The wind was blowing slowly and softly through the woman's brown hair, moving them slowly, on her back, on her shoulders, almost tickling her.
Meredith sat next to the heavy, solid wood wall of the great ship.
The large green eyes of the woman were now immersed in the infinity of the great and immense blue sky.
Her pale face with pain and fear was in comparison reddened by the coldness of the wind, which stung her cheeks, her nostrils, her nose.
The lady's shoulders were covered with a warm and precious hazelnut brown blanket.
She looked up at the sky, her eyes were wet and full of tears.
She was safe, but at what price? What cruel fate she had been forced to ...
Meredith was holding in her hands the magnificent porcelain doll that had once belonged to Olivia, to her little girl.
In that fire, after that event, that doll was no longer as beautiful and magnificent as she used to be when the little girl was still alive.
That doll no longer possessed the good smell of flowers and oils that it used to have in the past.
Its blond hair was scorched here and there and blackened by the fire.
Its artificial little porcelain face was also in poor condition with several cracks and the white dress the doll used to wear was almost completely burned.
That doll, which although badly reduced was the only memory that the woman possessed of little Olivia.
Her little girl, she hadn't made it past six years of age, she hadn't been able to save her.
Meredith had immediately rushed to check how her daughter was doing in that night of horrors and flames, to immediately understand that Olivia had died first, not burned by the flames, but suffocated by the absence of oxygen.
It was painful to think about this, it hurt to think about it now but of all the possibilities, Meredith Dustin was almost more relaxed that her little girl didn't have to look at death with her own eyes and just fell asleep, in a long, endless dream.
She looked at the sky, it was blue, clear, devoid of any cloud, that color, so clear, fresh and pure it reminded her of Diane, it was like looking into her eyes, every time she looked at the sky.
She hoped she was fine, she and her children, after that night she was unable to meet her again.
Meredith smiled faintly, she did not know if she would ever meet her again, but she generally hoped they were safe at that moment.
A few drops of sea water splashed from the sea, touching her cheeks, splashing under her eyes, on her pretty face.
She smelled at that moment the freshness and salinity of that huge stretch of water.
It was possible for her to hear the cries of some of the seagulls, who in a circle hunted fish, even larger ones, in the middle of the sea.
When she was little she had always somehow had a kind of fear of the sea, she didn't know why, while her brothers, like so many little lords, sometimes loved to lift the legs of their pants and splash in the water and splash each other.
She, like a little lady, had always preferred, during the summer holidays, to sit on the beach or collect shells sometimes, in the company of her nanny.
Meredith did not know why or where all the fear of the sea came from, perhaps from some ancestor or perhaps from the fact that when they were little her older brothers always played to scare her, telling her numerous stories and legends about sea monsters or other creatures.
Her childhood was fun, it had been, at least until she had grown enough to realise how uncomfortable it was to be the only female with four brothers.
But on the other hand, this had always helped her to grow as one of them and on the other hand she felt a little more important under the gaze of her parents.
Her parents, how much she missed being able to meet them.
Meredith Dustin hugged her knees to herself, pushed them towards her chest, caressed them with her hands.
Her knees were red and aching when touching them, they almost burned, and it was a pity that at that moment she had no possessions of metal to lower her body temperature.
A few footsteps came closer, she felt them cold and determined walking on the heavy wooden beams of the ship's floor.
She knew who he was, she felt it from the pale and freckled hands, caressing her face, her cheeks, her chin, with an almost impressive delicacy.
Meredith turned her gaze, her big green eyes met his brother's gaze, observed his wavy and puffy ginger red hair, the big green eyes he had inherited from their mother, his pale face, the freckles covering his cheeks and part of his nose.
Warren was the gentlest, sweetest person she could ever know.
The two of them were as different as they were united.
Meredith was more realistic and serious, Warren was more witty and naïve.
She had always been more attentive and meticulous, he more and more imaginative and distracted.
But despite their differences, brother and sister had always been very close.
Meredith smiled slightly, let the man's hands caress her face, her cheeks wet with tears and the sea breeze.
She was safe, she felt it, at least for the moment, as she seemed that in those days no one was really in a state of total safety.
-How are you sister?- Warren ventured to ask sitting opposite the woman, on one of the barrels placed there.
She knew Warren would never give a definite idea of nobility to his family, she sensed it and it was luckily for him that Preston existed, the eldest son of their House, the favourite son, serious, down-to-earth and for whom the work and honour came first.
Meredith smiled slightly, almost forcedly, her eyes were still wet from the wind, from the salt of the sea and from her sadness.
-I lost everything Warren, I simply feel I can no longer trust anyone...-.
The man took a quick look at the small porcelain doll that his sister was holding in her hands, he understood instantly, he felt her sadness, he left his lips parted, he took the woman's hands in his.
Her hands were cold, almost lifeless.
-I understand your pain, sister, but now you do not have to fear, you are with me, with us, as soon as Preston will meet you again, I am sure that...-.
-I don't want to think about our brother Preston, Warren, I love you two with all my heart as a sister, but you know well that what I have lost can never be replaced...-.
The man looked at the big eyes of the other, they had started to tears, she looked away at the sky, constantly, her brain, her mind, somewhere else.
-You love someone, don't you? You are thinking of this person right now- the man ventured, caressing his own soft and puffy ginger hair with one of his hands.
Meredith blushed, smiled again for a few seconds, a smile that wiped her tears from her eyes.
-Her name is Diane, Diane Stanley...- the lady commented, looking back at the sky, leaving her brother's face pale for a few moments.
-A Stanley? I assumed that Diane Stanley had passed away a long time ago...-.
-I don't know where she is right now and I don't even know if she's alive, I just hope she's fine, she and her children...-Meredith looked for one last time at the little doll she was holding in her hands.
She smiled, it was as if her little Olivia was still with her.