The Islands in the Bay – Chapter (154) Sharpington Sojourn

 

On Monday morning Danny and Molly drove to St Pierre and caught the early ferry to Pipershaven and then they drove to Sharpington.

The autumn storms were battering the seafront, so they checked into the Seaview Hotel and didn’t venture out again for the rest of the day and had an indulgent and boozy dinner in the restaurant.

 

The next morning, after their night of overindulgence, they slept late though Danny was up first and showered while Molly was still sleeping.

As he showered, he reflected on how lucky he was to have her in his life, and how he loved her so much.

He got out of the shower and hastily dried himself and was just about to open the bathroom door and tell her how much he loved her when the door burst open, and Molly rushed in

“Morning Darling” she said and kissed him

“Hi Babe” he replied and then she bustled him out of the door and closed it behind him, and he smiled, then he finished drying himself off and with the towel wrapped around his waist, he sat on the bed.

 

When she finally appeared pink and pristine from the bathroom wrapped in towels she said

“Morning Darling” and kissed him and then she kissed him some more, and it was clear that she had a particular kind of good morning in mind.

She had been a virgin when they first got together, but that had been the previous year, and there was nothing innocent about the way she engaged in extracting every ounce of pleasure from him during the course of her lust-fuelled morning assault on him.

 

Afterwards he dozed off, and when he awoke again, he found Molly sitting in bed next to him drinking the last dregs of a cup of coffee,

“Ahh” she exclaimed “You can’t beat a nice cup of coffee to start the day”

 

Having worked up an appetite, they headed down for breakfast once they were up and dressed.

The previous days storm had blown through and had been replaced with a much calmer day, though it was grey and drizzly as they walked along the promenade to the parade of shops and next to Doily’s Bookshop was Emmaline’s Christmas Emporium.

“Wow!” Molly exclaimed as they walked through the doors, and her eyes were like saucers. “I love this place”

The last time they were there Molly was like a child in a sweetshop at the end of rationing, not knowing where to look first, and Danny had to rein her in a number of times otherwise she would have bought the whole shop.

This time was a much less frenzied visit as they didn’t need as much as they did the year before, so they were much more selective, but they were still in the store for over two hours.

When they left the shop, the earlier drizzle had dissipated, but  the temperature had dropped significantly and by the time they got back to the Hotel there was a hint of sleet in the air.

 

The next morning when they drove along the seafront, the skies were leaden grey, and before they’d got halfway to Pipershaven the first flurries of snow danced in the freshening breeze, and nothing changed all the way back to the island. 

 

Back on the island Natasha Baker drove over to Kingham’s again on the same pretext of checking on the status of the saddle she’d dropped off, but her fabricated ploy was no more successful this time than it had been before as Jacqueline told her that Oliver wasn’t in as he’d gone to the St Pierre.

“Oh buggeration” she muttered as she got back in the Landrover.

The Islands in the Bay – Chapter (040) Sunday

 

Since the Archers had arrived at Beacon Farm Nikki and Sam hadn’t had a moment on their own together and Sunday was their last opportunity, so she had to take her chance.

It was after they had returned from church and Sam Archer was sitting astride a quadbike in the farmyard when he saw Nikki approaching, with her coat collar up and the brim of her hat pulled down, and he smiled because she looked quite furtive, and that was funnier because it was unlikely that anyone would see anything, but a shape given how foggy it was.

When she reached him, she climbed aboard, in front of him and started the bike, but before they set off, she turned and kissed him, and the moment their lips met she wanted more, and she could tell from his response that he wanted more too.

 

The problem was where, she hadn’t thought that far ahead, she didn’t want to drive too far in case her newfound courage deserted her, and her ardour cooled.

She decided on the Old Radar Station Ruins up on Spaniards Point, it was a relatively straight run up the track and they afforded them some shelter from the elements.

 

They parked the bike and walked to the ruins where without warning Sam took her in his arms and kissed her, in a prolonged and breathtaking embrace, and when he finally disengaged his mouth from Her’s he kissed her forehead and said, “I’ve been wanting to do that since the first moment I saw you on Thursday.”

