Morris the Milk Man - A Collection of Short Stories Pt1- pic doc

A Collection of Short Stories
Part 1

Copyright 2018 Tim Elgar
Published by Tim Elgar
This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or
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the hard work of this author.

This collection of stories is inspired by my memories as a 9-year-old helping the milkman on

his rounds in a small village nestled in the heart of the North Downs. And dedicated to my
wife’s dear aunt and uncle, Fred and Brenda Sturland, who are sadly no longer with us, but

who owned a milk round business in Bury, Greater Manchester for many years.

Table of Contents
Book One - Morris the Milkman
Book Two - Morris and the Robbers
Book Three - Morris and the Snowy Day
Book Four - Morris and the Kidnappers
About Tim Elgar
Other books by Tim Elgar

~~~~~~~~~~~

Book One - Morris the Milkman

Maurice Morris was his name.
Though he just used his surname Morris.
It was easier that way.
Morris was a milkman.
He delivered milk. That's what milkmen do!
He drove a slow old milk float called Martha.
Morris always had adventures with Martha. Sometimes for company Morris and Martha
took their dog, Smudge, along with them.
Early one morning Morris woke up. It was very early. It was dark outside and the moon
was shining. Morris got up, had a wash, and went down stairs.

'Good morning, Smudge' he said as he got his breakfast ready.
'Rrrr rrr woof rrr’ said Smudge wearily. Smudge liked to wake up slowly. He opened one
eye and then shut it again and snuggled back down. Today was obviously not a day that
Smudge would be joining Morris and Martha on their rounds.

Morris finished his breakfast and jumped into Martha.
'Good morning old girl' he said to Martha.
'Good morning Morris' said Martha. ‘Are you

ready to go?'
‘Yes please Martha’, said Morris.
'Off to the dairy then' said Martha.
At the dairy Morris loaded the milk, the cream, the yoghurt, the juice, the butter, and the
eggs, and checked his deliveries for the day.

'Right', said Morris, 'all done! Off we go.'
Martha slowly, but at top speed for her, headed for Downland-by-sea. Downland was
where Morris delivered most of his milk.
To get to Downland Morris and Martha had to go through Greengrass village and
sometimes they had to make a special delivery to the General Stores there. Today was such a
day.

The General Stores were owned by Mr Clamp. He was usually up bright and early. Today
however, when Morris arrived, there was no sign of him. Where could he be? Was he still in
bed?

Morris knocked on the door. There was no answer. Morris called through the letter box.
'Hello! Anyone at home?'

As he called through the letterbox the door swung open and
Morris fell right into Mr Clamps shop. Morris heard a groan.

Oh dear! There was
Mr Clamp - he was all
tied up behind the
counter with a big
brown sack over his
head. Next to him was a broken box. It looked as
someone may have tried to hit Mr Clamp over the
head with it.

Morris also noticed the trays of chocolate bars
and snacks, which were usually on the counter by
the till, had been thrown all over the floor. What a
mess!

'Help, help' He called. Morris quickly ran over to Mr Clamp and removed the sack.

'Oh thank you Morris' said Mr Clamp 'you have saved the day. I thought I'd be stuck here
forever!'

Morris asked Mr Clamp if he was all right.

'Did the robbers take any money?' asked Morris 'I'll get the
police straight away', and he picked up the phone to call
Constable Smartly.

Mr Clamp laughed. He laughed and laughed.

'Oh Morris!' he said 'You always somehow get it all wrong
but end up saving the day.' and he explained what had
happened. He had fallen over some old apple boxes on his

stairs and had tumbled into his shop landing behind the counter. As he had tried to stop himself
his hand had knocked an old potato sack from a shelf on the wall and the sack had fallen right
over his head. He had knocked the trays of food bars off of the counter as he fell.

Somehow Mr Clamp had managed to get himself well and truly stuck. Morris began to
laugh too. Martha and Morris finished their deliveries for the day and called back in on Mr
Clamp on their way home just to make sure he was feeling better after that nasty fall.

Morris and Mr Clamp enjoyed a nice cup of tea and another laugh at the day's events
before Morris headed home.

When he got home Morris told Smudge all about his adventures. What an exciting day it
had been!

The end

~~~~~~~~~~~

Book Two - Morris and the Robbers

Morris was a milkman. He delivered milk. That's what milkmen
do!

