all sorts of people arrived at the fair looking for work, for all sorts of reasons, and it was Grundy’s good fortune that he had come to work here.

  ‘How are you finding working and living in a travelling fair, Tom?’ she asked.

  He politely finished a mouthful of food before responding. ‘I like it well enough, thank you, Mrs Grundy. I’ve learned quite a lot since I came here. I do particularly like helping out on the rides and seeing people enjoying themselves.’

  ‘Glad to hear that, as that’s what we’re here for. The more fun punters are having, the more money they’ll spend, which keeps us going,’ said Solly.

  ‘So, do you plan to stay with us for a while?’ Gem asked.

  Tom hadn’t really given it any thought, just living from day to day. The work was hard, though it wasn’t anything he wasn’t capable of, but now, being faced with the question, it surprised him to realise that if he did move on, he would very much miss the community spirit and the friends he had made. ‘I’ve no plans to leave just yet, Mrs Grundy. Well, of course providing I’m still required here, that is.’

  Solly smiled at him. ‘Always have a need for a lad like you, Tom, so I’ve no objections to you sticking around for a while.’ He looked at him searchingly. Tom had said that he had no intention of leaving at the moment, but what if he saw a job advertised in the town that would suit him better? Conscientious sorts like him needed encouragement to stay with the fair. Gully Givens was in need of a mate. Solly had been on the lookout for someone who had some experience of carpentry and electrical work, but Tom seemed to be the quick-learning sort, so what harm would it do to give him a try and see how he got on? ‘If you’re interested, there’s a job going with Gully. His last mate left us a week or so back and Gully has been nagging me to find a replacement. A lot of the job would be fetching and carrying and general labouring, but he could teach you a lot about carpentry and electrics. If we were short-handed, though, you’d still be needed to help out on the rides in the evenings.’

  Tom hadn’t been expecting his offer to help the boss fix the dodgems to turn out like this. He felt honoured that Mr Grundy thought him worthy of a try-out for this job. ‘I like the sound of that very much, Mr Grundy. I promise you that I will try my best not to let Mr Givens down.’

  Solly looked pleased. ‘Good, then I’ll introduce you to Gully as soon as we finish dinner, providing he’s back from the pub by then. He’s very choosy who he has for his mate, but I’m sure he’ll take a liking to you, and if he does, I don’t see why you can’t start with him as soon as you’ve finished any outstanding jobs you were given this morning. Oh, and you’ll be pleased to hear that your new job comes with a pay rise and better accommodation. Trevor’s room – that’s Gully’s old sidekick – is
still empty in the van he shared with another two lads, so you can move in there and at least now have a room to yourself.’

  Tom would miss sharing accommodation with Owen, Roger and Marvin. They might be the rough-and-ready sort, but they had welcomed him into their circle and couldn’t have treated him more fairly. Regardless, it had been cramped living on top of one another, and none of them ever had any privacy, so he did like the sound of having his own room, even if it was a tiny one. It all depended now on whether Gully Givens liked the look of him and was willing to give him a try. He would do his best to convince him.

  A nudge in his ribs jerked him out of his thoughts. The culprit was Jimmy.

  ‘You were miles away, mate. I was asking if you’d got yourself a girlfriend yet. I heard that Dulcie had her eye on you. That’s what my girlfriend Katie told me… well, she’s my girlfriend for the moment, at any rate, until a better one comes along.’

  Gem’s jaw dropped, mortified for the second time in the space of a few minutes by a comment one of her family had made in front of their guest. She flashed an apologetic look at Tom before scolding her son. ‘Jimmy, that’s no way to treat women. Your father and I have not brought you up to behave like that.’

  ‘No, we haven’t, son,’ snapped his father. ‘That attitude will earn you a reputation as a love-’em-and-leave-’em sort, and you’ll end up an old man on your own, as no woman worth her salt will go near you, no matter how good-looking you are.’

  ‘I’ve tried to tell him he’s getting a bad name with the girls, but he won’t listen,’ Robbie said. He loved his brother and didn’t like the thought of him making a reputation for himself.

  Jimmy just shrugged his shoulders. ‘I can’t help it if the girls flock around me. I don’t ask them to. Who am I to turn a girl down if she fancies me, even if I am seeing someone else at the time? Not like I’m engaged to be married to any of them, is it?’ He turned his attention back to Tom. ‘So, you and Dulcie. Did she manage to get her claws into you on Saturday night like she bragged she was going to do?’

  Tom replied matter-of-factly, ‘She found herself a better proposition.’

  Jimmy laughed. ‘Well, if a bloke’s got a penny more in his pocket than the bloke that Dulcie is with, then he’s a better proposition to her. It’s a wise man that steers clear of her. She tried it on with me but I soon put her straight. So, any of our other girls take your fancy?’

  Having cleared away the dirty dinner plates, Gem was dishing out apple crumble topped with thick creamy custard. She snapped at her son, ‘Jimmy, stop embarrassing Tom. If me and your father try and quiz you on your love life, you tell us to mind our own business.’

  He gave an innocent shrug. ‘That’s different. I ain’t daft, Mam; I know you’re being nosy so that if you don’t like the girl I’m seeing you can stick your oar in to try and break us up. I was just going to offer to put a good word in if there was a girl Tom fancied, him being new with us.’

  Gem tightened her lips. Her son knew her better than she’d realised.

  ‘So, is there any girl you like the look of, Tom?’ Jimmy asked again.

