This is based on a true story from a journal I wrote in 1976. I had been offered a job to drive across Europe. This was a planned trip which would terminate in Singapore and included camping across Europe and traveling in a 1966 Ford Comet. The car and the camping became quite a journey. The man I was driving for was wanted by the police and was actually on the run-not that I was aware of any of these things until I arrived back in the UK. There was a third party, who came as a paying passenger. The journey was terminated in Athens due to the fact that the man I was driving for had been fraudulently drawing money from banks as we crossed Europe. I considered it to dangerous to go into the Middle East. The third party and I went to the Greek islands and then traveled back home by ferry and bus.

Circumstances Unforeseen

By Alan Springall

BALBOA PRESS

Copyright © 2012 Alan Springall
All right reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-4525-4395-6

Chapter One

After losing my fiancée to another man, I was very depressed and did not have much interest in anything. My life insurance business was not enough to keep me occupied. My doctor prescribed some anti depressants, this was okay, but I could not seem to get my life back on track.

Then one very hot day feeling low and depressed, I took a couple of pills and tried to go to sleep. This did not work, so I proceeded to work in my parents' garden thinking this would expend some energy and make me tired so I could relax and maybe go to sleep later in the afternoon.

My neighbour saw me and wondered what I was doing, working at such an alarming rate, in the crazy heat of the day.

After doing a huge amount of work, I became very thirsty, and went into the house for a drink. I was unaware that the heat exhaustion and dehydration had taken effect. The telephone rang and I answered it. But whoever it was, were unable to understand me because my speech had become very slurred.

My parents were visiting at their friend's house, and for some reason, my dad decided to come home instead of staying late for a drink. This was a very unusual decision for him to make as he never refused a drink with his old school pal, Gordon.

They arrived at our door just as I was trying to answer the phone but I was on the floor and it was very difficult for them to get in. Dad took the phone from me and spoke to whoever it was on the other end. He then called my mother's brother from next door to carry me into the front room, and to help put me on the couch.

They called an ambulance not knowing what the problem was. Mom came in the ambulance with me and the attendant quizzed her to find out all he could so as to relate to the emergency staff what action to take. I was not coherent during all this and was rolling the attendant's sleeve up and down as he was carefully restraining me. I have no recollection of the events that followed, only what my mother told me at a later date ...

It was quite a night in the hospital, and it seemed that I was not allowed to go to sleep for a very long time. The nurse kept waking me up and asking my name and where I came from. It was not until morning that I was left alone to sleep in peace. When I awoke later that evening, there was a gentleman sitting by my bed, and he asked me how I was feeling and he told me he had to ask me a lot of questions.

The long sleep had brought me back to the reality of what had happened to me. I told him that I felt fine and he proceeded to tell me that it was very dangerous to take any drugs of this nature and work in the heat.

My cheating ex-fiancée came to see me. This was a real surprise as we had broken up some weeks before. I thanked her for thinking of me but said "I do not want to see you again". Being a nurse in the hospital, she probably found out that I was there

Later that evening, my dad came to take me home. My father, as strict as he was, did not ask any questions about the incident. It was tough but I persuaded Dad to come with me to the nurse's quarters to retrieve my engagement ring,

My ex fiancée was not surprised, especially since I had already told her that I did not want to see her again. She gave the ring up without any fuss. We left the hospital and all Dad would talk about was business. He was very sure that with my carpentry skills, there would be many things I could turn my hand to. It was great to get back home and was as if a huge weight had been lifted I had listened very intently to my father all the way home and decided that he was. Very right, and I should venture back into carpentry.

I looked in the paper every day but did not see any jobs that was of interest to me as a carpenter However, what I did see was, a driver was wanted to drive an artist to Singapore. This was a very appealing premise, as I loved adventure and travel.

When I spoke to mother about it, she said, "Apply if you think you would like to do that. You have nothing to lose, many people will apply but someone has to get the job".

The advertisement only gave a post office box number to apply. After writing a long letter explaining why it would be the perfect job for me, I drove to Southampton to take my application directly to the newspaper. I drove home confident that my chance of getting this job was good and it cheered me up. Having gone through such turmoil over the past few weeks, my spirits were now very high and more positive ...

Chapter Two

Five days after posting my letter, the phone rang and it was the man who had placed the advertisement. All this time, my mom said "don't worry he probably has many replies and was taking his time going through them".

The man's name was Brian Turner. He told me that 126 men had applied for the position. He told me that he was going to read and re-read all the letters then phone all those who he thought would be most suitable for the job. After doing this, he would make a short list of 26 and interview all of them. Should he decide to add my name to the list, he would call me again for a meeting. A week went by, and then I got a call asking me to see him at his house. It began to get interesting, because I now had a very good chance of getting the job.

He lived in a small council apartment (rented government accommodation), not the sort of place you would imagine someone would live in, when you think of the expense he was going to incur going to Singapore by car.

When Brian answered the door, I was even more surprised: He was average looking with very thick glasses and stocky build. He was and in his sixties, had grey curly hair, very bushy eyebrows and looked unshaven.

His place was unclean and untidy with and all kinds of books and magazines and paintings scattered around ... "Come in", he said, "Be careful of the paintings". Before he asked about me, he was telling me how he was an artist and that was how he makes his living.

He mentioned that his eyesight was failing and that this was going to be his last big trip, one final fling while he could still have fun and enjoy it. "This was the grand final of trips for me," he said.

"I have wanted to do this for many years and now this will be my last big one". Do you mind camping so we will have to travel as inexpensively as we can? I told him that was Ok with me. Then he asked. "For such a long trip do you have a working knowledge of cars? I assured him that I did. He went on and said, "I would be more comfortable knowing that minor problems could be fixed on route. I would like to carry a small amount of items to make small repairs if needed".

During the interview, Brian made me a cup of tea which was not very good. So it would appear that from what I observed, his vision and coordination were very bad. Considering that, I imagined how he could produce such beautiful paintings. At least that was my opinion. However I am not a very good judge, of art anyway.

One week later he called and was got right to the point, saying "do I want the job?" Without hesitation, I said "yes". We made arrangements to meet this time to discuss the trip and when we would be leaving plus all the things we would need for the long trip. The adventure was now a reality and my mind was very focused on the trip. Between our meetings to finalize the details, I had to think about what to take. I would not need warm clothes, as we would be in a warm climate for the duration of our journey....