The Peter Charles - 51. Chapter 51

We spent the day in the village and had lunch at a quaint cafe. The boys watched a fishing boat come in with cod fish. They noticed that they had to hand carry the fish to unload the boat compared to how we did it. They smiled as they watched an old woman who was talking to the boys. When she found out that we were from America and were going to Scotland on a fishing boat, she started to tell them tales about the fishing village’s old days. The boys were fascinated and Charles went and got her a bag of shrimp as a thank you. She was very appreciative and she showed it to one of the men. “Look, what this generous boy gave me, and you my son, want to charge me for a small fish.”

From the way man was laughing, I knew she was joking. She later introduced him as her son to the boys. That left the gate open for a lot of questions. Glen and I watched from the bridge until Scott said that dinner was ready. We blew the horn, the boys looked and I guess Scott or Steve made some jester as to eat. The boys said goodbye and came on board. “Wash your hands, then we can eat.”

While we were eating, “Dad, can we fish before going into Scotland. They said their fish were cod, isn’t that what they use to make fish and chips?”

“Yes, cod is a very good white fish. Top dollar in England, I don’t know about Scotland. But I guess we can find out.”

The next morning we left to cross the Atlantic Ocean heading to Scotland. We were about twelve miles off the coast of Canada, when we dropped the nets. We fished there for two days, ended up having one hold full and the other hold half full. Charles said he had a full hold of shrimp and a full hold of lobster. The boys smiled, Steve told them to clean three of the cod fish and he would cook them for dinner. Charles ears picked right up, he got a crab bucket and told them to put the entails and head in the bucket. It took us five days to cross the Atlantic. When we were one day out, Shawn contacted Callum to tell him where we were and when we expected to make the marina at Holy Lock.

The cod was excellent, Steve said it was popular dish at the restaurant where he worked before he was fired. I couldn’t figure out why was fired, he said they got a new manager who didn’t like the fact that he was helping the chef. He told him he was hired to wash dishes and that’s what he should be doing. He got caught helping the chef after being told that. He was fired. “The funny thing was that the chef quit also. He had another job lined up and was waiting for the right time. The owner had to come and cook, they hired another dishwasher, an older woman.”

I called the marina and booked us a slip, I told the boys we’d be going in about midnight so they should get some sleep. I told Nicky and Charles to go and get some sleep, as well. I took over the wheel.

Arriving at night, I had to use our lights to steer the boat in. Glen went and dropped the anchor and then tied up the lines. I turned off the engines, switched to DC, and made sure the chests were also switched to DC. When the boys woke in the morning they were surprised to see Callum sitting at the table. He came in late last night, I think he was waiting for us since the phone call. His dad was with him, I made coffee. Scott and Steve started breakfast. The boys were excited and the level of noise went up a few notches.

After breakfast I asked Callum’s dad about selling the cod. He said there was a market not too far, and he’d help to sell what we had. “Cod is a good fish and a lot of people pay good money for it. How many do you have?”

The boys began to laugh, “Dad, I’ll show him.” I watched Callum’s dad expressions when they showed him the holds.

“Alban, are there fish markets that might want to buy the cod, we’d be here for a long time selling these one at a time?”

He scratched his head, then he smiled, he made a few phone calls. I didn’t know what was going on. We waited about two hours when trucks started to show up. Evidently there is a business association of which a lot of the markets are members . I guess it’s something like our Grange for the farmers.

One of the trucks had a scale, I let Alban handle the business. We sold them all except five which he wanted for his pub. After all of the trucks left, Alban went and rented a bus to take us to his pub. But before we could go, the boys cleaned the fish, and Charles put the shrimp and lobster in the chests we bought for them. Callum was all smiles and Alban was surprised when we loaded everything into the bus. Glen helped me move the empty chests into the galley, locked the doors and the outside door to the bridge. We were set to go.

The noise level was high as the boys recounted their trip, particularly aboard the Navy vessel. I saw the sparkle in Callum’s eyes. “Want to bet we’ll have another guest on the way back home?”

“No, I don’t bet on a sure thing, the odds aren’t high enough.”

