THE COBBLER THE BOOTS

It was England 1941 World War II, a time of fear, extreme poverty, and with food and clothes rationing on top of everything else. It was a time of planes, bombs and death, separated families and loved ones. This was the backdrop of the scene for thousands of families and children. Upheaval and evacuation, from the place’s people had grown up in and called home. The war was in its second year already with certainly no end in sight, and it would not be for some time to come.

The little boy was like most of the kid's of the time, small and undernourished. He was wearing, well worn clothes that had seen better days. He wore short pant's that had been patched many times, there were even patches on the patches, a short jacket over a scruffy shirt and knee socks on his feet he wore a pair of boots.

Rick looked at the money his mother had just put in his hand, he was almost nine years old now and the eldest of three boys in the family.

He looked up at his mom, will he be open today mom? His mother looked at the little boy, But of course he will, he always opens on a Saturday, and then besides, you can't go another day with those boots like that. Pretty soon he won't be able to mend them anymore, then what will we do for boots for you? The boy nodded his head in agreement, he always agreed with his mom she was the best and only mom in the whole World, he loved her so much.

This was not the first time that he had gone to see old Charlie the cobbler, with the same old pair of boots. It was always a lot of fun sitting and watching old Charlie put his artistic touch to work on the boots. He always managed to change the boots as if by magic, to something that looked like new again.

Nice shiny leather bottoms that smelled just so delicious, the boy loved the smell of leather; then tucked into the new leather soles would be lots of shiny studs. ‘To make them last a little longer’, Charlie always said.

Well you'd best be off now, his mother said, and no dawdling on the way home you should be back by lunchtime. The boy knew he wouldn't dawdle, it was Saturday afternoon movies and he would not miss that for anything. He went most Saturday afternoons to the matinee, this was his weekly treat, as it was with all the other kids in the area.

He got on his bike and started to peddle to the cobblers shop, which was about two miles away on one of the many side streets. The cobbler’s shop was up in an old loft at the top of some rickety stairs that led up to the store. Inside it was cluttered with shoes, boots and all kinds of other neat things. At times it was very hard to see in there and he often wondered how old Charlie managed to see to do his work because the lighting was so poor.

Charlie was sitting on his stool when the boy went in.

Hi Charlie the boy said as he entered, My mom told me to come and get my boots fixed. Charlie looked up and peered at the boy over his rimless spectacles. Hello there, young fella Charlie said, recognizing the boy, don't tell me you've worn those boots out again already. It seemed to the boy that the boots always lasted quite a while once they'd been mended, so he ignored the comment. I'll be with you in a few minutes just take a seat. The boy perched himself on the other stool that was there and took a look around.

The boy imagined that this store used to be a loft over the top of an old horse stable sometime in the past. The walls were lined with shelves and cupboards most of which contained footwear, or the materials to mend shoes with.

Part of the roof was made up of thick old beams with all kinds of stuff hanging down from them. There was even some old horse harness and stuff, still hanging up there all covered with dust and grime from over the years. He often thought it would be a neat place to go exploring, but he knew that he could never do that. Charlie was a kindly old man, short and very plump with a happy face and his glasses perched on the end of his nose. A jolly, red-faced man with thinning gray hair, he sort of reminded you of Santa Claus, sitting there making toys for kids for Christmas. All that was missing were a few elves, but even they, could have been hiding in the old dark loft! It seemed like Charlie had been there forever, him and his always, sweaty face and a mouth that was always full of tacks or nails. The boy wondered sometimes if Charlie had ever swallowed any.

This place could have fit in very well, like a scene from a Dickens novel,

This place always smelled so good with the leather, and all the other neat things that Charlie used in his job of shoe repairer.

The boy removed his boots ready for Charlie, and sat there on the stool in his stocking feet, stockings, that had been knitted for him by his mom. Ok lad, lets have a look and see what we can do with them, Charlie took the boots and eyed them closely; took them a bit fine this time didn't we eh? The boy hung his head not knowing if Charlie was serious or not. Charlie chuckled, ‘don't you worry there none young fella, they're not too far gone.’ Can you fix them then? The boy said relieved, of course I can, have you ever seen Charlie not fix things? The boy felt better already, knowing that everything would all be all right. He didn't know what he would have told his mom if they had been beyond repair. More important, where would he have ever got some more boots to wear, with all the clothes rationing and all that.

He sat there watching Charlie as he started to work on the boots. First he put them on this kind of an iron foot to hold the boot, Charlie called it a ‘last’ then he very carefully started to take the boots apart or so it seemed to the boy. It looked like once he got the old bottom's of the boot's off, that there was very little left except the uppers, uppers that the boy always polished with the boot-polish so as to preserve them. It was a good job too, if the uppers had gone as often as the bottoms, the boots would have bit the dust long ago.

Next Charlie got out some new leather soles and positioned them on the boot. Then, taking the nails he was holding in his mouth, he started to nail the soles in place. Once he had that done he then got out his knife and started to trim the sole all around the boot. Pretty soon the boot started to look like a real boot again, Rick breathed a sigh of relief. Once the sole was done Charlie started stripping off the old heel or what was left of it, then prepared it for the new heel.

Whenever the boots were mended Charlie always put steel heel guards on the heels. This also was to make the boots last a little longer between repairs. Charlie then took the boot over to his machine and rolled around the edges of the new leather soles and heels. Then some black stuff was painted on and before you knew it the boot was ready for the studs.

It sure looked like magic to the boy, even though he had watched this transformation take place many times. Still he did not know how Charlie was able to do it. Charlie then started to do the second boot, going through the same ritual. It wasn't long before Charlie had the boots finished. There you are son Charlie said, all ready again till the next time. The boy put the boots back on then laced them up, he stood up and looked down at his feet. Boy! The boots sure felt different, but then they always did after they had been mended. Another miracle had been performed one more time.

The boy gave Charlie the money his mom had given him. Thank you Charlie, Charlie looked at the boy and smiled, thank you son he said, now, be off with you and you be a good boy for your mother, I'll see you next time.

The boy went down the stairs very carefully holding onto the handrail, not wanting to fall in his new boots. They always felt so different after they had been mended, clumsy and heavy too. They sure didn't look like the boots that he had walked in with and that was a fact.

He got onto his bike and set out for home, boy! Even trying to peddle his bike was different now that the boots had been mended. His feet felt like lead and clumsy but he knew he would get used to it pretty soon. He whistled as he rode, he would be home in plenty of time for lunch, and he was going to the movies this afternoon! How good could it get!

Just then he heard the sound of the air raid siren, the noisy siren was enough to scare the life out of anyone. Rick tensed up noticeably and glanced towards the sky, but he could see nothing.

All the same he knew what he had to do, having gone through the drills so many times. He made a beeline for the air raid shelters near his home, for he knew his mother would be worried until she saw him, it was just another grim reminder of the times.

Eric Valentine ©