It had been a very long busy Saturday for me and my cat Jess. We had been driving and delivering many letters, post cards and parcels not just all over Greendale, but also all over Pencaster and Ingledale as well. I just couldn't wait for a nice hot cup of tea any more than Jess could wait for his cat kibble tea when we got home.

"Hello, I'm back," I called to Sarah and Julian, as I entered the house. When I went into the kitchen, I found Sarah and I found her with someone else. "PC Selby? What's going on? Am I in trouble?"

"Not at all, Pat," PC Arthur Selby said. "I need your help with something."

I was surprised and confused as Arthur and I sat down at the kitchen table while Sarah went to put the kettle on. "You need my help?" I asked. "But I don't know anything about catching criminals or solving mysteries."

"That's not what I need your help for," Arthur said. "I need your help for my future."

"Your future?"

"Not just his future, Pat."

I turned to see Dr. Sylvia Gilberston entering the kitchen and joining me and Arthur at the kitchen table.

"My future, as well," she said.

"You know Sylvia and I have been seeing each other for a few years, Pat?" Arthur asked.

"Yes, I do know that, Arthur."

"And do you see this, Pat?" Sylvia asked.

I looked at Sylvia's finger and noticed that she had a ring on it. "Is that an engagement ring, Sylvia?"

"It is, Pat," Sylvia said. "I got engaged three days ago."

"That's great," I said. "Congratulations."

"Yes, well done, both of you," Sarah said, as she put the tea tray on the table and sat down to join us.

"You and Sarah are the only ones who know about it, apart from Sylvia's Sarah and my Lucy."

"How did the girls take it?" I asked. "You know, them becoming sisters and so on?"

"Oh, they've known each other and been best friends since their first day at school," Sylvia said. "They spend time together like sisters, they do things together like sisters and they even already argue like sisters, so I believe they should be all right."

"And Sarah is all right with this, Sylvia?" I asked her. "You know, since you divorced your first husband."

"Yeah, she's fine with it," she said.

"And, Arthur, is Lucy okay with this?" I asked him. All the thought of Arthur marrying Sylvia reminded me of Margret Selby, his first wife and Lucy's mother. She was a terribly nice lady and the whole of Greendale were very sadly when she passed away in a rocking climbing accident. Lucy was only three years old when that tragic event happened.

"Yes, Lucy is okay with this," Arthur said. I could tell that he was already thinking of Margret and knew that he never forgot her.

"And I hope they like their new sister as well," Arthur said.

I nearly chocked on the tea I was sipping. "Sorry," I said, after clearing my throat. "New sister? Sylvia, you don't mean –"

"That's right, Pat," Sylvia said. "I've been pregnant with a little girl for six months and she's been doing very well."

"Like I said," Arthur said, "our two girls know they're going to get another sister, but I hope they'll love her."

"Oh, I'm sure they will in time," I said. "But I still don't understand how you two need my help."

"Well, this is where you come in, Pat," Arthur said. "For our wedding, I would like you to be my best man."

I didn't know what to say at first because I had never been a best man for anyone's wedding in my life and therefore had no experience at all, but I knew I had to make my mind up quickly. So, I thought quickly about it and said, "Yes, Arthur. I will be honoured to be your best man."

"Oh, thank you, Pat," Arthur said, shaking his hand.

"And thank you, Sarah, for being my maid of honour," Sylvia said.

"No problem, Sylvia," Sarah said, lifting up her cup of tea. "To a successful wedding."

We all lift our cups up and toasted to a successful wedding.


After a good restful Sunday, I was back at work on Monday. After I picked up the post from the post office, my first stop on my rounds was to the church. I went in and saw Reverend Timms speaking to PC Selby and Dr. Gilbertson. They spotted me as I approached them.

"Morning, Pat," they all said.

"Morning," I greeted back. "What are you two doing? Are you trying to book the church for your wedding day?"

"That's right, Pat," Reverend Timms said. "And you are the first one to know."

