It happened during one special Summer Holiday on Teardrop Lake when Brothers Julian and Nigel Arbury were staying at the Shallowfield Lodge Hotel on the shore of Teardrop Lake.
The view of the lake from the forested hills was
spectacular, the lake was shaped like a teardrop, hence its name, and
surrounded by the ancient woodland of the Dancingdean Forrest.
It wasn’t a huge body of water, just over two miles
long and almost a mile at its widest point, but it was beautiful and relatively
unspoilt.
Julian spent his days sailing on the Lake, whereas
Nigel was more interested in walking the woods or birdwatching.
The lake was beautiful, it was both idyllic and
peaceful, there was little or no noise pollution and although the lake was
used, there were no speed boats or jet skis, only rowing boats, canoes,
dinghies, skiffs and the more recently introduced electric dinghies.
Julian hadn’t seen an electric dinghy before, until
his first day out on the lake, it was out in the middle of the lake with an
olive-skinned girl sitting on the bow fishing with her lovely legs hanging over
the side and dangling in the water and she gave him a wave as he passed her,
which he returned.
He sailed up and down the lake for another hour and a
half before he passed the boat again and this time she was standing up in the
boat and waving both arms frantically, so he went over to investigate.
“Is everything ok?” he called as he lowered the sail.
“It won’t start” she replied.
“Out of charge?”
“No, out of bloody order” she replied and laughed.
“Do you want a ride back to shore?” he asked as he
drifted alongside.
“Yes please” she replied and climbed aboard and handed
him the painter which he tied to the stern cleat “I’m Maria by the way”.
“Julian” he responded.
“Where would you like to go?”
“Can you take me to the East Jetty?” she said and
pointed it out.
It took a while because it was against the wind, but
they chatted on the way.
Her full name was Maria Fiorellino, and as her name
suggested, she was of Italian decent, with a Mediterranean complexion, dark
lustrous hair, and a beautiful smile.
She was a doctor at the local Health Centre and was in
danger of being late for her afternoon telephone consults, she would have
missed them altogether had he not come along when he did.
He drifted up to the jetty, climbed out and tied off
the line before taking Maria’s hand and helping her step onto the jetty.
“Thank you, kind sir,” she said and smiled before
tying her boat to the capstan.
“I can’t thank you enough for coming to my rescue, I’d
offer you some lunch but I’m desperately late”.
“Some other time” Julian said.
“It’s a date, I mean… well … you know … bye” she
stammered and rushed off.
“Very nice” he muttered to himself “Very nice indeed”.
He spent the next couple of days on the lake but
didn’t see her out in her boat again.
Then the day after, he had to take Nigel, well forced
would have been nearer the mark, to the Dancingdean Health Centre in
Shallowfield after getting a nasty cut on his leg following a slip on wet rocks
by Shoe Buckle Falls, so named, as legend had it, after a 17th century fugitive
Cavalier who was pursued into the forest by parliamentarian soldiers but
disappeared in the vicinity of the falls and all they ever found of him was his
shoe buckle.
Nigel didn’t want to make a fuss over the cut on his
leg, he would have been quite happy to stick a few plasters on it, but Julian
was having none of it.
“It needs stitches” Julian insisted.
“But…”
“But nothing” Julian said, “Get in the car”.
The owner of the Shallowfield Lodge, Sheryl Brown, had
phoned ahead so when they got to the Health Centre they were expecting them, it
was while they were sitting in the waiting area that he caught sight of Doctor
Fiorellino just for a minute, long enough to take in and appreciate her, medium
height, super slim, very dapper in a dark blue trouser suit, and standing
perfectly erect with her tiny feet together, looking very prim and proper, then
sadly she went back into her room.
After Nigel’s name had been called and he followed the
practice nurse into the surgery, he got up and walked over to where he had seen
her and pretended to study the notice board.
He was there for a full five minutes before he heard
her door open and when he heard footsteps, he turned around he said.
“Hello Doctor”
“Oh er… um … Julian …” she stammered and smiled
broadly.
“What a nice surprise, nothing serious I hope”.
“Serious?”
“The reason for your visit to the surgery” she
explained.
“Oh, I see, no its my brother, he has a nasty gash on
his leg” he replied, “I’m just here to remind you about the lunch you owe me”.
“Oh yes lunch” she responded and began playing with
her hair in a flirty way.
“I can’t really manage lunch this week, but what about
dinner?”
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