The Bay

THE BAY  

                                                             CHAPTER ONE

 The familiar view held Jayne in its grasp – the hungry sea gushing into the giant sized bites of cliff on its way to the wide bay, the narrow coast path threading its way up and over the hills with a promise of what lay beyond. Along the road leading down to the beach, palms swayed in the breeze and crows gathered in the tops of the pine trees. To one side of the promenade stood the beach café and the shop where Jayne bought her first surfboard.

            With each crashing wave the memories came flooding in: She was ten years old watching it all unfurl for the first time from the back window of her father’s black Morris Oxford. The family had left the city smog behind to embark on a new venture: a guest house in north Cornwall.  After travelling all day Jayne longed to unfold her limbs from the back seat and go running on the sand.

              Her father began unpacking the boot and urged every one of them to help, even five-year-old Symon.

            ‘Come on, many hands make light work. We’ll soon have this done.’

             ‘But I want to go down on the beach!’ pleaded Jayne.

            ‘Me too!’ shouted her brother and sister in unison.

            ‘All in good time, my loves,’ said their mother, ‘we’ve only just arrived. There’ll be plenty of time for exploring later.’

            A multitude of bags and boxes were carried up the four granite steps and into the house that stood watch over the bay. Yvonne found the kettle and teapot while Harry nailed a hand-made sign to the gatepost. Standing back to admire his handiwork he shouted to his wife. ‘What d’you think, love?’ Yvonne ran down the steps and slipped an arm around her husband’s waist. ‘SEAWINDS, yes, I like it.’       

Synopsis in one 150 words:

 After her mother’s death, Jayne (sixty-five) has a hankering to go back to live at the family home in north Cornwall.  The guest house is dilapidated but she talks her brother, Symon and sister, Leyla into refurbishing it as a holiday home. Jayne’s first love, Paul, has come back with designs on buying the property and opening it as a surf school. But first there are some old scores to settle: Jayne learns that Paul’s father was responsible for Jayne’s father’s death forty-seven years ago and before Jayne can give herself to Paul she needs to know the truth. Jayne’s husband dies from a heart attack freeing her to be with Paul. The bay has some strange power – whilst there all the characters feel years younger. Eventually they all die in different circumstances but they think they are very much alive and living their dream.