A DEEP OCEAN OF SECRETS
Chapter Five
The night air was crisp and cold,
and Elisabeth was rather chilly in the suite. Kathy finished putting her hair
in a bun for dinner that night and excused herself. She looked in the mirror,
eyeing herself. She wore a dark blue dinner gown. The neck was square cut, the
sleeves ending at her forearms. The dress fit tightly at Elisabeth’s hips, a
sash tying around her middle, the two connecting skirts flowing to her ankles.
She wore another pair of white heels.
Rose, on the other side of the
room, wore a red dress with black-beaded netting near the top and black heels.
Her hair was in a loose bun near her neck, and she looked gorgeous in the
creamy makeup she wore. She looked really depressed, and Elisabeth was beginning
to wonder why.
Elisabeth approached her.
"Rose, what is the matter?" she asked.
"Nothing." Rose brushed
by, out of the suite, followed by Ruth, Cal, and Elisabeth. Cal took Rose’s
hand, almost forcefully, while Ruth and Elisabeth strolled in front. Ruth said
hello to people Rose didn’t even recognize, and Cal smiled at them
good-naturedly.
The DeWitt Bukaters and Mr.
Hockley reached the Grand Staircase and glided down the stairs all the way to
the dining saloon, located a couple of stories down. They joined a dinner
party, including Mr. Ismay and Mr. Andrews, and seated themselves around the
dressed up table.
*****
"I saw my whole life as if
I'd already lived it...an endless parade of parties and cotillions, yachts and
polo matches...always the same narrow people, the same mindless chatter. I felt
like I was standing at a great precipice, with no one to pull me back, no one
who cared...or even noticed."
*****
Rose looked up from her plate
after sitting at the table for an hour. Elisabeth noticed how serious and pale
her sister was, and was beginning to worry. "Mother, I’m not feeling well.
I think I’m going to retire," Rose said to her mother, tugging at her
sleeve like when she was younger.
"Feeling sick? Make sure you
rest up," Ruth replied shortly, and turned back to the conversation she
was having with the Countess of Rothes. Rose pushed back her chair, stood up
hurriedly, and stumbled through the dining saloon until she was out next to the
bottom of the Grand Staircase.
Elisabeth watched her sister
closely, then stood up as well. "Mother, nor do I feel very well. I think
it is something in the food. Excuse me." She pushed back her chair and
left, leaving all of the dinner guests to stare at their plates in confusion.
Rose stayed perfectly composed,
nodding and smiling softly to other passengers as she walked up the Grand
Staircase to B-Deck. Elisabeth followed her, trying not to stay too close. She
wasn’t stalking, just curious about what was wrong with Rose. As soon as Rose
walked onto the deck, she immediately took off to the right, heading for the
stern. Her curls were whipping behind her, and the sound of her heels against
the wooden deck made a loud clunking sound as she ran. She pushed passed
people, even knocking one over, and though they gave shocked cries and gasps,
Rose didn’t even look back.
Elisabeth mumbled apologies to
the people Rose knocked into as she walked quickly behind her sister. She was
beginning to fear for her sister’s life because she was headed for some place
that Elisabeth didn’t know. Rose flew past the poop deck benches and slammed
into the stern flagpole of the ship.
Rose didn’t know that she wasn’t
the only one at the stern. Besides her sister, who she didn’t know was
following her, there was a man in his early twenties with icy blue eyes and
blonde hair that flipped onto his forehead lying on a bench right near where
she was.
It was the same man who had
watched Rose the other day on the B-Deck promenade.
The man sat up after hearing Rose
run past, sobbing heavily, full of anger and hurt, bursting for freedom. He
looked in the direction she had run to warily and heard more footsteps. Since
he was hidden in the shadows, Elisabeth didn’t see him as she also ran past. He
slowly got up and began to follow them.
Not wanting to live anymore, Rose
had climbed over the stern railing and was standing on the outside of the
stern, holding onto the white metal railing from behind, with nothing in front
of her but the cold air and a steep drop into the cold Atlantic. She had tears
running down her face, but Rose’s heavy crying had subsided. She gazed down
into the cold water, unsure of whether to jump or not.
Elisabeth saw her sister and
stopped dead in her tracks. "Rose!" she screamed in horror, and
brought her hand to cover her mouth in shock. "Rose—"
"Stay back, Elisabeth!"
Rose replied, tears rolling down her cheeks. "Stay back!" Elisabeth
didn’t listen, and walked closer to her sister, standing to her left, sobbing
openly now.
"Don’t do it, Rose,
please!" she sobbed, trying not to break down right in front of Rose, and
nearly deciding to jump for her herself.
The man crept up from behind,
like walking up on a spooked horse. Elisabeth saw him first and turned her head
to watch him in confusion. Her mouth opened in shock at what he was going to
do.
