The Daily Dormouse. (aka Bike, est. 2007) Part 2648 by Angharad Copyright© 2015 Angharad

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This is a work of fiction any mention of real people, places or institutions is purely coincidental and does not imply that they are as suggested in the story.
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It was after lunch when James got back to me asking if it was safe to phone. I’d sent the email via my Black Berry so it wasn’t recorded on anything at the university.

“Your unfriendly Audi is registered to one Quentin Trollope.”

“And?”

“You want chapter and verse?”

“Just the juicy bits.”

“He’s divorced, two kids aged seven and nine, lives with his girlfriend and has a kid by her, a girl aged three.”

“Financial status?”

“He leases the car, costs him nearly five hundred a month, has two mortgages worth about four hundred and fifty K. Works for Lomas and Grey as a freelance computer consultant. Earns sixty K per annum. One of his mortgages is with High St. You gonna pull the plug.”

“What does his girlfriend do?”

“Sandie Tulloch, she doesn’t seem to do much, freelance photographer but not listed as paying any sort of tax or national insurance. Looks after her kid, I suppose.”

“That can be a full time job in itself, believe me.”

“I bow to your superior knowledge not being the maternal sort myself.”

“Don’t you mean, paternal?”

“That would only mean I had a small part in it.”

I groaned at his ancient joke.

“Ooh that’s interesting...”

“What is?” James can be quite infuriating at times.

“He owes a few grand on his cards. So you gonna sink him?”

“No, it would adversely affect two women and three children who had nothing to do with it.”

“You’re too soft, Cathy.”

“It’s not a question of being hard or soft rather of being just and moral. His family would suffer as much if not more than him, besides it would be illegal to cause someone’s mortgage to be called in because you don’t like them.”

“Yeah, I suppose you’re right. I’ll send you chapter and verse anyway seeing as you’ve paid for it. What did the plod have to say?”

“I haven’t spoken with them.”

“When did it happen?”

“About a quarter to nine.”

“Hang on, searching the council CCTV, they monitor all these roundabouts for traffic flow. Oh nice one—it was eight forty one and he clearly cuts you up. I’m copying it on to a disc for you and requesting the official copy for the police. You can see his and your number plates quite clearly. You were really lucky you didn’t get hit by something unsighted coming round the other side of the roundabout.”

“Yeah, that was magic.”

“Oh Cathy that was as bad as my old joke, Magic Roundabouts—it’s awful.”

“So what d’you think?”

“I hope he’s better with ’puters than he is a driver or his clients would all be suspected of receiving stolen goods. I’ll report it to the police on your behalf and tell them to check out the CCTV and see what happens. He could be done for dangerous driving or at least cautioned.”

“That would suffice, the caution, I mean.”

“What you don’t want to see him pleading with the courts for clemency?”

“No, I just want to be able to go to work and do so safely especially when I have children in the car.”

“You’re too soft, go for the death sentence.”

“I have to go, James, some of us have to work for a living.”

“How come a conservationist can live in an ivory tower?”

“Got a special dispensation from Nellie the Elephant.”

Delia announced the others had arrived for another meeting, this time about the survey. Two staff from Bournemouth University’s ecology course had arrived and I asked Delia to make us all a nice cuppa.

They asked if I could do my dormouse talk to raise money for a conservation project they were undertaking. I clarified what they meant. They’d heard from Sussex that the outtakes were more fun than the documentary about dormice. I enquired about dates and they were hoping I could do one at the end of June. Unfortunately, I was available so agreed to do it—at least it didn’t clash with the TdF.

We dealt with some aspects of the survey they were finding difficult and after we’d talked it through I agreed to go there and talk to their entire team. Bournemouth isn’t my favourite place, a traffic nightmare, but it seemed the only way to sort out the problems they were having. Reluctantly, I agreed to go the following week—we were busy with exams, but I wasn’t due to invigilate any so apart from one morning teaching a revision session on the Tuesday, Monday was a bank holiday, I would be in the office the whole week.

I’ll have to be careful not to let the girls know I’m off to Bournemouth, they’ll go nuts to miss out on a trip there. I put it in my diary for the Wednesday and told Delia to blank out the day.

“You asked me to remind you that you have to go to London to report to the minister and the EU, it’s not until July but you said you’d need a few weeks to write it.”

“The wages of sin,” I sighed.

“What?” she gasped.

“When you sup with the devil, you have to pay for the meal.”

“Is it that bad?”

“I don’t know, the last time they settled for a written report and a conference report, this time they seem to want both the written and my presence to read it to them—explain the long words like parasite—nah they’ll know that one already.”

“You are so funny, Professor.”

“Yep, I got the chair temporarily because I was tired after several years of stand-up.”

“You had to stand up—didn’t they have enough chairs?”

“Delia, I know that you’re nowhere near as green as the grass you hide behind. So stop the wind-up before I decide not to award you a place on next year’s course.”

“What?” she gasped.

“I’m inviting you to study ecology at this ’ere university.”

“But I can’t afford the fees, Professor.”

“I’m arranging for a scholarship.”

“Oh wow, can I think about it?”

“Wait for the letter it’ll give you all the details. It should be sent in the next few days but I’ll need to know within two weeks if you’re up for it so we can offer it to someone else if you decline it.”

I saw tears running down her cheeks.

“Are you all right?”

“I’m like, blown away—no one has ever had confidence in me to do something like this before. I’m just overwhelmed. Thank you so much for considering me.”

“Delia, I’ve watched you for several months now, I’m also aware that you sneak into lectures when you think it’s quiet, you asked to come mousing with us, plus you are interested in what we do here—beyond that necessary to be my secretary. So I’d like to see you do the degree even if you decided afterwards you didn’t want to see another dormouse as long as you lived.”

“I don’t think that’s likely, Professor. It was your dormouse film that made me want to know more about the creatures and seeing you teach a couple of times—it made me wish I was a student here, even though I’m not clever enough.”

“You’re as bright as any of the others out there and more so than some. So think on it carefully, I may not be in this office next year, so won’t be able to influence the offer a second time.”

“Would that mean I’d only get the money for the first year?”

“No, providing you met the standard throughout the course, the scholarship would be payable through the entire thing.”

She sniffed with happiness and I felt pleased for her. Even if she doesn’t accept the offer of the place, she’ll feel valued for her mind, which might be the first time she’s experienced it.

I told her to switch the phones over to Pippa and go home early, then I went off to collect the kids.