It was in the late
summer of 1966 and Grace Weldon was stranded by the side of the road somewhere
in the Dulcets.
The Dulcets
being a collection of villages and hamlets comprising of Dulcet Meadow, Dulcet
St Mary, Dulcet Green and Dulcet-on-Brooke, to name but a few, and of course Dulcet-on-Willow which was a large sprawling village
beside the gentle shallow River Willow, which ran unhurriedly from the
Pepperstock Hills to the more vibrant River Brooke, and Willow just happened to
be the nearest habitable civilization to where the “old bus” had given up the
ghost, again.
She should have replaced it many years before, but she couldn’t bring
herself to part with it because Jimmy, her late husband, was very fond of that
car, and when she was out driving it she felt close to him, but alas it was
getting more and more unreliable with every passing year.
Although if her doctors were to be believed she would be joining Jimmy
soon enough, so to her mind there seemed little point in replacing the car now.
She wasn’t up to walking to a phone box, so she decided to sit it out,
because she assumed someone was bound to stop for her, she was after all on the
Abbottsford Road just north of Mornington, a busy road even then.
Grace was travelling from Shallowfield to Sharpington to visit her
sister when the Alvis had called a halt to her sojourn.
As the light was beginning to fade Grace was beginning to worry as she
had lost count of the number of car that had passed her by, and not one car had
even slowed down for her, until a beaten up Commer pickup pulled up in front of
her.
Phil Bradshaw was in his early
thirties and was local man and was something of a jack of all trades.
He had just done a day’s work ditch digging on the Mornington estate and
was on his way home, and he was dirty and scruffy and looked a fearful sight as
he got out of the van.
Phil didn’t know if he could help but when he a saw a woman alone on the
roadside he had to see if she needed help or not, it wasn’t in his nature to
ignore someone who needed help, so he walked towards the driver’s side of the
car and gave the driver a smile.
Grace was relieved to see someone stop for her but when he got out of
the vehicle he looked a bit of a rough type and her first response was to be
afraid and she locked the door, even when he smiled at her she was a little
scared.
“Never judge a book by its cover Grace” Jimmy’s voice said in her head,
so she unlocked the door and returned his smile and then wound down the window.
As she was an elderly woman on her own, Phil could well imagine that she
might be frightened at the sight of dirty looking young man approaching her.
“Do you need any help?” he asked warmly
“Yes please” she replied
Thankfully Phil was a jack of all trades and mechanics was one of the
skills he possessed, so he opened the bonnet and spent the best part of an hour
tinkering under there.
Finally, he closed the bonnet and wiped his hands on a rag.
“Is it bad?” Grace asked
“No, but I don’t have the part to fix it” Phil replied
“Oh dear” Grace said
“There’s a garage a couple of miles up the road, I can give you a tow”
Phil suggested.
“Oh, dear I’ve never been towed” she said with concern
“Ok, then I’ll drive you to the garage and they can send the tow truck
back for the car” He offered
“As long as you don’t mind slumming it in my old van”
“That’s very kind, thank you” she replied “And you may not believe it to
look at me now, but I’ve done my fair share of slumming”
Phil opened the passenger door for Grace and closed it behind her and
walked round the front and got in.
As he started the engine Grace noticed his hand was bleeding.
“You’ve cut your hand” she said
“Oh, it’s just a scratch” He said glancing at his hand.
He drove onto the forecourt of the garage and came to a stop outside the
office.
Phil went in and spoke to the mechanics and when he reemerged he had a
middle-aged man in an oily blue boiler suit with him.
The man spoke briefly to Grace and then went off and climbed up into the
cab of a tow truck, leaving Phil and Grace talking and she shivered.
“Why don’t go and get a hot drink and something to eat” he suggested
indicating the café next door.
“They have a public phone in there, so you could call your sister”
“That’s a good idea” she agreed
Phil nodded and said goodbye and opened the van door.
“How much do I owe you Philip?” she asked
It would have been very easy for him to take money from the obviously
rich woman and he was sure she would be very generous, but he didn’t stop to
help her because he saw an opportunity to make some easy money, not that it
wouldn’t have come in handy, he stopped because he saw a lady on her own who
needed help.
God knew that over the years there were people who had helped him when
he needed it.
“No charge Mrs. Weldon” he said
“But...” she began
“I was glad to help” he said “just do the same for someone else should
the opportunity arise”
“I will” She said “Thank you Philip”
“Pleasure” he said and drove away
As he rejoined the main road he felt that familiar warm glow that he
always got when he had done someone a good turn and then he headed for home
through the darkness.
Grace walked into the café and sat in a corner booth, it was a fairly
dingy looking place but at that moment it was as good as the Savoy.
A waitress came over, her name badge said Marion, she had a lovely smile
but there was fatigue in her face and tiredness around her eyes.
“What can I get you madam?” she asked pleasantly
“Tea please dear” Grace replied, “and is there a phone?”
“There’s one in the lobby by the toilets” Marion replied and went back
to the counter and then Grace went to use the phone.
Despite her smile Marion was not happy, Elaine, the girl who normally
did the late shift had phoned in sick, she claimed to have a sore throat, but Marion
knew from experience that when Elaine said she had a sore throat that meant it
was the type of aliment she cured by throwing Brandy and Babycham’s down her
neck.
Marion was exhausted, she had been on her feet all day and she still had
another six hours to go, on top of that she was heavily pregnant.
Grace returned to her booth having spoken to her sister in Sharpington
just as Marion returned with a pot of tea on a tray.
Grace couldn't help noticing the waitress was pregnant, eight months
pregnant by the look of her, but she didn’t seem to let it slow her down.
“Thank you dear” she said as Marion set the tray on the table.
Then she went on to explain she was waiting for her sister to drive down
over from Sharpington, so she would have time to eat something.
“What do you suggest?” Grace said “I’m in your hands”
“Ham egg and chips” Marion said placing the plate on the table in front
of Grace.
“Oh lovely” she said, and Marion smiled her a sweet smile.
Grace liked this girl who despite her obvious fatigue from the long
hours and the effects of the pregnancy still managed to go the extra mile, and
then a thought crossed her mind.
Grace looked out of the window and saw her sister’s car drive into the car
park just as she finished her meal.
She put down her knife and fork and wiped her mouth with a napkin and
called the waitress over for the bill.
Marion brought the bill which totaled three shillings exactly, just as a
fresh group of customers came through the door, so she left it on the table and
rushed off to greet the new arrivals.
Grace opened her hand bag and found her purse, and she removed five, five-pound
notes from her purse and slipped them under the plate and put the three
shillings on top of the bill, then she got up and gave Marion a wave before
going out the door.
It was another five minutes before Marion got around to clearing Graces
table and when she saw the £25 pounds she cried.
By the time she’d seen off the last of the customers she was dead on her
feet, but while Dave the cook was cleaning the kitchen she still had tables to
wipe down and the floor to mop before she could get home.
Eventually she was done, and Dave was switching off the lights and
locking up, and then they got in Dave’s car and he dropped her home.
The downstairs light was still on in the cottage, so she assumed her
husband had fallen asleep in front of the TV again, he didn’t like to go to bed
before she got home, but he worked so hard himself that he invariably ended up
asleep in front of the test card.
When she unlocked the front door, she saw immediately that she was
correct as Phil was asleep in front of the TV.
As she woke him up she noticed a bandage on his hand, he kissed her
sleepily and headed up stairs and she followed quickly behind him.
Despite her obvious exhaustion, that night before she climbed into bed, she
knelt and thanked God for answering her prayer, and the unexpected generosity
of that old lady, that night left her with renewed hope and she felt at peace.
