***FREE STORY***As World War One rages, in the quiet village of Trevannic, a young stranger washes up on the idyllic Cornish shore. His appearance and origins are a mystery. His Greek god muscular good looks and musical genius charms the little vil...
The golden dawn seemed to rise out of the deep blue sea; its dazzling rays streaming through floor to ceiling white casement windows and into the whitest, most spotless east facing bedrooms.
Sun rays danced onto two queen sized beds, separated by an expanse of white marble flooring and open interconnecting double doors. The bedrooms were identically and tastefully furnished. Each had a white enamelled bathroom en-suite, a fireplace and white marble mantelpiece above which was an enlarged photograph of the family patriarch, an elderly gentleman in naval uniform.
He had a handsome weather beaten face etched with lines of an active life. His smile was mischievous and so was the twinkle in his eyes. Next to the enlarged photograph of the patriarch was another; a younger handsome version of the same man on his wedding day. His bride was a tall, slender, curvaceous, beauty holding a bouquet of orchids. Her radiating smile confirmed, it was indeed the happiest day of her life.
The spring sunlight dancing on her eye lids caused Jill Widdington to open her eyes. She sat upright in bed, propped against several pillows. Jill blinked at the bright new day as her right hand massaged the dull ache on the left side of her chest till the spasm passed. She reached for the silk white dressing gown neatly folded on the white and gold chaise longue at the foot end of each queen sized bed.
"Myttin da...Good morning Janet! Look, it's stopped raining and there's a rainbow in the horizon," she said cheerfully to her sister in the adjoining room.
Janet roused, glanced at the window before smiling at her sister. To be awoken at sun rise with the childlike delight of her forty year old sister was proof of Jill's unruffled conscience and sweet disposition.
"Myttin da Jill, it's the first glimpse of clear blue skies in a week," was Janet's more muted reply.
"Isn't it a shame gale force winds and unrelenting rain kept the fishermen on land? They can finally go out," remarked Jill.
"The sea hasn't calmed down yet. Listen....," replied Janet.
"Instead of an early morning swim, we should go watch the waves crash against the cliffs," suggested Jill, pulling aside the bed covers and stepping out of bed.
"Impetuosity," mused Janet who was three years older. She often wondered how despite being sisters similar in appearance, their personalities were so different. Taking care not to disturb Dorcas, their long term housekeeper, the sisters stole out of their silent home.
They lived perched on top of a projecting cliff on the Cornish coast, midway between sea and sky; like two princesses in an enchanted tale.
Theirs was the only house at the windswept height. Below and to the right of their small headland nestled the tiny fishing village of Trevannic. To the left, lay a little sandy cove, accessible further along by a narrow gorge that split the majestic stretch of bastioned cliffs. Their widower father, the elderly gentleman of the portrait, had raised them in the white stone house in which they still lived.
Vice Admiral Widdington didn't remarry after his beloved wife of five years died of consumption. He retired from the British navy with a pension and a grievance. The retirement came through just before an anticipated promotion to a full Admiral. During his retirement, Vice Admiral Widdington turned his energies to securing his daughters' long term future by modernising the family home and setting up a local porcelain production works that provided a steady income. Well provided for, the sisters' lives were almost untouched by happenings beyond the remote Cornish fishing village.
Janet and Jill walked through the front flower garden, beyond their gate and towards the sea. Salt laden wind buffeted them, sweeping strands of long, thick, auburn hair, stingingly across their faces. The wind swirled their long skirts towards their backs emphasising their slender shapely bodies when they stopped to lean over the stout stone parapet their father painstakingly constructed along the edge of the white cliffs.
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
They admired breathtaking views of the eastern sky clear of clouds. A rainbow, infused in colour, straddled the horizon yet the swollen sea below, raged heaving ominously.
Jill was pointing to the gild edged clouds in the west likening them to golden flashes of sea gulls' in flight when she gasped...
April, 27, 2015
It takes your vote and comments for this story to be ranked on wattpad. If you enjoyed reading this chapter, please share it with your friends, vote, comment, review etc...Thank you so much for stopping by and reading this chapter. Love y'all!
Want to keep informed of updates as they happen, add Ladies in Lavender to your reading list. Thanks AS x
