The Islands in the Bay – Chapter (198) Poetic

 

March

 

Renowned Downshire Poet, Mark Edmunds and his older brother Rich were staying for a few days at the Beaumont Manor Hotel just outside St Pierre on Beaumont Island.

It was his Rich’s idea, to have a short break on the largest of the Pepperstock Bay Islands for a change of pace and some R&R, but in reality it was Rich who needed it most as he was a TV News Reader and needed to go somewhere where he might be able to take a walk without being pestered by people who wanted to take a selfie.

Mark wasn’t particularly sympathetic and paraphrased Oscar Wilde and said “The only thing worse than being asked to take a selfie is not being asked to take a selfie”

 

They were both from the quiet country village of Pepperstock Green, with adjoining Cottages which backed on to a quiet stretch of the River Oxley.

Mark did suggest that a trip in a cabin cruiser would have been equally relaxing but thankfully he didn’t listen, and that was something that would later on prove to be a very significance decision in their lives, because on their first night at the Hotel they met sisters Linda and Kaylie Williams, who it turned out were also from Pepperstock Green, and the irony of that first meeting was that they asked Rich if they could have a selfie.

 

The four of them hit it off right from the start and decided as they were all there to enjoy the wonderful scenery they might just as well do it together.

So, after breakfast the next day they set off and got their first proper look of the delights of the Island and its environs and then they got a map of the island from the receptionist which marked the best walks.

So, they set off on a trail that took them through Bellevue woods and onward up into the crags and planned to climb up to the top, and everything was proceeding nicely until the weather closed in and they were forced back down to the safety of the Hotel where they remained for the rest of the day and the day after.

 

Perhaps because they were all around the thirty mark the four of them got on well and as a result they had enjoyed their confinement at the Hotel but Mark in particular enjoyed the time he spent with Kaylie, the problem was that he struggled to verbalize his thoughts, he would have thought that a Poet at least would have been able to find the words he needed to woo a woman, but apparently not.

 

But the next day the weather was set fare and was forecast to remain so for the rest of the day, so the walk began on the same path they had taken up to the crags but instead of having to turn back they turned west and followed the path as it climbed high above the island.

After about an hour following the twisting craggy path, they reached a high hilltop and followed the path into the crags and welcomed the shelter from the breeze behind the rocks and when they emerged on the other side they were rewarded with the view of the far side of the island and the sea beyond.

“Wow” Linda said

“That’s impressive” Rich added

“Distance lends enchantment to the view” Kaylie said poetically

“Oh, I wouldn’t say that” Mark said, which surprised her, but when she turned towards him to argue the point she found he had eyes only for her.

“Oh” she exclaimed

 

Rich and Linda said nothing, they just looked at each other and nodded before he took hold of her arm and steered her away quietly back into the rocks and when they looked back their younger siblings were kissing.