David Ball
lived in the small country village of Mornington-By-Mere in the Finchbottom
Vale nestled between the Ancient Dancingdean Forest and the rolling Pepperstock
Hills.
It was a
quaint picturesque village, a proper chocolate box picturesque idyll, with a
Manor House, 12th Century Church, a Coaching Inn, Windmills, an Old
Forge, a Schoolhouse, a River and a Mere.
He lived
and worked up at Mornington Field which had once been an RAF base but had been
converted into a mixture of commercial and residential units.
David lived
in apartment 7 of Lancaster House, which was converted into flats from the old
Officers Mess.
He lived
alone, and had done since he left home at the age of 18 and he had got to his
mid 30’s and had needed no other company than his dog, or a dog, as there had
been several incarnations of Kelvin.
He was
employed by Light of Day, who were Led Lighting Specialists, and he was well
regarded in the business but he became wider regarded after the events of his
first Christmas in Mornington.
It was a
week before Christmas when David was woken by Kelvin, his West of Argyle
Terrier, it was 4 am and Kelvin clearly needed to go out despite the fact the
wind was howling.
So reluctantly he got dressed and bundled up and they started out but when they
got to the foot of the stairwell, Kelvin started to bark.
“Quiet you
stupid creature” David said but Kelvin persisted his outburst until David
opened the door and then he just became agitated and started pulling on the
lead, but not along the path like he normally did, this time he turned
immediately left to a slumped figure huddled in the corner of the porch, on
closer examination Dave saw that it was a woman.
He tutted
because his first reaction was that she was drunk, not something he had much
tolerance with.
He took a
penlight torch from his pocket and shone it in the woman’s face which was when
he saw who it was, she was a woman from that building, Selina Tilley.
It was at
that moment when he became more concerned because all though he didn’t know her
well he did know one thing about her and that was that she was a Methodist and she
didn’t drink, so he thought it was more likely to be hypothermia.
It looked
like her lips were blue and when he touched her cheek it felt icy cold, then he
checked her pulse which was weak, but it was present.
He let Kelvin off his lead while he got Selina to her feet and manhandled her
inside the foyer to get her out of the bitter wind.
He lay her
on the carpeted floor and draped his coat over her and then used his mobile
phone to call for an ambulance.
Kelvin had
done his business so David let him and he sat and held Selina’s hand while he
waited for the ambulance and Kelvin cuddled up to the other side of Selina.
The
ambulance was mercifully quick and came roaring up to Lancaster House with
flashing lights and David told them what he knew, which was hardly enough, in
fact it was very little, but the paramedics went quickly about their work.
They laid
her on the trolley and started to check vital signs and then off they went to
the hospital, with his name and number.
He called
the Winston Churchill Hospital several times but he was told “Family only”
every time he called.
So he tried
a different tack. There were several nurses in the village, Rosie Parsons,
Lorraine Chapman and Jane Hall to name but three and Jane was not only a friend
his but was also a Staff Nurse at the Winston Churchill so he asked her if she
could find out how the patient was and she agreed.
He was
right about it not being alcohol related and he was also correct about her
having hypothermia but it turned out that her underlying condition was diabetes
which on that night had led to Hypoglycaemia.
Thankfully
there would be no lasting effects but they were going to keep her in for a
couple of days.
News of the
events of that night quickly went around the village and David’s street cred
went through the roof and he and Kelvin gained celebrity status.
Kelvin
loved all the extra attention but David was less comfortable with it, and his
thoughts kept straying to his stricken damsel in distress.
Selina
Tilley was 27 years old and had worked for Crazy Chocolatiers since she left
school, in fact she was the very first employee.
She also
lived in the old Officers Mess, Lancaster House, in apartment 11 where she
lived alone.
Selina
hadn’t always done so, but she had been for a number of years and had become
accustomed to it, but Christmas was fast approaching which was one of those
times that she felt her solitude most keenly.
But as she
lay in her hospital bed at the Royal Downshire it wasn’t Christmas that was
occupying her mind.
She was
patently aware that had it not been for David Ball and his little dog that she
would have died and she really needed to do something to say thank you in some
way but wasn’t sure what or how, she would of course say thank you, but it
didn’t solve the essential problem of how to show her gratitude.
