There were, as I’ve said, low privet hedges on both sides of the garden – leading to a small, wrought-iron gate on the street corner. A concrete pathway then led to the front door. Curiously, the gate had been secured with a chain. This did not seem to make any sense because the gate itself was low enough simply to jump over and was therefore not designed to keep intruders out. Maybe it was meant to keep pet dogs in – I don’t really know. So, why mention it at all? Well, it had obviously presented an obstacle to someone who had come to deliver a parcel to the residence. Instead of taking it to the front door, the parcel had simply been dropped by the gate and left for the residents to find later . Serendipity! Regardless of its contents, I decided the parcel was mine – and I immediately took possession of it. Having done so, I left the somnolent guard to his snoring and discreetly returned to the crypt to examine my prize. o0o I was pleased to note that David had apparently missed me. He met me at the door of the crypt and displayed what I interpreted as unusual attention towards me. However, given that he had been largely ignoring me for some days, this was not saying a great deal. “Hey, Dave,” I whispered exultantly and held the parcel high. “Santa’s been! He brought you a prezzo. You must have been a good little zombie!” He emitted an amused sort of grunt – leastwise, that’s how it seemed to me. Maybe his rudimentary brain still computed ‘Santa’ and ‘prezzo’. These concepts are, after all, deeply ingrained in the psyche of all western children. I placed the parcel on the floor. It was wrapped in several layers of stiff, brown tar-paper and tied with numerous turns of thick twine. (Ah! They don’t wrap ‘em like that anymore, do they?). There was an envelope pushed roughly under the twine but not otherwise secured to the parcel. Was it meant to go with the parcel or was it separate? I decided to put it aside in favour of watching what David would do with ‘Santa’s prezzo’.
Dell leveris vy, yth esa perthi a skeuswydh war dhew du an lowarth hag i a dheuth warbarth dhe gornell an stret yn yet vyghan gwrys gans horn oberys. Alena, hyns a gentevynn eth dhe’n dharas-rag. Yn koynt, an yet re via gwrys fast gans kadon. Ny heveli hemma bos pur gonnyk drefenn an yet dhe vos isel lowr bys may hyllys lamma dresti. Ytho, nyns esa an yet desinyes rag gwitha yn-mes ynherdhyoryon. Martesen, desinyes o hi rag gwitha keun a-bervedh – ny wonn yn hwir. Ytho, prag y hwrav y gampoella? Wel, an yet ma o, yn apert, lett lowr rag nebonan a vynna gul livreson dhe’n drigva. Yn le y gemmeres dhe’n dharas-rag, ev re assa yn sempel an fardell a- dherag dhe’n yet rag an drigoryon dhe gavoes diwettha. Chonseuster! Heb prederi a’n synsas, my a erviras an fardell dhe vos dhymmo vy – hag, a-dhesempis, my a’n kevis. Gans henna, my a asas an gwithyas ow renki ha dehweles yn kosel dhe’n gleudhgell rag anvaylya ow fiwas. o0o Pes da en vy dhe notya, yn apert, Davydh dhe yeuni ragov. Ev a dheuth er ow bynn dhe dharas an gleudhva ha diskwedhes pyth a grysyn bos bern nag o herwydh usadow y’m kever. Byttegyns, drefenn ev dhe skonya ow aswonnans, dre vras, dres nebes dydhyow, nyns o hemma leverel meur. “Ay, ‘Dhav!,” a hwystris vy, heudhik fest, ha my synsys ughel an fardel. “Santa re dheuth! Ev re dhros dhis rohik. Yth heveli dha vos Zombi byghan da!” Ev a dhellos rogh nebes didhanys – dhe’n lyha, yth heveli yndella dhymmo vy. Martesen, y ympynnyon elvennek a ylli hwath konvedhes geryow kepar ha ‘Santa’ ha ‘rohik’. An tybyansow ma yw, wosa oll, ynkleudhys yn town yn brysyow an fleghes a’n howlsedhes. My a worras an fardel war an leur. Maylyes o yn lies gwiskas gwrys a baper- pyg gorm ha kelmys gans nebes troyow a lovannen dew. (A! Ny vaylir denvyth na fella kepar dell o maylyes an fardel ma. A nyns yw henna gwir?). Yth esa maylyer re via herdhys garow yn-dann an lovannen mes nyns o kelmys ken dhe’n fardel. A dalvien ev mos gans an fardel po o ev diblans dhiworto? My a erviras y worra a-denewen. Gwell o genev mires orth Davydh gans an rohik dhiworth Santa.langbot langbot