Page 34 of Summer at Harbour View House
‘They’re very much a musical festival type crowd,’ Davey said. ‘Not the types who can afford to live in the palaces popping up left, right, and centre. Many of them are almost like locals, though. Been coming down here for years. I played with them as a kid when they came with their parents, and now they bring their kids. Some of those guys are like family. It just gets sadder every year when they go home at the end of August, because there are fewer and fewer people left behind. Won’t be long before it’ll be a case of last one out, close the gates and switch out the lights.’
‘Lots of the houses round here look really posh,’ Hannah said.
‘They’re all holiday homes,’ Davey said. ‘Those people show up two weeks a year, or not at all. They block the roads with their delivery lorries, and they rarely show their faces around the village. They live on their back patios, eating and drinking what they’ve ordered in.’
Natasha was about to mention Paul Stoat, when Davey suddenly ripped of his t-shirt to reveal an impressively muscular physique that left Hannah swooning, her eyelids fluttering like butterflies trapped against a window. He threw his t-shirt down on the grey sand, then pointed to the water.
‘Come on, let’s get in there. This might be our last chance to have a swim before the campers swamp the place.’
Giggling, Hannah ran after him as he headed for the shoreline. Natasha, starting to feel a little gooseberry-like, took off her clothes, revealing a rather more conservative swimsuit—but one she didn’t look half bad in, if she did say so herself—and followed at a more leisurely pace.
Aside from a couple of kids splashing in the shallows while their parents stood nearby, the sea was deserted. And as the shock of the cold raced up Natasha’s legs, she understood why. She doubted the Antarctic Ocean had anything on this little pocket of freezingness, like an ice cube floating on the edge of the English Channel. Hannah was screaming as Davey splashed her, and not so joyously as it first appeared. Natasha winced as a little swell rose up over her waist, gasped for air, and wondered how much colder her heart could take.
‘Isn’t it fine?’ Davey called, splashing Hannah again, before ducking under the water and swimming a few metres out.
‘Please tell me I’m not the only one who’s freezing to death,’ Natasha said.
Hannah, arms wrapped around herself, just nodded.
After a few minutes of hopping around, they began to adjust. It was still freezing, but it was a manageable cold, and once she had got her head wet for the first time, Natasha found herself able to do a bit of swimming without fear that her heart was going to give out.
‘Can you swim a hundred metres?’ Davey asked, emerging, merman-like, from the water between them.
Hannah shrugged. ‘Maybe.’
Natasha just nodded, her teeth chattering.
‘Let’s go out to that rock, do a bit of jumping,’ Davey said, pointing to a black lump of grass-topped slate poking out of the water a short distance offshore. There’s a great overhang around the other side.’
With the water still pretty calm, both women agreed. A few minutes later, they pulled themselves up on to a rocky shelf warmed by the sun. A rough path wound around to the top of the rock, and soon they found themselves sitting on top of the grassy outcrop, gazing up the coast. Behind them, on the cliffs above Winter Vale Beach, they could see their house and that of their obnoxious neighbour nestled back against the hill. To the left, the roofs of Penkoe were just visible over the rise of the cliff.
‘Can’t beat the view, can you?’ Davey said. ‘I used to come out here as a kid and just sit for hours looking up and down the coast, watching the ferries and the tankers out in the Channel. It makes you feel so small, but at the same time like you have your eye on the whole world.’
Before either could reply, Davey had jumped up again and hurried down a path leading over to the other side of the outcrop. They followed, finding themselves standing on a ledge, looking down over a dark square of sea about ten metres below.
‘Who’s coming in?’ Davey said. ‘It’s nice and deep here. When I was a kid, there would be a jumpers queue on every decent summer’s day. Not many people even know it’s here anymore.’
Again, he left them no time to reply, taking a couple of quick steps forward and leaping off the edge. His legs windmilled, then he splashed down into the water, vanishing under the surface.
‘Davey!’ Hannah cried, taking a step forward and nearly overbalancing. ‘Where is he? Where’s he gone? Davey? Davey!’
A moment later he reappeared on a ledge down to their right, pulling himself out of the water like a beaching seal. He lifted his hands in triumph, then made his way up a narrow path to where they stood.
‘Who’s next?’
Natasha shook her head. ‘No chance.’
‘Come on, it’s not that far. And it’ll wake you up a bit. It’s easy.’
Again, not waiting for a reply, he stepped to the edge and plummeted down into the water, this time bobbing straight up and waving at them to come after.
Hannah turned to Natasha, her face pale. ‘I will if you will,’ she said.
‘I’m thinking about it. You really don’t need to impress him, you know. I think you’re doing that enough already.’
‘I know … but it does look kind of fun. It’s just so high, isn’t it?’
‘Don’t be scared,’ Davey called. ‘Worst that could happen is that you’ll land on a shark. I can’t see any around, though.’