Alexandra
Quarit was the founder and owner of Crazy Chocolatier’s who were the makers and
purveyors of handmade chocolates and to many they made the best handmade
chocolates in Downshire.
She began
with a shop in the Abbottsford’s Phoenix Centre but she now had shops all over
Downshire as well as several factory’s including the one at Mornington Field
where Selina worked.
Alexandra
was a good boss and everyone that worked for her, liked her, because she cared
about the people she employed which was why she insisted on picking Selina up
from the hospital two days before Christmas Eve.
As they
drove towards Mornington Alexandra said
“I don’t
want you back to work until the New Year”
“But I’m fully
recovered” Selina said “thanks to David Ball, he saved my life”
“Which is
why I don’t want you to come back to work too soon”
Alex said
“You had a
lucky escape”
“Yes I did”
she agreed “And I am very grateful for everything David did, and I want to get
him a thank you gift”
“I’m sure
he would appreciate that” Alex concurred
“But what?”
Selina asked “What do you get for someone who saves your life?”
“I think
Chocolates make a nice gift” Alex said and smiled
“You would
say that” Selina retorted with a smile, “But it’s a bit of a cop out”
“Not if you
make them yourself” Alex said and after a moment added “Hand made by you”
“I thought
I was on enforced leave” Selina pointed out
“You can do
it at home, think of it as occupational therapy”
Alex said
“I don’t
have enough stuff” she replied
“It’s just
as well I had Andrea stock you up then” Alexandra said cockily
“What are
you up to?” Selina asked suspiciously
“I don’t
know what you mean” she said innocently although she knew very well.
Alex had
been encouraged by the fact that Selina spoke a lot about David Hall, not
entirely unsurprising given that he had saved her life, but more noteworthy
bearing in mind that she had been unconscious throughout the incident.
So she
clearly had an interest in him prior to his intervention and because of that
Alex was going to fan the flames, because her friend deserved someone in her
life.
Selina made
a selection of her finest handmade creations and made up a beautiful gift box,
she also ordered a small pet hamper from Hanratty’s Department Store in Abbottsford’s
Phoenix Centre for Kelvin and then on Christmas Eve she went downstairs and
knocked on David Hall’s door.
He was
sitting watching Alastair Sim in “Scrooge” when Kelvin heard Selina approach
and he was on his feet, ears pricked, tail wagging long before David heard the
knock on the door.
He tutted
because “Scrooge” was one of his favourite Christmas movies but he got up and
walked to the door and looked through the peephole and saw it was Selina and
his heart rate quickened, he had heard she was home and he had thought about
going to see if she was ok, he had even bought her a Christmas present, but he
lost his nerve because he didn’t know what to say to her.
But now she
was knocking on his door and there was no escape, unless of course he pretended
not to be in, but he would have regretted that because he wanted to see her,
but he still didn’t know what to say.
So he took
a deep breath and opened the door.
“Hello” he
said “it’s nice to see you fully recovered”
“Hello David
and hello Kelvin” she said “I am much better thanks to you two”
“Come in”
he said side stepping her comment
“Oh ok”
Once inside
she sat on the sofa and made a fuss of Kelvin and when David had taken his seat
“I cannot
express how grateful I am” she began
“Nonsense” he
retorted “it was Kelvin who found you”
“Well I am
very grateful to both of you” she said and rummaged in her bag “so I have these
gifts as a token of my gratitude”
“Oh” he
said “you didn’t have to do that”
“It was the
least I could do” she said
“It really
wasn’t necessary” he insisted
“If you
prefer you can consider them Christmas presents” Salina said and put them under
the tree
“That’s
very kind, thank you” David said
“We have a
present under the tree for you too, don’t we Kelvin” he said
“Really?
How nice” Selina said taken aback and that was when David gathered up all his
courage and said
“Come for
lunch tomorrow and we can open them together”
“Oh yes
what a lovely idea, thank you” Selina said happily
So they
spent Christmas Day together, which was to be the first of many.
It turned
out that when David and Kelvin saved Selina’s life that dark December morning he
saved her life in more ways than one and saved his own in the process.
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