Rocky Island by Jim Newell

they were both glad they had their warm jackets. Finally, Allison turned and kissed her husband, quietly, lingeringly.
    “Toby dear, this is such a beautiful place. I love it. But I don’t like it very much right now. Help me deal with my feelings. I just don’t know how to cope with my thoughts.”
    “You had anything to eat today beside that cup of coffee this morning?”
    “No. But the fresh air has made me hungry. Maybe that’s the place to begin.”
    They turned back to the house and together made scrambled eggs, bacon, toast and a pot of coffee. When they had finished eating, the time was almost three o’clock. Toby took his wife’s hand.
    “C’mon. We have an hour before I have to go to the light.”
    He led her to the bedroom; she allowed him to undress her and they made very slow and caring love together. After an hour and a bit, Toby got up. “Stay here and I’ll be back,” he said.
    He dressed quickly and went down to the lighthouse for the nightly chore of turning on the light and checking to make sure that everything was ready for the long hours of winter darkness that were already beginning to make their presence felt in mid November. When he returned to the house, he stopped at the office and got the weather forecast. Then he returned to the bedroom where Allison was waiting for him. As he stripped off his clothes, she reached her arms toward him and welcomed him into the bed and into her body.

CHAPTER FIVE
    Because Rocky Island had been in the news so frequently in the past couple of months after the discovery of the wrecked fishing boat, the helicopter crash and rescue and the body washed up on shore, there was considerable interest in the little speck of land off the coast. One of the Halifax television stations decided that a documentary program videotaped on the island might be of great interest to its viewers.
    Toby and Allison were somewhat taken aback when the Transport Canada Lighthouse Supervisor reported that the department had agreed and requested that they cooperate with the television crew. After some discussion between them and some questions to clarify exactly what would be required, the two agreed that they could probably live with the publicity, although it was not their first choice of a way to spend a run-up to Christmas.
    The date for the taping was set for the first week in December, weather permitting. The first date was postponed because of fog that prevented the television station’s chartered helicopter from flying in, and the second date was also postponed because of a storm with winds too high for the chopper to cope with. Finally, on the third try, the weather cooperated. The temperature was cold, but the sun was bright with a few high mackerel-shaped clouds in the west foretelling another storm by next day.
    The television crew arrived shortly after eight in the morning: a producer/director and an assistant, two sound men, a script writer, make-up artist and a handsome young man who turned out to be the on-air personality who would do the interviewing and narration. He was dressed in cords, a fisherman’s jacket with a flowing scarf, his brown hair held in place with plenty of spray. His smile turned on and off, depending on whether or not he was on camera and wanting to coax Toby and Allison to respond to his questions and comments. The on-air personality and the producer seemed to be at odds frequently over what scenes should be shot and in what order.
    The assistant producer, together with a sound man carrying a long boom microphone and one of the camera operators were dispatched to shoot background material. They were to take pictures of the lighthouse, long and close-up shots of the house, the sheds, both inside and out, the windmill and what scenery there was on the island, as well as various views of the rocks and reefs. The producer wanted lots of pictures and sound of waves crashing on the shore. Some of those shots would be taken from the air using the