FOR THE LOVE OF THE SEA by Jennifer Bohnet

the choppy water.
    The large crowd of boats intent on giving the racing fleet a good send off, was churning the sea into a jumble of mismatched swells, wakes and waves.
    As the time drew nearer for the start of the race, everybody watched as the boats did some tactical sailing in a bid to capture a good place in the start zone. Every skipper wanted to be first over the line when the gun went.
    For Cassie one of the worse moments came when the support boat draw up alongside Clotted Cream and she saw the crew all hugging Polly goodbye, before climbing over the rails and leaving her on board alone.
    Surreptitiously, Cassie wiped a tear away with the back of her hand and hoped that nobody had noticed.
    With only ten minutes to go now, she knew that nothing would stop Polly from crossing the start line and she watched with mounting anxiety as Polly manoeuvred Clotted Cream into what she hoped would be a good position for the start.
    The split second silence that followed the firing of the start gun was drowned by the raucous sound of hundreds of foghorns being blasted simultaneously. Cassie held her breath watching Polly tack, come round and race over the start line in third position.
    “Y e s” Tom shouted, his fist striking the air with delight. “Good start Polly.”
    Then his voice broke and a sob almost escaped his lips. He was delighted for his sister. But he couldn’t help the bitter jealousy that suddenly welled up inside him. It should have been him sailing out on the adventure of a lifetime.
    He turned away, unable to watch as the fleet sailed off, becoming mere specks in the distance.
    “Be careful, Polly, be careful Polly.” Cassie closed her eyes and muttered the words over and over again to herself.
    “Cassie - Champagne to celebrate Polly’s good start?”
    Startled out of her reverie Cassie turned, and accepted the glass Doug was offering her. As she took it a mobile phone began to ring.
    Doug gave the toast, “To Polly and Clotted Cream ,” and everybody raised their glasses.
    Cassie had barely taken a sip when Tom said, “Text message for you Mum,” and he handed her his mobile phone.
    “Just to say thanks Mum. Couldn’t be doing this without your blessing. Have left u a present with Dexter. Love u Polly.”
    Cassie, despite her promise to herself not to cry in public, promptly burst into tears.
    Because of the large number of boats making their way back into Plymouth after the start of the race, it was a couple of hours before Megabyte was able to tie up at her mooring.
    Tom was clearly tired and Cassie was relieved to see Dexter waiting on the quay, ready to give them a hand getting him ashore.
    Once Tom and Mai left, Cassie and Anna said their goodbyes to Doug and Vanessa and made their way to the car.
    “Want me to drive?” Anna asked.
    “No. I’m fine thanks,” Cassie said. “I’m quite looking forward to the journey back. Thought we might stop for supper somewhere.”
    “Good idea.”
    It was nearly ten o’clock before Cassie reached the land that ran down to the boatyard.
    She was just making the turn when her headlights caught something at the side of the road and she slammed the brakes on.
    “There’s somebody in the hedge.”
    Frightened, Cassie and Anna looked at each other. The boatyard was still three miles down the track. Should they go for help or investigate it themselves?
    Winding the car window down a fraction, Cassie listened to the night sounds. Trying to hear if there was anybody about. An owl tooted in the distance. Nothing out of the ordinary.
    Cassie slowly backed the car up until the headlights illuminated the hedge.
    She and Anna got out of the car and cautiously made their way towards the body. Curled up in the hedge, eyes’ watching them fearfully, was a dog. As they got closer she slowly got on to her feet and waited.
    Both Cassie and Anna breathed a sigh of relief. They could cope with this.
    “Poor old thing,” Cassie said, stretching out a hand to gently