Well, I reckon that’s something, I do. I wish I’d been with my Charley when . Well, it’s no good, is it? I always felt I’d have found some way of looking after him. But that’s me. Charley always used to say, “You think you can do everything better than everyone else.” It’s true. That’s why I’d have found some way of getting him out of that sea. Well, dear, we’re going to do some shopping tomorrow. To tell you the truth, there’s nothing I like better than spending a bit of money.”

She was laughing, her temporary sadness gone.

We shopped together. We bought the garments which Uncle Toby said I should need for shipboard life sturdy shoes with soles that would not slip on wet decks; some summer dresses for a hot climate. Mrs. Quinton thoroughly enjoyed these expeditions, and so did I. Uncle Toby was away for long periods during the day, for he had business to attend to. The ship was in port and certain repairs were being done. He took me over her. And what a thrill that was! I was to have a cabin on the deck just below the bridge where Uncle Toby’s own cabin was situated.

“You’ll be a passenger,” he told me.

“A very special person. I have to look after the passengers, but for the most part the cargo looks after itself. So I shall be able to keep my eye on you.”

He showed me the dining-room with its long tables. There was a smoking-room, a music room, as well as public rooms where people could indulge in all sorts of activities, and stretches of deck where one could sit and contemplate the sea. I felt I had skipped into a fantastic new world.

And then we were sailing and this was like the realization of a long-cherished dream. My pride in Uncle Toby was excessive. He looked splendid in his Captain’s uniform and everyone deferred to him. He was the Master of the Lady of the Seas and all who sailed in her.

He had changed subtly. He was god-like and alert for the safety of all who depended on him. He was usually very occupied, but we did have moments together, and I was gratified and honoured because I believe he enjoyed them as much as I did.

He would say: “I’ll be on the bridge for some time, so I shan’t be able to be with you-but just as soon as it is possible …”

I would nod, delighted that he should explain to me, which was something grown-ups rarely did. I often thought how lucky I was to have him, for he was not really my uncle, though he always spoke and acted as though he were. I would never forget that I was the one he had taken to sea with him-not Henry, Estella or Adeline. One would have thought he would have taken Henry, because boys were usually chosen for adventures like this. Secretly I thought Uncle Toby did not like Henry or even Estella or Adeline as well as me. And that was where the miracle came in.

Occasionally, I would think of the old life, though I did not want to, but it would force itself into my mind. How were they getting on with Aunt Florence, I wondered? Perhaps they would be home by now. They would have the inquest and the house would settle down to its old routine. Lessons and walks with Miss Carson; and Mrs. Marline safely buried and unable to spoil anything again. Adeline would be pleased.

She might miss me a little, but Miss Carson would make up for that.

So it would be a happy ending for them as well as for me. Now and then the thought came to me of what would happen when this voyage was over.

I should go back to Commonwood, I supposed, and then everything would be settled.

But I did not want to think of that. I was going to enjoy every moment of this wonderful adventure first.

Shipboard life was absorbing. At mealtimes we sat at a long table, which was jolly. Everyone was friendly towards me because I was the Captain’s protegee, and they told me how lucky I was to have an uncle who took me on his ship for a long sea voyage. Sometimes Uncle Toby joined us. People all wanted to talk to him. They asked questions about the ship and he talked to them in his jolly, jaunty way which they all seemed to like.

At night I would lie in my berth in the cabin just below the bridge and think of Uncle Toby up there, looking at his charts and the stars as he drove the ship along.

I shared a cabin with a girl who was more or less my own age. Gertie Forman was going to Australia with her family father, mother and brother Jimmy to settle there.

There were two berths, one above the other, and I climbed into mine the top one by means of a ladder which could be pulled down when one needed it. It was great fun lying up there, particularly when the ship rocked.

Gertie and I soon became friendly. We explored the ship together. It was her first time on a ship too, so we had a lot in common. We discovered the public rooms and the best places to sit on deck. Not that we did a great deal of sitting; we always seemed to be dashing around. Sometimes we would talk to the sailors dark men, a number of them, who could not speak much English. But some of them were English and they often referred to me as ‘the Captain’s Little “Un’.

