THE SURFACE
Chapter Three
Jack was still finding his way
around New York. Suddenly, he saw two men he remembered seeing back at the lab.
They were right behind him, only a few feet away. Jack began to run. He ran
down a flight of stairs that led him into the subway. He hopped onto a train,
not knowing where he would be headed next. The first stop it made, he got off.
He saw the sign that read 82nd Street and Lexington Avenue. Jack was still
confused, but continued up the stairs. He figured he could find a job here. He
continued until he reached Park Avenue and Lexington. There, a store caught his
eye. There were people coming out with bags that read Manhattan Saddlery on
them. He figured he could get a job here.
He walked in where a girl with
brown/blonde hair leaned, punching holes into strips of worn black leather.
"Are you hiring?" he
asked casually.
The girl looked up. She looked
about fourteen or fifteen and had light brown eyes and uneven, layered hair.
"Oh, thank God! Mom! Someone
is here about your ad finally!" The girl continued to punch holes in the
leather. A woman with blonde hair came out of the back.
"You’re here about the
job?" she asked.
Jack did not know what the job
was, but he nodded his head in agreement. The woman went back into the backroom
and came out with papers. "I need you to fill out these forms. You work
from eight in the morning until six at night."
"What is the job
again?"
"You help my two daughters
in maintaining the tack. This is Ashley and my other daughter is Kate. She’ll
be here tonight."
"Hi. Nice to meet you!"
Ashley put her hand out for Jack.
"I’m Jack. Jack
Dawson." They shook hands. Ashley looked at the clock and saw that it was
past time to go pick up her cousin at the airport.
"Mom, I’m going to get Lexi.
I’ll be back in about an hour." Ashley put down the leather and puncher
and went into the back. Jack filled out the papers the best he could and handed
them back to the lady.
She looked at them. "I need
a valid address before I can hire you."
"I don’t have an
address--long story."
"My name is Melinda Calvert.
All right, listen. There is a room upstairs. It’ll only cost ya forty dollars a
month and I take it out of your paycheck."
"Sounds good."
"You’re responsible for your
own essentials such as food and clothing. Payday is every other week on
Friday."
Jack nodded. Melinda put her hand
out. "Welcome to Manhattan Saddlery."
Jack shook her hand.
"First task, I got a
shipment of jumping saddles coming in sometime this hour. I need you to help
Ash get them when she comes back. In the meantime, I’m sure she would love you
if you could finish those leathers over there."
The phone rang and Melinda ran
into the back to answer it. Jack went over to the leathers and began punching
holes like she said to.
*****
"Mom, I think my luggage is
lost." Lexi continued to watch unfamiliar bags come around the belt. Then
her red corduroy bag appeared. "Never mind. Let’s go."
Lizzy had already found Lexi and
the cab that was waiting. Lexi was overjoyed to see Ashley.
"I’m so excited that you’re
actually moving to the east coast!" Ashley hugged Lexi tightly.
"I can’t wait! You’re going
to have to show me around a bit. I’ve never been to New York!"
"Speaking of bits, did you
get a horse?"
"Yeah, just yesterday, so
she’s coming on Wednesday."
"What’s her name?"
"Titanic’s Rose."
"Come on. We’ve got tons to
catch up on. I’m so sorry about what happened to..." Ashley slammed the
door and told the driver to go back to Manhattan.
*****
"I can’t believe you let him
slip away again. We’re gonna find the son of a bitch and--"
Katie slammed her hand in front
of him on the desk in frustration. "Why do you want him so bad? Huh? Let
it go already!"
"Oh, no. I’m not letting
this one get away."
Katie was steamed.
"Obviously you are, or you would’ve been looking just a little harder than
a news report."
"Do you know how much he
could be worth? His memory of the Titanic? I want him back here, dammit!"
"Oh, so this is about money
now?"
Arnold looked at Katie. "Oh,
you have feelings for him, don’t you?"
Katie looked up, her face turning
red. "I—I never—said that."
"Then why are you
stuttering? I want him back here."
*****
Ashley and Lexi sat polishing
stirrups and conditioning saddles, giggling at nothing. Lizzy had just about
had enough when Jack walked down from upstairs.
They suddenly stopped giggling,
almost making themselves invisible. Lizzy looked up to see who had finally
stopped the giggle fest. "Hi. Does Mel know you’re living up there?"
"Yeah. I’m Jack, by the way.
Jack Dawson."
"Lizzy Calvert. That’s my
daughter, Lexi, the red-haired one. I’m sure you met Ashley, the giggle
head."
"Yeah," Jack replied.
Ashley made eye contact with Lexi
and told her to go introduce herself. Lexi got up bravely and walked over to
properly introduce herself. "Pleased to meet you, Mr. Dawson. I’m
Lexi—Ashley’s second cousin."
Ashley tried to keep herself from
giggling at them. She concentrated on polishing the stirrups and cleaning the
stirrup pads. Lexi walked back over to Ashley.
"Does he like me or
something?" she whispered.
Ashley glanced quickly to find
him looking up at her whenever he had the chance. She shrugged her shoulders.
"He looks—kind of sad when he looks at you, actually. Maybe you remind him
of someone."
"Ash. Come on. Seriously.
Who could I possibly look like that he would’ve known?"
Once she saw that Lizzy and Jack
were talking and had their backs turned, she put her sponge in the cloudy water
bucket and dragged Lexi into a corner room.
"All right. You want the
story? Here it is straight up. No lie." Ashley took a deep breath.
"When Rose was about our age, she was engaged to this creep named Cal
Hockley. Remember how we used to torture Rose by getting Hockley and hockey
mixed up when we were little? Well, she was on the Titanic and so was Jack—now,
listen, remember that frozen guy they found a couple of days ago? Guess who
that was?" Ashley pointed outside.
Lexi’s jaw dropped.
"Impossible. Jack is twenty. If he really was—how is that possible?"
Ashley took another breath.
"I’ll explain it a little clearer. Last night, I went to see Jack after my
shift was over. Remember I didn’t come home until a little after nine? Well, he
told me the whole story. Lexi, he wouldn’t lie. He knew Rose. I asked him to describe
her, but I didn’t tell him that she was related to us--not yet. It’s too early.
Anyway, he described her and, surprise! He described you. I told him about you
looking like her and he got kind of nervous. Try to ignore it a little until I
talk to him. Okay?"
"He may already know. My mom
looks a little like him and has Rose’s eyes."
"Just keep your mouth shut
until I’m ready. She’s dead, and I don’t think he wants to hear that."