6
It isn’t easy to avoid people when you’re on a ship. Not unless you hide out in your cabin all day and skip meals. Jasmine couldn’t do that – and anyway she loved sitting on deck, feeling the sting of salt on her cheeks and watching the ocean slip by beneath them. But she had managed to find a little hideaway where she could paint and draw undisturbed. It was a small deck at the stern of the ship, tucked behind the library and the writing room. Few people realised it was even there, tending to stick to the main promenade decks along the sides of the vessel. There was a wide ledge extending from the bulkhead, wide enough for her to sit on and set out her painting materials beside her. Partially shaded by an overhang, it was her quiet sheltered haven.
Every day that brought her closer to
