Bidadisndat
Contributing Member
Yet another story in the CHANGES of PACE collection.
Lynne’s father, Barry, had died of a sudden heart attack about a month before, and Lynne was still very upset about it. Adding to her distress at the time was the fact that Miriam, the woman that Barry had married only six years before, had tried unsuccessfully to contest Barry’s will, although the family solicitor had been quite confident all along that she didn’t have much chance of changing anything in it.
Miriam was actually fairly well off in her own right, and owned a house that she and her previous husband had purchased and paid off shortly before he had died of cancer. Unfortunately, what Barry had initially taken for sharp business acumen turned out to be simply a greedy and miserly attitude. Following the advice of her movie-star-mentality friends, who said it was the best way to protect her assets, Miriam had insisted on a pre-nuptial agreement before their marriage, and Barry, who had too late woken up to the fact that his new wife was not exactly the loving and caring person that she had appeared to be when they first met, had been very careful in rewriting the terms of his last will.
Basically, all that he owned before his marriage to Miriam had been left to his only daughter and her husband, and all that had been obtained jointly since the marriage was left to his new wife. Miriam did benefit from a one third share of a life insurance policy that Barry had taken out, and although it was hardly what could be called a substantial amount, it would help eke out her pension when she became entitled to one.
Alan and Lynne each also received a one third share of the policy. After probate had been granted, and in accordance with the terms of the will, Alan was able to take possession of Barry’s SUV. This was something of a godsend, as the car that they owned before would not have passed its next rego inspection without a substantial amount of money being spent on repairs. Not that they couldn’t have afforded a brand new car, as they were reasonably well off, however both of them were, without being tight fisted, very careful of their savings and investments.
Lynne was very happy that she got all her mother’s possessions and family heirlooms, however there had been one particularly contentious point: A large caravan that Barry had bought after his marriage to Miriam had been claimed by Miriam, despite the fact that she had actually disapproved of the purchase at the time, and had contributed nothing towards its acquisition. Lynne thus felt that it was solely her father’s property, and as a matter of principle she should be entitled to it. Miriam’s guiding principle of greed was very simple: “The caravan was purchased after Barry and I were married so it’s mine, and you’re not getting it.”
“So, what’s Miriam going to do with the van?” asked Dai when they were all sat around the coffee table that evening, after all the kids had been put to bed.
“She’s selling it. She put a "For Sale" sign on it last week,” replied Alan.
“Any idea what she’s asking for it? Might go and have a look at it tomorrow if she’s not asking too much,” said Dai.
“Well, she said dad paid $5,000 for it, and as it hasn’t been used much and is in good condition, she’s hoping to get at least $4,500,” put in Lynne. “You know, dad told her it was second-hand and that he paid $5,000 for it, but to me it looks to be worth a quite bit more than that.”
Dave looked thoughtful for a moment before saying “Your dad was no fool Lynne, and if he’d become a bit wary of Miriam I wouldn’t be surprised if he’d claimed to have spent less than he actually had.”
Watching Dave’s face, Bron knew that some sort of plan was already forming in his mind, so wasn’t surprised when he went on to say “Bron, I think that after we’ve dropped the truck off at the workshop tomorrow morning we’ll drive over to Miriam’s and offer our condolences. We’re not going there to have a look at the caravan, of course, because we know nothing about that now, do we?” he added with a wink and a mischievous grin.
Both Alan and Lynne looked at him with some surprise, and then a slow smile spread across their faces: Dave was up to something, and knowing Dave, it was probably something devious. The conversation moved to other topics and during that time they managed to do justice to a bottle of good Port. Well, at least Dave and Alan did. The girls simply finished off the wine that had been served with dessert. It was almost midnight before they went to bed, with Dave, Bron and the boys being accommodated in the garden bungalow at the rear of the house.
“Do we have a spare basket that we can put some of our farm goodies in?” Dai asked. “I may have to soft-soap Miriam a bit when we visit.
