Scrap CH THREE part 4

Scrap CH THREE part 4
The sun is shining warmly through the windscreen as Frank heads for Jason’s new home and he has time to contemplate the changes which have taken place in his absence. In only six months Scotty and Dawn have two more children, Carol and Harry Tobin also have twins and Rosa has a baby boy. Jason has somehow found the money to buy a sizeable property and Scotty is buying a house on the new estate which has grown out of the marsh with dazzling speed.
All along the Low Road trees which have stood for more than a hundred years have been cut down, leaving the stumps as the only testament to their existence. The only recognisable aspects of the landscape are the sheep which still graze the soggy grass on either side of the road. On higher ground a strange crop has grown up, a haze of sulphur yellow flowers with pungent perfume and pollen which stings the eyes and makes his nose drip, and yet further on a field of winter wheat with its heads of grain emerging, the stalks dipping and rippling in the breeze.
As he pulls up outside the newly erected gates the sound of dogs barking brings Jason to investigate. When he sees who it is his face lights up and he calls for them to be quiet. Hurriedly he swings the gates open to allow Frank access and closes them again as soon as the car is inside. The men greet each other warmly, ignoring the continuing racket from the two Rottweiler dogs which are securely chained to their kennels. ‘Come inside and I’ll get a brew on,’ says Jason, excitedly, as he leads the way into the almost new Portacabin which serves as his office. ‘Very nice,’ observes Frank as he takes a seat on one of two revolving captain’s chairs placed either side of a large office desk which is neatly set with all the latest equipment.
‘This is a turn-up for the books,’ says Frank as he takes the mug of tea and sips at the hot liquid. ‘Where did you get the wherewithal to buy this lot then?’ Jason looks around at the empty room as if expecting to be overheard and replies in a low voice, ‘I had a bit of luck, a legacy from my dad, you might say.’ Frank doesn’t see why this piece of information should be kept secret and congratulates the young man on his good fortune. ‘Keep it to yourself though,’ Jason continues, ‘nobody knows except you; they think I got a mortgage to buy this place and there’d be hell to pay if the family found out where I really got the money from.’
Frank is intrigued, and somewhat surprised that Jason should want to tell him when he hasn’t let on to anyone else, but the young man has been bursting to tell someone and at last he has found a man who can keep his mouth shut. ‘Ma told me that when dad died everything went to her, which was a bit of a blow especially with Danny boy taking over at the yard. I was not happy about it, I tell you, but by a stroke of luck I was clearing away one of the old dog kennels when I found a strongbox full of gold coins. To cut a long story short, that’s how I came to buy this place and there’s enough left to finish building the house over there,’ he indicates a spot nearby where the footings are already in place, ‘and to build a new workshop. It’s all I ever wanted and it means I’ll be set up for life.’
This is a lot to take in but as they finish their tea and a whole packet of chocolate biscuits Jason goes on to tell Frank about his plans for the quarry, which will have a fishing lake, Caravan Park and club house once the hole in the ground has been filled in. ‘The best thing about it is that people will have to pay me to tip their loads so it’s like money for nothing. And I’m still going to be getting in wrecks to strip down only I’ll store the spares in properly labelled bays so I can find anything a customer wants. No more letting them get the parts themselves and walking out with extras right under our noses. They can come in and get the second-hand parts direct from the shelves and I get to keep the profit. All the rubbish I can take to Danny’s and put in the crusher.’
They go into the yard to have a look round the property, which is quite impressive. ‘You seem to have it all worked out Jay,’ smiles Frank, ‘I’m pleased for you, but what if the family find out you’ve been holding out on them?’ Jason looks at him earnestly, ‘they won’t find out though, will they?’ Frank shrugs, ‘not from me they won’t; good luck to you that’s what I say. Anyway, do you want to look at this scrap I’ve got in the boot?’ Turning back the hessian sack covering his ‘loot’ an assortment of mis-matched knives and forks is revealed, mostly dull with years of tarnish. Jason pulls a few pieces out to inspect. ‘There’s nothing important in there,’ Frank points out, ‘when I was working on the bins with College we used to go through all the interesting looking stuff and he would take all the silver spoons leaving the rest for me. This lot weighs in at over thirty pounds but it’s only good for scrap.’
Jason helps lift the box out the boot and they take it into the office where they tip it out onto the scales. ‘Phew, that’s thirty two pounds and six ounces,’ says Jason, mentally totting up his profit, ‘I can give you six hundred; will that do?’ Frank gives him a pained look and the figure is immediately revised upwards. They reach a deal and Jason reaches into his pocket, pulls out a roll of notes and counts out the amount agreed, which is swiftly transferred to a pocket in Frank’s jacket. The two men walk out together and the dogs start barking again.
‘What do you think of my boys?’ Asks a proud Jay, ‘they’re brothers, Zak and Damian, coming up for a year old. I got them from Gory Dave, you know, the bloke who keeps fighting dogs. Bloody vicious they are too. They’re okay with me but that one,’ he indicates the larger of the two, ‘Zak is a demon; he hates cats. One got in the yard last week when I had them off the leads and he went mad, chased it onto that pile of spoil from the foundations and got hold of it. Well I couldn’t do anything; he threw it up in the air, broke its back and ate the thing. I didn’t have the heart to tell the woman who came asking after poor Fluffy or whatever she called it.’ Frank carefully gets into his car and winds the window down. ‘I’ll bear that in mind for future visits,’ he says as he starts the engine, ‘see you soon Jay.’
Frank gives the bulge of cash a satisfied pat as he drives towards the Low Road looking out for mushrooms. There are none to be seen so he drives on, stopping at the corner shop to buy supplies. They charge twice as much as the supermarket but Frank feels sorry for the small shopkeeper and he can’t be bothered going in to town. He is dreading going back to the camper van but it will only be for a few weeks and at least he will not be sharing with anybody.