Returning

He put her down slowly and Holly set off, tip toeing intently out towards the water, searching out tiny rock pools, Andy following a few paces behind.

He watched her move so intently, delicately, daintily, and he could see Jess so many years ago.

“We were here a long time ago beautiful, do you remember?”

Holly stopped and looked up at him for a moment, and then broke into a slow smile. She turned back to look out over the rocks and suddenly took off in scurrying steps, a crab scuttling away before her and shooting into the shadows beneath one of the rocks. The little girl bent right down on her haunches so that her skirt trailed in the shallow pool she had just hopped over. The crab had turned and its bulbous arms jutted out into the light, pincers slightly ajar. The broad hat Holly wore cast a shadow that moved ever so slightly forward towards the crab and its arms rose imperceptibly to meet it. The two regarded each other as Andy came up silently behind.

“We were chasing crabs that day too. Your mum was so tired she stayed on the beach. She didn’t want to be living with your grandparents, her mum wore her out with all her worried kindness and her dad, he just filled the place up with all the anger he wished he could pour down on me.

Fair enough too I guess, I would hate anyone treating you that way.”

Andy bent down and picked up a small round stone. Tossed it lightly in his hand a couple of times, feeling it crumble slightly at its brittle edges. Then he leaned back and threw it, watching the long slow arc out over the water until he thought he saw its splash, in amongst the jumble of small waves running close to shore.

He looked down and saw that Holly had watched it too, stood up tall to try and see the splash.

“You and I found a big old man crab, with a dark green shell. He didn’t budge when you ran towards him and I threw a couple of pebbles to convince him he’d better move.”

Holly looked up to him again, squinting a little in the late sun. “Get it Andy!”.

He looked around amongst the rocks and found a stick blown down from the cliffs above, perfect, long and thin and strong. He poked it gently in behind the crab, moved it a little side to side and finally the little crab lunged out into the light, flaring its arms wide at them so that Holly jumped back squealing, and clung to his leg. The crab pressed itself low and scuttled away sideways, and disappeared behind the next rock.

“We’ll let him be now, eh hon?”

They walked on, Holly picking up her own stone and flinging it wildly towards the water so that it skittered away, clattering amongst the rocks.

“We left your mum reading on the sand. When we got back she was fast asleep and you woke her up, poking at her ribs and pulling at her big sunhat to see if she really was still there.

She sat up and looked around. She looked at me as if she was seeing me for the very last time.”

They reached the point. The path veered inland there, arcing away towards the bay beyond. Holly reached out and up and grabbed his hand, holding it tightly. The rock shelf fell away steeply and the waves would run in with a deep guttural roar and then suck back in an ominous hiss. They watched long tendrils of seaweed rise, sweeping up the rocks as the water came, seeming to wave manically for help as the water ran in to burst over the shelf in foamy fingers, and then plummet down again as the dark water rushed away.

“Do you remember hon, we got distracted. Maybe you were watching the gulls. A big wave surprised us. You got drenched. I took your t-shirt off and we chased each other half way down the path to the bay, I held your shirt out above my head like a kite hoping it would dry a bit. You thought it was hilarious and tried to rip your skirt off too.”

He swung her up to him and kissed her cheek. She squirmed around a little, so she could face out to the sea, see what he could see up there. The sun lay across the rollers out deep, stretching to the horizon where cloud had begun to cluster.

“We planned to come back didn’t we? Maybe even the next weekend?

I guess we finally made it.”