”
“We have a couple actually. And plenty of goodies; Eggs, Cheese and veggies in the large esky, with jams and preserves in one of the totes,” Bron replied rather sleepily, and she drifted off into the Land of Nod.
In the morning, having left their two boys in the care of Lynne and her two children, Dave dropped the truck off at the workshop and then he and Bron proceeded in the Crown to Miriam’s. Upon arriving there they saw that the van, a twenty-two-foot Glendale, was parked in the driveway with a "For Sale" sign hanging on its front. A Bedford truck, with a caravan dealer’s sign on its doors, was parked directly outside the house and as they approached the gate they were confronted by a heavy-set man wearing overalls.
“If you’ve come about the caravan, it’s already been sold,” he said.
“Caravan? What caravan?” Dave asked, feigning ignorance of the sale offer. “I was a friend of Barry many years back and we came to offer our condolences to his widow because we’ve only just learned that he’d died.”
Dave took the basket from Bron and they proceeded to the front door where he pushed on the doorbell button, noticing at the same time the man quickly turning the "For Sale" sign on the caravan around so that it couldn’t be seen by people passing by. Miriam answered the door quickly.
“Yes, what can I do for you?” she asked.
“Hullo Miriam. You probably don’t remember me: David Morgan. We met briefly several years ago when you and Barry were married. I only just heard that he’d passed away and came round to offer my condolences. Sorry I didn’t ‘phone before coming, but I left the number back at the farm. This is my wife, Bronwyn. We thought you might like this basket of produce made in our area.”
Not one to pass up anything for free Miriam invited them in, saying as she did so that she was about to go shopping and didn’t want to miss the bus, so as not to appear to be impolite for not asking them if they’d like a cup of tea or coffee. Miriam took the proffered basket and was looking over its contents when Dave casually mentioned that the chap leaving as they arrived had asked if they were here to look at the caravan parked outside, and he’d told them that it was already sold.
“Sold?” said Miriam. “No, not yet. He did make me an offer for it, but I haven’t accepted it yet.”
“Oh really?” Dave said. “When he turned the "For Sale" sign around I thought he must have bought it.”
Miriam gave a small gasp. “He did what? The nerve of the man! I told him I would think about his offer and let him know tomorrow morning. I was hoping I might be able to get a higher bid than what he was offering.”
“I gathered from the sign on his truck that he’s a dealer,” said Dave, “So I imagine that he would have made a pretty low offer.”
“Yes, I felt it was a bit low. Barry paid $5,000 for it not all that long ago, and it hasn’t seen much use at all. He also did a lot of work on it, so I was expecting to get a lot more than what the dealer offered. He said that as it was out of registration it would need to be towed to an RTA inspection station to be re-registered, and because Barry had done some welding on it, it would also need an engineer’s report. He said that normally he would have offered $2,500 for it, but because he had originally sold the van to Barry, and knew it was in good condition, he would go to $3000, though that would cut out most of any profit, and he would be lucky to make $500 on the deal, if he could find a buyer quickly.”
Dave smiled at her and said “But you didn’t believe that did you? Barry once told me that you had a good head for business, and that it would be hard for someone to put one over on you.”
Suppressing a smile as Miriam accepted the blatant flattery at face value Bron chipped in and confided to her that Dave had an intense dislike of such dealers and didn’t trust them much, if at all.
“I know you’re about to go shopping,” she added, “but would it be possible for us to have a quick look at the van? I have to do some shopping too, so we could drive you to the mall in the Crown Saloon, and back again when you’ve finished. It’d be much faster, and as the Crown has soft leather seats and air conditioning it would also be much more comfortable than taking the bus.”
Miriam was not surprisingly delighted by the offer and readily agreed to let them inspect the van whilst she changed into an outfit she thought would be more suitable for shopping at the mall. Dave took his time checking the van out, going underneath to look at the chassis, wheels, brakes and cables, and inside opening all the cabinets and lockers. In one of the overhead lockers he found a couple of caravanning magazines, plus an envelope containing a number of receipts and a current registration label that had been paid for but had not yet been affixed, and he quickly put them back with no intention of saying anything to Miriam about them.
