Watergate Bay

  Darrell Goes to the Football Over the next two weeks, the four girls settled into a steady routine of tutorials and study sessions in the library, followed by walks on the beach and reading in the living room by the fire. One Sunday, after breakfast, Darrell, Sally, and Mildred went for a walk together on the beach and found that hidden cove. It had started to rain, but the girls had promised to each other that they would explore the cove another day.       It had been a drizzly start to the year; Darrell hadn’t had a chance to sit on her balcony with one of her books from the library or even take the long walks she was used to.       It was not unusual for Darrell to slump out of her bedroom in the morning to discover Sally and Mildred laughing in the living room, stretched out on the scratchy settee. They had taken to playing games for two, like chess or dominoes. Darrell did not realise it, but whenever she saw Sally and Mildred together, in their own bubble, it niggled her, so wh

  Sally and Mildred Play Chess ‘You have a letter from Felicity,’ Sally said, walking into Darrell’s bedroom and handing her the manila envelope.       ‘Have you opened it?’       ‘Of course not,’ Sally replied.       ‘How do you know it’s from Felicity, then?’       ‘Who else would be sending you letters?’ Sally had a point, but Darrell didn’t like to admit it. ‘Also, it’s from Cornwall, see.’       Darrell noted the frosty silence in the room, but she did nothing to dispel it, in point of fact, she rather enjoyed it, for some strange reason.       Sally said something about liking Darrell’s room more than her own. Darrell agreed. She had nabbed the best room out of the four bedrooms the girls shared on their floor. Darrell’s room had a stone balcony. She hadn’t stepped out onto it yet. Through some vague reasoning, she had decided that it might be good to save the balcony for a special occasion. It may prove a useful thinking space. The balcony allowed a good view of the street, whic