“Me too” She responded, and they kissed again.

This time when the kiss ended, he said “Now can we go somewhere where we can get warm.”

“Oh yes please” she said and laughed.

She let him drive back to the farm and she sat on the back with her arms around his middle, and a broad smile on her face, there was more kissing during the course of the day in the warmth of the farmhouse, they just wanted their first kiss to be more private and intimate, so the cold and damp was a small price to pay.

 

Shortly after Nikki and Sam set off on the quadbike Harry left the farmhouse on foot in the direction of Spaniards Creek to stretch his legs.       

It wasn’t the best weather for a trip round the village, the fog was even thicker down by the river, he was happy to be out though, and he was deep in thought, remembering the events of the previous day, but the cold and damp was getting into his bones, so he decided to stride out back to the farm.

He left the quayside and rushed headlong round a corner and met someone else coming the other way and they both ended up on their backsides.

“I’m so sorry” Harry said getting quickly to his feet and proffering a hand to the prostrate figure which they took and when they were upright, he realized it was the Vicar, Arielle Nicolas.

“Nonsense” she replied, “I wasn’t looking where I was going, my mind was elsewhere.”

“Mine too” He said, “are you ok? are you hurt?”

“Only my pride” she replied.

“I really am sorry Vicar” he fussed.

“I’m fine, and call me Arielle, I’m off duty” she said and laughed.

They metaphorically dusted themselves off and there was a brief moment of awkward silence.

In which he wanted to say something, but his shyness got in the way, but Arielle came to his rescue.

“You look perished.”

“Yes, I just came out to explore the village and misjudged how cold and damp it was.”

“I know, I’ve been visiting a parishioner and I’ve only been out in it for 5 minutes and I’m cold” she said, “Comeback to the Vicarage and I’ll warm you up.”

“Oh, dear that’s not what I meant” she said realizing it sounded like she was soliciting, and if it hadn’t been so foggy he would have seen her blushing violently,

“I should have said “I can offer you a coffee to warm you up.”

“Thank you, I would like that very much” Harry replied, but he would have been just as happy with her first offer but chastised himself and tried to banish the immoral thoughts of the Vicar from his mind.

They drank the promised coffee and then spent a cozy afternoon at the Vicarage chatting.

“You are from Sharpington then?” she asked.

“Yes, now” he replied. “But I was born and raised in Pepperstock Green.”

“I don’t know Pepperstock Green, but I love Sharpington, we spent many happy holidays there when I was a child” she said.

“Are you an islander?” He asked.

“No, I’m a foreigner, apparently” Arielle said, “I’m from Tipton.”

“But I love the island, I’ve walked every inch of it, you can’t help feeling close to God when you’re on the hills.”

“Yes, it is beautiful.” Harry agreed.

But he thought the small delicately featured Vicar was too, with her bobbed brown hair, even though she was approaching her 40th birthday, he didn’t think she looked it at all.

“And you do a lot of walking?” he asked.

“I do and I can fit it in easily between my parochial duties” she explained.

“But I have Monday’s off” she said, “and when the weather is nice, I take the taxi to St. Giles.”

“A Taxi?”

“Yes” she said with a giggle “the water taxi, depending on the weather, I either have a picnic lunch by Hastings Lake or if it's not so nice I go to the cafe and I bring the picnic home and have it for tea.”

“That sounds very pleasant” he mused.

“You could join me if you're not doing anything I could show you the island if you'd like.” She suggested.

“I would like that very much” he said, “very much indeed.”

“I’ll put together a picnic for two then” she said and smiled.

 

When Harry returned to the farm, he made a beeline for his brother and when he found him, he said.

“We need to stay on for an extra day.”

“And why exactly do we have to do that?”

The Islands in the Bay – Chapter (039) New Years Day

 

January

The Vicar, Arielle Nicholas, was the first to arrive for Lunch at Cliff Haven, she was always early, but she was quite comfortable with that, as she had been a regular visitor to the house since Molly and Danny had moved in, and she had met their houseguests a couple of times.   

But she had only been there about ten minutes when the rest of the guests arrived through the door.