Morris got up early in the morning. Most people were still in bed.
The birds sometimes were still asleep. Each day he would climb down
his stairs, have his breakfast have a wash and get
dressed. He had a dog called Smudge and
sometimes, if Smudge was awake and it wasn't
raining, he liked to go with Morris. Today was such
a day.

Morris and Smudge went into the garage where Morris kept Martha his Milk float.

"Morning old girl" said Morris to Martha.

"Morning Morris" said Martha.

"Woof' said Smudge.

"And good morning to you" said Martha "Off to the
dairy?" Said Martha.

'Yes please!" said Morris.

Slowly but at top speed for Martha they
headed for the dairy. At the dairy Morris collected
the milk, the yoghurt, the juice, and the cream,
and as today was Thursday there was the usual
special order of cheese to collect. This was for
Mr Golitely. Mr Golitely owned the bookshop at

Greengrass village.

Morris, Martha and Smudge checked the orders and set off for Greengrass village on the
way to Downland by Sea. Downland was where Morris delivered most of his milk, but
sometimes he had to make special deliveries in Greengrass village. Today was such a day.

At the village bookshop Morris came across Mr Golitely and Constable Smartly.
"Morning Morris" they said. "Good morning Constable Smartly, Good morning Mr
Golitely. Is anything wrong?" Asked Morris.

"Mmm, might be something, might be nothing" said Constable Smartly "Might be
robbers!" he said.

"What's happened?" asked Morris.

"The dustbins have all been knocked over at the back of the shop. Someone may have been
trying to get in" said Mr Golitely.

“Did Scamp scare them away?" asked Morris. Scamp was Mr Golitley's dog. It had a loud
bark.

"I'm afraid Scamp ran away last week" said Mr Golitely "It was the fireworks. He was
scared by the bangs and ran away".

"Oh I am sorry" said Morris. "Here is your cheese,
now I must be on my way. I hope you catch the
robbers" he said, and he left the two men looking
around.

Morris, Martha and Smudge headed slowly on to Downland by
Sea. Morris delivered the milk, yoghurt, juice,
cream, and eggs in Downland and headed slowly
back to Greengrass village on the way home.

On the way back, at Greengrass village, Morris would often have a break. He would stop
for a cup of coffee and a few of his favourite chocolate biscuits.

Morris got out his flask and his packet of
chocolate biscuits and put them on the seat next to
him. Smudge sniffed the air. He liked chocolate
biscuits too!

Suddenly there was the sound of running footsteps past the side of
Martha and a milk bottle crashed to the ground.

"Quick Smudge come with me" said Morris "We've got robbers!"
Morris and smudge ran to the back of the milk float. There was
nothing there except a broken milk bottle.

All of a sudden Morris's flask fell to the ground with a thud. "Quick back to the front"
Morris shouted to Smudge.

"Oh no" said Morris "They've stolen my chocolate biscuits"

Smudge growled. Morris said he was angry too. But Smudge crouched down and growled
again. And then he growled again. Smudge's straggly tail twitched and twitched again. He was
looking under Martha.

"Well done Smudge!" said Morris" He's under there is he? I can see the end of the biscuits.
You keep him there and I'll fetch Constable Smartly".

Morris ran to get Constable Smartly.

Constable Smartly was just coming out of the bookshop after stopping for breakfast with
Mr Golitely. Mr Golitely had made him a special breakfast for helping him look for the
robbers.

"Come quickly, please Constable Smartly. We've
trapped your robbers."

Constable Smartly and Mr Golitely ran after Morris
who was now heading back to the milk float. When they
got to Martha Smudge was still there crouched low,
bottom up, tail wagging and growling at the same time.

All three knelt down together.

"Well, what have we here then!" said Constable
Smartly. "Oh well done!" said Mr Golitely.

Morris blushed. Yet again he had somehow got it all wrong but got it right again.

It wasn't a robber. It was Mr Golitely's missing dog
Scamp who was busy hungrily eating all of Morris’s
chocolate biscuits.

"Thank you Morris you've found my dog".

