The bubble wrap was heavily taped so Sam handed over some scissors so Chloe could slit it open. Everyone stared at her like puppies around a food bowl at feeding time. Now the initial tension was over, Chloe was desperate to make her delight seem genuine, even if it turned out she hated the picture. Which she was sure she wouldn’t … She picked off the final piece of tape, opened the layers of bubble wrap and – her gasp was audible.

‘Oh my God, that’s just incredible.’

She lifted the print up, speechless.

It was a canvas photograph showing the harbour in the grip of a tremendous winter storm. It had been taken from the opposite side of the cove to the Crow’s Nest, and a wave of monstrous proportions was breaking over the clock tower and the far sea wall. It was a horrifying scene in one way, but also it summed up what made Porthmellow such a unique and exhilarating place.

‘Do you like it?’ Zennor’s voice was high and hopeful. ‘Ben’s cousin Carla took the photograph. It’s been on the telly.’

‘It’s amazing. I’ve seen small images like this but blown up to this size, it’s breathtaking.’

Everyone moved in to get a better look at the picture. Ben started to explain where his photographer relative had taken the shot from during a famous winter storm a few years before.

‘Oh! There’s the Crow’s Nest,’ said Chloe, spotting her rooftop flat in the middle of the picture. The angle of the shot made it seem as if the crest of the wave would surely thunder down and flood the flat.

‘The water wouldn’t have reached up here, would it?’ she asked.

‘No. That’s only an illusion created by the angle it’s taken from. Clifftop House took a battering from some of the other waves that night. They had to close the coastal path and shore up the sea defences beneath the house. Even Wavecrest had a few stones against the windows.’

‘Bryony Cronk had her front window broken by debris,’ said Evie.

Chloe let out a breath. ‘Wow. I missed that, but I saw it on TV,’ she said

Gabe nodded. ‘I came to see how Mum and Dad were and they told me all about it. I was glad they’d moved out of the harbour. I hear half the businesses were flooded out and the Smuggler’s had to board up the windows.’

‘You missed a treat,’ said Troy, as if the storm had been a gigantic party.

‘I’ve missed a lot,’ said Gabe. ‘I remember the storm of 2003 – but Mum and Dad told me 2014 was a lot worse that that.’

‘Worst I’ve ever known,’ Troy declared. ‘Mind you there was that blow the winter our Aaron was born. Boats tossed up on the football pitch.’

Chloe stared at the picture in horror. ‘On the football pitch?’