"What day would that be?"

"July 3rd," Sylvia said.

July 3rd? That was just under four months.

"It's not a massive wedding, Pat," Arthur said, "and we're only inviting a few of our family and friends. We hope that's not too much pressure for you and Sarah."

"Oh, no," I said. "Not at all. Well, here are your letters, Reverend." I gave them to him. "Cheerio, everyone."

"Bye, Pat," Arthur, Sylvia and Reverend Timms said together as I headed out of the church.


I was surprised when I went to the post office the next morning. I was surprised to see how so many letters were waiting for me to post. Mrs. Goggins came to help me sort them out.

"I'm very excited to about the wedding, Pat," Mrs. Goggins told me.

"You know about it already?" I asked. "How?"

"Oh, I've opened up my invitation already," she said.

Then I figured out why there were so many letters. They were all invitations to the wedding of Arthur and Sylvia.

"By the time you've delivered these letters all over Greendale, it'll be the talk of town for months," said Mrs. Goggins. "You must be very lucky to be the best man."

"Well, I've never done it before, but I'm glad to be helping a very good friend like Arthur," I said, as I headed to the door. "Bye, Mrs. Goggins."

"Bye, Pat," called Mrs. Goggins, as I left the post office. "Good luck."


Mrs. Goggins couldn't be more right. The day after I posted all of the wedding invitations all over Greendale, Pencaster and Ingledale, the wedding of Arthur and Sylvia was all these towns talked about for the next three months. Everywhere I want, everyone asked me a question about the wedding like, 'How's the wedding coming on, Pat?' and 'How much hard work is it being a best man?" among those questions. If they didn't ask me questions about it, they would have given me some suggestions on how to make this wedding the very best for Arthur and Sylvia, like when Miss Hubbard suggested what flowers the wedding should have and when Dorothy Thompson suggested what food the wedding should have. I couldn't escape from the talk of it anywhere. Even Julian wouldn't stop talking about the wedding, because he and his friends had been learning about wedding in schools and he kept saying Sarah and Lucy kept saying that they just couldn't wait to be sisters. But I didn't mind because Arthur and Sylvia were my friends and I was always happy when my friends were happy. And I was happy to assist Sarah with her maid of honour duties, including helping her with the flowers, the food and arranging Sylvia's hen party, while doing my best man duties including arranging Arthur's stag party. And another good thing was that despite there was so much to do, at the end of the day we were making further progress with the wedding. And Sarah was grateful whenever I helped her.


One day, about a week before the wedding, I had to post some letters for Sylvia at her surgery. I saw her coming out of the door. "Morning, Sylvia," I greeted.

"Thank you, Pat," she said, as she took her letters.

"How's the baby's doing?" I asked.

"She's doing fine." Then she started to groan. "In fact, I think she's ready."

Pat gasped. "You don't mean –"

"Yes, Pat," Sylvia groaned. "I think she's on her way now."

"Okay, let's get back into your surgery." After I helped Sylvia sit in one of the seats for her patients, I ran to her desk and dialled 999 on her phone for both an ambulance and the police, specifically for PC Selby. "And tell him that his fiancée is about to give birth to his new baby," I finished, before I put the receiver down.

It wasn't long before Arthur barged into Sylvia's office. "I'll take you to the Pencaster Hospital myself, Sylvia. All the ambulances are very busy. There isn't a spare one available."

"I'll help you put her into your car," I said.

Soon we helped Sylvia into Arthur's police car.

"Thanks for all of your help, Pat," Arthur said, before he turned on his police sirens and drove off to Pencaster Hospital quickly.

I hoped everything would be all right with them as I went back to doing my posting rounds.


Three days later, it was the day for both the stag and hen parties for Arthur Selby and Sylvia Gilbertson. The trouble was that none of them had been back to Greendale since the day Arthur drove Sylvia to Pencaster Hospital. None of them called me or wrote a letter to me or anyone in Greendale explaining what was going on at the hospital. We were all worried about what was happening to Sylvia or her new baby. The only contact from Arthur was that he called Mrs. Pottage and told them about the hospital trip and asked if Lucy and Sarah could stay at their farm until they were ready to come back to Greendale.

