Stories by Margery Kenyon
CAR BOOT SALE
11th April
7.00 a.m. to 12 Noon
Brookbank Playing Fields
Stalls : £7.50
Helen took note of this advertisement. She was definitely going to make
an effort to go to this sale. It would be her third one so far and she
hadn't done too badly at the last one, since she had made over £40.00.
"Got shut of loads of clutter!" she thought to herself. She had once
read a famous quote by William Morris in a magazine, which said: "Have
nothing in your house that you do not know to be useful, or believe to
be beautiful." Helen was determined to stick to this.
Helen's small 1920s terraced house was now looking so much tidier since
the last sale, but she still had lots of bric-a-brac to sell,
particularly an unremarkable little blue dish and a set of three wooden
elephants bought for her during a friend's holiday to India many years-
ago. No doubt she would be fetching them home again because they were
ugly, cumbersome, badly carved and mismatched. No wonder nobody was ever
attracted to them.
But despite this, Helen was really looking forward to the sale's venue
at Brookbank Fields. Due to popular demand, the sale's organisers had
arranged for another, larger, field to be used, one that was complete
with refreshment stalls, shady trees and toilets, which would be a
welcome change. There was sure to be a good turnout.
The day of the sale came. It had been raining all night, but had stopped
before sunrise. Helen hoped that the day would stay dry because rain
always put people off car boot sales. The night before the sale, she had
loaded all her things into the boot and was confident that she was as
fully prepared as she could. Helen was sure that her stall was going to
be definitely more attractive this time because when she went looking at
the other stalls at the last boot sale their displays looked far more
inviting than hers. Helen was resolved to go all out to make hers very
special indeed.
Helen's mother had given her some pretty white lace covers to drape over
the stall, which was actually an old pasting board. She put the
bric-a-brac, including the blue dish and set of elephants, at one end,
and several pieces of her grandmother's old jewellery, mainly brooches,
displayed on pieces of cardboard covered in the black velvet, in the
centre of her stall. The stones in the brooches were mounted in gold and
silver settings and immediately stood out against the deep black of the
velvet. It made for a very striking focal point. At the other end of her
stall, Helen placed some highly decorative cushion covers, lavender bags
and bookmarks - all handmade. Her stall was, indeed, beginning to look
very unique. Margaret, the girl on the next stall to Helen's, was
selling toys and they both agreed that they would look after each
other's stalls during the day if they needed the call of nature!
And so the sale began. It was a slow start at first. Helen sold only a
couple of brooches in the first hour and a half. She was pleased that
the jewellery was popular, but the numbers at the sale - and the
interest in her stall -didn't really begin to pick up until after 9.00
a.m. when a young couple began to take an interest in that unremarkable
little blue dish. As the woman examined it, the man asked Helen its
price and she told him that she would be happy to part with it for 50p,
but they put it back on the table and walked away and Helen thought
nothing more of it. She asked Margaret to look after the stall while she
went for a coffee. When Helen returned, she was stunned as Margaret told
her that she had a big surprise for her. She handed Helen a £20 note and
told her that the young couple who had been at her stall earlier looking
at the blue dish, had come back and bought it. Helen still didn't know
what was so special about that dish, especially since it didn't look
particularly remarkable and wasn't even stamped.
Helen had certainly underestimated her stall, but despite having a big
sale that day, didn't manage to shift those ugly elephants. Helen
finished the day in profit and in high spirits and she was already
looking forward to her next boot sale.
By Margery Kenyon