“Maybe he’d like to go to school in the states for one year.”

“You should talk to his parents first before you say anything to the boys, Shawn or Callum.”

“Do you think they have a study abroad program?”

“I don’t know, we could check.”

Shawn was going to stay with Callum, the boys, Glen and I were booked into a tourist hotel. Alban had made all of the arrangements.

That evening we met at Alban’s pub for dinner and just re-getting aquatinted. The boys talked about the trip, there were a few customers that listened and then they started to ask questions and soon it appeared we were having a party. When Shawn mentioned about the boys dancing while he piped for the sailors on board the Navy ship, there was a call for more piping and dancing. That was all it took, the boys left to change and Shawn and Callum went to change and get their pipes.

It was too crowded in the pub, so the party moved outside. When they started, a crowd formed and soon some girls started to dance with the boys. The party was in full swing and Alban was busy at the bar in the pub. When the party died down, Alban was smiling. “It was a good night and one that has been long a coming. The lads did well.”

We walked back to our hotel, the boys were dancing around without the pipes, people looked and smiled. “Alban said it was a good night when he was counting the cash register. I’ll bet he set an all time high tonight.”

“How many pipers were there, we started with the two boys but I saw a few more joining in?”

“There were three on the left of the boys.”

“Do you think this’ll happen every night?”

“I bet Alban wished it would happen, but I don’t think so.”

The next morning I called the investment firm that was handling Shawn’s account. I wanted to set up a meeting to discuss Med Tech. Later the day, “Glen, Shawn, we have a meeting this Friday with Med Tech. Mr. Barrach will be coming with us. I booked us in a hotel very near the offices of Med Tech.”

We spent the day sightseeing, recalling the first time we saw these sites. We had to rent a bus to go see the Loch Ness monster, the boys took their pipes. “Maybe if we pipe he’ll show.”

I was firmly convince there was no Loch Ness monster, but the boys weren’t. We stopped and watched the lake, nothing. The boys started to play their pipes, nothing except Adam said he saw something big and black move through the water. Glen and I smiled, the imagination of a six year old can create anything with a little psychological push.

“What do you think would happen if Nessie did appear?”

“They would run”

We went into the village and had lunch at the local pub. The boys had their pipes and one of the customers asked them if they could play them. The boys said they could, so he asked them to pipe for him. The boys smiled, and began to pipe, you could predict what would happen, the boys began to dance. Again they moved outside and a crowd formed. Looking at the faces of the boys, they were enjoying it. Smiles all around.

After an hour, we had to leave to go back to Alban’s pub. Everyone waved to the boys as our bus pulled out. “I wonder if the pub owner had the same good luck as Alban.”

Over the next few days we hung around the pub, each night we had a dance.

Friday morning we met Mr. Barrach and flew to Switzerland. On the way over, I brought Jan up to date on Med Tech. “They have a patent department but we need to be sure it is comprehensive. They also have a marketing group and I’d like to understand their introduction and marketing plan. I have notified Dr. Stein of this and he assured me it would be on the agenda. I’d like your input on their comments. By the way, do you personally own any stock in this company ?”

“Yes, when you called I bought a thousand shares as you recommend.”

“Good, I’m going to nominate you for a position on the Board.” He just smiled, Shawn nudged me as he watched Barrach’s face when I told him. I looked at Shawn, he was smiling. I remember Shawn saying his dad and Barrach were good friends. We checked into our hotel, had an early lunch and walked to Med Tech’s office.

I introduced myself and my companions to the receptionist. She phoned someone, and soon the young lady who was now secretary to the board showed up to escort us to the board room.

“Did you have a nice flight?”

“Yes, much shorter than the last one, we flew in from Scotland, we are vacationing there.”

“I believe Dr. Stein is waiting for you.”

Walking into the boardroom, following Elena, I went and shook hands with Dr. Stein and the other board members who were there. Elena informed us we were waiting for two more. I introduced Glen and Mr. Barrach. “I have asked Dr, Henrikson to join us. He’s the head of the Basil Hospital Association. It was my intention for him to join the Board as his input will help us plan our activities and future products.”