It was wonderful to have a companion at such times when I could not be with Uncle Toby, and Gertie and I spent a great deal of time together. Then we would lie in our berths at night and talk to each other.

I learned that the Formans used to live on a farm in Wiltshire. Gertie told me how she and her brother always had daily tasks to perform . like bringing in the cows for milking, collecting eggs from the fowls, making the pigs’ food. There was always something which had to be done on a farm. They were going to buy a property in Australia where land was cheaper than at home.

The family had left because ‘they’ — Gertie was not sure who-were planning to build a road right through the farm, which would have finished it off as a paying proposition. They were anxious about it for a long time and the Formans had hoped it would never come to pass, but, when they had known it was inevitable, they made the decision to buy a property in Australia.

I told her a little about myself, but I was guarded. I did not want her to know that I had been found under the azalea bush. She would certainly have asked how the splendid Captain Sinclair could be uncle to such a waif. I wondered what I should say if her probing became awkward. But Gertie, like most people, I have discovered, was far more interested in her own affairs than those of others, and it was not difficult to steer her away from asking awkward questions.

In spite of all his responsibilities. Uncle Toby often found time to be with me. He would take me up to the bridge and show me the charts and instruments, and then we would sit in his cabin and talk. I enjoyed every moment on board ship, but to be with Uncle Toby was the highlight of the day.

He talked to me as though I were a grown-up one of the most endearing aspects of our relationship-and when I considered the insults I had been subjected to from Estella, Henry and Nanny Gilroy, it seemed miraculous that the mighty Captain could treat me as though I were important and interesting.

He asked me how I liked shipboard life and did not wait for me to reply.

“Wonderful, isn’t it?” he said.

“To feel the fresh sea breeze coming to you … the rise and fall of the waves … and the sea . the ever-changing sea that can be so soft and gentle and then suddenly rages. You haven’t seen it in a fury, and I hope you never will.”

He talked about the places we should visit. We were right at the start now and had yet to go through the Bay of Biscay.

It had a reputation for being perverse, he told me, and we had to look out for squalls. There were currents and winds to be watched.

Sometimes the elements were benign and sometimes the reverse. Then we should go through the Mediterranean and call at Naples and Suez.

“We shall pass through the Canal. That will be very interesting for you, Carmel. A little while ago you would have had to go round the Cape, but now we have this convenient Canal. You’ll like Naples. Italy is one of the most beautiful countries in the world, in my opinion Egypt one of the most mysterious. You are going to see a great deal of the world, Carmel. Do you miss your lessons? Perhaps that is not good.

But a journey like this . well, you will learn more from it than you will find in your school books . perhaps. In any case, we will tell ourselves so. It salves the conscience and that is usually a good thing to do. “

He used to talk about the ancient explorers, Christopher Columbus, Sir Francis Drake. How brave they had been, going off in their ships not in the least like the Lady of the Seas before the seas were charted not knowing what hazards they would face.

“Imagine the storms … the lack of equipment! What men! Doesn’t it make you proud? Voyages of discovery! What days they were! What adventurers!”

I loved to hear him talk like that. I caught his enthusiasm.

In my eyes, he was as great as Christopher Columbus and Sir Francis Drake.

He mentioned remote countries and I was transported back to the schoolroom in Commonwood House, and in my mind’s eye I saw Miss Carson pointing out places on the revolving globe.

A feeling of depression came to me then with a sense of guilt. I had forgotten them all so quickly, and I had a sudden qualm that all might not be well. I recalled the sly looks and the smirks I had seen so often on Nanny’s face, and the poor, sad, lost look on Miss Carson’s.

They had been such a part of my life, and now they seemed like shadows puppets belonging to another world-a world of nightmares and secrets from which I had been miraculously saved by Uncle Toby.

There were times when I awoke and thought I was in my bedroom at Commonwood House and that something terrible which I did not understand was happening. I would be filled with foreboding, then I would be aware of the movement of the ship and in the early morning light I would see above me the bulkhead and know that I had been dreaming and I was actually in my bunk with Gertie sleeping below me in this wonderful world to which Uncle Toby had brought me.