A Perfect Cornish Escape by Phillipa Ashley Page 0,2

and never stayed still long enough to tell for certain. And yet, she was almost sure that the object wasn’t human.

She could almost feel Gareth humming with nervous energy by her side. She had one more look, to make doubly sure it wasn’t a person.

‘Is it?’ he hissed, still sounding worryingly excited. She decided that it wouldn’t do any harm for him to learn a lesson.

‘I’m not sure … I think we should make a closer inspection. In fact, I think you should go down and check. Tide’s going out so you’ll be safe as long as you take care on the steps.’

‘B-but shouldn’t we call the police or the coastguard or the lifeboats?’ Gareth had turned several shades paler in the past ten seconds, but, given his excitable behaviour moments before, Marina knew this was the time for her newest recruit to discover what their role as volunteer coast watchers really entailed. Even if that meant a baptism of fire – or salt water in this case.

‘Don’t want to get them out on a wild goose chase – there’s a swimming race at Porthmellow and they’ll be flat out helping with safety for that. I think we can handle this. You can, Gareth. You said you wanted to do something more exciting than making the tea and writing in the log.’

‘B-but – what if it is a … a real body?’

‘Then you’ll be able to tell pretty quickly and radio me and we can get the emergency services involved. Off you go, take the radio and be careful. Sooner we get this sorted the better.’

While Gareth scooted down the steps from the eyrie of their lookout station, Marina ran the cold tap over her scalded hand, thinking about the object washed up on the rocks. It could have been much worse. It could have been some poor drowned soul and, to be fair, it did very much look like a body. When Gareth had shrieked from the control room, for a moment she had wondered, before she’d focused on the object rolling in the waves.

Gareth emerged at the bottom of the staircase and picked his way between boulders. He’d joined the Wave Watchers a few months ago and was a student at the local college where Marina taught part-time.

Gareth was very excitable and a little too keen for ‘action’, but the group couldn’t afford to turn down a willing recruit and Marina was hopeful that he’d calm down once he’d gained more experience.

She’d never forgotten her vow to Nate and, four years previously, had finally found a way to honour his memory. In the early days, she’d been too overwhelmed by grief and hope to focus on anything but praying that Nate might come back. She’d no idea how she’d got through every hour, let alone each day and, of course, she’d had to use what energy she had to deal with the police investigation.

After his disappearance, it became apparent that Nate had been in debt up to his eyeballs, that he’d re-mortgaged the cottage. Marina had always suspected he had a few secrets but had had no idea … Had he taken his own life to escape his problems? Or was it simply a tragic accident – from venturing out in a storm to make a few pounds from fishing?

As she began to rebuild her life, she discovered not all the pieces could be found, and the result could never be the same. However, the Wave Watchers offered a new way to fill part of the gaping hole.

She’d become fixated on the disused lookout station that had once been run by the coastguard and manned round the clock. Cuts to their funding had meant they couldn’t afford to keep it open so, along with similar stations, it had been closed and fallen into disrepair – but, in her heartbreak, Marina had decided to change that.

Fundraising to restore the building and equip it with the technology required had given her a new sense of purpose and brought her into contact with some amazing people. She’d never thought she could get it off the ground at all until she’d discovered a national charity of coastal watchers who helped to support the station with some apparatus and training. However, the day-to-day staffing was entirely down to a team of around thirty local people who gave up chunks of their time to watch over the seas within sight of the station. They kept an eye on everything within view – be it