and set to, with a will.
It was fun, and that was all Jade wanted from Walter.
Sated, he insisted on returning home, even though Jade would have loved for him to stay the evening.
‘Perhaps next time.’
Rani joined her at the breakfast table. ‘You two certainly enjoyed yourselves last night. I felt the walls shake.’
‘We weren’t that loud, besides the walls are thick. They don’t shake.’
‘Says you! I must have a go at this sex thing some time.’
‘Wait until you finish your studies. Then I’ll help you let your hair down.’
‘I think I’ll wait for marriage. I’m not like you; I don’t have a big dowry.’
Jade looked at her watch. ‘Well, I’d better get ready to go. I don’t want to let the barman down after all the trouble he went to for me.’
* * *
Jade located the premises of Haskins and Green, Auctioneers, in a great barn of a building, tucked off the main road, in a dusty alley.
The area had, at one time, been the hub of the city, but now consisted of small manufacturing firms, sharing the streets with shops, that fought for a few customers, with cheap office space on the floors above.
At a small, cluttered office, located just inside giant metal roller doors of the warehouse, Jade found Mr Peter Haskins.
He was a middle-aged man wearing a cheap suit, his tie askew and badly scuffed shoes. Welcoming Jade with a cheery grin and a firm shake of the hand, he led her into the heart of the vast space.
‘It will be good to have a woman work here for a change. It might raise the tone of the place,’ he laughed. ‘Our friend says you’re well qualified. What can you do?’
Jade looked around at the piles of goods, stacked nearly to the ceiling of the factory. She felt totally intimidated by what she saw around her, it was like nothing she had ever seen before, an Aladdin’s Cave of seemingly decrepit goods.
‘I have a degree in accountancy, and a degree in art history.’
‘Shit! Oh! Excuse me!’ exclaimed Peter Haskins. He took a deep breath, and continued, ‘Well, let’s go for a wander, and I’ll explain some things to you.’
He led her between the towering stacks of goods of all description. ‘This is the receiving, and storage area of our operation. On the main street, we have our rooms where the goods can be viewed prior to auction, and where the actual auctions take place. My partner Doug Green takes care of that side of the operation. He also looks after the company’s books, so I don’t think you’ll be needing your accountancy degree.’
‘What would you want me to do then?’
Peter Haskins turned to Jade, and spread his arms wide.
‘What I need, is someone to help me go through all this.’
‘All of it?’
‘All this and more. What we have here is the result of bargain buying, by my partner, over the past few years. Much of it came to us as bulk lots of goods, either from deceased or bankrupt estates. I spend all my day sifting through, sorting the dross from the treasures. Most of the time Doug picks his product well. He makes sure the family were well-connected, or wealthy, so the chances of picking up something worthwhile are better than even money.’
‘I don’t know if even my art education will be of help. I could probably recognise a work of art, but most of the items I see around me don’t come under that heading.’
‘Excellent! You pass the test!’
‘What?’
‘You’re not expected to know; I’m going to teach you. If you stay here as long as I have, you might be able to call yourself mildly able. Even I get it wrong sometimes. I’ve thrown out things that have turned out to be precious, and put things up for auction that proved to be worthless, or worse — fake. I’ll teach you what to look out for, your education in art will help you develop an eye for quality, and when you find something, you’ll bring it to me for a second opinion, and gradually, we’ll work our way through the clutter.’
Jade looked around. ‘It looks like I’ve got a job for life.’
‘So you’ll help me? You won’t mind the dust and dirt?’
‘I’d like to give it a try. It could be interesting.’
‘Good girl. Let’s get started.’
Peter Haskins explained that when Doug Green called on estate sales, he made a habit of dealing directly with the executors, sometimes offering them a reasonable sum for the entire contents of the estate. Buying that way, he was often able to obtain a sizable reduction in price for the purchase of the entire estate, because they were able to get rid of items that would normally not be worthy of sale, and by selling it in a single sale, they were saving themselves the time, and effort, of selling the items individually. Once purchased, it was up to Peter Haskins to assess the contents of their purchase.
Jade was shown a large formal dining setting.
‘What do you make of this?’ asked Peter.
Jade regarded the setting. The chairs had stuffing hanging out of the worn covering of their seats, the polish showed many scratches, and scrapes. It looked old, and tired.
‘It looks old enough to be antique, but no one will buy it in that condition.’
‘And what about this one over here?’ he indicated another setting.
‘It looks the same as the other one. They’re both in bad condition.’
‘Yes they are. The first one is oak, and we may be able to sell the wood to a wood yard. The second is mahogany, and, with a little loving care, will be able to be restored. Not as good as new, but better, as an antique, and therefore, much more expensive than new.’
‘How will I know?’
‘First, I’ll teach you the different woods, and then second, I’ll show you what to look for in the way it’s constructed. That will give you a hint to its age, and maker, and once we know who made it, and when, then we can set a possible price to it. Once we know what it should be worth, we’ll be able decide if it’s worth spending the money to restore it. There’s no point in spending money on an object if we can’t recover our costs at the time of sale.’
‘Do you do the restorations?’
‘No. We send it away to be done by experts. A bad restoration is worse than no restoration at all. And when you go over a piece of furniture, make sure you do it thoroughly, I’ll show you how to look for secret drawers in desks, wardrobes, and all sorts of things. Grandfather clocks are a particularly good place to find hidden goods.’
‘What sort of things are we looking for?’
‘It could be anything from a coin, to a piece
