“Elizabeth I’ve been thinking for some time about forming a literature club where we could read a particular book and share our thoughts about the authors and their works. Would you have an interest in helping me set up such a club?”

Elizabeth paused eating and looked up happily.

“I’d love that, William. How could I help?”

“Well, I could look for a suitable venue to rent weekly and you could look for people who may be interested in joining us. But I hope that wouldn’t prevent you from your daily trips to the news agency to discuss literature with me.”

“I know lots of people who’d love to join such a group including a few of the teachers in the different schools in Fairvale. I’ll start working on that immediately. And I would not miss our daily discussions for anything now William.”

William paused from his meal now to think about her statement.  Elizabeth liked him and enjoyed his company. He felt a wave of joy pass through his body and decided to take advantage of this moment.

“Elizabeth I really enjoy your visits, and it makes my lonely life bearable to look forward to those visits each day. I’d like to ask you if you’d consider making these visits more permanent.”

Elizabeth looked up in surprise and studied William’s face.

“What are you trying to say William? I don’t understand what you mean by that.”

William looked uncomfortable but something inside urged him to declare what was on his mind.

“I was hoping you’d consider marrying me, Elizabeth. We have been spending time together for quite a while now and my feelings for you are very strong.”

Elizabeth paused to think about this before responding.

“William, I do like you, but I need to think about your proposal and discuss it with my father. I think you need to meet him and let him know you better first. I value his opinion. Why not meet him tomorrow and you two have a long talk about this. If my father, then recommends you then I’ll give my answer. Are you prepared to meet him and declare your intentions?”

“Yes, Elizabeth, I’ll meet him tomorrow and try to persuade him I’d made a good husband to you and hope you give me your answer after that.”

William noticed Elizabeth had finished her meal and asked if she’d like anything else. She shook her head, and he went to the counter to pay for the meal. He walked her home to her father’s home above the chemist shop. Elizabeth paused and then indicated William should follow her up the stairs and they were received by a surprised Carl Chapman. Elizabeth spoke to her father.

“Dad William would like to have a word with you. I’ll be in my room so when you’ve had your talk would you call me, please.”

Carl understood what the issue was and indicated the lounge to invite William to sit.

“You have something to ask me William?”

“Yes, sir I’d like to marry your daughter but first I need to have your permission.”

Carl had noted the visits his daughter had been making to the news agency for some time now and Elizabeth had kept him informed of their nightly discussions so he’d done all the background checks necessary to protect his daughter’s future happiness and knew she could not do better than this man. He nodded in William’s direction and called his daughter to join them.

“Are you willing to accept this man’s proposal Elizabeth?”

Elizabeth smiled.

“If you are happy with him dad then I will gladly say yes.”

“Then we’d better start planning for a wedding. You two have spent a long time getting to know each other and it’s best we get you both wedded so you can enjoy an uninterrupted time together. I do hope daughter you are going to continue to help me at the shop.”

“Yes, dad I’m fully committed to helping you run the chemist business and William will continue to operate the news agency.”

Alex Birch was in the process of reorganizing the management of Birch enterprises. Two of his cousins had expressed an interest in buying into the Fairvale business. Alex had lived in their home during his years of education in Eastport and he was very close to them. Andy Birch and his sibling Mona Birch came loaded with cash.

Andy bought a large mansion on the outskirts of town where his wife and family would enjoy a view from a hill overlooking the river valley. His spinster sister Mona would have her own independent quarters in that mansion.

Mona, the eldest was a qualified accountant and bought out her bachelor uncle Bruce who’d decided to retire and enjoy his last years with his bowls friends. Bruce had handled all accounting and banking matters for the partnership and this responsibility would now pass to Mona.

Andy was the ideas man and full of suggestions as to the future direction of the Birch business operations. He paid out his uncle Graham’s share of the business and Graham went into retirement now freed up to spend all his time on his interests outside of the business. Both Andy and his sister had the latest automobiles and were the talk of the town as they proudly rode around town. They had their own personal driver mechanic to look after their automobiles, but Andy was quite skilled in motor vehicle repair himself.