The first one through the door was Katie Harrison, followed by Nikki who was clearly her mother’s daughter, just younger, and with more vibrancy in her hair, then came a  slim six-foot, young man with blue eyes and shoulder length straw colored hair, who she assumed was Sam Archer and then her heart skipped a beat as his equally gorgeous brother walked in, she wasn’t sure of his name, he was a more athletic build, and an inch or two shorter than Sam with shorter darker blonde hair and he was nearer her age, but he walked in less confidently than his younger brother with his eyes fixed on the floor, and they were all followed in by the gentle giant George Wood.

 

After introductions were made a period of general chitchat followed for about half an hour until Molly announced that lunch was served.

Molly had the buffet table set up in the dining room and once they had filed in and helped themselves, they could settle on any one of the many sofas in the reception rooms or conservatory.

As luck would have it for Arielle, she ended up sitting next to who she now knew to be Harry Archer, or maybe it was divine intervention, but he was a very shy man and she had to make all the running, conversation wise.

“Molly was showing me the snow globes that you made, they’re very lovely” she said. 

“Well Sam’s the creative artistic guy, I’m more the hands on, practical one.” Harry said, Arielle liked the sound of “Hands on.” And felt herself blush.

Harry noticed her colour up and it seemed to relax him strangely, making a vicar blush, even if he didn’t know why, but he went on to explain the process at length, which she seemed interested in, but after that they found more common ground, classic movies. 

The Islands in the Bay – Chapter (038) New Years Eve

 

New Years Eve was a very relaxed affair at Beacon Farm, once the animals were tended to, and the evening began with homemade pizza.

There were six of them for pizza, Katie Harrison, her daughter Nikki, the Archer brothers, the gentle giant George Wood, and shepherdess, Hazel Stock.

The pizza was excellent, washed down with a liberal quantity of wine, apart from Hazel who didn’t drink.

As the evening wore on the Trivial Pursuit appeared to universal acclaim, and they split up into three teams, the Harrison’s, the Archer’s, and George and Hazel, the latter naming themselves Woodstock to a chorus of laughter.

After about two hours, and with Harrison’s winning, Nikki fell asleep on the sofa beside Sam and took no further part, which left Katie at a distinct disadvantage because Nikki had been answering most of the questions.

Just after midnight Hazel called it a day and went off to her bed leaving all three teams needing only one cheese, and that was how it remained at 2 o’clock.

“I think we had better declare it a draw” George said.

“Good idea” Sam said, “Honour’s even.”

“Happy days” Katie slurred and took a drink, most of which went down her chin.

“Now it’s bedtime” she said wiping her mouth on her sleeve.

 

It was a very different New Years Eve at Cliff Haven, where Molly and Danny spent much of the day preparing the food for the Buffet Lunch on the next day, while his brother Sam, took his wife Emma, and their three boys, on a long yomp up to Beacon Rock to give Molly some space to get on and to wear the boys out. 

It was called Beacon Rock, because a beacon was built on the rock to warn of the impending arrival of the Spanish Armada, but it was never lit, due to the fact, that the weather was so bad that the sentry’s couldn’t see past the end of the island let alone a fleet of ships

The Islands in the Bay – Chapter (037) The Archers Arrival

 

Two days later Katie Harrison took her daughter up to Lucia's in St Pierre, she was so pleased that Nikki was showing an interest in the opposite sex that she wanted to make sure she made the most of herself, hair, brows, and nails.

The problem was that Nikki, was not that kind of girl, and she was very resistant to being dolled up, and the whole of the journey was taken up discussing what she would tolerate, in the end they compromised on hair and a Manicure.

 

It was much more relaxed and jovial on the return journey, and they were almost home when their conversation was broken by the telephone ringing, and Katie cursed at the interruption before answering it.

“Hello?” she said flatly.

“Hello Katie,” Molly said.

“Hello Molly” she said in a much lighter frame of mind, and chuckled then she continued.

“You’re on hands free, what can we do for you?”

“George said Sam Archer is coming to stay with you” she said.

“Yes, that’s right, and his brother” Nikki replied.

