Tricia smiled. 'Yeah, until Douglas told him the youngest wasn't interested any more, because he had started Big School.'
'But he still wrote to them all?'
'He did, so the older ones had letters to show the wee'uns. He said he enjoyed it and it got him in the mood for Christmas. Doug let him off buying presents for the older ones but he was still sad when it had to stop. The eldest had graduated by then!'
'Bloody hell!' Toby exclaimed. 'As if doing Christmas for your own family isn't enough of a work up! Who in their right mind would take on another tribe to shop for?''
'A kind and generous man, obviously,' Deepak said. 'Isn't there a saying that it is better to give than to receive?'
'There is indeed, Deepak,' Hilary affirmed. 'I agree with Paula - it was a wonderful gesture by Tricia's father, who is a very decent and kindly man still. I hope he is well, by the way.'
'Still going strong, in his own way.'
'Genuine generosity can be most enriching,' said Vaughan. 'As I discovered during my first Christmas working for the Project.'
'That sounds like the cue for a story to me,' Toby laughed. 'Let's have it, mate!'
'Is there a song with yours?' Sally asked, clearly hoping there would be.
'I do believe there is.' Vaughan focused his gaze somewhere in the middle distance. 'I recall hearing the strains of Happy Christmas (War is over) drifting through the waiting room as I went to meet one especially significant client, as they had the radio on in reception. This was back in the days when we shared the Old Town Hall with the Housing Aid Centre and Relate and the Council staffed the desk. I was working with dear Margaret and Paul, and our own lovely Hilary, of course, and it was Christmas Eve. We intended to close at lunchtime before partaking of a little festive cheer together, but for the purpose the waiting room was teaming with prospective clients.
'I had been with the Project for six months and, though you might find it hard to believe from such an old stalwart, I was beset by doubts as to the wisdom of my career change. For those of you who don't know, I had been a partner at the prestigious Archibald and Smart solicitors and the contrast between the Festive Season there and at the Project was stark. In my former role, my colleagues and I would by now have left our comfortable offices and adjourned to the lounge bar of the King Alfred Hotel to top up the hangovers that traditionally persisted for much of that week, thanks to incessant wining and dining with clients and a super-abundance of bottled largess from those who availed themselves of our services.'
'Sheer hell!' laughed Hilary.
'It had seemed just that, actually - until this first Christmas away from it all. How mean the office I now shared! How drab and dull the clients! In place of the expensive single malts and cases of fine wine, we had a tin of shortbread and a brace of Quality Street boxes, for legal endeavours no less demanding.'
'So this is Christmas, And what have you done?' Sally almost sung.
'That song, indeed those very words, expressed my feelings perfectly. To crown it all, the middle-aged man answering to 'ticket number eighteen', hopefully my last caller of the morning, was badly in need of a bath and remedial dental treatment and assailed me with the most appalling halitosis as he lamented the non-appearance of his fortnightly giro - these being the days when many payments still arrived by post and had to be cashed at the Post Office. Clearly, without funds to buy food or feed the meter over Christmas, our man faced a cruel Yule but, to my shame, that day I perceived him as a problem rather than a person. I could do battle by phone with the Jobcentre, assuming I could get through at all, and haggle for a cash payment, though it was entirely possible that by the time I got a decision from them, they would have closed their doors before the man could collect he money. I was impatient to be rid of him and finished, so I retrieved my wallet from my breast pocket and handed him fifty pounds - two twenties and a ten.'
'Oh Vaughan! You didn't!' cried Tricia.
'No way!' gasped Sally.
'I'm afraid I did. It seemed a small sum to me, though it would have been almost a week's benefit for the man himself. "Bring it back when your giro arrives," I said benevolently and, as he muttered his somewhat underwhelming thanks, I showed him to the door and locked it behind him. The waiting room was clear at last, the radio on the reception desk was silent, our last client's problem was solved and all was well with the world. It was time to go home.
'Margaret, bedecked in one of her splendid Christmas jumpers, accosted me at the office door. I thought she would be delighted that I had dispatched our last caller so promptly, but instead she took me aside. "I was tidying up in the interview room beside you," she said. "And I heard everything. Whatever were you thinking of! Fifty pounds!" She was deeply unhappy, so I explained the logical thinking behind my decision, concluding graciously, "I don't actually mind too much if he doesn't return the money," as if to reassure her that I wasn't naïve about the character of many of our clients. "I mind," Margaret replied. "I mind that a member of my staff cannot differentiate between the role of Welfare Rights Adviser and bountiful Lord Muck! Our job is to see that people receive their correct entitlement and not to dispense charity, even if we can afford to do so. What you did was done for your own convenience, not from kindness. You know that man has such a low income he'll struggle to repay so much and if he doesn't manage to, he'll be too embarrassed to ever come here again. Where will he go then if he needs help with a benefit appeal - or has a housing or a relationship issue, for that matter? If you had asked, after first trying your damnedest to make the Social Security Office take responsibility, we could have authorised a tenner from our funds to see him through to an appointment after Christmas." She stared at me crossly through her thick glasses before adding. "And for pity's sake, will you stop wearing your suit when you're not attending tribunals - you look like an over-priced undertaker!"'
'Harsh words, mate.'
'But justified, Mr Novak. She was entirely correct on all counts. I had been arrogant and foolish. My job was to insist that the State paid my client his dues and made the necessary arrangements to do so, not to have bought my way out of a problem.'
'Did he bring the money back?' asked Paula.
'He did not, but of course he may never have received the missing giro. In fact, I do not recall ever seeing him again. As Margaret had noted, my over-generosity made it hard for him to return.' Vaughan sighed. 'I would have slipped away home without a Christmas drink had not dear Hilary taken my arm and promised me a glass of port, and soon Margaret seemed to have forgiven me too. As we sat around the table in the rather humble Railway Arms and contemplated the year just past and the one to come, the triumphs and tragedies, the successes and the struggles, I realised I had something more valuable than any money - warm-hearted colleagues with principles, determination and compassion.'
Toby tilted his head to one side and studied his friend.
'How many have you had, Vaughan?'
'Few enough that I dare risk another, if you are buying!'
'Gotcha!' laughed Paula.
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