Under the double bed at the rear end he found a large folded-up canvas annex, the poles and guy ropes for which were in a large diameter PVC pipe with screw-on caps secured to the A frame at the front of the van. Barry had welded on a holder for a second 9kg gas cylinder and had replaced the four original light stabilizing stands with solid swing-down fully adjustable supports.
Miriam reappeared about fifteen minutes later clutching her purse, and a large shopping bag. She was also wearing an expensive outfit with a hat of a style that she thought would be fitting for someone being driven places in a Crown Saloon.
“Is it anything like what you were looking for?” asked Miriam when Dave had finished his inspection.
“Very much so, Miriam,” replied Dave. “In fact, I’d like to make you an offer for it right now. I don’t think it’ll require an engineer’s report for the welding done on it, though I will need to get a registration sticker on it quickly so we can tow it back to the farm. I’m prepared to pay you $4,500 for it, as is, and if you can accept that I’ll get the cash out of the bank when we drive you to the shops and you can deposit it straight into your account. We’ll need to get any receipts that you have for it of course, plus you’ll have to sign the transfer of ownership form on the back of the old registration paper.”
“That won’t be a problem, David,” said a now suddenly very friendly Miriam. “I have all those papers inside somewhere, so I’ll go in and find them now,” she added as she went into the house.
While she was gone Dave slipped into the van and retrieved the envelope that he’d found in the overhead locker. Bron, because she trusted Dave’s judgment in these matters, refrained from asking him any questions at this point, though she was bursting with curiosity as to why he had made such a high offer. Miriam reappeared two minutes later with the papers and handed them to Dave, and after further impressing her by playing the chauffeur, opening the rear door for her to get into the car then closing it behind her, they set off for the mall.
By two o’clock in the afternoon Miriam and Bron had finished their shopping, Dave had withdrawn the cash and paid Miriam for the van, obtained the receipts and had the transfer paper signed, and was driving a very happy Miriam home.
“Would it be alright if I come by tomorrow morning to pick up the van, Miriam?” he asked. “I’d rather not use the Crown, and I can get a truck to tow it with. It would probably be sometime around nine a.m.”
“That would be fine by me, David, though I think that the dealer said he’d be coming around that time too. I hope he doesn’t kick up a big stink about me selling the van to someone else.”
“Don’t worry about him, Miriam: You’ve only done what any sensible person in your position would have done. If he gets his nose out of joint it serves him right for being such a cheapskate,” said Bron, and they all laughed.
“Don’t ask”, said Dave as he and Bron drove to the Motor Registry Office to have the registration changed over to his name. “I’ll explain everything tonight, when we’ll have the van securely in our possession.”
She grinned, knowing that later on Dave would undoubtedly take great delight in revealing just how smart he’d been in doing the deal.
That evening, around the dinner table with Lynne and Allan, Dave pulled out the receipt that Miriam had given him for payment of the van, the receipts she had for the van’s original purchase from the dealer, plus the envelope that he’d retrieved from the locker in the van itself.
“Let’s see now,’ he said. “We’ve got here receipts from Miriam that show Barry had made payments to the caravan sales yard for a total of…. hmm…. $995 deposit and one, two, three, four progressive payments of $1000 each. O.K., so that’s near enough to $5000, as she said."
“Now,” he said, opening the envelope that he’d taken from the van. “Here we have several extra receipts, which I suspect Barry never intended Miriam to see. There are five extra receipts of $1,000 each for further payments on the van itself, plus an extra receipt for $1,995, for the purchase of a new annex. There’s another for $60 for the four heavy duty stands he’d welded on, plus another $25 for the extra 20lb. propane cylinder and fittings.