Alex, not wanting to be outdone, began constructing his own mansion and purchased his own automobile which was shipped in by rail from Eastport. There was soon a mad clamor from the important people of town to match the Birch family. The bulk of the townsfolk watched this display with considerable amusement, quite content with their own cheaper vehicles or the very efficient bus schedules.

Rich farmers formed a cooperative and built a large complex near the rail terminal which stocked all farm supplies and machinery including bulk fuel to service the farmers tractors which were also sold there. It was a profitable business from the beginning but did draw some of the farm trade away from the main street. The cooperative also housed a diner where farmers could eat as they shopped.

This set the new Birch team to start reviewing their marketing model. It appeared to them that a new way of doing business needed to be investigated. Andy presented an idea which he’d seen work out well in his travels. They should borrow from banks and commence building a warehouse to store products to sell wholesale to a wide retail trade. It was decided the best place to have the warehouse would be close to the rail terminal where it would be convenient to transfer directly from rail freight to the warehouse. They’d need a fleet of trucks then to deliver to the retail trade in town as ordered. That meant they needed to have a repair shop to service their vehicles and perhaps expand that to service other vehicles in town as the number of vehicles increased dramatically around town. Then perhaps they should also look at the possibility of bringing vehicle sales to the town and that would require showrooms. But how would they finance all that?

Alex came up with a solution. First, they should build the warehouse for wholesale trade and get that established with a fleet of delivery vehicles. When that was established and profitable they’d then close the present department store which covered a whole block of the main street. This could then be converted into an arcade with multiple shop spaces which could be rented out to businesses in town who may be interested in moving from the lower part of town that periodically flooded. They’d need to work with the mayor of Fairvale and his council for the necessary permissions, but such a plan would certainly improve the town and give it a more modern look and Alex had the connections to make this happen. His father Andrew had quit the business sometime back and was now the deputy mayor of the city. Andrew still had a share of the business so that should be a strong motivating force.

Alex continued to operate the department store while Andy concentrated on establishing the warehouse by the station. Mona kept a strict account of all costs and pressed alarm bells when her partners were getting too aggressive with their spending. They were borrowing heavily along with considerable investment from the Birch personal fortunes. Jack Colthorpe watched these developments with a combination of excitement and apprehension. What would become of him with the new team in place and new things happening every day. Jack had two children to provide for now and felt his responsibility to care for their needs adequately.

The warehouse when constructed was enormous by town standards. It was time to stock the warehouse and determine who’d manage it. The Birch family had a meeting to consider management options and Alex urged them to consider Jack Colthorpe. He presented Jack as a man of many talents who’d had long experience in stock management and worked well with staff now. Some of the staff from the present department store could transfer to the warehouse. Andy favored people he knew from Eastport to be the warehouse manager, but Alex insisted on his man, and they agreed to put him in charge on a trial basis to see how he performed. Alex sought out Jack and presented the facts to him. They were giving him a chance but required the highest standards of service and if he didn’t measure up then they’d have to consider a lesser job for him. Jack assured Alex, he’d not let them down. It was a success from the beginning and Jack proved to be very adept in keeping the right stocks in place to meet demands. Andy was impressed with his work. Mona kept strict control over finances.

Mona vetoed Andy’s next project, which was the large workshop to service the fleet of delivery trucks and vans servicing retail trade and Andy went into a major meltdown. For the time being those vehicles had to be stored at the back of the warehouse and serviced there, which was inconvenient, and the two siblings had a major fight over this pause in development.

Alex approached his uncles and father to see if they could be persuaded to invest. Bruce Graham and Andrew agreed to invest in understanding this could be a profitable venture to enhance their own capital base and with the various council requirements being fulfilled Andy had his next project commenced up near the rail terminal with Mona’s blessing now that she could see funding was available. It consisted of a huge shed for storage and servicing their vehicles with lots of extra space to service other vehicles from around town and because the property chosen consisted of a huge block there was enough room to build a showroom and a yard for secondhand vehicle sales as more money became available.