"Don’t do it," the man
said. Rose turned her head, trying to see him. The cold stung her skin, but she
didn’t notice.
"Stay back!" Rose
cried. "Don’t come any closer! I mean it! I’ll let go!"
The man held out his cigarette,
scooted closer to Rose, and tossed it overboard. He put his hands in his
pockets and rocked back and forth on his heels. Elisabeth looked up at him
questioningly, her eyes darting back and forth between Rose and the man next to
her. "No, you won’t," he said.
Rose’s head whipped back to him.
"What do you mean, no, I won’t? Do not presume to tell me what I will and
will not do. You do not know me!"
"Well, you would have done
it already!"
Elisabeth sucked in a breath.
"Excuse me, sir, but my sister is hanging off the back of a ship! I don’t
want to even talk about whether she is going to jump!" she cried.
"Come on. Take my
hand," the man said, and held out his tanned artist’s hand. Rose was
confused now, and it was hard to see through her tears.
"You’re distracting me. Go
away!" Rose demanded angrily, staring into the death pit below her.
The man shrugged. "I can’t.
I’m involved now. If you let go, I have to jump in there after you."
Elisabeth gave the man a you’re stupid look, and Rose gave a sigh in
disbelief.
"Don’t be absurd. You’ll be
killed," she said.
The man took off his worn, faded
plaid jacket. "I’m a good swimmer."
Rose looked down at the water.
"The fall alone would kill you."
"It would hurt. I’m not
saying it wouldn’t. To be honest, I’m a lot more concerned about that water
being so cold."
Rose had a faraway look on her
face, the reality of what she was about to do sinking in. "How cold?"
she stammered nervously.
The man took off his left shoe,
which took some effort. "Freezing. Maybe a couple degrees over." He
began to unlace his right shoe. "You…uh…ever been to Wisconsin?"
Rose asked, perplexed,
"What?" She had no idea why this man she didn’t even know was asking
her if she had been somewhere, when she was hanging off the back of a ship.
"Well, they have some of the
coldest winters around, and I grew up there, near Chippewa Falls. Once, when I
was a kid, me and my father were ice-fishing out on Lake
Wissota...ice-fishing's where you chop a hole in the--"
"I know what ice-fishing
is!" Rose cried, interrupting.
The man sucked in like he wasn’t
surprised she had yelled. "Sorry. You just look sort of like, you know, an
indoor girl." He rolled his eyes discreetly. "Well, I fell through
some thin ice, and I’m telling you, water that cold, like right down there,"
he said, pointing to the dark waters of the Atlantic, "it hits you like a
thousand knives all over your body. You can’t breath, you can’t think—at least
not about anything but the pain." The man took off his other shoe.
"Which is why I’m not looking forward to jumping in there after you. But
like I said, I don’t have a choice. I’m hoping maybe you’ll come back over the
rail and get me off the hook here."
Elisabeth almost gave a small
smile at how convincing this man was. But she almost wanted to push Rose
overboard when she heard her reply. "You’re crazy!" Rose said.
"That’s what they all say,
but with all due respect, ma’am, I’m not the one hanging off the back of a ship
here." The artist held out his hand and inched closer. "Come on. You
don’t want to do this. Take my hand."
Rose stared at the madman for a
long time, searching his eyes for truth. And when all she saw was truth, she
gave in, deciding to live. She lifted her hand from the tight hold on the
railing and the man took it. He helped Rose turn around and smiled at her.
"Whew," he breathed. Rose exhaled slowly. "I’m Jack
Dawson."
"Rose DeWitt Bukater,"
Rose replied.
"Gonna have to get you to
write that down for me," Jack joked, smiling. Rose let out a chuckle,
which sounded more like a gasp for air.
Since she had decided to live,
the height was terrifying. She was numb with cold and her breath came out in
short pants. She was overcome by the vertigo. As Rose tried to climb over the
railing, putting her foot on the top railing, her dress got in the way, and she
slipped, falling down the side of the ship. Jack, who was holding onto her hand
tightly, was pulled forward, but never let go. Rose let out a piercing shriek.
"Rose!" Elisabeth
screamed, and ran over next to Jack and peered down, trying to reach for her
sister’s other hand.
"Help! Help!" Rose
screamed, crying openly.
Jack peered down at her, and
said, "I’ve got you. I won’t let go!" Rose was lifted up, but as she
tried to find a foothold on the smooth hull and as Jack tried to grab her body,
she slipped again and let out another scream. "Listen. I’ve got you. Now,
pull yourself up!" Jack grabbed for Rose as she lifted herself up again,
pulled her over the railing, and both of them fell onto the deck. Jack landed
slightly on top of her. Elisabeth bent down next to Rose just as Quartermaster
Rowe and another crewman ran up to the threesome.