“I suspect that whilst the van may have been second-hand, as Barry had told her, it certainly hadn’t seen much use before he purchased it. And look here: There’s a current inspection certificate and registration label, both already paid for. It all adds up to a grand total of…. Just a bit over $12,000. Lynne, your dad certainly was a crafty old man. Look, I think that Miriam still got more than she deserved, but I don’t want to be unfair about this: Do you want to buy the van from me, for the same price I paid for it?”
“No, Dai. I’d already written it off in my mind, and the swift one that you pulled on Miriam makes me feel a lot better. Besides, if the van was ours we’d probably sell it anyway because it’d be unlikely we’d use it much, and we really don’t have room to keep it here permanently. What do you think, Allan?”
“I agree, love. Dai, I think you made a very good deal, though Miriam would be spitting chips if she found out what the van was really worth. So, will you tow it back home with the Crown?”
“I’d rather not. I have to collect the van tomorrow morning, but if we can leave it here until the work on my truck’s finished I’ll use that for the long haul home.”
“No problem with that,” said Alan. “Do I take it that you need to use our SUV to bring it here?”
Lynne laughed. "Oh Alan, that's really evil: You know Miriam will more than likely recognise it."
“For sure she will, especially as I’ll be driving it,” Alan deadpanned.
“Dammit, Alan! You almost made me lose my coffee!” snorted Bron as they all erupted in laughter.
“Where are you thinking of putting it when we get home?” asked Bron.
“Well, despite that it’s a trailer rather than a herd of camels; I think it should go where you might expect to see a caravan: Down at "The Oasis," replied Dave.
“Oh very droll, Dai, but I agree that it’s a brilliant idea!”
“The Oasis?” queried Lynne.
Bron explained: “Dai put in a swimming pool and built a large cabana beside it. It’s reasonably close to the house but it’s screened by palms and tropical type plants like palms, hibiscus, frangipani and bougainvillea. He and some friends built the cabana using heavy bamboo poles, and roofed it with what looks like real palm thatching. It has a toilet, shower and change room, a covered cooking area with an earth oven and barbeque, and a complete bar with a decent sized drinks fridge. It’s even got a small dance floor. Dai bought a flashing neon sign from The Oasis wine bar in town after it had closed down and it now hangs over the bar. Actually it all looks very tropical, and it’s a perfect place to unwind and relax.”
“If I put the van down there, under a cover constructed in the same way as the cabana, we could go on holidays without leaving home,” Dave quipped. “And of course you’d both be welcome to stay there whenever you like.... Provided we’re not holidaying there at the time, of course,” he laughed.
“Or the kids aren’t using it as a cubby house,” added Bron, leading the two women to a discussion about the joys, trials and tribulations of raising children.
“Seriously though, Al, you know you’d both always be welcome any at time,” said Dave.
“I think we may take you up on that fairly soon, Dai. The way things are going at the office I could use a break from the pressure that’s beginning to build up.”
Dave looked a little surprised. “Oh? I thought that things in the financial world were running pretty smoothly. At least, according to media and government reports they are.”
Alan snorted. “The MSM reports what the government wants it to report, and the public has never been really well informed about anything that goes on, politically or financially, behind the scenes. Plus too many people believe that only national issues are important and they just don’t seem to understand that what’s happening in other countries also affects us here in Australia.”
“So, should I be worried about anything in particular?” Dave asked.
“Well, I don’t think we need to hit the panic button just yet; however I'll put you on my list of people who need to be informed quickly if there are any financial crises appearing on the horizon.”
“Thanks mate, I really appreciate that,” Dave said. Thinking about the MAG he was associated with back home, he added “In fact, I think it might be a good idea for the two of us to have an in-depth chat about such things later on.”
Alan looked at him an, noting the serious look on his face, nodded his head briefly in agreement.
