6
Southampton. 17 December 1969
They stood at the starboard railing facing the European mainland, where the promise of daylight had already arrived, as the Windsor Castle entered the English Channel. They were off the coast of France, having steered between the outskirts of the Celtic Sea in the north and the Bay of Biscay to the south.
Emilee had required little coaxing to get Caroline to join her on deck. Their two-berth cabin with its punishing bunk beds, their haven of the past ten days, had become too confined. They hadn’t slept well, as on so many nights before, despite having grown used to the humming and rolling of the ship as it stayed its course.
It was their last day on board, which was reason enough to cherish the remaining hours. As the girls waited for day to break, so di
