Read Online Wayward Winds by Michael Phillips - Free Book Online

you say?”
    Amanda did not have to think for long.
    â€œI say that I will accept your invitation, Mr. Halifax!”

 11  Larger World
    A warm sun shone down on the two people walking as they made their way across the grassy coastal plateau of Capel-le-Ferne a mile east of Folkestone.
    The drive in Ramsay Halifax’s bright new Rolls-Royce convertible touring car across Romney Marsh, and then along the shoreline of the Strait of Dover, made the suffragette rally in Hastings seem another world away.
    The wind blew Amanda’s hair in a thousand directions as she and Ramsay Halifax laughed and talked and sped along in the greatest invention, according to Ramsay, of the modern age. He had driven up the steep hillside from Folkestone, pulled off the road and parked, jumped out and run around to open the door for Amanda.
    â€œCome with me,” he said. “—I want to show you one of my favorite places!”
    After the windy ride, as they walked slowly away from the car, suddenly all became quiet and still. The grass underfoot was springy, soft, and thick. From this vantage point the sea was not yet visible, though the unmistakable aroma of salt spray in the air gave evidence that it was nearby, accented by the faint cries of gulls in the distance.
    Halifax paused, reaching out his hand to Amanda’s arm.
    â€œStop right here,” he said. “Now look around you—”
    Amanda obeyed.
    â€œâ€”and imagine yourself out in the middle of a wide, flat moor.”
    He waited a moment.
    â€œCan you picture it?”
    â€œI think so,” she replied.
    â€œAll right . . . now come with me.”
    He reached out his hand. She took it, and they continued forward.
    After another ten or fifteen paces, only yards in front of their feet the grass ended abruptly at a sheer cliff dropping some five or six hundred feet straight down to the water’s edge. The earth seemed to give way utterly. As if appearing from out of nowhere at the end of the bluff, the vast blue of the sea stretched out as an infinity far before them.
    Amanda gasped. Her hand tightened on Ramsay’s.
    â€œDon’t worry,” he laughed as they stopped. “It’s not quite a straight drop. There are several precipices and juts to catch you if you fall.”
    â€œDon’t say such a thing!” said Amanda, still struggling to catch her breath and steady her quivering knees.
    They waited a few moments, then once more Halifax urged Amanda gently forward.
    â€œBelieve me, there is nothing to fear,” he said.
    They reached the edge. She now saw that indeed the edge was not exactly a perpendicular drop-off, but that the surface gave way to the white cliff below them by degrees.
    They sat down, legs over the grassy incline, and remained several long minutes in silence.
    Far below and to the right, the city of Folkestone stretched away from the water’s edge toward the inland hills. Ships and boats of all sizes came and went from its harbor. Smoke drifted lazily upward from its red and grey rooftops. Forward, their gaze met only blue, broken by a few clouds in the distance. Closer by, seagulls played on the gentle breezes. Their shrill cries and the occasional distant drone of a ship’s horn were the only sounds to meet their ears.
    â€œOh, Ramsay—it’s breathtaking!” exclaimed Amanda. “I’ve seen the Channel many times, but never like this.”
    â€œImagine it on a stormy day. The coastline can be wild too.”
    â€œDo you come here on such days? I would think you would be afraid.”
    â€œI come here in all weather. I love the sea during a fierce storm, with the wind howling and waves shooting up off the rocks.”
    â€œI can see why you say it is one of your favorite places. How did you discover it?”
    â€œJust the way you and I did today,” he replied. “I was driving along here one day and decided I wanted to have a look at