After having a privileged and sheltered family life Bob finds himself preaching in some of the worst areas of 1920's Manchester. Unjustly accused of wrongdoing by the jealous reverend he returns to London and by a strange twist of fate becomes the manager of an Estate Agency. When the business is sold and the son of the new owner appears, Bob is unable to work with him and leaves. What follows sees him playing piano in a pub. And then selling homemade shop signs with his brother Jim. He lives off the proceeds of gambling for some time before eventually finding himself as a salesman for a 'dodgy' wholesaler. Without making a conscious decision Bob finds that he has become involved in the 'Black market' and when he enlists in the army at the start of the War he is 'asked' to maintain those contacts. His strange relationships with Lucy (the widowed daughter-in-law of the Estate Agent) and with 'Trixie' a West End show dancer have affected him more than he realised at the time. Now, with the War over and with a new wife and home, maybe life will be different. This is a collection of true stories (to the best of my knowledge), stitched together with mainly fictional characters and some fictional places to add context.