Page 45 of Bea's Book Wagon
‘Oh,’ said Bea, feeling slightly disappointed.
‘Ah, I said most Penny Reds are fairly common,’ said Arthur, his eyes glinting excitedly.
‘And this one wasn’t?’
‘No, it wasn’t. It was a Plate 77, which is incredibly rare. You can count the ones left in existence on one hand.’
‘Wow! So, it was worth a lot then?’
‘If you call £250,000 a lot?’ Arthur shrugged.
‘Sorry, a quarter of a million pounds?’ said Bea, her mouth hanging open. ‘For a stamp?’
‘For a stamp,’ Arthur nodded.
‘But that’s crazy.’
‘That’s antiques for you, Beatrice.’
‘It must have set you up for life?’
‘Oh, I didn’t keep the money,’ said Arthur, shaking his head.
‘Why not?’
‘It would have felt dishonest. I gave that widow what I thought was a fair price for her husband’s collection; neither of us knew the Penny Red was there. I wasn’t going to fiddle her out of what was rightfully hers. It would have been wrong.’
‘Oh, Arthur,’ said Bea, blowing out through her lips. ‘That was so kind of you, I’m not sure other dealers would have done the same.’
‘That may be true, but I wouldn’t have slept a wink if I’d kept that stamp for myself.’
‘You’re a good person, Arthur,’ said Bea, her heart swelling with admiration for the elderly gentleman sat with her.
‘The widow did give me twenty-five thousand as a thank you, so I still did well out of the deal.’
‘Here we go, Arthur, tea and cake,’ said Tori, setting down a tray. ‘I couldn’t help overhearing your story and, well, wow.’
‘I know, it was so exciting to find it,’ said Arthur, beaming. ‘Now, how much do I owe you?’ he asked, pulling out his wallet.
‘These are on the house,’ said Tori, ‘on one condition.’
‘Oh?’ replied Arthur.
‘You have to come back again. I’d love to hear about the other treasures you’ve discovered,’ said Tori.
‘Of course!’ laughed Arthur. ‘It would be my pleasure.’
* * *
‘I’m serious, Nate, I can’t believe how amazing these look!’ said Bea, running a hand along the handmade shelves he was carefully screwing to the internal walls of the wagon.
‘They’ll look even better when they’re painted and full of books,’ said Nathan.
‘It’s unrecognizable,’ said Bea, ‘I still can’t believe we’ve finished it.’
‘We haven’t,’ said Nathan, ‘there’s still a bit to do—’
‘I got a few days free before my next shift at the Cosy Cat and I plan to spend it painting and shopping for soft furnishings and accessories.’