Now that the Birch warehouse was selling wholesale to the increasing retail competitors in town and had a monopoly on that wholesale business, they could start winding down the business of the old department store. Remaining staff were slowly transferred to the warehouse under Jack’s control now and some were used to man the fleet of delivery vehicles. Now that Jack had proved his worth the Birch partners increased his pay substantially so that Jack felt he had a more secure future. He began to look at possible investments of his own.

With council approval work began on the complete rebuilding of the space formally occupied by the department store. They had council approval to build on two levels and if the basement was flood-proofed, they could assign allocated parking to the shops intended for street level and some storage areas. The upper level was to be for rental of commercial space such as offices and some apartments. The lower level was for shops of various kinds but no restaurants or food shops. The Birch’s advertised their planned development which would provide basic facilities for each shop such as water and electricity. Toilet blocks would be for the common use of shops and the public and provided at the back of the building development. Rentals would pay for maintenance and services delivered. Those interested in renting a shop in the two-story arcade could show their intent by paying an annual deposit in advance. Even before the inside of the arcade began to take shape money poured into reserve space. This helped finance all the development costs of Birch arcade.

Carl Chapman was one of the first to reserve a space and pay his rental deposit. William then decided to move the news agency and reserved his space next to Carl’s chemist shop. Each reserved one of the above apartments. There would be more space to do business than in their existing establishments and William and Elizabeth now his wife would be close to each other during the day. The buildings they were vacating would be highly sought after although William wondered at the wisdom of exchanging an owned apartment for a rental one. Nevertheless, he’d done his sums and knew that with an expanded business and despite paying rent for an apartment the time would come when his father-in-law would no longer be with them, and they’d have enough savings to buy a home of their own. For now, Elizabeth wanted to be near her father to care for him as he aged.

The opening of the modern arcade and its cluster of shops, professional offices and apartments was officiated by the mayor of Fairvale who paid tribute to the farsightedness of the Birch family who’d brought so much innovation to the town. People had come to the town from surrounding rural areas to attend the opening ceremony along with much of the increasing population of Fairvale. The assembled Birch family included Jack Colthorpe with them in the honor party as he was now a valued member of their inner circle of planning. His siblings were there to offer their congratulations to their brother for his success.

That evening the Colthorpe family assembled at the Brown Jug café which had been temporarily shut to cater for this special family occasion. Burt the owner and his staff had pulled out all stops to make this a happy occasion.

William welcomed his siblings and their partners and children spending time to reflect on their childhood and changes that had taken place up to this portion of their collective life experiences. Susan followed with her reflections and expressed her appreciation to the Price’s who had welcomed her and the Colthorpe siblings into their orbit and to her husband who had given her three delightful children.

Then Jack stood to make his comments. He stood silently for a few minutes as he thought of what he should share. Then deciding this was time to admit to his past errors and seek the pardon of his parents now deceased and siblings he told his story. Tears were shed all around as they shared his struggles with him and Mary, his wife stood and gave him a hug with her two children tugging at her dress wondering why everyone was crying.

Then it was Mildred’s turn. Mildred was the comic of the family, and she remembered all the humorous parts of the Colthorpe upbringing, providing a welcome relief from the tears shed during Jack’s speech and much laughter from those assembled. She thanked her husband for his generosity and love and planted a kiss on his head much to his embarrassment. Her children clapped their hands.

Nancy had joined them from her home in Eastport. She’d been sponsored through the teachers’ college intending to return to Fairvale to teach as she loved her town. But there she’d met the love of her life and married and was teaching in Eastport now. She expressed her regret in not living near her siblings and friends but confessed her husband was more important to her now though she was constantly trying to entice him to Fairvale. Unfortunately, he had law practice in Eastport and a large clientele who relied on his expertise, but she’d keep trying. There was a loud chorus of approval at her last statement.

As the Colthorpe family departed from the celebration to their own homes they reflected on how fortune had favored them. From a small family of modest means each of them was prosperous and happily married, now most with children to grace their home. It was now their job to see the children that followed had the maximum chance to prove themselves in life too and make their contribution to the prosperity of Fairvale, the town they loved. They owed much to the support they’d received from the Price and Birch families in establishing their family prosperity.

Conclusion.

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