“Does he own stock?”

“Yes, he has a thousand shares.”

“The other gentlemen is from our government. He’s involved in the granting of research funds and I thought that might be useful and yes he also has a thousand shares of stock.”

“If they have stock, then it is a mute problem as far as I am concerned, Glen or Shawn, do you have any issues with Dr. Stein’s proposal?”

“No, the key is that they have a personal involvement in the success of the company.” The door opened and two gentlemen entered. Dr. Stein introduced everyone.

“Dr. Stein I’d like to review the patent filing. I’m concerned that we are not covered in the most lucrative markets. Could we have a presentation from the patent department after lunch? I’d also like a presentation by your marketing group, Perhaps Dr. Henrikson can add his comments to that presentation.”

Everyone agreed to my proposals, I guess they understood that the control of the board was really in our hands since we owned the company. But I deferred to Dr. Stein, he’s the president and therefore his views and comments were very important to me.

With all of the Board present, we proceeded with the meeting. There was some routine activities that we got out of the way, meetings of the last Board meeting, status of old items and then the agenda for new items. Between the old items and new items, we took a lunch break. I asked for a tour of the labs, Dr. Stein was very pleased that I showed some interest after the last meeting when I actually changed the scope of the Board.

“Dr. Stein, how is business?”

“Business is good. I wasn’t sure how we’d do since the last Board meeting you attended. You really shook everyone up. I talked to some of my friends and they said what you did made sense. Some of them are on other company boards and said it wasn’t unusual to require Board members to own stock in the company. I think the biggest impact was the resignation of Mr. Chambers. I couldn’t understand why I wasn’t a member of the Board.”

“I couldn’t either. At first I thought he was the CEO. I’d like to see the labs and talk with James. I was quite impressed with him.”

Dr. Stein smiled as he led us on the tour. The lab personnel were surprised to see us. James came up and said hello. “James, I’d like to introduce you to my partner, Glen, my son you remember and this is Mr. Barrach our financial advisor. James is the man who was instrumental in developing the miniaturization of the MRI concept.”

James smiled, “James, anything new on your project?”

“No sir, it’s finished. Dr. Hendrikson is testing it at his trauma hospital.”

“So do you have a new project?”

“Yes, but it’s in the development stage.”

“Good, let us know when you are prepared to make a presentation.”

We went to a small cafe for lunch, I invited Dr. Stein to come with us. “James seems to be a bright young man. What’s his background?”

“He has a doctorate in medical technology, we’re very fortunate to have him.”

“Yes, I agree, let’s make sure he doesn’t leave us.”

The Board resumed its meeting. The presentation by the patent people, was thorough for where they applied for patents, but there were countries that they hadn’t applied. So the question ‘why not’ came up frequently. Dr. Stein noted the interest we had to make sure all of the developed countries that provided patent protection were contacted. Ian offered some help in that he would contact the various patent offices and obtain their literature on filing a patent. I thought that I’m sure that language may have been the problem. They haven’t filed in Japan which certainly would be on my list.

“If language is a problem, I’m sure we can find someone in the specific country to help file the patent for us. I know several countries that provided that assistance.”

From patents we turned our views toward the next presentation by the marketing group. Dr. Henrikson commented quite a lot on their presentation. I was glad to see him participate.

Walking back to the hotel, “What do you think?”

“I thought the meeting went very well. But to be honest it’s the first time I ever sat in on a Board of Directors.”

I smiled and gave Glen’s hand a squeeze.

“I’ll keep in touch Kevin, there were a lot of action points made and we need to have an update on them. It would be easier for me to do that than you from the US.”

“I forgot to ask for a copy of the minutes, I’ll call and remind them to send a copy to all of the Board.”

That evening we had a pleasant dinner and then an early flight home, home being Scotland. The boys were glad to see us, Adam was jumping all around, I picked him up as he snuggled in my arms. I needed to find out more about these boys. “I missed you Pappy.”

“I was only gone for two days. Did you think I might not come back? I could never leave you, you’re my Adam.” When he pulled his head back, I saw the tears. Now, I wanted to know this child’s background.