Patrick’s Presents

Thevillagefolkhadalwaysknownhimasa frugal

pensioner– whatcouldpossiblybebehindhissudden

splurgingongiftsforothers?

BYBERNADETTEJAMES ILLUSTRATION:MICHAELDELUCCHI

CHILL OUT | FICTION

P

ATRICK Bellamy was a
frugal man. Not so frugal
that he’d darn his socks,
but enough to throw
away only the damaged
half of an ageing pair in
the expectation that one
day a similar pair would
be likely to suffer the same fate. It was
therefore of some consternation to his
friends and neighbours in Upper Cam-

brig when he started behaving in a quite
out-of-character manner.
He was neither a mean man nor an un-

kind one and was often to be seen carry-
ing old Miss Grey’s shopping home or
guiding a stray cat back to the appropri-
ate garden. He was, however, careful not

to waste the small incomethathis pen-

sion from his many years as caretaker at

the local school provided, spending

nothing he didn’t need to and buying

nothing that wasn’t essential. It pleased

him that at the end of each month there

was always a little left over to put by for

a rainy day.

The first sign that something was

amiss was the bunch of flowers, shop-

bought and beautifully wrapped, that

was thrust into the hands of the sur-

prised librarian, Emily, as she reached

out to stamp the weekly western novel

that was Patrick’s typical borrowing.

Emily looked at the flowers – carnations

and scented stocks – then at Patrick,

then at the flowers again. From a man

who never took the bus if he could walk

or bought vegetables that he could grow

himself, this was more than remarkable.

“Thank you,” she said.

“My pleasure,” Patrick replied, tucking

his book under his arm and heading for

th e door.

U

PPER Cambrig was a small

country town where every-

body still knew everybody

else and things moved more

slowly than in the cities. A

sudden change such as this

in one of its long-standing inhabitants

was never going to pass unnoticed and

the news spread quickly.

There was some discussion about

whether Patrick had been harbouring a

secret fancy for Emily – surely no one

could read that many westerns. It was

thought unlikely, however, given that

Emily was a good 30 years younger than

Patrick and married with two small chil-

dren. But you never knew, did you?

It was only a few days later that old

Miss Grey found a small box of rather

nice Belgian truffles tucked into the top

of her shopping bag. She knew she hadn’t

bought them and no one had been near

her bag apart from Patrick when he’d

62 | 8 AUGUST 2019 you.co.za