Page 1 of A Secret Cornish Wish
Prologue
Autumn 2024
It never really changes, does it – the sea?
The seasons change, the weather changes; the light that bounces on the waves and makes them look either an invitingly turquoise blue or a bitterly cold grey – that changes. But the sea, with its rhythmical waves washing in over the sand, time and time again – it doesn’t change. It simply remains a constant. You can rely on the sea to do its thing, day after day, year after year, without any fuss or worry. It’s always there – just like it always will be.
Sitting high up on the rocks that overlook the beach and the little Cornish town of St Felix, I gaze out over the sea while I watch the gulls soaring above, and I remember . . .
I remember us all standing together down there on the rocks as the waves splashed below. Six school friends with our whole lives in front of us. We had no idea back then how the world would change over the next thirty-five years, or how we would, too. We were young and full of hope and anticipation at what our futures might bring.
Back in 1989, we’d rush home every day from school to watchNeighbours; Harry had only just met Sally on the big screen, but you could giggle at Baby and Johnny dirty dancing on the small screen if you were lucky enough to have a machine and a local video rental shop; Kylie and Jason, and New Kids on the Block, topped the charts; telephones were something plugged into the wall and computers were something you learnt about once a week at school.
I had no idea back then that I’d be sitting here in St Felix once more when I reached, what seemed to me at the time, the incredibly ancient age of fifty. No idea that my teenage friends would be here with me again – well, most of them would. Sadly, this time, there would be one of us missing.
But on that magical evening, when we stood on the rocks together, we each wished for something different, and we each kept it a secret. All except for the wish we made together: that we’d be friends for ever, no matter what happened in our lives, that we’d keep in touch and try to be together, and, amazingly, all these years later, we’ve managed to do just that.
Unlike the sea, every one of us has changed over the years. We’ve grown older, some of us wiser, but we’ve kept the promise we made to each other.
The promise we’d always be together.
One
July 1989
‘No,’ I insist again when Eddie asks the same question he’s asked me at least five times already. ‘It’s not my thing.’
‘Is it any of our things, really?’ Eddie replies, trying to look innocent. ‘But we’re still stepping up.’
I turn around from where I’ve been painting scenery for the dance – a seascape not unlike the one we might see once we return home from school this evening.
‘Yeah, right,’ I say, brandishing my paintbrush at my friend. ‘This is right up your street and you know it!’
‘All right.’ He gives a good-natured shrug. ‘You might be right. I am quite looking forward to performing. But I need three backing singers, or it won’t look right.’
‘I thought you had three already – Claire, Mandy and Suzy?’
‘Suzy’s dropped out.’
‘Why? She’s got a great voice.’
‘I know,’ Eddie says with an anguished expression. ‘I really need her, but she says she’ll embarrass herself.’
‘And the rest of us won’t?’
‘You know what she’s like – always changing her mind at the last minute about everything.’
He was right. Our friend Suzy is quite erratic and prone to second thoughts, which is a shame really, because her mind can be incredibly sharp and focused, especially when it comes to issues she’s passionate about, like the environment.
‘Save me, Obi-Wan Frankie – you’re my only hope!’ Eddie says in a high-pitched voice, as he clasps his hands together in a praying motion.
I’ve known Eddie since our first year at secondary school, when we were put in the same form together. And even though he is a pain sometimes, especially when it comes to things like this, he is also one of my best friends – there’s no way I’m going to let him down.
‘All right, Princess,’ I sigh. ‘I’ll do it. But I want to be hidden at the back, OK?’
‘You’re a dream!’ Eddie hugs me, and I hurriedly hold the paintbrush away from him. ‘Thank you. The choreography wouldn’t have worked with just two.’
‘Wait, you didn’t say anything about choreography!’
