You're a bit confused when you get woken up in the middle of the night. I could hear muffled bangs and crashes and at first I thought it was Mr Grumpy stumbling to the loo in the middle of the night. Then I heard a deafening crash and shot up, terrified, thinking perhaps he'd had another stroke and was flailing around. I was terrified, heart pounding as I climbed out of bed. Then I noticed the outside security light had come on and was gleaming through the curtains so I looked out of the window - it was 1.15 by now - and saw the garage door swinging wide open.The locks had been broken.
Not thinking for a moment that anyone might still be lurking, I dashed out in my pyjamas and socks, but there was nobody to be seen. Next, I went upstairs and woke Mr Grumpy. He came down and found all his most expensive equipment like his chainsaw and electric hedge-trimmers were missing.
"Get in the car and drive round the streets, they can't have got far," I said. I also suggested ringing the police, but he thought it wasn't worth it... that they wouldn't be bothered with such a small crime, which amounted to about £1000-worth of stuff (not small in my book!). He also said it wasn't insured. He then proceeded, in minus 5 degrees C, to get out his drill, which hadn't been taken, and nail the wooden garage doors shut.
I am furious. Anyone who's been burgled knows that it feels like a violation. And we have a good idea who was responsible, too. A very dodgy pair of Irish tinker types, who were doing hedge-cutting in the area and did a job for our next-door neighbour, came round and asked Mr G if he had some hedge-trimmers they could borrow as theirs had just broken. Mr G kindly unlocked the garage, which gave them a jolly good view of the contents. They gave him a business card 'in case he needed any jobs doing', ha ha, and when our neighbour tried to ring them a day or so later, the numbers didn't work.
It's now 1.53 am, I have had a mug of tea with a shot of whisky in it - for shock, of course - and I am going to back to bed, though actually I shall probably read my book for the rest of the night. It's one of Elizabeth Peters' Amelia Peabody mysteries, in case you're wondering, which feature lots of nocturnal goings-on, murderers clambering across balconies, shadowy figures wielding knives, the odd tomb robber and a whole host of evil villains in disguise. Somehow, I don't think I shall get any more sleep tonight.
Hello Again!
4 months ago
3 comments:
How awful! Thank goodness you weren't hurt. And it is just so sickening the way these people take advantage of the kindness and helpfulness of others. I think Mr G is probably right about the police not being interested. I daresay they'd have been round in a flash if you'd clobbered one of the buggers though!
Hope you're okay x
I dashed out in the snow in pyjamas and socks, ready to bash the daylights out of them! I didn't think of my own safety. And of course you're right. If I'd have bashed a thug, I'd have been in court, not them. What an unjust world.
I once did just the same in the early hours of a morning when I saw a drunken lad being set about by his equally drunken mates outside our house. I was a little startled to see every member of our household following me down the front drive, various things to whack someone with in hand. It never occurred to me to be afraid, because all I saw was sillyn, drunken teenagers. But it's that kind of thing that leads to headlines in the newspapers like, 'Peacemaker stabbed on frozen street!' etc. Pretty scarey when you think about it properly.
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