Lady luck on our side

Yesterday we went down to Lomas de Cabo Roig to see Chris and Linda in their new house. The weather was perfect - blue skies and warm sunshine. Such a change from the rain and grey skies they have suffered during their visit.

After a nice lunch that Linda prepared, Chris and I went for a walk around the estate. The girls sat out in the front enjoying the sun. Chris and I came back past the house and the girls called to say that coffee was ready.

Whilst Chris and I were just looking at the top part of the estate, a man came past the house in a green car and shouted "hola" to the girls. The next thing he was wandering round the communal pool at the side of the house. He called the girls over to explain that they were putting balustrade on top of the wall between the house and the pool area. He told them that the van which was parked on a neighbour's drive would have to be moved. Next thing he received a phone call which he said was to say that the lorry with the balustrade was arriving and the man quickly disappeared.

The girls went back into the house only to find that both of their handbags had been stolen from the lounge. Obviously as the guy was distracting the girls, his accomplice was in the house taking what he could quickly find.

In Pam's bag were her glasses, a purse with about 10€, her Spanish cards including her residencia, her mobile phone, diary and her house keys. There was also a card with our address on. In Linda's bag there was all her jewellery including her wedding and engagement rings, her mobile phone, 600€ in cash, some English money and her UK credit cards.

Once we realised that Pam's keys had gone and that the thieves had our address we decided to quickly get back home to prevent any further problems. We stopped the cards and I checked online to make sure that they had not been used. We phoned the police and found that we need to go to Pilar de Horadada to the Guardia office. I then went down to the builder's to arrange for new locks. Fortunately the locksmith who had fitted our locks was in the area and we arranged for him to meet me at 7:15pm outside the builder's office.

As I was driving back to the house, I got a phone call from our daughter Jemma to say that a girl had found both bags on Cabo Roig beach. She had found Pam's funeral card with Jemma's mobile number on it. We quickly phoned the girl to ascertain what was still in the bag and thankfully the keys were. Jemma had been having problems with her phone. She only got her replacement yesterday. If Jemma still had the old phone the girl couldn't have contacted her and we might never have got the bag back.

I cancelled the locksmith and we quickly drove down to Cabo Roig to meet the girl who handed over the bags and their contents. Of course Pam's mobile phone and the cards had gone but her residencia card was still there and more important the keys. Unfortunately Linda had lost all her jewellery and the money which we felt very badly about.

We couldn't thank the young girl and her younger brothers enough. She restored our faith in humanity. What luck a) Jemma had her replacement phone and b) such a kind person just happened to find the bags. We were more than pleased to reward the young girl for her trouble and repay her mobile phone costs.

So a salutory lesson. Never leave your house door open even when you are in the garden and don't trust strangers or be distracted by them. For sure Chris and Linda will never forget their first holiday in Cabo Roig.