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.
