Page 29 of A Christmas Celebration
A sight test was a little thing in the grand scheme, but getting Albert to agree to having one, or even to admitting that he couldn’t see properly, was a huge hurdle. However, it seemed to me that his lack of vision was the most pressing of his current problems and therefore that’s what needed addressing. Perhaps if I could achieve that, my intuition and desire to help might stop nagging and I would then be able to hand him over to Kathleen.
I typed what I hoped was a tactful letter, in a large font, which I intended to post through his cottage door, along with my phone number. The letter, after Angus’s reminder that I’d always had a desire to assist, felt like the right compromise.
‘You again,’ was the welcome I received as I snuck up the path and the cottage door was wrenched open.
‘I’m not stopping,’ I insisted, shocked at being caught in my clandestine act. ‘I was just going to leave this.’
‘What is it?’ Albert frowned, taking the envelope I held out.
‘Just a little note,’ I shrugged, as if it was nothing at all.
‘You’d best come in,’ he sniffed. ‘I was actually hoping I might see you again.’
That was a surprise and I followed him inside, grateful that I was wearing my coat and gloves this time. The room was still extremely cold, but I could see he’d had a bit of a tidy up and the few changes pushed a lump into my throat. Here was a man who obviously cared but found himself ina situation that had run away from him and from which he currently had no way of finding his way back from.
‘You left this last time you were here,’ he said, picking up my scarf.
‘Oh,’ I smiled, taking it, ‘thanks.’
Had he not spotted me, I would have willingly sacrificed it, but then it felt a little damp after its time at the cottage, so it wouldn’t have been of much benefit to him.
‘So, what’s in this here letter then?’ Albert asked, squinting at the envelope.
I felt a bit awkward.
‘Why don’t you read it when I’ve gone?’ I suggested. ‘I don’t want to hold you up. It’s just another apology really and a few words about an idea I had…’
My words trailed off.
‘As I mentioned before,’ Albert said, with a sniff, ‘I was hoping to see you. I want to apologize to you too.’
‘Whatever for?’
‘For being a bad-mannered old beggar,’ he said, after a beat had passed. ‘I don’t get many visitors, certainly none I let in and I was rude to you, which was wrong.’
‘No, you weren’t,’ I insisted.
Albert raised his eyebrows.
‘Not really.’
‘But it was your own fault,’ he then said, taking the edge off his apology. ‘You mentioned lighting the fire, which made me realize that you’d noticed… things. I don’t usually live like this, you know.’
‘I can tell that,’ I was quick to say, then risked offending him again by adding, ‘and you’re right, I do notice things. Your glasses, for a start. They’re not doing you much good, are they?’
Albert sat heavily in the chair, narrowly avoiding Bella who leapt out of the way in a well-practiced manner which proved my point.
‘No,’ he admitted. ‘Not much.’
‘I can help you with that,’ I said, emboldened by the fact that he hadn’t bitten my head off.
‘I’m not going to town,’ he snapped.
‘You wouldn’t need to,’ I countered. ‘That’s what I’d written about in my note.’
I told him how I could arrange to have an optician come out to test his eyes at home and was amazed when he agreed for me to book an appointment. I hadn’t expected him to give in so easily, but I was pleased he had, even if his acquiescence made me tear up because it was proof that he really was struggling to see.
‘But only if I don’t have to go and pick the new specs up,’ he gruffly added.
