A CHANCE TO LIVE
Chapter Two
It took my frozen eyes a few
minutes to process what I was seeing. It was a ship, right alongside us. I
could see her passengers peering over the railing at us. A netlike basket
device was thrown at us. The weakest, me included, were pushed into the basket
and lifted to the deck. After I was freed from it, I was brought to a dining
room. It was set up buffet-style, with tables in the middle and stations set up
against the wall. There were stations for blankets, food, and brandy/cigars. I
sat at the first table and waited for Jack. Cal was one of the first to enter
after me. He must’ve been lifted in the basket with the weak-looking women
around him. But he didn’t look weak at all! Some man he was.
I was surprised. The giddy jump
my heart used to make when seeing his handsome face did not happen. That was a
first! But I was only surprised, not disappointed. Over the past few hours, I
had slowly carved out the part of my heart that had been reserved for him. My
suspicions on the lifeboat were confirmed when I noticed Cal was not carrying
the girl. Knowing him, he had probably left her in the lifeboat.
Should I tell Jack?
I made to get up from the table, but
a strict-looking officer named Stone pushed me gently back down into my seat.
It was a good thing he did, because a mob of survivors walked through the
double doors right after. Jack was a part of them. He spotted me and walked
over. To my delight, he had both children following him.
"Cal is an imbecile,"
was his greeting to me. "He just handed her off to a passenger as soon as
he stepped on board."
He walked over to the blanket
table and got a couple for the children and for himself. I sneaked a look at my
ex-fiancée, who was smoking a cigar and accepting a brandy from a steward. He
shrugged off the blanket around his shoulders and looked about the room. I
turned back so he wouldn't see me.
"May we keep them?"
Jack glanced at the children, who
were playing on the floor, and smiled.
*****
We didn't know their names! An
attendance list was being brought around, and the officer holding it was three
tables away.
"Jack, what are their
names?" The girl looked a bit like an Anna. The boy was harder to name.
Neither of them spoke English, and I doubted the names of the third class
passengers were accurately recorded anyway, so I suggested to Jack the name
Anna for the girl and Erik for the boy. He considered it and nodded discreetly
as the officer moved to our table.
"Names, please?"
Jack pointed to each of us as he
said our names. The officer jotted them down, checked the spelling--he had to
change Eric to Erik--and moved on.
*****
"How innocent they
are…" I whispered to Jack. The two children looked as peaceful as sleeping
cherubs. Their tiny chests moved up and down in unison as they dreamed of
pleasant times and happy things. "They probably don’t even know the
severity of what happened."
Jack kissed my hand. "Maybe
that’s best for them."
I closed my eyes, a bit unnerved
by the darkness. It reminded me too much of that night, that night with no
stars and the black water churning all about me, threatening to suck me down. I
rested my head against Jack’s shoulder and welcomed sleep like an old friend.
*****
The compassion of the Carpathia’s
passengers and crew was unsurpassable. A woman gave me an extra dress to wear,
and her daughter gave Anna her teddy bear. A male passenger gave Erik his son’s
jacket, but since Erik wouldn’t part with his--probably his father’s; it was
much too big for him--we kept it in a duffel bag given to us. A steward even
offered to shine Jack’s shoes for free. We were all so touched by Captain
Rostron’s kindness and dedication to our safety, a makeshift trophy was made
for him. Someone passed a spare lifebelt around, and those who could sign it
did. Little Erik and Anna just scribbled on it. Tears of happiness fell from
Captain Rostron’s eyes when Molly Brown presented it to him on behalf of
everyone. He said it was his pleasure to have come to our rescue and he wished
the best for everyone. He also announced that tonight there would be a
candlelight memorial service for all the lost. I considered Mother and Cal as
part of them.
*****
The Statue of Liberty was a
marvel, a wonder I would never tire of seeing. Just being around it had me in
awe of its beauty. It was funny how a simple statue could instill hope into
someone’s heart.
"Jack, can we live in New
Jersey?"
He gave me that cute confused
look he tended to give me when I asked the impossible.
"Why not New York?"
I told him it was because my
mother would most likely live in New York and we couldn't risk running into
her.
"Well, don’t you want to
become an actress? Why don’t we move to California?"
Not my idea of great living, but
I agreed—on the stipulation that we travel back here every April eighteenth. To
pay homage to this site, you know?
"The Statue of Liberty? Why
the Statue of Liberty?"
"Because four nights ago I’d
never thought I’d see it. And I don’t mean as a free woman like now; I thought
I’d never see it at all. And it means so much to me that we’re seeing it now,
together. And nothing, and no one, is going to stop us."
It was just like they say, You
never know the worth of water until the well is dry.