Jackdaw Seacome and the Folks Who Never Locked Their Doors.

by Bob Goldsmith.

I’m glad to say that my sister had more sense and savvy than most of her neighbors did. That little community seemed to pride itself on the fact that most of them left the doors to their homes open, yes even sometimes when they left their homes to make a visit or go to the store.

My sister did try to educate her friends but mostly got responses like “ Oh there’s no need to worry around here.” Or perhaps the reply might be “Yes, you can’t be to careful, I really must remember to lock up when I go out.” But mostly their old habits refused to die, at least until that summer when old “Jackdaw” Seacome went about his business and in doing so finally got them to lock their doors.

He was not known as Jackdaw until his secret was uncovered of course. Before that he was known by his name Bob, sometimes when folks wanted to be a little unkind they would refer to him as Lonely Bob.

He did not have too many friends, mostly acquaintances really. A widower that lived alone, few remembered his wife, and who didn’t devote too much time in taking care of himself or his home.

Like my sister, Bob always kept his doors locked whether he was home or not. Unlike my sister though he never invited any of his neighbors into his home and never seemed to have the inclination to visit anyone. Bob kept himself to himself and lived up to the handle Lonely Bob, that is up till the start of that summer.

He took to visiting people, visiting just about all the folks that he knew in that little community even if just on a nodding acquaintance with them. As was the custom he’d just walk in if the house door was unlocked and give a cry of “Who’s at home?”

He never had much of a reason to visit and mostly talked about this or that and before he left he invariably asked to borrow something. It started with jars of instant coffee, cans of beans and the corny bag of sugar. Then his requests got a little weird like a clock, a radio set, items of clothing even, always with the assurance they would be returned in a few days. They never were, not without persistent reminders.

Later that summer things just went missing. First from gardens, various garden tools and on a couple of occasions plants. Then things started vanishing from inside folks homes. Not much of high value disappeared, at least nobody reported money or jewelry missing, just the kind of things that Lonely Bob was in the habit of borrowing.

It did not take too long for two to be put together with two. Folks started to lock their doors and made a point of not opening up when Bob called. The police were called in and they paid a call on the man with the borrowing habit. Story is that all sorts of things were stashed in Bob’s home, things he mostly could have no use for, the majority of these things eventually got returned to their owners.

Jackdaw Seacome was persuaded to sell up and move into a place just perfect for lonely old fellows who are not too good at taking care of themselves. The folks in my sisters little community continue to keep their doors locked for they know too well how easy it is for someone to walk in and help themselves.

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