Swell (Complete)

Chapter Six (Part One)

"This is the hardest thing I've ever had to do
I don't know where to turn
If I can't turn to you."

...

It wasn't too long before they drove towards the end of the main street and she was pointing to a gravel driveway off of the highway.
"That's the entrance to the car park. There's a couple of picnic tables on the top of the cliffs that you can look out from, but we want to get down to the cove while the tide is out." Adora explained as Tom nodded and drove along the gravel.
"Is this a big tourist place?" He asked.
"In summer it has its moments, but most tourists tend to stick to the main beach, especially if they want to swim. The cove can get a bit rough when the tides change and tourists don't really bother to check those." She chuckled slightly as the road opened up to a wide gravelled area. Tom could see the few picnic tables and some sleepers bordered the car park, much like the car park at the end of Adora's drive way. Tom figured the sleepers must be a cheap and common border for the town.
He pulled up in front of one and noticed the breeze in some of the gum trees that were mixed in with a few pine trees. It was an interesting mix of trees. Adora got out of the car first and he followed, feeling sand mixed with the gravel and dirt of the car park's ground.
"You're not afraid of heights or anything are you?" Adora looked at him with a frown.
Tom smiled and shook his head. "Not at all." He assured her.
"Great!" She moved quickly to the edge of the cliff and his eyes followed her, moving down her jeans to her runners, watching the white souls clash with the bright green grass. He stood beside her and followed her face out towards the ocean.
"Oh, wow..." He breathed.
"I know right?" Adora's response was filled with awe as if she felt the same way every time she saw the gaping space between the two tall cliffs before them.
Tom shook his head as he looked down the jagged egdes of the two cliffs either side of the cove. The water crashed against them and white spray flew up and disappeared in the wind, some waves met in the middle of the cove and he could taste the sea salt on his lips. "I can understand why not many want to swim in here. Is it always that rough looking?" He looked to Adora with a frown.
"No, and it's not as rough as it looks." She moved away from him and towards a sandier area. "It's really calm right down on the beach, come on." She started moving down and his eyes grew wide as he watched her disappear quickly from sight.
"Wait!" He hurried to look down and felt his jaw drop at the steep decline of the staircase. There was a wooden railing on one side, and the other side was the cliff face. He swallowed a lump and started down after her. It was incredible. He leaned back as they made the descent and he struggled to imagine anyone wanting to swim between the cliffs.
There was nobody else on the beach when they reached the sand and Adora spread her arms open.

"Welcome to Captain's Cove." She smiled at him and he took in the view between the cliffs.
She was right, the water brushing the shore before them was so gentle and clear that he could see the sandy floor below it. The two massive walls before them cut off the wind and from down here he could see the rocky lines and the various colours of age in the walls that made the cove's shape.
"Is there a reason for the name?" He looked out towards the ocean between the border walls. It was truly amazing.
"Yea, before lighthouses were built, there were a lot of shipwrecks along this coast. Some were just freight and then there were a few passenger boats. Storms still get really violent out on the coast, but you know, it's all mapped out now and civilisation knows where to steer ships." She moved along the golden sand and away from the steep steps. "There was one particular wreck that slammed into some big rocks just outside the cove in the early 1900s, it had a heap of passengers and the captain of the ship managed to pull a mother and her son into the cove and save them, but they were the only survivors."
"Wow. This is beautiful." He moved to the edge of the water, watching the waves smooth out the sand as they glided towards him, and then got pulled back to the sea.
"This is one of my absolute favourite places." Adora gushed and from the corner of his eyes he could see her moving. He turned to see what she was doing and tilted his head as he saw her tossing her runners behind her into the dry sandy. She looked at him with a grin, and he felt his heart beat a little faster.
"Go on, kick off your shoes, unless you want to get them wet?"
Tom shook his head and obediently pulled his shoes and socks off; tucking the socks into his shoes he moved over and put them beside Adora's, smiling at the stark difference in their foot size. Her shoes almost looked as though they could belong to a little girl.
He followed her to one side of the cove and watched with fascination as the waves turned on a more diagonal direction here. "Where are we going?" He asked uncertainly as he watched her slowly step into the wake of the waves.
"If we're quick I can show you the cave, but the tide is starting to come in about now and you can never be sure how high it will reach." She started to pull her dark blue jeans up as she moved further into the shallow water.
Tom reached down and pulled his pants up to his knees. He gasped as the cold water lapped around his ankles and covered his feet. She laughed at him. "Sorry, I should have warned you it gets cold in autumn."
"Well, yea. I suppose it would follow the temperature, logically..." He said back to her. His eyes moved from watching her to the sand below his feet. The water still clear enough as it ebbed and flowed around his calves that he could see some sand being pulled out to sea with the waves.
"See the cave there?" Adora was pointing and he looked towards the spot her finger indicated and nodded.
"Well, this place is full of mysteries. Sunken ships and caves..." The water didn't seem to get any deeper than his calves and he swished his foot around as Adora moved them right up next to the tall cliff. He reached out and touched the wall and felt the rough erosion of time under his hand. "How long does it take for the tides to change? How deep do they here?" He asked her, seeing rocks now appearing in the sand. He was glad the water was shallow and clear. If he couldn't see the sea floor he was sure he would have stubbed his foot several times before they reached the dark cave entrance.
"That really depends. The weather has as much to do with the depth in the cove as the tides do. See this line here?" She put a hand up to a spot on the rocky wall just beside the cave. He could see a colour difference and nodded. "This is where it usually reaches at high tide." She explained. "You really don't want to get caught in the cave when the tide starts to come in too rough." She took another look around the cove, and he could see her trying to judge the blue water further out. "I think we can make it in a little with plenty of time to come out dry." She smiled at him and raised an eyebrow expectantly.