“Excellent, I’d really like to see him again, to thank him for his wonderful work, we’re having an informal lunch on New Year’s Day, you’re all invited, and when I say lunch, I mean a buffet” she paused briefly “so if it fits in with your plans, we’d love to see you all.” 

“Ok we’ll let you know” Katie said, “Talk later, bye.”

 

It was a couple of hours later when Katie returned the call.

“Hi Molly, we would love to come, should we bring anything?”

“Only yourselves,” she replied, “come about one, bye.”

 

Sam and Harry Archer left their flat in Sharpington early on Thursday morning.

“Why do I have to come?” Harry whined.

“Because if you don’t, you’ll just spend the weekend watching the “Sound of Music” or “Chitty Chitty Bang Bang” or something equally boring.”

“I like old movies” he said defensively.

Sam was ten years younger than his thirty-six-year-old brother, but he was the boss, Harry was very placid and easy-going and was happy for Sam, to call the shots.

They had been in business together since Sam left university and they were a perfect team at Archer’s Ornamental.

They specialized in handmade snow globes but also made decorative lights from recycled wine bottles, many of them were bespoke but they also mass-produced items for the tourist season, and Christmas decorations for Emmaline’s Christmas Emporium in Sharpington.

Sam was the creative one of the pair and did all the carving, modelling, and painting.

Harry was the practical one who did all the technical stuff, 3D Printing, acrylic injection moulding, and impact moulding.

He also managed their small staff of 6 people who assembled finished and packed the completed articles.

Their sister’s Clarissa and Pandora, who did the ordering, invoicing, and accounts remotely 4 days a week, from their parent’s home in Pepperstock Green, where they were also part time carers for their invalid mother, while both of them did one day a week at the factory.

They lost their father Henry during the pandemic and their mother Dorcas was still suffering the effects of long-covid, having been a hairs breath away from dying herself.

Sam and Harry had spent an extended Christmas in Pepperstock Green and did alternate weekends with their mum to give their sisters some respite, so they were a close family.

 

They threw their overnight bags in the boot and set off to Pipershaven, with Harry behind the wheel.

It was a glorious December day, cold and crisp, bright blue sky, and dead calm sea, and once the ferry was out in open water Sam and Harry stood by the rail and got their first proper look at the Pepperstock Bay Islands.

If anyone had seen them standing there, they would have immediately assumed they were brothers.

Sam was the baby of the Archer family, around six-foot, slim build, blue eyes, and shoulder length straw coloured hair.

Harry was an inch or two shorter with a more athletic build and shorter darker blonde hair.

 

At about the same time on Beacon Farm Nikki’s head was full of self-doubt, because not only had they never met, but they had also not shared pictures of themselves.

Her doubts were two-fold, firstly would he be as nice in the flesh as he was in their communications, and second would he be disappointed with her.

 

They drove off the ferry and Sam was getting overly excited.

“This isn’t like you” Harry said.

“What do you mean?”

“It’s a bit impulsive” he pointed out.

“I know” Sam agreed “It just seems right.”

They drove out of the docks and through St Pierre past the Bellevue Hospital, and the Beaumont Hotel, and Halfway Lane, and then turned right onto Beacon Farm Road.

When they entered the yard, they instantly spotted an attractive sandy haired woman beside the kitchen door.

“Is that her?” Harry asked.

“I’m hoping it’s her mum” he replied.

 

“Nikki! they’re here” Katie called through the kitchen door.

“Oh God, here we go” Nikki said to herself.

“Well, what’s the verdict?” she asked.

“Gorgeous” Katie replied.

“Which one?” she asked nervously.

“Both of them”

“Thank you, God,” Nikki said, and her mum laughed.

“I know, I’m so shallow” she retorted and pulled a face.

She sneaked a look between the curtain and the window frame and saw two blonde men walk towards the farmhouse one confident with shoulder length straw coloured hair the other more hesitant, his eyes fixed on the ground, she assumed the latter to be his brother Harry so the other must be Sam.

“Hello Mrs. Harrison” he said.

“Call me Katie” she replied.

“And you must be ….”

“Sam” Nikki said as she appeared from the kitchen and smiled.