Scamp gave Mr Golitely a big lick, then Constable Smartly, and then Morris. He nuzzled
Smudge and left him two half eaten chocolate biscuits. Everyone laughed and Smudge barked.

Morris, Smudge and Martha headed home. What an exciting day they had had.

The end

~~~~~~~~~~~

Book Three - Morris and the Snowy Day

Morris was a milk man he delivered milk. That's what milkmen do. He drove a slow old
milk float called Martha. Morris always had adventures with Martha.

Sometimes for company Morris and Martha took their dog
Smudge along with them. But not today, for it was a cold day in
Smalltown where Morris lived. So cold it was snowing. Big white
snowflakes came floating down outside in the cold dark early
morning sky.

Morris didn't want to get out of bed. He was cosy and warm under the
covers. But he had too he had a
milk round to do.

So slowly he climbed out of bed pulled on his
clothes and went down stairs. Morris had a hot bowl
of porridge for his breakfast to set him up for the
day and a nice hot cup of coffee.

After his breakfast Morris put on his
coat and scarf and finally his long woolly
gloves which had leather patches on the
fingers so that he didn't drop the milk
bottles that he had to deliver. He opened the
door to the garage and climbed on to
Martha.

"Good morning old girl'' he said to Martha.

"Morning Morris" said Martha "Where's Smudge?"

"I think it's too cold for him," said Morris "he's still in his basket." Smudge didn't like the
snow, he preferred to stay inside on days like these. "Are we ready to go?"

"Yes" said Martha "To the dairy, here we go."

As soon as she got out of the garage door Martha let out a large long "Brrrr." "Oh its cold"
she said and off they headed towards the dairy.

At the dairy they loaded up with milk, yoghurts, cream, and juice,
checked the orders and set off to Downland by the
Sea.

Downland was where Morris delivered his milk.

It was snowing hard, so hard Morris couldn't see where he was going. He was sure he was
going through Greengrass village and
had to turn left to get on the road to
Downland by the Sea. So he did. But
he was not expecting the steep icy hill
that suddenly appeared in front of him.

"Whoa Martha" said Morris.

"We're in trouble Morris," said
Martha. "The brakes are on but we're
not slowing down we are just going
faster. Whoa - hold on to your hat
Morris we're heading for the hedge!"

Martha and Morris crashed
through the hedge and slid across the
field like a sledge.

"Oh er, hold on Morris" said Martha. She was having fun and was going faster than when
she was on the road. Another hedge was coming up. "Keep a hold of your hat Morris, here we
go again", said Martha.

Phlumpph. They were through the
hedge and out on to the road. The right
road. And there in front of them was
farmer Kettle in his snow plough
tractor. He was there with Constable
Smartly. They were both looking at
Morris and Martha in amazement.

"Well done!" they cheered,
"you're the first through here today
and you've got important deliveries to
make. That was an amazing piece of
driving I must say Morris!" Said
Constable Smartly.

Morris blushed he knew he always got it wrong but somehow it always worked out all
right in the end.

"Well done Martha," he whispered to Martha and gave her a pat.

They followed farmer Kettle to
Downland by the Sea and stopped off at
his farm on the way back to have a nice
hot cup of tea.

Morris gave farmer Kettle an extra
pint of milk for helping him on his
rounds that day.

That afternoon when they
got home Morris told smudge all about the adventures he and Martha had had. What
an exciting day it had been.

The end

~~~~~~~~~~~

Book Four - Morris and the Kidnappers

Morris was a milkman. He delivered Milk that's what milkmen do. Morris got up early in
the morning. Most people were still in bed. The birds sometimes were still asleep. Each day he
would climb down his stairs, have his breakfast have a wash and get dressed. He had a dog
called smudge and sometimes if Smudge was awake and it wasn't raining he liked to go with
Morris.

Today Smudge didn't fancy it. He lifted one eye lid and shut it again
and then lifted the other. No it was dark and he was warm and cosy -
today he would stay on guard dog duty at the house.

After breakfast Morris went to the garage and climbed on Martha.
"Good Morning Martha, old girl" said Morris

"Good morning Morris "said Martha "Off to the Dairy?" Said Martha
"Yes please, off to the Dairy Martha" said Morris.