Rowe observed the scene. The man
was laying slightly on top of the woman, her stockings torn, shivering and
breathing heavily. He immediately got the wrong idea. "What’s all
this?" he cried. "You stand back, and don’t move an inch!" He
turned to his crewmate. "Fetch the Master-at-Arms!"
Jack backed away, hands up, and
Elisabeth stood up. "No, officer, it’s not what it seems!" she cried.
They didn’t listen, and the crewman rushed away in search of the
Master-at-Arms.
*****
A few minutes later, Cal, the
crewmen, the Master-at-Arms, Lovejoy, and Colonel Gracie were all standing on
the poop deck with Rose, Jack, and Elisabeth. Jack was being handcuffed by the
Master-at-Arms, Rose was sitting on a bench, wrapped in a blanket, and
Elisabeth stood next to her, also with a blanket, fuming.
Cal grabbed Jack by the lapels.
"What were you thinking, putting your hands on my fiancé?"
"Cal, stop it!"
Elisabeth said from where she was standing. She was extremely mad at Rose for
scaring her like she did, and Cal was only making it worse.
"Look at me, you
filth!" Cal cried again, and shook Jack. "What did you think you were
doing?"
"Cal, it was an
accident!" Rose cried, standing up.
"An accident?" Cal
asked, confused.
"It was…stupid, really. I
was leaning over, and I slipped. I was leaning far over to see
the…uh…uh…uh…" She twirled her finger around, thinking of an excuse.
"Propellers?" Cal
offered, exasperated.
"The propellers, and I
slipped," Rose concluded. "And I would have gone overboard, but Mr.
Dawson here saved me, and almost went over himself."
"You wanted to see the
propellers—she wanted to see the propellers!" Cal cried in disbelief,
looking around.
"As I said, women and
machinery don’t mix," Colonel Gracie said.
"Was that the way of
it?" the Master-at-Arms asked Jack. Elisabeth was looking out into the
water, trying to hide her smile and the stupid excuse, thinking they could have
thought of something better than propellers, while Rose shot Jack a pleading
look.
"Yeah. That was pretty much
it," Jack said. Jack looked at Rose a moment longer.
"Well, the boy’s a hero,
then!" Gracie smiled, and Jack was uncuffed. "So, it’s all’s well and
back to our brandy, eh?"
Cal wrapped his arm around Rose
and rubbed her shoulders. "Let’s get you in. You’re freezing!" he
said, and guided Rose away, but was stopped by Gracie.
"Uh…perhaps a little
something for the boy?" he asked quietly.
Cal stopped and turned.
"Ah…yes. Lovejoy, a twenty should do it." Spicer Lovejoy was Cal’s
personal valet.
Rose stared at Cal. "Is that
the going rate for saving the woman you love?"
"Rose is displeased. What to
do?" Cal mocked. "I know." He turned to Jack. "Perhaps you
could join us for dinner tomorrow evening, to regale our group with your heroic
tale?"
Jack looked at Rose. "Sure.
Count me in," he replied to Cal.
"Good. It’s settled,
then," Cal replied, wrapped his arm around Rose again, and they both
walked back inside, followed by the Master-at-Arms, Gracie, and the two
crewmen. As Lovejoy turned to leave, Jack stopped him.
"Can I bum a smoke?" he
asked. Lovejoy slowly took out his box of cigarettes and held them out to Jack.
He took two, putting one behind his ear for later.
"You’ll want to tie
those," Lovejoy said, looking at Jack’s shoes. The artist looked down, as
well, then to Elisabeth, who was still standing there, starting to look
nervous. She looked at Lovejoy, teeth together in a nervous way. "Funny
how the lady slipped so quickly all of a sudden, but you still had time to
remove your jacket and your boots." Jack stared at Lovejoy and watched him
walk back inside, out of the cold air, silently. He and Elisabeth were the only
ones out on the deck now.
"So…uh…what’s your
name?" he asked, staring at the girl who looked so much like Rose, with
the same dark red curls and piercing eyes. He was trying to play it cool.
"Elisabeth. Rose is my
sister," Elisabeth replied. Jack nodded. "How did you get her to come
back over the railing? She looked so…determined." Elisabeth looked out
into the ocean in thought. "Determined to die."
"I don’t know," Jack
replied. "Did I sound convincing?" he joked.
"You got her back over,
didn’t you?"
"Yes."
"Then I guess you were
pretty convincing. I’ll see you tomorrow night, Mr. Dawson," Elisabeth
said, and slowly walked across the deck and back inside. Jack stood there for a
moment longer, absorbing what had just happened that night.