Did anything happen to you while it’s been so windy, such as footsteps in the night, fence damage, greenhouses or anything like that?
I hope nobody’s had the misfortune – it was a howler here on the front. Jane went on the beach on Thursday morning and came back in so wet that she had to change her trousers!
Footsteps in the Night
I was laid in bed at about midnight, doing my crosswords as usual, when I heard all sorts of bangs and noises in the back garden. I’m not very brave, I might tell you, when it comes to the dark and intruders. So I just sat there thinking I’I hope we aren’t being burgled’ or any such thing.
When I was young and I heard an unexplained noise when I was in bed, I froze like a block of ice! I couldn’t move a muscle and stayed like that until the all clear sounded! I just couldn’t move, it’s weird isn’t it. But I don’t freeze up now, I just get my brain into gear to think what to do. Ring 999 for ambulance, police or fire, take your pick. It’s amazing isn’t it how your brain quickly goes into safety mode when threatened. Well some of us, of course.
Or alternatively, I would run down the corridor to my knight in shining armour and get him to investigate. If anything untoward was happening outside, hubby would just keep snoring. It would be no good telling hubby because his reactions are so slow, and as he’s got older they’re even worse. A burglar would have been in the house, ransacked it, made a lot of noise and escaped by the time he got out of bed!
Real-Life Footsteps in the Night
Anyway, this has all taken me back to when we were having our roof lifted. With the old roof taken off the house, we had to have a scaffolding tent. If it rained, it would be straight into the roofless house. It’s a good job we did, because it was one of the worst Summers you could imagine, lucky us again! It was enough to freeze you to death and rained nearly continuously the whole time the builders were here.
The trouble was, on the second night, it was windy like it is now and the tent started coming loose and making one heck of a din. The neighbours went into a frenzy, it was like world war three broke out, but I won’t go into that.
However, I was in residence the whole time the builders were here. This was back while we were still holiday-homing. We were getting ready to live here full time – and the rest of them did shifts to be here with me.
One weekend when Jane and I were here alone, and me, the night hawk had just put the light off, at about 1am-ish. Suddenly, I was woken up by somebody clomping around upstairs. Somebody with heavy boots on. Presumably a man by the heavy tread of the feet. He was certainly in no hurry, put it that way. Thank goodness the access was securely boarded off from the turn in the staircase. Or we’d have been open to the elements and anyone wanting to come in the house, pinching things.
Lights and action!
I laid there for a minute or so, making sure I wasn’t imagining it and I didn’t freeze like I used to do. Instead, I shot out of bed, having put the light on, which is the first thing I always do if I’m scared.
Not like in films when they come home to find someone in their house. They never put the light on, but walk through the house in pitch-black just asking to be nobbled. There I am saying ‘put the lights on, idiot’ but they never do and usually end up getting bashed on the head or something!
Anyway, back to my story. The light must have been seen from above out of my window, because whoever it was left in a hurry. I raced down the corridor at ninety miles an hour (I could move back then, don’t know what’s happened to me as I can’t now) to Jane’s bedroom at the other end of the house where she was fast asleep. I shouted “there’s somebody walking about upstairs”.
She jumped up out of a deep sleep and said one word. ‘Right’ and shot out of bed where I kindly let her lead the way. Wasn’t that nice of me!
We’d got back to my bedroom after checking that the staircase was intact and not smashed in, I couldn’t help but laugh at her. The sight of Jane, in her pyjamas, shouting ‘Right‘as though she was going to murder them if she caught them. We’ve laughed so many times over it that I’ve lost count, it was so funny.
Murder in your pyjamas
What she was going to do I’m not sure, but in her stupor anything could have happened. We had a few minutes of shaking in our shoes. Unless you’ve been in the position of having someone in your house that shouldn’t be there, you’ll never know how frightening it was. How we went back to sleep I’ll never know. But we had a good idea who it could be, after months of being harassed by a few people.
I still laugh at the thought of Jane, who you would have thought was sleep-walking, tackling criminals. I still don’t know if she would have been up on a murder charge. Just saying !!!!
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