Page 21 of A Secret Cornish Wish
Rob grins. ‘Funnily enough, me too. Shall we watch for a bit longer in case it appears again?’
‘Yeah, we probably should.’
We sit up on the cliff edge for another half an hour, but we don’t see the tail again. As the evening draws to a close, the wind that was warm and light when I left my house earlier this evening now has quite a chill to it as it blows up off the sea.
I feel myself shiver, and Rob turns to me. ‘Are you cold?’
‘A bit. I think the wind has changed direction.’
‘Do you want to go back?’
That’s the last thing I want to do. I’m really enjoying spending this time with him – just the two of us.
‘No, it’s OK, I’ll be fine.’
‘I . . . I could put my arm around you?’ Rob asks, looking down immediately after he’s spoken. ‘To try to keep you a bit warmer?’
Again, I’m lost for words. So I just nod.
Rob slides a bit closer to me along the smooth rock, then puts his arm around my shoulders.
‘Is that any better?’ he asks.
I’m still freezing, but of course I don’t say.
‘Yes, thank you,’ I whisper, barely able to get my words out now I’m this close to him. This has never happened to me before, and inside I’m completely panicking. What happens next? What should I do? What if he tries to kiss me?
Again, we sit for a bit longer watching the waves below us. Well, I think this is what we’re still doing. Both of us sit in complete silence staring at the sea, me completely paralysed by my nerves, and Rob as still as the cliff face behind us.
To my annoyance, I begin to shiver again.
My movement seems to awaken Rob. ‘Oh, God, you’re still cold!’ he says with anguish, as though it’s all his fault he hasn’t been able to warm me up.
‘No, I’m not, honestly.’ I turn to look at him and I suddenly realise how close our faces are.
‘Honestly?’ Rob repeats, staring at me in an odd way.
I shrug. ‘Maybe a bit . . . ’
It’s possibly the strangest, and at the same time most awkward, situation I think I’ve ever found myself in as we continue to stare at each other. If this were a romantic movie, we’d be gazing longingly into each other’s eyes, but the truth of the matter is we’re staring, both of us seemingly wondering what should happen next.
Suddenly, among the noise of the gulls and the swirling wind, I hear a splash down below. Rob hears it too and we both turn away from each other to look.
Below us is the tail again, nothing more than that, simply what appears to be a huge fish’s tail flapping around in the water. Its green, blue and turquoise colours are almost iridescent as they catch the evening sunlight.
Now, instead of staring at each other, we stare at the tail, but, try as I might, I can’t make out a body beneath the waves to try to figure out what species this could be. And then, after only a few seconds, the tail dips down beneath the waves and is gone again.
‘It is real, then?’ Robs says, still looking down into the waves in case it makes another appearance. ‘We didn’t imagine it?’
‘Seems that way. I wonder what it is?’
‘I think we should probably head home soon.’ Rob turns away from the sea. ‘You do seem quite cold now, Frankie.’
‘OK.’ He’s not wrong; I am freezing. But I don’t want this night to end yet.
‘Come on, then.’ Rob holds out his hand and I take it gladly as we climb down from our viewing position.
We walk back through the town and then up the hill that leads out of the old part of St Felix towards the newer end of town, where most of the new-build houses are in little estates.