When it came to six o'clock tonight, everyone for the three parties – Arthur's stag party, Sylvia's hen party and the children party, which was a party for the children to be supervised by Reverend Timms and Mr. Pringle – were standing outside Garner Hall. I made a deal with Major Forbes that in exchange for weeding his garden he would let me have Garner Hall to host Arthur's stag party. Thompson Farm was where Sarah was hosting Sylvia's hen party and the children's party was to take place at the school.

After waiting for ten more minutes, we all felt like giving up.

"Look!" cried Julian.

We all looked ahead to see that a police car was coming. It parked and out came PC Arthur Selby.

"Evening, all," he greeted. "Sorry we're late for our parties, but we had to stay to make sure that the baby was okay."

He went around to the other side of his police car and opened the door. Out came Sylvia, holding a little someone in pink baby clothes.

"Sylvia, is that your baby?" asked Dorothy Thompson.

"She is," Sylvia said. "Lucy, Sarah, come and say hello to your new sister, Amy."

Lucy and Sarah went to look at their new sister. They thought she was so cute. As Sylvia showed everyone Amy, they all thought she was so cute. I looked at Amy and from I could make out was that she had Sylvia's beautiful face and hair and also Arthur's long nose.

"Oh, isn't she cute?" said Mrs. Pottage.

"She looks adorable," said Miss Hubbard.

"She's a real beauty," said Granny Dryden.

"Okay, everyone," I said. "Shall we get our parties going?"

Everyone agreed and went to the parties they were invited to. Neither party was very late because we all knew that we needed to rest before the day after tomorrow.


The day finally arrived. Arthur and I were the first ones at the church to welcome everyone, including all of our friends in Greendale, Pencaster and Ingledale and some friends and relatives of Arthur and Sylvia. After all of our guests were in the church, we went in to await for Sarah and Sylvia to arrive. It wasn't long before they arrived. They joined us at the alter and the ceremony began.

Reverend Timms cleared his throat. "Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today to witness the marriage of Arthur and Sylvia." He turned to Arthur. "Do you, Arthur Selby, take this woman, Sylvia Gilbertson, to be your lawfully wedded wife? To love her, cherish her, support her in sickness and in health till death do you part?"

"I do," Arthur said.

Then Reverend Timms turned to Sylvia. "Do you, Sylvia, take this man, Arthur Selby, to be your lawfully wedded husband? To love him, cherish him, support him in sickness and in health till death do you part?"

"I do," Sylvia said.

Reverend Timms turned to the audience. "If there is anyone who believes that these two should not be married, tell us now."

When no one said they shouldn't, it was time for me and Sarah to give Arthur and Sylvia their wedding rings for them to put onto each other's fingers.

"By the power invested in me," Reverend Timms said, "I pronounce you man and wife. You may kiss."

They kissed and everyone cheered.


Later, everyone was at Garner Hall where Arthur and Sylvia's wedding party was being held. After everyone had some of the delicious food and had a good chat, it was time for me to make my best man speech.

"Thank you all for coming," I said. "As many of you will know, I have known Arthur and Sylvia since we were little children. I always thought they had a great future and they have proved me right by being a doctor and a policeman saving many lives from pain and crime, but I could never have imaged ever in their future that they would be perfect for each other. And I couldn't be happier or prouder of them and I wish them and their daughters Sarah, Lucy and Amy nothing but the best future ever."

Everyone applauded.

Then Sarah began her maid of honour speech. Then Arthur and Sylvia made their speeches. At the end, they all thanked us all for coming. Then Arthur said, "Pat, thank you for being me best man."

"No problem," I said. Then the party continued, everyone continued to enjoy themselves and I continued to feel good that my best man duties have paid off very well.