Love that ocean !!!!

No, this isn't me, it's just a great picture of the the ocean. Since I'm lucky enough to live within five miles, I love to drive by and revel in all its moods.  The sand makes it too squishy for my bad back to allow me to walk it, but I love the ocean in all it's many moods. 

I'm delighted one of the choices for a my blog this month included the ocean. Here's a long excerpt from Victoria's Visions, a book about to re-issued soon by MuseItUp. I think Amazon still had the current version. Vicky is a mage, and has power over water that Cabot has difficulty accepting, until the action in this scene convinces even him.

 
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She led the way down a narrow, winding path. Some scrub trees grew against the side of the cliff, but mostly they passed only jutting rocks. When the path widened out onto the beach, Cabot saw Victoria hadn’t misled him, as a beckoning stretch of smooth sand opened before them.

With a kick of her boots, Victoria headed down the beach as fast as she could urge Lally to go.

With a yell of “No fair,” Cabot spurred after her. Grinning even as he raced along, determined to catch her and pass. The damp sand made the going slow, but after a few minutes Victoria hauled up. He pulled up rein too, wondering why she’d stopped so suddenly and surprised at the anger blazing on her shocked face.

“Look, Cabot. We’ve got to stop those wicked men. Just look what they’re doing.”

She jumped off Lally and headed toward three young men. Two of them stood on the shore cheering their companion, a large lout carrying a burlap sack. The sides of the sack bulged in and out, and the frightened meows coming from it told Cabot several kittens were in the bag. About to be drowned by the biggest ruffian.

Victoria waded straight into the water, heading toward the one with the sack while the two companions jeered and clapped nearer the shore.

“Go right ahead, missy. What do you think you’re gonna do? Think you can stop three of us from our fun? We’re bigger than you, ya know.”

He threw back his shaggy head and laughed. A cruel laugh that told Vicky all she needed to know. This was no mercy killing. He was enjoying it.

She didn’t answer, just kept striding through the calm water. Cabot immediately dismounted and headed toward them, catching one of the two nearest thugs by the arm and wheeling him around directly into a deadly punch to his jaw. His companion roared and rushed at Cabot, who took a second to ascertain the one he’d downed would stay down before turning to the other brute. Even as they were trading blows, they heard the thug in the ocean shout as Victoria caught up to him and grabbed his coat. Cabot didn’t look up again; he knew Victoria would soon need him, and he wanted to get this one out of the way and go to her.

”Street fighters usually can’t beat trained boxers.” Something he’d heard his father say over and over as he insisted both his sons have boxing lessons. Cabot disposed of the second bully and then waded into the ocean toward Victoria. She and the thug stood in about two feet of water. He held the sack just out of her reach, laughing at her.

“Jes’ like a female,” he jeered. “Caring if a few more kittens get killed. I’d drown everyone born iff’n I could.”

Cabot stood close behind her when she stopped and stood still for a few seconds. She glanced to see he was there, took his hand tightly, and closed her eyes. Her lips moved in silence while the bully chuckled and sneered.

They all heard a roar as a huge wave about three feet wide headed directly toward them. It seethed and growled with a life of its own and concentrated its aim and its force on the taunting thug. He heard its monstrous coming and turned in horror to run, dropping the sack in his fright. Vicky and Cabot stood not far away in calm waters, as the water zeroed on the ruffian. Vicky stood silently, her lips moving as she kept her eyes down, and she now somehow held the bag of kittens. Cabot watched in stunned and silent disbelief.

The rogue wave grabbed the bully, and he disappeared into the massive crest of foam. There’d been no chance of escape. The wave lifted him off his feet and, while his thrashing body reappeared from second to second, he would soon vanish again in the water. Cabot almost automatically took the sack from Victoria. From the pitiful meows the kittens were drenched, but safe. He and Victorian watched as the man struggling in the water appeared powerless to save himself from the massive waves buffeting him. Rolling him over and under the water, again and again.

It seemed like a long time to Cabot before the rogue wave flung the bully onto the shore and then retreated, leaving its victim limp and unconscious. The spectacular crest of water vanished, and the ocean at once resumed its orderly, almost silent pattern. Cabot stared. His mind a thoughtless jumble, he stood without words.

Victoria took his hand, and she and Cabot were almost to shore before he stopped her and turned her to him.

“What happened just now? I saw it, but what happened? The water was calm where we were standing. What happened, Vicky?”

“Exactly what you saw, Cabot. I know you aren’t able to accept it yet. I have certain mage powers over water. I asked the waves to teach the brute what it feels like to be drowned. He’s not drowned, but he felt desperate for quite a while. Now I’ve frozen him like I did the skunk. This gives us time to get away with the kittens. Let’s go back to shore. He won’t bother us. He’s not going to feel too rambunctious for a while after he wakes up.”

His bewilderment must have been plain, as she sighed.

“I’m a descendant of the Lady of the Lake, as well as Merlin. I have certain abilities with water, just like my sister Jennivere. Water power seems to go particularly to our female line. I’m sorry you saw this so soon, Cabot. I rarely need to call on this strength, but I couldn’t let those darling kittens be drowned.”

Cabot looked at her lovely face and found himself forced to consider again the knowledge he’d been trying to dodge. He took a deep breath but said nothing more. There was no denying what he’d seen. Beautiful Victoria wielded a weapon more potent than his fists would ever be."

Love visiting with you.  Do write me, jswriter@earthlink.net, if you want to chat about anything bookish.Or just if you want to chat.