A DEEP OCEAN OF SECRETS
Chapter Eighteen
Rose was away from Cal. She ran
through the corridors, not knowing where to start. She just had to find Jack.
Suddenly she saw Thomas Andrews, searching to see if anyone was in their
cabins. Breathless, she ran up to him.
"Mr. Andrews, thank
God," she breathed. "Where would the Master-at-Arms taken someone
under arrest?"
Mr. Andrews looked shocked.
"What—Rose, you have to get to a boat right away—"
"No!" Rose protested.
"I’m doing this with or without your help, but without will take
longer."
Andrews sighed, and said quietly,
"Take the elevator down to the very bottom. Go left, down the crewman’s
passage. You’ll come to a long corridor. Turn right, then turn right again at
the stairs." Rose nodded and fled before Andrews could say anything else.
She ran into the A-Deck foyer, across the marble floor, and to the elevators.
"Sorry, miss, but the lifts
are closed!" the operator said. Rose suddenly became furious.
"I’m through with being
polite, Goddammit!" she cried, and pushed the operator into the lift.
"Now, take me down!" Scared, the operator turned on the elevator.
"E-Deck," she instructed as she closed the heavy iron gates of the
elevator.
*****
Elisabeth ran into the A-Deck
foyer, exhausted. She had run into many people, and had been knocked down many
times. It was hard for her to breathe and she was crying openly. She pushed
past an elderly woman, who turned around and gave her a disapproving look.
Elisabeth ran straight to a pillar and clung to it for dear life. Her cheek was
pressed against the cold, white-painted wood, her tears wetting the surface.
Her shoulders heaved with every sob, and many people had stopped to look at her
for a moment, or mumble something as they passed.
"Maybe she cannot find her
family," one man suggested.
"Maybe someone she loves is
in a lifeboat without her," another woman suggested. They didn’t try to
talk to her or ask her what was troubling her, and Elisabeth was thankful for
it.
In the elevator, Rose was
breathing hard, nervous. She and the operator hadn’t spoken since A-Deck.
Suddenly, as the elevator reached E-Deck, water swirling into it. Rose
screamed. The water was freezing, like the night air in water’s form. It made
the hems of her dress float up to her knees.
"I’m going back up!"
the operator screamed, reaching for the handle.
"No!" Rose protested,
and opened the elevator gates. She trudged into the hallway, the water swirling
at her shins.
"I’m going back up,"
the operator screamed again. "I’m going back up!" Rose watched in
horror as the elevator began to rise, water pouring out from the bottom. She
watched it until it was no longer in view. She looked around, the sound of
water rushing in her ears. The water was freezing, that was for sure, and she
didn’t know which way to go.
Suddenly, she remembered Thomas
Andrews’ directions. Go left, down the crewman’s passage. Turn left. You’ll
come to a long corridor. Turn right, then turn right again at the stairs. Trying
to ignore the cold, she marched ahead, her dress soaked up to her waist by the
splashes. She couldn’t even describe how cold the water was. It was like Jack
described it—a thousand knives.
"Jack!" she called out
desperately. She looked above her at the hallway she was about to enter and
read the brass-plated sign--Crew Passage. "Crew passage," she mumbled
to herself, and trudged through the water. She was trying to run, but it was so
hard. Her heels were giving her trouble as well, but she refused to take them
off.
Rose was becoming afraid. The
corridor was deserted, and she was all alone. But with the thought of Jack
fresh in her mind, she pushed herself to continue forward. She couldn’t let him
die! She came to the first turn to her left and flung her head to look in the
direction of the hallway. It was the long corridor Mr. Andrews had instructed
her to go down. Sighing, Rose pulled herself along, trying to run as fast as
she could. The water was now up to her knees, and it was becoming more difficult
to walk.
"Jack!" Rose yelled.
"Jack!" She looked around. Nothing. The tinted water cast an eerie
glow on her pale face. Her red hair hung around her shoulders, the curls
deflated by the sweat and splashes of water. She racked her brain for the next
step of Mr. Andrews’ instructions…turn right, then right again at the stairs.
She ran to the right and splashed
down the corridor until she came to the stairs. "Jack! Jack!" She
turned right at the stairs. This was the hallway Jack was supposed to be locked
up in. "Jack!" She ran down the corridor, opening doors.
Suddenly, a faint cry filled her
ears. "Rose!" it called. "Rose, I’m in here!" Jack!
"Jack," Rose whispered.
She followed the clanging noise he was making to a closed door. She pushed it
open, and there, near the corner, handcuffed to a pipe, was Jack. He looked
like he was about to cry when he saw the fiery redhead. His blonde hair flopped
in his face, and his boots were wet from the water. The icy water wasn’t as
high as it was farther down the corridor, but Rose knew it would rise fast.
"Jack!" Rose cried, and
tried to run over to him. She fell into him and wrapped her arms around his
neck. "I’m sorry! I’m so sorry!" She kissed him, and he welcomed it.
He tried to hug her back to the best of his ability, since he was handcuffed to
a pipe. "Jack…"
"The guy Lovejoy put it in
my pocket!" Jack cried softly, tears in his eyes. He wanted Rose to
believe him so desperately!
"I know! I know!" she
replied, and hugged and kissed him again. "I’m so sorry!"
Jack was anxious to be free.
"Rose, I need you to find a spare key, all right?" Rose nodded, tears
brimming. One trickled down her cheek. She made her way over to the key cabinet
and threw open the doors. "It’s a little silver one, Rose!"
Rose was frantic. As her fingers
brushed over the keys, they fell down into the rising water. "These are
all brass ones!" she cried frantically.
Jack pointed his foot at the
desk. "Check in there, Rose!" Rose nodded and turned to the desk. She
pulled out the drawers and looked around for the silver key. Jack watched her
with loving eyes. "Rose…" She looked up at him. "How did you
find out I didn’t do it?"
"I didn’t," Rose said,
not moving, "I just realized that I already knew." They stared into
one another’s eyes until Jack broke the silence.
"Keep looking!" Rose
shuffled through the drawers, then dropped them all into the water in
exasperation.
"There’s no key," she
breathed, her voice defeated.
Jack looked around. The water was
rising fast. "Listen, Rose, you have to go find some help."
Rose nodded, dumbfounded, and
trudged over to him. She hugged and kissed him, hoping that this wasn’t the
last time she could be in his arms. "I’ll be right back," she
breathed reassuringly. Jack nodded, and watched her flee from the room.