On the first of November after a pleasant breakfast Molly and walked slowly down Cliff Top Road until they reached Church Lane, and then they followed the lane that wound its way around the cottages for about 100 yards.
Molly was feeling very
pleased with herself as they passed the renovated cottages, with new roofs,
solar panels, double glazing, guttering and external decorations.
When they reached the plateau
where St Clara’s Church stood, it was not as picturesque as it was the first
time she saw it, as it was still clad in scaffolding, and she looked forward to
seeing it at its best when the renovators had finished.
Natasha
Baker was good to her word, she helped Sheridan Tilbrook fill in the form, and
got her an interview, and she and the other girls at the stables helped her
with her literacy and at the beginning of November when she started working at
the Beaumont Manor Hotel which was when Leo
Humphrey came
into Sheridan’s life.
They
had both spent their entire lives in Saxvirdan they had never met.
He
was four years older than her, tall dark and handsome, whereas she had thick
chestnut coloured hair, she was small at and skinny, but she was wiry and
strong even though she was only 5ft 2.
Leo
took her under his wing immediately and showed her how things were none.
“You’re
a quick learner” Leo said
“Thank
you” Sheridan said meekly
During
her first week they got on really well although the conversations were fairly
one sided as Sheridan was as quiet as a mouse, while Leo prattled on, about
this and that, but she didn’t mind, she’d never had anyone that talked to her
so much before.
On Thursday, Molly decided
that they were still on holiday and as it was a lovely sunny autumn day, they
took the Water Taxi over to St Giles du Cabot and explored the island which
they really enjoyed.
Unfortunately, as is often
the case in the autumn, the weather turned after lunch to such an extent that
the Water Taxi had to cancel the last trip of the day.
They could have caught the
ferry up to St Pierre, but instead chose to spend the night at the Seaview
Hotel which meant they could spend the evening with Elisa and Henry.
On Friday they enjoyed one of
Elisa’s wonderful breakfasts and as the weather had calmed down a bit, they
took the long route back to Cabot Town via Hastings Lake and caught the midday
ferry up to St Pierre where they did a little shopping before having lunch at
the Gondolier.
After an enjoyably long
relaxing and overly indulgent lunch they got a taxi back to Spaniards Creek and
spent the afternoon asleep on the sofa.
Deborah Woodward and Stuart
Cameran were up early on Saturday and drove up to Stephenson’s Supermarket in
St Pierre, then after lunch they went to her house to clear Deborah’s bedroom.
“Let me go in first in case
I’ve left any unmentionables laying around” she said
“If there are, then half the
tradesmen on the island will have seen them already” Stuart said and chuckled
“Oh that’s reassuring” she
retorted and laughed
On Saturday night there was a
firework’s display in the village, but Molly didn’t understand Guy Fawkes
Night, it wasn’t a thing in America, and it made no sense to her.
“So he tried to blow up King
James” she said “and got caught”
“That’s correct”
“So is the celebration
because he tried or because he failed?” she asked “I don’t understand what it’s
about”
Then Danny explained that it
was a Catholic plot against a Protestant King, and she understood it even less.
However she did enjoy the
fireworks immensely.
Nicole
Wilson went to the University of Downshire where she did Business Studies in
Abbottsford and it was for her, like many girls of her age, a life-defining
time.
She
was in halls for the first year and she shared with three other girls from
Beaumont Island, Stacey Jackson, a tall, beautiful and
kindly brunette girl, her cousin Paige Chapman, a skinny flat chested girl,
who was beautiful but painfully shy and curvy redhead Poppy
Nunthorpe.
All
four of the girls were studying different subjects, but their strong friendship
resulted from their shared history as islanders, and as they got on so well the
four of them decided very early on to rent a house between them for the second
and third years.
Nicole was five foot five,
and a quiet
and reserved busty brunette and she lived
at Roman Water Farm which is the second largest of the five farms on
the island covering the area from Beaumont head in the north to Bellevue Woods
in the south, the rugged coast to the west and Saxvirdan in the east.
Jordan Lawrence was a postman, and his round took
him out to the farms and on Saturday night he attended the Guy Fawkes Bash,
at the Beaumont Manor, which was a fancy dress party, but in addition it was
also a masquerade.
Jordan
was staring up at the starry November sky when he was approached by a busty
brunette wench wearing a satin mask across her eyes, who sauntered up to him
and without saying a word kissed him wetly on the mouth, which took him by
surprise at first, but he soon recovered and returned her passionate kiss with
interest and as the pyrotechnic display began it grew in intensity.
When
the kiss was at an end, she stepped back and removed the mask and he gasped
“You?”
“Disappointed?”
Nicole asked
“No,
but this has been a surprise” he said “I didn’t think you liked me like that”
“I
know” she replied “but I’ve fancied you for ages”
“I
had no idea” he said
“I
know that too, clueless aren’t you” she said
“That’s
why I had to take you by surprise to get your attention”
“Well,
it worked”
“So,
can I take it that I now have your full attention?”
“Oh
yes” he said “But…”
“But
what?” she asked with concern
“I’d
like to be one hundred percent sure” he said
“Oh,
I think that can be arranged” she said and moved in close for another kiss, and
they never did see the fireworks.
There were more firework’s
the next day on the 5th mainly private and domestic, but there was
one organised display up in Saxvirdan, with a bonfire on the village
green.
Two of the crowd watching
proceedings at that display were teenagers John Rawling and Lucy Nuttall, who
were on their first date.
The two of them lived on the
outskirts of St Pierre and after the display was over, they headed slowly home
down the lane.
It was dark along the path
and just ahead of them they could see there was a dog walker smoking a
cigarette as some kind of dog snuffled in the undergrowth.
The man took one last drag on
the butt and it glowed red on his face and then he flicked it into the
darkness, and it span through the air like a Catherine wheel.
Which was quite appropriate
as they had just been to a firework’s display.
The smell of the gun powder
was still thick in the damp night air.
But despite the cold and damp
neither John nor Lucy were in any hurry to get home as it was their very first
date.
However it was not only their
first date together, but it was also the first date for either of them.
John was fifteen and Lucy was
a year younger and quite naturally they wanted their date to last forever and
they both walked as slowly as it was possible to go without actually standing
still.
However they eventually
arrived in the street outside her house.
An awkward silence ensued as
John shuffled his feet and tried to think what to do next and Lucy waited
patiently for John’s next move, but when she realized he didn’t have one, she
took decisive action and reach up and kissed him and then the fireworks truly
began.
Their first magical kiss, a
kiss that neither of them wanted to end, sent their heart soaring into the
heavens.
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