The Caravan
Leaving Brian, (who had been voluntold for the job by his mother Laura but was willing anyway,) in charge of the animals and gardens Dai and a newly pregnant Bron took their two boys and drove down to the city to visit Alan and Lynne, the married couple who had sold Dave his camping gear some years before. Dai drove the truck, which was going to a Custom Shop to have some work done on it, and Bron drove the Crown so that they would have transport while the truck was off the road.
Lynne’s father, Barry, had died of a sudden heart attack about a month before, and Lynne was still very upset about it. Adding to her distress at the time was the fact that Miriam, the woman that Barry had married only six years before, had tried unsuccessfully to contest Barry’s will, although the family solicitor had been quite confident all along that she didn’t have much chance of changing anything in it.
Miriam was actually fairly well off in her own right, and owned a house that she and her previous husband had purchased and paid off shortly before he had died of cancer. Unfortunately, what Barry had initially taken for sharp business acumen turned out to be simply a greedy and miserly attitude. Following the advice of her movie-star-mentality friends, who said it was the best way to protect her assets, Miriam had insisted on a pre-nuptial agreement before their marriage, and Barry, who had too late woken up to the fact that his new wife was not exactly the loving and caring person that she had appeared to be when they first met, had been very careful in rewriting the terms of his last will.
Basically, all that he owned before his marriage to Miriam had been left to his only daughter and her husband, and all that had been obtained jointly since the marriage was left to his new wife. Miriam did benefit from a one third share of a life insurance policy that Barry had taken out, and although it was hardly what could be called a substantial amount, it would help eke out her pension when she became entitled to one.
Alan and Lynne each also received a one third share of the policy. After probate had been granted, and in accordance with the terms of the will, Alan was able to take possession of Barry’s SUV. This was something of a godsend, as the car that they owned before would not have passed its next rego inspection without a substantial amount of money being spent on repairs. Not that they couldn’t have afforded a brand new car, as they were reasonably well off, however both of them were, without being tight fisted, very careful of their savings and investments.
Lynne was very happy that she got all her mother’s possessions and family heirlooms, however there had been one particularly contentious point: A large caravan that Barry had bought after his marriage to Miriam had been claimed by Miriam, despite the fact that she had actually disapproved of the purchase at the time, and had contributed nothing towards its acquisition. Lynne thus felt that it was solely her father’s property, and as a matter of principle she should be entitled to it. Miriam’s guiding principle of greed was very simple: “The caravan was purchased after Barry and I were married so it’s mine, and you’re not getting it.”
“So, what’s Miriam going to do with the van?” asked Dai when they were all sat around the coffee table that evening, after all the kids had been put to bed.
“She’s selling it. She put a "For Sale" sign on it last week,” replied Alan.
“Any idea what she’s asking for it? Might go and have a look at it tomorrow if she’s not asking too much,” said Dai.
“Well, she said dad paid $5,000 for it, and as it hasn’t been used much and is in good condition, she’s hoping to get at least $4,500,” put in Lynne. “You know, dad told her it was second-hand and that he paid $5,000 for it, but to me it looks to be worth a quite bit more than that.”
Dave looked thoughtful for a moment before saying “Your dad was no fool Lynne, and if he’d become a bit wary of Miriam I wouldn’t be surprised if he’d claimed to have spent less than he actually had.”
Watching Dave’s face, Bron knew that some sort of plan was already forming in his mind, so wasn’t surprised when he went on to say “Bron, I think that after we’ve dropped the truck off at the workshop tomorrow morning we’ll drive over to Miriam’s and offer our condolences. We’re not going there to have a look at the caravan, of course, because we know nothing about that now, do we?” he added with a wink and a mischievous grin.
Both Alan and Lynne looked at him with some surprise, and then a slow smile spread across their faces: Dave was up to something, and knowing Dave, it was probably something devious. The conversation moved to other topics and during that time they managed to do justice to a bottle of good Port. Well, at least Dave and Alan did. The girls simply finished off the wine that had been served with dessert. It was almost midnight before they went to bed, with Dave, Bron and the boys being accommodated in the garden bungalow at the rear of the house.
