The Secret of Trefusis Cove – Episode 21
The Secret of Trefusis Cove by Pat Thornborough
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- 1. The Secret of Trefusis Cove – Episode 21
Betty lit the oil lamp and settled down with her book at the table. The roses looked lovely in the light of the lamp and her book was a good rollicking story.
On glancing at her watch, she realised that Val had been gone for an hour.
Don’t fuss, she thought. Val’s a grown woman – she won’t get into any trouble.
Another half hour passed. She went to the door and looked out. Moonlight illuminated the bay. The tide was half out, leaving a strand of foreshore, wet and sparkling. There was no sign of Val.
As she watched the water there was some turbulence near the entrance to the bay and a splashing noise.
“Val!” she shouted as loud as she could.
“I’m here, Betty.” Val approached her, coming along the path that led to Kit’s shop.
She stopped by their car.
“Were you worried?”
“Yes, I jolly well was,” Betty replied. “Where have you been? You’ve been gone over an hour and a half. I was beginning to wish that we hadn’t decided to leave our mobile phones at home.”
“I’ve been down by the rocks near Aircut’s cottage. I couldn’t go any further because of the tide, but I got some lovely shots of the moonlight on the water.
“It’s so lovely down there that I didn’t notice the time. And there was something else. I’ll tell you when we get indoors.”
“Come in now, it’s getting chilly out here,” Betty said as Val mounted the steps to the door. “I heard a big splash out there just now. Did you see anything in the water?”
“Yes.” Val put her camera on the table and sat down. “I think it was an enormous fish. This huge tail came out of the water and slapped down again.
“I think I was quick enough to get a shot of it. I could see the swirl of it as it went to the mouth of the bay, its tail went up and down again with a splash, then it was gone.”
“I heard it.”
“Look, there it is in the viewfinder.” Val handed the camera to Betty. “It looks like a fish tail, doesn’t it?
“We’ll ask Kit tomorrow if dolphins have been sighted here. Or whales.”
Betty put her hand on her friend’s shoulder.
“A whale would be too big to get into the bay, and it was certainly not a mermaid.”
“I wasn’t even thinking of that,” Val fibbed.
“Well, it’s a good job it didn’t appear earlier. It could have tipped us out of the boat.”
