Nightmares From The Workshops III

Ivor

Mr. Willmake was enjoy the fruits of his labour, ever since the Spottiswood & Company had become a massive production line, more and more people were purchasing products from his factory, thanks to a wonderful machine named Bertha, who could make whatever the clients wished for in heartbeat, since the company was expanding more and more, a private railway was built to run between the factory and the nearby station of Barnsley, with it's own private engine, Ivor, who happily ran backwards and forewords, delivering assorted wagons, flatbeds and vans to the station, it had run smoothly for many years, until, a day in which the factory would never forget.

Mr. Willmake arrived into his factory early one morning, to meet his foreman and close friend, Mr. Duncan, there was something he needed to discuss with him.

"Good morning Mr. Duncan, what seems to be the trouble then?"
"Didn't you hear on the news? The government are taking over business like this up and down the country, a sort of privatisation scheme"
"I see, well, that is a shame"
"Aye, it will be when you have to hear what I'm about to tell you"
"Oh?"

Mr Duncan paused, he looked rather tense as he drank some water and let out the sad news.

"The government won't fund this factory until it is 100% modernized"
"Well, we shouldn't have too much of a problem then, we converted Bertha to run on electricity instead of petrol and....."
"They won't fund us unless we get rid of Ivor!"

Mr. Willmake was taken a back, he never expected to hear that.

"But Ivor has been here for years! We just can't throw hin to the scrapheap just like that! He's more reliable than any modern engine in existence!"
"Well, the boards says we won't get no funding unless Ivor goes, they wanted to have a battery engine, but I managed to convince them a diesel engine would be more reliable"
"A diesel... A DIESEL!!! I SHAN'T!!!"
"Well I hate to tell you this pal, but it's either a diesel engine or the factory closes down and Bertha gets scrapped!"

Mr Willmake put his head in his hands, he didn't want to have to choose between Ivor or Bertha, but he did want to keep his business going, these were the sort of situations he hated.

"Have the board at least given me sometime to think about it?"
"3 days"
"I see, I guess I best make my decision quickly eh?"
"Aye, poor Ivor, someone's going to have to tell him"
"I'll see to it myself Mr. Duncan, thank you for your time"
"Anytime sir"

For the rest of the day, Mr. Willmake sat in complete silence, thinking over what to do with his business, the choice between Ivor and Bertha was a horrible one, one he never wanted to make, he didn't have his lunch with the staff that day nor did he leave his office, he often looked out the window as Ivor shuffled around the yard, shunting trains together and happily puffing away with them, he also spent some time watching his other staff, packing, stacking, shipping and chatting as they did it, somehow, he could'nt bring himself to decide.

After a long day of paper work, calls and invoices, Mr. Willmake stepped out of the building to light his favourite pipe, it seemed to be the only thing constant in his life, as took the first few puffs, Panjid finished off his shift and was parking the forklift up.

"Miss McClackerty been going on about her knitting group again?"
"Excuse me?"
"You always puff your pipe after you had a stressful day and it's always...."
"Panjid, Mr. Duncan told me today that I had a difficult choice to make, I had to get rid of Ivor or shut down the factory and scrap Bertha"
"But sir, you can't! They have been here as long as you have! They are part of the family!"
"I know Panjid, it's not an easy decision to make, but, if I want to keep Spottiswood running then..."

Mr Willmake trailed off, he put the ashes of his pipe in the nearby bin, got in his car and drove off, Panjid jumped on his bike and rode off too, somehow, he knew Mr. Willmake's decision.

The next day, it rained hard, no wind blew to move the clouds along, Mr Willmake trudged up to Ivor's shed, blue macintosh and black wellies with a heavy heart, he opened the shed door to find Ivor, waking up, he was delighted to see him.

"Morning Mr. Willmake! I haven't seen you round here recently, I missed our daily chats, how have you been, I've been grand...."
"Ivor, there is something I need to tell you"
"What's that sir? Have I been really useful sir? Thank you sir! I'm glad I'm....."
"No Ivor, it's not that"
"Then have I done something wrong sir? Please sir, tell what's wrong sir"

Mr Willmake paused before letting out a huge sigh.

"Ivor, I have some sad news, the government have taken over the control of the factory, the board of directors says that unless we want to lose the factory, more over, Bertha, we are going to have to modernise"
"Does that mean....."
"Yes Ivor, I have had to let you go, I've contact the nearby scrapyard, they said they'll happily.... take care of you"
"Sir please! Please don't send me a way! I can change! I can become more modern, I'll burn oil instead of coal! Give me a chance sir! Please sir! PLEASE!!"
"Ivor, I'm sorry...."
"NO SIR! PLEASE SIR! DON'T SEND ME AWAY SIR! SIR! HELP! HELP!"

Mr. Willmake could only watch inbetween tears as, begging for his life, Ivor was towed away by sneering 08 diesel shunter.

Mr. Willmake walked into his office, closed the door and didn't move the whole day, people on the factory floor began to worry and would often check on him in between work but he said nothing, he just stared into the distance, cold, silent, like had sold his soul and now, was just the shell.

When the new engine arrived, a class 08, Mr. Willmake tried to make conversation with her but she just sniffed at him, like he wasn't good enough for her, the factory got the funding it needed and Bertha kept on working to her full potential but, something changed, Mr. Willmake wasn't the same person.

He became depressed, started turning to the bottle all the time, he was often thrown out of the factory by Mr Duncan, who the board decided to put in charge instead, everything Mr. Willmake had worked for had been taken away from him.

He disappeared from his house one thick foggy night, he didn't tell his wife or leave a not, he just vanished, people around Barnsley started spreading rumours about his disappearance, some say he drowned in the nearby river, other say he jumped into the factories furness, but whatever the case, the whereabouts of Mr. Willmake's body, to this day, is still a mystery.