“Do we have a spare basket that we can put some of our farm goodies in?” Dai asked. “I may have to soft-soap Miriam a bit when we visit.
”
“We have a couple actually. And plenty of goodies; Eggs, Cheese and veggies in the large esky, with jams and preserves in one of the totes,” Bron replied rather sleepily, and she drifted off into the Land of Nod.
In the morning, having left their two boys in the care of Lynne and her two children, Dave dropped the truck off at the workshop and then he and Bron proceeded in the Crown to Miriam’s. Upon arriving there they saw that the van, a twenty-two-foot Glendale, was parked in the driveway with a "For Sale" sign hanging on its front. A Bedford truck, with a caravan dealer’s sign on its doors, was parked directly outside the house and as they approached the gate they were confronted by a heavy-set man wearing overalls.
“If you’ve come about the caravan, it’s already been sold,” he said.
“Caravan? What caravan?” Dave asked, feigning ignorance of the sale offer. “I was a friend of Barry many years back and we came to offer our condolences to his widow because we’ve only just learned that he’d died.”
Dave took the basket from Bron and they proceeded to the front door where he pushed on the doorbell button, noticing at the same time the man quickly turning the "For Sale" sign on the caravan around so that it couldn’t be seen by people passing by. Miriam answered the door quickly.
“Yes, what can I do for you?” she asked.
“Hullo Miriam. You probably don’t remember me: David Morgan. We met briefly several years ago when you and Barry were married. I only just heard that he’d passed away and came round to offer my condolences. Sorry I didn’t ‘phone before coming, but I left the number back at the farm. This is my wife, Bronwyn. We thought you might like this basket of produce made in our area.”
Not one to pass up anything for free Miriam invited them in, saying as she did so that she was about to go shopping and didn’t want to miss the bus, so as not to appear to be impolite for not asking them if they’d like a cup of tea or coffee. Miriam took the proffered basket and was looking over its contents when Dave casually mentioned that the chap leaving as they arrived had asked if they were here to look at the caravan parked outside, and he’d told them that it was already sold.
“Sold?” said Miriam. “No, not yet. He did make me an offer for it, but I haven’t accepted it yet.”
“Oh really?” Dave said. “When he turned the "For Sale" sign around I thought he must have bought it.”
Miriam gave a small gasp. “He did what? The nerve of the man! I told him I would think about his offer and let him know tomorrow morning. I was hoping I might be able to get a higher bid than what he was offering.”
“I gathered from the sign on his truck that he’s a dealer,” said Dave, “So I imagine that he would have made a pretty low offer.”
“Yes, I felt it was a bit low. Barry paid $5,000 for it not all that long ago, and it hasn’t seen much use at all. He also did a lot of work on it, so I was expecting to get a lot more than what the dealer offered. He said that as it was out of registration it would need to be towed to an RTA inspection station to be re-registered, and because Barry had done some welding on it, it would also need an engineer’s report. He said that normally he would have offered $2,500 for it, but because he had originally sold the van to Barry, and knew it was in good condition, he would go to $3000, though that would cut out most of any profit, and he would be lucky to make $500 on the deal, if he could find a buyer quickly.”
Dave smiled at her and said “But you didn’t believe that did you? Barry once told me that you had a good head for business, and that it would be hard for someone to put one over on you.”
Suppressing a smile as Miriam accepted the blatant flattery at face value Bron chipped in and confided to her that Dave had an intense dislike of such dealers and didn’t trust them much, if at all.
“I know you’re about to go shopping,” she added, “but would it be possible for us to have a quick look at the van? I have to do some shopping too, so we could drive you to the mall in the Crown Saloon, and back again when you’ve finished. It’d be much faster, and as the Crown has soft leather seats and air conditioning it would also be much more comfortable than taking the bus.”