The Islands in the Bay – Chapter (036) Outings

 

It was a lovely sunny day, so they were up bright and early, and left Cliff Haven soon after, Danny and Sam took the boys on the Water Taxi to the neighboring island of St Giles, which is the smallest of the two Bay Islands, 6 miles long and 4 miles wide.

Following the formal end of the Roman occupation of Britain at the beginning of the 5th Century AD, the islands were largely unoccupied until the arrival of the Norman’s after their victory over King Harold at Hastings, when a minor nobleman, Gilbert du Beaumont, claimed the islands for himself, and took up residence on the larger Island which he promptly named after himself. 

He named the smaller island St Giles du Cabot in honour of his cousin and childhood friend who died of his wounds after the battle.

It was a rugged inhospitable and largely uninhabitable island surrounded by treacherous rocks. 

For hundreds of years following the dissolution of the monasteries a hardy community of Monks eked out a meagre existence before they had to share their seclusion when work on a lighthouse at Cabot point began in the middle of the 19th Century.

By the 21st Century, three quarters of the island is a Wildlife Sanctuary, there is a small Meteorological Station, a small Hotel, the Seaview, and the Monks, who now ran St Giles’s religious retreat, which meant there was a population of between 50 and a 150 people, depending on the time of year. 

There is no Church on the Island but for those of a religious bent were always welcome at the St Giles Chapel.

 

The port of Cabot Town, in the southwest corner, is actually just a hamlet, and is also not really a port, it’s just a jetty for the car ferry and a small quayside, where the Water Taxi moored.  

The fresh water on St Giles came from Hastings Lake, which was surrounded by woods, both courtesy of the Monks, who cleared the lake of silt and debris, then planted and managed the woodland.

Over the centuries the lake and woods had become an excellent source of sustenance in their lives.

 

There were two beaches on the eastern side of the island, Smuggler’s Beach is on the northeast coast below the cliffs, but no one knows why it got the name as there was no evidence to suggest it was ever used for smuggling.

The only other beach was Broad Beach Sands, a wide and deep expanse of yellow sand at the narrowest part of the island.

The whole southern end of the island below Broad Beach was the Wildlife Sanctuary and was out of bounds to residents and visitors alike and a permanent presence of wardens on the island keep the over inquisitive at bay.

However, visitors still had the beaches, bird watching and fishing in Hastings Lake to amuse them and the Seaview Hotel was the place they stayed.

 

Meanwhile, Molly and Emma went horse riding, Molly hadn’t ridden since leaving Colorado, and after speaking to her “go to” source of all things Beaumont Island, Katie Harrison, she recommended Woodside Farm, and gave her a phone number and directions.

The journey up to the farm was simple enough, straight through the village and take the second left onto Halfway Lane and then the first left onto Woodside Farm.

 

Woodside was the largest of the five farms on the island covering the whole of the southeast corner, a large wedge-shaped parcel of land bordered by Halfway Lane to the north, Spanish River and the Eagles Crag in the west and the rugged coastline from Manor Cliff Beach to Armada Head to the east.

The Beaumont family had once owned the whole island but after three successive heirs were killed in action during the Great War the accumulated death duties forced the only surviving Beamont, George, to sell off the estate in 1920, auctioning off the buildings, the port, and parcels of land.

Fortunately, the sale managed to raise enough to pay off the taxman, while being able to keep Woodside Farm and retain a Beaumont family presence on the island.

More than 100 years later the farm is run by the last remaining members of the family, George’s grandsons, fraternal twins, Joshua, and Ben.

 

When they arrived at the farm and parked the car they were greeted by the Beaumont brothers.

“Hello Molly pleased to meet you” Josh said and shook her hand “It’s true, you are the image of your mum.”

“You knew her?” she asked.

“She used to babysit us when we were small” Ben added “For her pains.”

“Thank you for this” Molly said.

“Our pleasure, Katie speaks very highly of you.”

“She’s very kind” Molly said. “This is Emma by the way”

Just then they were joined by their respective girlfriends Olivia and Tanya Shaw, who owned and operated The Shaw Brothers Ferry Company, and it was the Shaw girls who were going to ride with them.