  There was: the girl he had believed was a burglar on the night of the party last Saturday. He hadn’t been able to get her out of his mind since. He hadn’t thought he’d stand a chance with a girl like her, him a mere gaff lad, but now he was going to be Gully Givens’ mate, well, it was a different matter. If he described her, Jimmy would probably know her, as he seemed to know all the community females, particularly the eligible ones in their age group, but he felt foolish admitting he was interested in a girl whose name he didn’t even know, and then Jimmy might ask how he’d met her and he’d have to admit he’d mistaken her for a burglar and ended up on the receiving end of her fists. Besides, while she was repairing the damage to his face in her van, she certainly hadn’t given him any sign she was interested in him in the same way.

  He shook his head and said lightly, ‘I’ve been too busy making sure I do my job properly so I don’t get the sack to give women a thought.’

  Solly chuckled. ‘That’s what I like to hear from my employees: that they put work before their social life. You’ll do, lad, you’ll do.’ He scraped back his chair. ‘Right, come on, boys. We’ve a fair to open.’

  His last remark reminded Gem that she had something to tell him; the fact that he had brought home a guest for dinner had made her temporarily forget about it. ‘Before you go, Solly, can I have a quick word?’

  From her face he knew it was something of importance, and as soon as the three lads had left he asked her, ‘What is it, love?’ He laughed. ‘Not going to tell me you’re leaving me for another man, are you?’

  She playfully slapped his arm. ‘You should be so lucky. Just that the man from the council called for the payment.’

  ‘Yes, I know. He came to see me first and I pointed him in your direction as I was too busy fixing the fault on the dodgems to come and get the money from the safe myself. I was grateful they’d changed their rules and sent someone to collect it themselves, as it saves me a trip into town.’

  ‘But you should know that the fee has gone up. And by a lot too.’

  Solly frowned. ‘By how much?’

  She paused for a moment before she broke the bad news to him. ‘A hundred pounds.’

  He gawped, astounded. ‘How much? A hundred pounds on top of what we already pay? I can understand a small rise, but to almost double what we paid last year…? How can they justify charging us two hundred and fifty pounds for the use of a bit of waste ground for seven days with just a standpipe on it? That’s daylight robbery. If all the councils do the same, we’ll end up bankrupt.’ He scraped an exasperated hand through his hair. ‘This means we’ll have to put the price of the rides up while we’re here, and the punters aren’t going to like that. Though even that won’t benefit us. They won’t have any more to spend than they were going to, so all it means is that they’ll go on fewer rides.’

  He lapsed into silence for a moment before he announced, ‘I’m going to go and see the council and tell them that they either reconsider this ridiculous price increase or it won’t pay us to continue coming to Huddersfield in the future. This was one of the first places that Dad secured when he first started up, so he’s been coming here forty years at least to my knowledge, and I doubt they’ll get another fair to replace us at the price they’re charging. The council had better prepare themselves for a backlash from the locals, as they ain’t going to like the fact that they’re no longer going to get the fair coming, and all down to the greed of the fat cats.’

  He went over and grabbed his donkey jacket from the back of the van door and began to put it on.

  Gem looked him over. ‘You’re not going to the council dressed like that, are you, Solly?’

  He glanced down at his dirty working clothes, then back at her. ‘They can think of me what they like. I haven’t got time to spruce myself up. I need to deal with this now, Gem. If other town councils get to hear that we accepted this price hike without so much as a murmur, they could do the same.’

  He was just about to open the door when a loud rap came on it. Intending to tell whoever it was that they’d have to deal with Gem or wait to see him after he returned from his errand, he pulled the door wide. At the bottom of the van steps stood a tall, thin man with sparse grey hair topping a long face with sharp features, wearing a shiny grey suit and carrying an old briefcase. Solly asked him what he could do for him.

  The man replied, ‘I’m from the council—’

  Before he could say any more, Solly blurted, relieved, ‘Oh, come to tell us of the mistake you’ve made and give us a refund.’

  The man looked puzzled. ‘I am at a loss to understand what you’re talking about. I’m looking for Mr Grundy. I’m here to collect the fee. The rules are that if the fee isn’t paid then the fair isn’t allowed to open and you must immediately vacate. In addition, your right to operate in this town in future will be revoked. I have to say, I
am very surprised about this state of affairs. This is the first time I can remember in all the forty-odd years Grundy’s fair has been coming to town that Mr Grundy hasn’t presented himself at the town hall prompt at eleven o’clock to settle up.’

  A cloud of sadness momentarily crossed Solly’s face before he said quietly, ‘My father died last year so that’s why he hasn’t visited you himself this morning.’

  The man looked genuinely regretful when he replied. ‘Oh, I am very sorry to hear that. I always found Mr Grundy a fair man to deal with. He certainly was a character. You have my sincere condolences.’

  Solly nodded his thanks, then said, ‘I was on my way to pay the dues this morning but had a couple of major problems to deal with that delayed me. I was saved the visit, though, by your man coming to collect the money, so really I can’t understand why you’re here. It was a while ago he came, so he should have got back to the office before you left it. But anyway, now that you’re here, this rise in the fee… well, how can you justify nearly doubling it? People might think fairs make a fortune, but I can assure you we don’t, Mr… err…’

  ‘Barroclough. I’m the chief accountant for the borough council.’

  Solly politely held out his hand. ‘Pleased to meet you, Mr Barroclough. Solly Grundy. I’m the boss of the fair now.’ The men shook hands whilst Solly carried on. ‘As I was saying, we don’t make a fortune and you hiking the fee up a ludicrous amount… well, after paying that and covering all our other costs, it will hardly be worth us playing here. If the other councils follow your lead, it’ll see us out of business.’

  Mr Barroclough was frowning, bewildered. ‘Again, Mr Grundy, I haven’t a clue what you’re talking about. No man from the council has been sent to collect the fee, and we certainly haven’t put it up. A visit to the fair is the highlight of most of the townsfolk’s year, and it’s not the council’s intention to put that in jeopardy and more importantly lose votes when election time comes. This man who called… what was his name?’