Miriam was not surprisingly delighted by the offer and readily agreed to let them inspect the van whilst she changed into an outfit she thought would be more suitable for shopping at the mall. Dave took his time checking the van out, going underneath to look at the chassis, wheels, brakes and cables, and inside opening all the cabinets and lockers. In one of the overhead lockers he found a couple of caravanning magazines, plus an envelope containing a number of receipts and a current registration label that had been paid for but had not yet been affixed, and he quickly put them back with no intention of saying anything to Miriam about them.
Under the double bed at the rear end he found a large folded-up canvas annex, the poles and guy ropes for which were in a large diameter PVC pipe with screw-on caps secured to the A frame at the front of the van. Barry had welded on a holder for a second 9kg gas cylinder and had replaced the four original light stabilizing stands with solid swing-down fully adjustable supports.
Miriam reappeared about fifteen minutes later clutching her purse, and a large shopping bag. She was also wearing an expensive outfit with a hat of a style that she thought would be fitting for someone being driven places in a Crown Saloon.
“Is it anything like what you were looking for?” asked Miriam when Dave had finished his inspection.
“Very much so, Miriam,” replied Dave. “In fact, I’d like to make you an offer for it right now. I don’t think it’ll require an engineer’s report for the welding done on it, though I will need to get a registration sticker on it quickly so we can tow it back to the farm. I’m prepared to pay you $4,500 for it, as is, and if you can accept that I’ll get the cash out of the bank when we drive you to the shops and you can deposit it straight into your account. We’ll need to get any receipts that you have for it of course, plus you’ll have to sign the transfer of ownership form on the back of the old registration paper.”
“That won’t be a problem, David,” said a now suddenly very friendly Miriam. “I have all those papers inside somewhere, so I’ll go in and find them now,” she added as she went into the house.
While she was gone Dave slipped into the van and retrieved the envelope that he’d found in the overhead locker. Bron, because she trusted Dave’s judgment in these matters, refrained from asking him any questions at this point, though she was bursting with curiosity as to why he had made such a high offer. Miriam reappeared two minutes later with the papers and handed them to Dave, and after further impressing her by playing the chauffeur, opening the rear door for her to get into the car then closing it behind her, they set off for the mall.
By two o’clock in the afternoon Miriam and Bron had finished their shopping, Dave had withdrawn the cash and paid Miriam for the van, obtained the receipts and had the transfer paper signed, and was driving a very happy Miriam home.
“Would it be alright if I come by tomorrow morning to pick up the van, Miriam?” he asked. “I’d rather not use the Crown, and I can get a truck to tow it with. It would probably be sometime around nine a.m.”
“That would be fine by me, David, though I think that the dealer said he’d be coming around that time too. I hope he doesn’t kick up a big stink about me selling the van to someone else.”
“Don’t worry about him, Miriam: You’ve only done what any sensible person in your position would have done. If he gets his nose out of joint it serves him right for being such a cheapskate,” said Bron, and they all laughed.
“Don’t ask”, said Dave as he and Bron drove to the Motor Registry Office to have the registration changed over to his name. “I’ll explain everything tonight, when we’ll have the van securely in our possession.”
She grinned, knowing that later on Dave would undoubtedly take great delight in revealing just how smart he’d been in doing the deal.
That evening, around the dinner table with Lynne and Allan, Dave pulled out the receipt that Miriam had given him for payment of the van, the receipts she had for the van’s original purchase from the dealer, plus the envelope that he’d retrieved from the locker in the van itself.
“Let’s see now,’ he said. “We’ve got here receipts from Miriam that show Barry had made payments to the caravan sales yard for a total of…. hmm…. $995 deposit and one, two, three, four progressive payments of $1000 each. O.K., so that’s near enough to $5000, as she said."
“Now,” he said, opening the envelope that he’d taken from the van. “Here we have several extra receipts, which I suspect Barry never intended Miriam to see. There are five extra receipts of $1,000 each for further payments on the van itself, plus an extra receipt for $1,995, for the purchase of a new annex. There’s another for $60 for the four heavy duty stands he’d welded on, plus another $25 for the extra 20lb. propane cylinder and fittings.
