Fun in the Snow

The bus needed a new coat of paint and, as we were going to make changes to the signwriting, it was a blessing in disguise. So financially we were in pretty good shape.

We had begun to attract more customers and found it necessary to employ a driver to cover for us while we took the group for their annual trip to the snow.

Someone once said; 'Oh what a tangled web we weave when first we set out to deceive.' That proved to be the case for Roderick. As a result of his disastrous trading record, he had taken steps to recoup the monies lost, illegal steps. Some of these involved tapping into his former boss' accounts and syphoning money from funds that were seldom traded, transactions that he thought would go un-noticed. He had also borrowed money from criminal sources that he had no hope of repaying. It came as no great surprise that he should be tried and found guilty of fraud, and sentenced to several additional years in prison.

Unfortunately for him, one of the criminals that he owed money to decided to cut his losses. A visit to an inmate associate who would not taste freedom any time soon, and in exchange for extra privileges, Roderick Hammond met with a 'fatal accident' in the prison laundry. Word filtered to the authorities, and as a result, no investigation was carried out.

There was a drama when his estate came up for probate. A woman, claiming to have been his mistress for the past three years, lodged an application to contest his Will.

"There is nothing to contest." His solicitor told her. "He was deeply in debt and his assets are not sufficient to repay those."

"But he had an insurance policy and he told me that I was listed as the sole beneficiary."

"We have the policy documentation here and your name does not appear as a beneficiary, in fact the sole beneficiary, according to this, is his former wife Bethany."

"No! He swore to me that he had changed it. That money is mine!"

"The documentation that we have, his last Will and Testament, and the Insurance Policy documents, do not support your contention that you were his mistress, and that he had left you any money. Unless you can provide us with legally binding evidence of your entitlement, we can only act on what we have before us."

"So what you're telling me is that the bastard left me nothing!!"

"Without you producing contradictory evidence, that is what I am telling you." She stormed out.

"I thought something like this would happen." He looked at our puzzled expressions. "Somehow the guy that organised his demise got wind of the insurance policy. Access to that was the only way that he could recoup any of his losses. I think that we'll find that she was hired for this charade, as far as I can tell, she and Roderick had never met."

"I don't want any of this money." Bethany told him. "Would it be possible for me to give it, all of it, to my father, after all Roderick did steal from him?"

"I don't know if I can do that without attracting the attention of the authorities, but I'll try."

"Even if you can't, I do not need the money, I do not want the money, Peter and I are happy as we are."

Bethany was the last to climb on board, and after everyone had sat down she picked up the mike. "Welcome guys, I am Bethany, but you know that, Bethany Porter, yes we," she indicated me and herself, "are married." This brought applause and cheering from the group. "I am your Tour Leader for this trip. Any problems, not that there will be any, that may occur, come and see me. And, I have to inform you that this will be the last time that we will be conducting this trip." (This was news to me.) "I have to protect our interest." ('Our'? What is this 'our'? [Our: def. 1st person plural possessive pronoun].) "I haven't told Peter this, but there is no way that I am going to let him run this trip on his own next year." She saw the puzzled expression on my face, I didn't have a clue as to what she was talking about. She reached for my hand and placed it on her belly. She saw understanding on my face and nodded. "I found out this morning that we are going to have a baby."

There was more applause and clapping, even after she strapped herself into her usual seat behind me and I somehow managed to get my act together and get us under way.

Our lunch stop at Bordertown was a total shambles. We were showered with congratulations from all of her old friends, and Roger announced that he had made the arbitrary decision that we would stay with them at the B&B. "We can't have the three of you freezing your butts off in the driver accommodation while we are living in the lap of luxury."

Everyone agreed and, despite our not very strong, and for the sake of appearance, objections, we 'reluctantly' accepted their offer.

Dare I say it; there was now a whole new dimension to this week of fun in the snow.