She had come to the beach to paint the sea. After the first day, she began to paint the whales.
Lauren had seen the dark shapes dip and spume out in the bay several times now. The first time she spotted them, she’d torn out of the hut, with Sula her Border collie yelping at her heels.
Sprinting up the beach with her camera, she’d snapped shot after shot of the great beasts as they rolled in the sea. She feared they were only passing through, but they had lingered offshore for the past few days. Their sudden breaches were always a delight – and she felt a strange yearning to immerse herself with them, though the water and the wind bit January hard.
On the Thursday morning of Lauren’s off-peak break, there was another visitor, quite apart from the slick barnacled backs undulating in the blue – a man, meandering across the sands.
Sula sniffed at the air and barked excitedly at the newcomer. Lauren put a lead on her before she could intercept
