Chapter 282

The signal needed bright colour, so Ashton told me to coat the exposed sides of the stones in red. Make-up was useless on the island, so I wasn’t upset by the request. In fact, I was almost excited, glad to be useful again. My mood was ridiculously cheerful. When the lipstick was ground down to an unrecognisable stub and the final ‘S’ was in place, I stepped back and admired the result. [SOS] As I stood there, arms folded, sea breeze in my face, a thought struck me. I broke into a run, back to my suitcase, and began rummaging again. Ashton, busy tying bark over the cone-shaped frame, glanced my way. ‘What are you looking for?’ ‘You’ll see,’ I said, still digging. Seconds later, my triumphant voice rang out. ‘Found it.’ He looked over to see a camera in my hands. I carried it to the lipstick SOS and began snapping photos. Ashton, meanwhile, kept working with his usual cool detachment. I narrowed my eyes, then shouted suddenly, ‘Ashton!’ He jerked his head up at once. Click. The shutter