As this bus only ran once a day in each direction, Malcolm could not afford to miss it. The alternative was to take the route 12 to Ferndown then a route 22 to Broadstone. The difficulty was that the route 131 left Verwood at 07:35 and the route 12 at 07:45. If the 12 came before the 131 Malcolm had to decide if he should continue to wait for the direct bus or take the 12 and face a longer journey. The choice was complicated as each bus stopped in a slightly different place. It was not unknown for him to take the 12 and then the 131 would come in directly behind. On such an occasion he would get the co-operation of the conductor to stop the bus behind. The journey home always seemed to go according to plan.