At the dairy Morris collected the milk, the yoghurt, the juice, and the cream and
checked the orders for the day and then climbed aboard Martha.

"Off we go then, Old girl" said Morris.

Martha slowly but at top speed for her headed for
Greengrass Village and on to Downland by Sea.

Downland by sea was a quiet seaside town where nothing
much ever happened.

One of the last houses on Morris's milk round was a
pretty little cottage nestled away at the back of the town. It
was on the way back to Greengrass Village. It had small
windows and a big wooden door. The garden gate always
creaked when Morris opened it. That was the sign along with
Morris' whistling, for Mrs Berringer, who owned the house,
to put the kettle on for a nice cup of tea. Mrs Berringer was a
kind old lady who always liked to help people out and always
on his way back to Greengrass Village Morris would call in
for a cup of tea and slice of homemade cake.

Unfortunately, Mrs Berringer was also very forgetful and very often talked so much to
Morris that she forgot to pour his tea out or to bring his slice of cake in from the Kitchen.

Morris didn't mind he liked Mrs Berringer and he was grateful for a rest
after delivering all his Milk Yoghurts juice and
cream in Downland by sea before he headed back to
Greengrass Village and then home.

Morris felt very much in need of a nice cup of tea today. He had been busy and he was
quite looking forward to a nice slice of fruit cake too.

As he opened Mrs Berringer's gate he whistled loudly and clanked the milk bottles together
-just so she knew he was there. The lights were on but he could not see the old lady in the

kitchen window.

He knocked on the door "Milk" he called. There was no answer he gave
another knock and the door swung open. "Hello - it's me, Morris, with your
milk" he called. Still no answer.

She must have popped out he thought he opened the door a bit more, but
there on the coat rack was Mrs Berringer's coat. So was her umbrella and today
she would have needed it.

Where could she be?

He went into the hall and called again - nothing. The first door on Morris right was open. It
was a bedroom and the wardrobe doors were open and all the clothes had gone.

So had Mrs Berringer s special alarm clock that made a cock a doodle do sound. She had
had this as a present last Christmas and she liked it so much she had shown it to Morris. He

laughed when she told him that she kept it by her bed as it was the
only thing that could wake her up in the morning.

Morris ran back to Martha

"Oh dear, Martha" said Morris "Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear. I
think Mrs Berringer has been
robbed and kidnapped.'' And with
that he ran off to phone Constable
Smartly.

Constable Smartly soon
arrived and had a look in the cottage. "I think you might be
right" he said to Morris. I'll make the house secure straight
away and he went around and turned the lights out, closed the
doors and shut the windows.

Morris and Martha knew there was nothing else they could
do and left it all in the safe hands of Constable Smartly. Morris and Martha went home.

Just as they arrived home there was Mr Didcot the postman trying to put something into
Morris's letter box, and there was Smudge barking and growling not letting him do what he
was trying to do. Smudge loved playing with the postman and he loved making as much noise
as he could.

"Oh Morris, I'm glad you're here "said Mr Didcot'' I'm having a bit of trouble with Smudge.
I've got a postcard for you from Mrs Berringer -She's gone on holiday you know!"

Morris laughed "Well, well, well" He said "that explains a
lot."

Mr Didcot read the postcard to Morris while Morris dealt
with an over excited Smudge.

"She says she forgot to cancel the milk and to tell you she'd
be away. She also left in such a hurry to catch the train that she
thinks she may have not locked the door, shut the window or
turned the lights out. She says can you do it when you get there
today. And to help yourself to a nice cup of tea and a slice of
cake. She says she'll see you next week"

Morris laughed again. Mrs Berringer had not been
kidnapped or robbed after all. Once again he had
got it wrong but it had all worked out all right in the
end. He told Mr Didcot all about his adventure that
day and then rang Constable Smartly.

After that he sat down with his much needed cup of
tea and a slice of fruit cake. What an exciting day it
had been.

The end

~~~~~~~~~~~

About the Author
Tim Elgar is a new author on the circuit. He lives and works from his home in Whitstable
on the North Kent Coast.

Other books by this author

Morris the Milkman A Collection of Short Stories Pt 2 (available 2019)