A Good Runner: Part Sixteen

~ beetleypete

This is the sixteenth part of a fiction serial, in 790 words.

Stella and Trevor continued to live separately while his divorce was going through. Shirley did not contest the divorce on the grounds of her desertion, and asked for no money or possessions. That smoothed the process. When the papers arrived just before Christmas of sixty-six, they planned a small wedding for May the following year. Just the registry office in town, nothing too grand.

Stella’s mum Norma was completely supportive, and had urged her daughter to get serious with Trevor as soon as she met him. “Don’t let this one slip through your fingers, he’s genuine, mark my words”.

That April, Britain won the Eurovision Song Contest, represented by Sandie Shaw. Amy asked for the record, ‘Puppet On A String’, and played it so many times Stella got it stuck in her head.

The wedding was a small but happy occasion. Ken and his wife served as witnesses, Amy carried flowers as a bridesmaid, and Norma cried. Even Trevor’s gran and aunt Marion made the journey from Cirencester. After the short ceremony, they all had lunch in a nearby pub.

Although he had often stayed over, returning to the house as Stella’s husband made Trevor feel very proud. Ken had managed to let the flat above the shop to Viktor, one of the drivers who was originally from Poland, and Trevor had said he could keep his stuff so it could be rented as furnished. Stella still walked Amy to school before work, as he was usually out on his first taxi runs well before seven. Now he had a family to care for, Trevor took Ken’s advice and employed a local accountant to sort out his tax affairs, then not long after the wedding, they discussed whether or not he should adopt Amy.

When they asked the girl, she beamed a huge smile. “Yes please! I want a daddy!”

That first summer seemed idyllic. Trevor made sure to never work on a Sunday, and they took trips all over in his green Cortina. Picnics, days at the seaside, and even an outing to Bristol Zoo.

On the Monday following that tiring day, Trevor turned up at work to find Ken’s wife Peggy sitting at the desk at the back. She had been crying, and looked like she was about to start again. “Oh, Trevor. Ken’s gone. He had a funny turn at home early yesterday morning, and I had to call an ambulance. They took him to Oxford to the big hospital, but he didn’t make it. They think it was a brain haemmhorage, but there has to be a post mortem. I didn’t know what to do, I thought I had better come in and tell you all”.

He went to make her a cup of tea, and when he got back, he was calm and reassuring. “Peggy, Stella will be in soon. You can leave it to us to run the place until you sort things out. I will get Viktor to run you home in a minute, you should be with your family. Don’t worry about the business, you can count on me and Stella. She put the tea down and started crying again, so he walked up to the flat to ask Viktor to come down and take her home.

They went to the funeral, leaving just a few drivers to cover the regular runs. At Ken’s house following the service, Peggy pulled them both to one side. “I don’t know anything about Ken’s business, but I know he always spoke well of you, and relied heavily on Stella too. How about you buy the business off me? We can make an arrangement with the solicitor, and you can pay so much a month. It will give me some extra money, and take the worry off me too. I will throw in Ken’s new car. I can’t drive, and he would have been happy for you to have it”.

Stella turned and looked at him, an almost imperceptible nod passed between them. Trevor kissed Peggy on the cheek. “Consider it sold”.

Just a few weeks before his death, Ken had treated himself to a burgundy-coloured Jaguar 3.4, saying as he would never use it as a taxi, it didn’t matter that it was a luxury car. Now Trevor had the keys and paperwork, which he sent off to register himself as the new owner. Taking over the taxi office meant that he would almost never be driving, though the Jag would do nicely for any upmarket jobs that came in. Stella was pleased that he would be selling the Cortina now.

“I never said anything before, Trev, but green cars are supposed to be unlucky. He shook his head.

“Well, it wasn’t unlucky for me, love.”

40 thoughts on “A Good Runner: Part Sixteen”

  1. The first death in connection with the vehicle. By the way, because I was just thinking about it again. How did you come up with the type of wine “Liebfrauenmilch”, in the previous episode? Lol It took me a few years, to be able to assign the term that I kept coming across, to a type of wine. 😉 Best wishes, Michael

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  4. Oh my, I’m overjoyed, and extremely relieved. I’m looking forward to the next episode and I don’t care what you do with the next owner! Wow, Pete did a happy ending, so pleased for Trevor and his new Jag! Warmly, C

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  6. (1) “Amy asked for the record, ‘Puppet On A String’, and played it so many times Stella got it stuck in her head.” But not for long, because Stella had Trevor pull the puppet out of her head by the string. (Almost as painful as childbirth.)
    (2) Stella and Trevor planned a wedding for May. Later, they’ll plan a small wedding for Amy.
    (3) Amy’s flowers were watered by Norma’s tears. Always bring a small watering can to a wedding!
    (4) The first summer seemed idyllic.The second summer was wonderful. The third summer was pretty good. The fourth summer was okay. The fifth summer was fair. The sixth summer was somewhat regrettable. The seventh summer was a real bummer. The eighth summer was just plain bad. The ninth summer was terrible. The tenth summer was horrific. But, hey, we were warned about global warming!
    (5) Ken had a “a funny turn at home,” and Peggy nearly died laughing.
    (6) Peggy: “Ken died of a brain hemorrhage. There simply wasn’t enough room in his head for a puppet on a string.”
    (7) Let’s just hope that Trevor doesn’t find the business too taxing.

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  8. Still should have been a cream Mercedes 😉 but I am glad Trevor is on the up. The only cortina my dad owned was green, and unluckily got written off when my brother wrapped it around a bollard.

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  13. Well, that’s another owner moved on….and I’ve heard that thing about green cars….my dad had several, but I don’t think there was any issue with them!!

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