4
Three weeks later, Evie and Jasmine boarded a ship from Mombasa to Colombo in Ceylon, where, after a short layover, they were to transfer to another vessel coming from Bombay and finish the passage to Penang.
Over breakfast on the first morning, Jasmine asked Evie how many times she’d been to sea before.
Evie did a quick mental calculation. ‘Nine, I think.’
‘Not much more than me then.’
‘That’s because you were with me most of the time. Not the first time though. When I came out to Penang before the war in ’39 to marry your father.’
Jasmine tilted her head to one side. ‘Did you even know Daddy before you came to George Town? I don’t ever remember hearing about you.’
Evie felt herself blushing. ‘We’d met only once, so no, I barely knew him.’
‘That was either brave or bonkers then.
