More neighbours’ shenanigans

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A few days ago I wrote about our neighbours’ fire alarm going off for the entire afternoon and how eventually I was able to track them down and solve the problem. They were all away but they were able to tell me where to find a spare key and the code to turn the alarm off. Last night I was fast asleep when Little One came in and woke me up at 3:30 am. After that she got into our bed, snuggled up and went back to sleep, but I wasn’t able to sleep and was still lying there about an hour later when suddenly I saw a light come on outside. I thought it was our security light and I wondered what had caused it to come on (last time it was a fox) but when I looked out of the window I saw the headlights of a car shining straight at us; it was obviously stopped just at the turn into our little cul-de-sac of five houses. With the lights shining in my eyes I couldn’t see anything else against the darkness. The car stayed there for a bit, then it turned around and drove off along the lane. Everything was dark. Just to check I went into Little One’s bedroom to look out of her window, on the other side of the house. From there I could see the house opposite, and there I saw a couple of shadows with torches, going around the house and then into the garden, and poking around in the dark just where I now know the spare key is kept. What was going on? Should I do something? I woke my partner and we opened the window and watched and listened. The shadows poked about in the garden, then went back to the house, then into the road, then back into the garden again. We could see now that they were a man and a woman and by this time I was coming to the conclusion that they were legitimate visitors who had lost their key, especially when I heard him say ‘Are you sure it’s not in your bag?’ I know the family have two practically grown-up daughters and a son, but I haven’t met any of them properly. I do know their names though – from the Christmas card we were sent – and since she was apparently the one who was meant to have the key I concluded she must be one of the daughters, let’s call them Sally and Emily – with her boyfriend, and they had been dropped off and then found they didn’t have the key. So I thought perhaps we’d better help. After all if my daughter locked herself out of the house in the middle of a chilly night I wouldn’t like to think of her having to spend the night in the garden! I was going to go over there but my partner gallantly volunteered instead. I told him the girls’ names so he could check, and where to find the key. He went over to their house and when the boyfriend heard him calling ‘Hello!’ he turned to the girl and said ‘Sally?’ so we were sure it had to be the right person. They didn’t seem at all surprised to see a man in a dressing gown in their garden at 4:30 in the morning but simply asked ‘have you got a key’? It turned out they were both very drunk and had lost the key and couldn’t find the spare one, which was literally right under their noses. My partner pointed it out to them and they gratefully went to bed. Of course we, being sober, couldn’t get to sleep again for a long time! Around lunchtime today we were in the garage, which is opposite their front door, when Sally and her boyfriend came out. They got in her car and drove past without so much as a wave. Oh well. I just hope they remembered to put the spare key back in case the fire alarm goes off again when everyone is away! All rights reserved. © Text and image copyright Fleur 2017.