Unfinished Business: And Other Tales

By Sue Whitaker

BOOK REVIEW

"I loved this book and this series, sad that I have finished them now but I am looking forward to reading more from Sue Whitaker."-Booklover127, 5/5 stars.

• Language: English
• Publisher: ETA Publishing House
• Release date: Apr 26, 2017
• ISBN: 9781907978883

Sue Whitaker

Sue admits to being a ‘big kid’ herself and likes nothing more than walking in the rain and splashing in puddles (if no one is looking). The inspiration for most of her writing come from spending time in the North York Moors. The region where both her 'And Other Tales' short stories and the ‘And Jake Makes Three’ series of books are set. Sue is passionate about animal welfare and conservation to protect natural habitats. Her writing is compared to best selling author's such as Enid Blyton and Jeffrey Archer to name a few.

Book preview

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Unfinished Business and Other Tales!

The third in the collection of short stories centred round the captivating world of charity retail.

The tales continue with even more to charm and entertain you!

Other books by Sue Whitaker

Fiction for Children

Harry And Me

Harry and Me: Spider’s Eye View

Harry and Me: A Dangerous World

And Jake Makes Three

And Jake Makes Three in the Snow

And Jake Makes Three in the Vampires Den

And Jake Makes Three and

the Secret of Badlands

And Jake Makes Three and the

Chimney Sweep Soldiers

And Jake Makes Three and the Time

They Will Never Forget

And Jake Makes Three in Danger at Misty Cove

The Further Adventures of Mr. Wallace

Whatever Next Mr. Wallace

Fiction for all ages

Remember Remember

Another Man’s Trousers and Other Tales

Serrated Skylines and Other Tales

Mr Lonely

Dear Anyone

Sue Whitaker

Unfinished Business and Other Tales!

Unfinished Business and Other Tales

Copyright © 2012 Sue Whitaker.

This book is copyright under the Berne Convention.

The Author has asserted the right to be identified as the creator of this work. No portion of this publication may be reproduced, stored, in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form, or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise) without the prior written permission of the publisher.

This book is sold, subject to the condition that it shall not by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, resold, hired out, or otherwise circulated without the publisher’s prior written consent in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition, including the condition, being imposed on the subsequent purchaser.

All rights reserved.

British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data.

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

E-Book ISBN 978-1-907978-88-3

Paperback ISBN 978-1-907978-11-1

First Edition

Published by ETA BOOKS an imprint of

ETA PUBLISHING HOUSE LLP

22 Greenbank Road, Greenbank, Bristol,

BS5 6EY, United Kingdom

Company Registered No: OC373475

Customer Service: 0843 289 2274

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Contents

Other books by Sue Whitaker

Acknowledgements

Introduction

Unfinished Business

Trouble At ‘Mill

The Northern Soul

Hell Hath No Fury...

Affinity

The Arm Wrestler

A Certain Amount Of Notoriety

Mr Latimer

The Rhubarb Triangle

The Portrait Of Dorothea Paige

Prudence

An Auction For A Vintage Car

Daisy Fields

Solid As A Rock

Duped

Arrowroot And Old Lace

The Pull Of The Stage

The House At Brooke End

The Debonair Demon

Agatha Penrose

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Acknowledgements

I have to admit to a certain amount of eleventh hour wobbles concerning my writing, so my grateful thanks goes to Cauline Thomas-Brown, for being my guiding light during that late Friday evening conversation, and of course a massive thank you to all of the steadfast support team at ETA Publishing House.

Filtering through my recollections of memorable times, has been an enjoyable although poignant assignment. Having to choose between such a weighty bag of profound experiences however, has not been easy. Therefore, I wish to apologise to anyone I have worked with, who feels disappointed that their story was not included. Perhaps if you talk to those whom I did home in on, you may feel differently.

Everyone who has shown concern for my change in lifestyle, since I buried myself amongst work-related memories, will be aware by now that I aspire to be a successful author. Because of the support of these friends and family, I feel that I may be in with a shout. Thank you for your understanding when I miss a birthday, or I forget to ring, I still love you!

As always thank you to Matthew, the black and white thinker who is the first line of censure for everything that I write. x.

Introduction

As a charity shop manager talking and listening is a vital part of my role. The latter supplies the former in a kaleidoscope of extraordinary conversations that over the years have fascinated, intrigued and sometimes bewildered me.

In this third part of the collection of tales centred around the labyrinth of charity retail, I would like to share with you some of these thought provoking conversations, and introduce you to a few more of the diverse characters that share my obscure world. All the tales are as they were told to me, except The Debonair Demon where I used a certain amount of artistic licence to fill in the blanks.

The names of everyone involved in this collection of tales have been changed, and to protect their identity further many locations have been altered.

Unfinished Business

If he is taking ease, give him no rest.

If his forces are united, separate them.

The Art Of War

Sun Tzu

Please note no volunteers were harmed during this tale. I did a risk assessment of the cellar prior to our visit, and although there were potential trip hazards I moved them to a safe location within the cellar and any sharp objects had been removed. However, I did not expect the three ladies involved to embrace the situation with quite as much enthusiasm as they did.

During my time as a relief manager when I had travelled to different parts of the U.K. on behalf of a high-profile national charity, I had met the lady-killer’s at Pickering in Yorkshire.

These three irrepressible ladies volunteered at the charity shop in the bustling town, and on our last encounter, which I described in my previous book ‘Serrated Skylines’, they had been quick to gain the upper hand. They had at the time executed a somewhat sly plot to test my integrity, which had involved a rather amicable mouse. The mouse had unnervingly joined me in the office, and the three ladies had coerced me into attempting to kill the poor creature with a heavy wooden spoon

On first meeting the ladies, it had been my intention to utilize one of the many strategies from Sun Tzu’s ‘The Art Of War’ and split them up. By deploying them in different parts of the building, I thought the ladies would have been easier to handle. However, to my own astonishment, instead of separating them they had somehow persuaded me to join forces with them. I had been on the verge of committing murder when the ladies had scared the mouse away, looked at me triumphantly and had shouted Gotcha!

A few months passed before I was instructed to visit the shop again, but as I travelled east along the A64, towards the shop at Pickering, I had retribution on my mind; the lady-killers and I had unfinished business!

We had parted on good terms that day, and by the time we had said our farewells I had felt quite fond of the old dears, but overwhelming I felt that they had got the better of me, and I could not let the matter lie. It was payback time.

I had felt somewhat concerned on my previous visit to find the shop had resembled a meeting place for the W.I. There had been more knitting needles on the shop floor than customers, and I had felt as if I had been an inconvenient irritation that had gotten in the way of the knitting production line. Therefore I was uncertain as to what I would be welcomed with on this occasion.

As I walked through the door though, I was pleasantly surprised to find the shop, or rather the lady-killers, had tidied up their act. There was not a knitting needle in sight. The three ladies lined up by the till as if for inspection. I knew that they had been expecting me and I thought that they may quite possibly be taking the proverbial, so I was on my guard.

Good morning Ladies, I said in a determined fashion. It’s good to see you again. I trust you are all fit and well.

I received a host of amiable grunts and positive nods,