“I suspect that whilst the van may have been second-hand, as Barry had told her, it certainly hadn’t seen much use before he purchased it. And look here: There’s a current inspection certificate and registration label, both already paid for. It all adds up to a grand total of…. Just a bit over $12,000. Lynne, your dad certainly was a crafty old man. Look, I think that Miriam still got more than she deserved, but I don’t want to be unfair about this: Do you want to buy the van from me, for the same price I paid for it?”
“No, Dai. I’d already written it off in my mind, and the swift one that you pulled on Miriam makes me feel a lot better. Besides, if the van was ours we’d probably sell it anyway because it’d be unlikely we’d use it much, and we really don’t have room to keep it here permanently. What do you think, Allan?”
“I agree, love. Dai, I think you made a very good deal, though Miriam would be spitting chips if she found out what the van was really worth. So, will you tow it back home with the Crown?”
“I’d rather not. I have to collect the van tomorrow morning, but if we can leave it here until the work on my truck’s finished I’ll use that for the long haul home.”
“No problem with that,” said Alan. “Do I take it that you need to use our SUV to bring it here?”
Lynne laughed. "Oh Alan, that's really evil: You know Miriam will more than likely recognise it."
“For sure she will, especially as I’ll be driving it,” Alan deadpanned.
“Dammit, Alan! You almost made me lose my coffee!” snorted Bron as they all erupted in laughter.
“Where are you thinking of putting it when we get home?” asked Bron.
“Well, despite that it’s a trailer rather than a herd of camels; I think it should go where you might expect to see a caravan: Down at "The Oasis," replied Dave.
“Oh very droll, Dai, but I agree that it’s a brilliant idea!”
“The Oasis?” queried Lynne.
Bron explained: “Dai put in a swimming pool and built a large cabana beside it. It’s reasonably close to the house but it’s screened by palms and tropical type plants like palms, hibiscus, frangipani and bougainvillea. He and some friends built the cabana using heavy bamboo poles, and roofed it with what looks like real palm thatching. It has a toilet, shower and change room, a covered cooking area with an earth oven and barbeque, and a complete bar with a decent sized drinks fridge. It’s even got a small dance floor. Dai bought a flashing neon sign from The Oasis wine bar in town after it had closed down and it now hangs over the bar. Actually it all looks very tropical, and it’s a perfect place to unwind and relax.”
“If I put the van down there, under a cover constructed in the same way as the cabana, we could go on holidays without leaving home,” Dave quipped. “And of course you’d both be welcome to stay there whenever you like.... Provided we’re not holidaying there at the time, of course,” he laughed.
“Or the kids aren’t using it as a cubby house,” added Bron, leading the two women to a discussion about the joys, trials and tribulations of raising children.
“Seriously though, Al, you know you’d both always be welcome any at time,” said Dave.
“I think we may take you up on that fairly soon, Dai. The way things are going at the office I could use a break from the pressure that’s beginning to build up.”
Dave looked a little surprised. “Oh? I thought that things in the financial world were running pretty smoothly. At least, according to media and government reports they are.”
Alan snorted. “The MSM reports what the government wants it to report, and the public has never been really well informed about anything that goes on, politically or financially, behind the scenes. Plus too many people believe that only national issues are important and they just don’t seem to understand that what’s happening in other countries also affects us here in Australia.”
“So, should I be worried about anything in particular?” Dave asked.
“Well, I don’t think we need to hit the panic button just yet; however I'll put you on my list of people who need to be informed quickly if there are any financial crises appearing on the horizon.”
“Thanks mate, I really appreciate that,” Dave said. Thinking about the MAG he was associated with back home, he added “In fact, I think it might be a good idea for the two of us to have an in-depth chat about such things later on.”
Alan looked at him an, noting the serious look on his face, nodded his head briefly in agreement.
* * *
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