 

Phil Holgate started the engines of the Water Taxi, and the boys got very excited.

The 40ft Downshire Duchy 22 Motor Launch, Ocean Breeze, did thrice daily crossings from Spaniards Creek to Cabot Town on St Giles.

It was a very calm crossing and Danny really enjoyed their boy’s day out, spending time with his brother and nephews was incredibly special.

Danny liked St Giles Island, and he would go again soon, but with Molly next time, they'd have to pick a day when the weather was good, maybe in the spring.

 

Molly had also had a good day and thoroughly enjoyed the riding and the company in equal measure and felt sure that the Beaumont’s and Shaw’s would become firm friends and that they would visit Woodside Farm again.

Both parties got back to the Cottage in Spaniards Creek at the same time, the boat party were cold but invigorated, and the girls were tired and sore after an enjoyable ride.

The Islands in the Bay – Chapter (035) Inviting the Archers

 

Although the thaw had set in, there was still a significant amount of snow laying on the ground the next day, but George got word from his friend in St Pierre that the port was open again, so Danny and Molly had a quick tidy round in preparation of their visitor’s belated arrival and it was to prove to be their most peaceful morning for the remainder of the year.

 

The day after that was the last day on the island for Gwen’s sister Ruth Weaver who was returning to Mornington and on Beacon farm Nicola Harrison was enjoying a relatively quiet day following a hectic couple of days rescuing sheep stuck in the snow with fellow Shepherdess, Hayley Stock.

Relaxation for Nikki normally consisted of her enjoying her hobby which involved her art, and up until recently that was precisely what it was, and she used to share it on different forums, just to get feedback, which is where one of her pieces  was spotted by bestselling crime fiction writer, Danny Nightingale, who had been searching for a suitable image as cover art for his latest book.

She was thrilled, as she was a major fan, and it was nice to get paid for her work, and although she had been contracted to provide art for the next two books, she had no desire to become a professional artist.

Firstly, because she liked being a shepherd, she liked farming, but mainly because if her hobby became her job, she would need to find another hobby.

She had developed other interests however, as part of her art Nikki often flew a drone above the landscape to film inaccessible places, and wildlife, she used it originally to assist her mum to locate stray sheep, but the aid to her art was an unexpected bonus.

But then in the middle of November that bonus paid dividends when Danny Nightingale approached her to film Cliff Haven from every conceivable angle, without Molly realizing, as part of a special Christmas present.

For her birthday he had commissioned a special present for her by Sam Archer, a craftsman who lived and worked in Sharpington, a hand-crafted snow globe, containing a detailed model of her former Colorado home, Lakeside, which she loved, so for the Christmas gift he contacted Sam again.

As it was Nikki who gathered all the footage together Danny suggested she emailed Sam directly, which she did at the end of November, and following that first contact, Nikki and Sam corresponded extensively, but they hadn’t met.

They got on really well, and had a lot in common, even though he was almost three years older.

The correspondence became more frequent over Christmas while Downshire and the Island were blanketed by snow, even when she was up on the hills rescuing sheep, which was why late on Boxing Day, on the spur of the moment she invited him to the farm for New Years.

But the moment she pressed send, panic set in, had she been too hasty, would he feel the same, or would he prefer to keep her at arm’s length, and every minute that went by without reply the more paranoid she became.

In the meantime, she spoke to her mum to make sure she was cool with it, and she was over the moon that Nikki was interested in someone, and two hours later she got a reply.

“Love to come to the island, but…” it began.

“Oh, here we go” she thought, and took a deep breath before reading on.

“… would it be alright if I drag Harry over there with me? he’s a bit of a coach potato.”

She let out the breath she was holding and smiled.

“Of course, no problem”

“Mum!!” she called.

“Yes love”

“We’ve got another guest for New Years.”

 

After coming off the hill at the end of the day Nikki sat in the quiet of her room, as she warmed her hands on a large mug of hot chocolate, and thought about what happened the previous day, and applauded herself for her out of character boldness in inviting Sam for the New Year weekend, and she felt very smug indeed as she slipped beneath the duvet.