Free Flight of the Jabiru by Elizabeth Haran Page A

only thing that made him noticeable, apart from doing his job as ship’s steward well, was his willingness to do anything for anybody.
    Isabel had always been reminded by her father that it was a sin to wish she’d been blessed with good looks. He repeatedly told her that she didn’t need to be attractive to serve God. So it suited her not to be noticed.
    One afternoon, out of boredom, the women began styling each other’s hair and discussing fashion. Isabel, who was disinterested, stuck her nose in a book.
    â€œYour hair would look nice swept up, Isabel,” Suzie decided as she studied her thoughtfully.
    â€œYou are right,” Lara said, analyzing Isabel’s profile. Isabel’s hair was shoulder length, dead straight, and a non-descript brown, but it had a nice silky texture. “Have you ever worn it up?”
    Isabel shook her head and hoped the attention would turn elsewhere, but she was not so lucky. Lara swept her hair upwards in two handfuls and admired her neck and profile. “Doesn’t that make a difference?” she said to the women, who mumbled in agreement. Isabel’s features were lifted and she looked almost regal.
    The women spent the afternoon demonstrating hair styles that would make Isabel more attractive, and Lara gave her tips on what colors she should wear that would make the most of her good points. They thought they were limited to her warm, brown eyes and porcelain skin, but with her hair swept up, her lovely neck shape and pleasing jaw shape were accentuated.
    One evening, Suzie ‘acquired’ a bottle of Royal Navy rum from Sid and the women opened it in their cabin. They persuaded Isabel to have a glass, which she drank too quickly. She then surprised them by insisting she have another. After sculling the second glass of rum, Isabel transformed into a virtual chatterbox and the women learned more about her on that evening than the whole trip.
    Apparently, Isabel had been born in Perth and taken to England as a child, so she was technically an Aussie. She chattered about her childhood and the tragic death of her mother in her teenage years, then in a moment of uncharacteristic vulnerability, she blurted out that she’d never had a boyfriend, even though she was twenty-nine years old.
    â€œWhat? Never?” Lara gasped in disbelief.
    Isabel shook her head.
    â€œWell, I’m sure that’s not as unusual as it sounds,” Lara stammered. “Someone special will come along when he’s least expected.”
    â€œThat’s right,” Suzie agreed. None suspecting ‘Mr. Right’ was on the ship.
    Isabel’s father was a Presbyterian minister and he’d apparently kept a close eye on her since her mother’s death, stifling her and forcing her to work for the church. This trip to see an aunt in Australia was her first holiday alone and her chance to escape. She intended to make the most of it, she claimed, although she didn’t elaborate. She was possibly as surprised as anyone to find a potential husband aboard ship.
    In retrospect, there’d been subtle clues. In card games, Isabel and Frederick had often partnered each other. On the evenings when they weren’t playing cards, Isabel would disappear, supposedly to read on her bunk, and yet looking back, she’d never finished a book. Although at the time it aroused no interest, Freddie would also be missing. Early in the voyage, Sid had mentioned that Freddie liked to spend time alone, writing to family back home in Austria, so it was assumed that’s where he was most evenings. Because of who they were, and their characters, no one connected the coincidences.
    The female passengers hadn’t doubted Isabel’s story about being a twenty-nine-year-old virgin; it was perfectly plausible given her character, but that made it all the more remarkable that she’d conduct a clandestine love affair with a crewman who apparently never spoke of past