Excerpt: Death on the Beach [working title only]

Despite the splendour of the view Cat sighed to herself, the cages were still not in sight and water remained resolutely free of all signs of the good ship Floozy. Turning to make her way back to firmer footing the wind whipped her hair around her face obscuring her vision. 'Damn!' as she almost missed her step and stopped again to steady herself 'stupid bloody weather' she muttered and cast around for an easier route back, as she looked down her eye was caught by the movement of something against the rocks. 'Typical, even in a place like this there is rubbish cluttering up the scenery' and craned her neck to see if she could identify the flotsam. At first she thought she was looking at a dirty white buoy that had broken loose, but it seemed to be tangled with dark seaweed, then as the tide turned the object Cat had the same sensation as when you finally 'see' the 3D image in one of those optical illusion books. The lines and shapes resolved themselves and with that same feeling of falling into the image, Cat sank to her haunches as she realised she was looking at the naked body of a man being buffeted by the current.
For long moments she sat and watched as the water turned and lifted the body, although it was close to the rocks there was just enough shelter for a slackening of the waves so that it was almost a gentle washing and rocking. Mesmerised and horrified in equal measure, Cat found herself hoping that he had been a seafaring man, that he might appreciate this final cold cradling, she hoped he was local, that he knew these places and had known their risks, that perhaps he had not been altogether surprised or distressed to find himself slipping into the chilly deep. How much crueller if he was a tourist, someone from somewhere warm, come to Scotland for the novelty of being cold and of being buffeted by the elements, in search of fun and chasing the great goal of 'experience'. She didn't know if the pallor of the thing in the sea was a product of death, or if the water had gently washed away the effects of the sun, some laboriously and expensively acquired tan. She silently wished him well.