Mable And Her Magic Ways- Chapter 5

 Mable And Her Magic Ways

A Novel

By Paul McCann

Chapter 5 

 

Mable And The Wine Labels  

Day after day the same thing kept running through her head . Its better to be alive that being left behind with the  dead . She had a destiny unknown , an answer that was shown in how she applied herself to every task or every ask that was made of her by all of her friends and acquaintances  . She had always been a giver and a go getter who made the difference on other peoples lives . Mable practised self-sacrifice and when there was nothing left to give that’s when was able to find a little bit  more and when that was gone, she found even more than before . If ever someone needed a friend or someone to help.  Mable was the one who would come ready and able to do the job with all the bells and whistles attached and the lights flashing like a beacon of hope or a rescue team . Her calling wasn’t easy because she could never say no and so she took on every call that came . Her middle name was Hope with a  capital H so when all hope was gone, she would be the one to say let’s have another go together and we’ll take a good hold of the rope and pull together with all our strength to get it over the line . That’s why so many could rely on Mable so if things looked dim or when someone was under the thumb . or when the mind went numb in she would come with all her fury and passion , like a ship tossed in the sea , her ability to remain calm in the eye of the storm was uncanny .She was born with a right to claim her life and bring change to the game , fuel to the fire , an answer to the question , a release to grief be it brief or prolonged , her time was now and how ever it could be done , she was there with buckets full in both hands to refill the  emptiness to any hole that needed to be refilled or to provide information that had been over killed to anyone , anywhere , anytime . Nothing was ever too hard , or too much trouble for her and she would be the one to prop others up who had been pulled down or stripped bare  or thrown under a bus and abandoned . Mable was there , the hope of the side , the super sub , the in between , the one who was never too busy because she would find a way to make time .

So when there was a knock at the door at four in the morning she immediately got out of bed to open up the door where she found Mr Locke the local wine merchant  standing there with a look of despair on his face and the weight of the world on his shoulders and his knees shaking and voice breaking with a trembling tone as he said

“Mable are you able to give some help today ?”

“Of course, Mr Locke tell me what it is you need to be done “

I have a thousand bottles of my best wine that someone had labelled wrong and there’s  only a few hours to get the job done as the truck is on its way to collect the wine from my shed to be put on a ship for the manager of an exclusive holiday resort who has had a booking for one thousand very wealthy people who will be attending a huge wedding and the labels that were placed on my finest wine are for the cheapest wine on the market . I am very embarrassed that this incident had happened so close to the shipment being collected and I have no one else to help me . Luckily, I just discovered the mistake about an hour ago when I saw one of the cartons had not been sealed properly . “

Mable said ,

“Of course I can help you with this problem . Come in while I get changed and then I’ll be on my way to your shed . That’s an awful thing to have happened Mr Locke . Sounds as if it was done on purpose if you ask me “

Mr Locke replied ,

“I have many competitors who would like to put a shame on my name and would laugh at my embarrassment . The people who were to receive this wine are well known in the industry and if they saw the label  Simply Scrumpy  on the bottles I was ready to send they would return the shipment back to me and buy another product as a replacement from one of my competitors , Apart from being a very embarrassing situation I’m sure I would never get an order from them again   “

Mable now dressed in her overalls and hat was ready to go and said ,

“Ok let’s get the right labels on the bottles and get them shipped out in time  “

“You’re a life saver Mable . Actually, I didn’t know where to go or who to ask  and then I found your details on a card you left after you finished some artworks on my barrels of wine  at last year’s Lunasa spring flower festival . You had mentioned if ever I needed someone to help you would always be there .So here I am in need of your help. ”

Mr Locke said .

“You know Mr Locke , I’m always here to help. So, what do I need to do ?

 

Mable replied and he looked at her with desperation and said  .

 

“I have about a thousand bottles of a very rare vintage wine and they all need to be relabelled with the proper labels . ?”

“So, we need to take off the wrong labels and put on the right ones ?

Mable replied  and he answered .

 

“That’s what needs to happen but I’ve only got a few hours before the truck arrives ?
 Came the reply .

 

“Well, I think I can provide at least one hundred gang members from around the city who can help us with this , if each one of the gangs can do ten of your new wine labels, then the jobs done and dusted “

 

“Sounds great but we still have to take off the wrong labels from the bottles?”

Saif Mr Locke .

 

Mable replied

”I have this solution that I use when I need to remove old paint from walls before I do an artwork . It’s like a strong acid . It will easily remove those labels in seconds without harming the bottle or the wine inside . Then after we dip the bottles in that solution, we just need to rinse the bottles and dry them off before putting on the correct wine labels “

 

Mr Locke seemed relieved and he said ,

“Ho much of this acid would it take to remove all the  labels ?
 He asked.

Mable thought before giving him her reply .

 

“A thimble full per bottle so most probably one thousand thimblefuls which might be around ten litres give or take a litre or two and I have 50 litres of the stuff in a storage shed near here in one of the old stables .So we can pick that up on the way ?”

 

“I don’t know how I can ever repay you but I’ll do my best to make it worth your while and I’ll reward each of the people who you bring to help .“

 

“’No problem, Mr Locke . Let’s get started . As I don’t have a car , you’ll have to bring me to some of the places where the gang leaders live and they’ll be able to get us a lot of their members to get this job done ?”

 

“You’re amazing Mable “:

Said the wine merchant and Mable looked at him for a moment and then she said .

 

“It’s all about action and no reaction Mr Locke when trouble comes knocking at your door and I’m lucky to know a lot of people who can make the wheels turn around .”

 

Within the hour Mable had secured well over a hundred members from the street  gangs who were already hard at work removing and cleaning up all the bottle for relabelling and like a well-oiled machine the job was done in no time at all . A shipment of the best wine with their proper labels all packed in new cartons on board the truck that was on its way to the docks to be put on a ship for delivery to the fancy resort . After the work was done it was party time .

Mr Locke provided the drinks and food free of charge and everyone there was happy Mable looked at everyone there and thought to herself .

 

“This is magic “

 

End Of Chapter 5

 

Link to chapter 6

.https://www.abctales.com/story/mcscraic/mable-and-her-magic-ways-chapter-6

 Mable And Her Magic Ways

A Novel

By Paul McCann

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