A FAMILY AFFAIR
Chapter Seven
Titanic
Sunday, April 14, 1912
It was two days before the
Titanic would reach America, although there were rumors floating around the
ship that the Titanic would be there a night ahead of schedule. The sunset that
cast its glow over the Titanic seemed much more brilliant than it had the
entire voyage. The Andrews family had dined hours earlier and were settling in
for the night, all except for Thomas, who planned on staying up a few more
hours to work on his blueprints. Elizabeth, however, could not find sleep. She
wiggled underneath the covers, trying to find a perfect spot in which to get
comfortable. She looked at the tiny clock on the dresser next to her bed. It
was only 11:30 in the evening. She had been tossing and turning for two hours,
and still could not get sleep to claim her. She sat up in her bed and sipped
the glass of water that Mrs. Greer had put there for her only hours ago.
Elizabeth noticed a thin stream of light invading her bedroom. Setting the
glass down, she peeled the covers off of herself and made her way to her bedroom
door. Opening the door a bit further, she saw the light to be coming from the
main room of the stateroom. She smiled to herself. Daddy was up again, working
on those blueprints. She swore to God he never slept a wink on this voyage.
Elizabeth decided to check on her father. Maybe the walk would help her to get
to sleep. Opening the door all the way now, Elizabeth made her way to the main
room and found her father poring over the Titanic’s blueprints. Just as she was
about to cross the threshold of the room, her father’s deep and familiar voice
called to her.
"What are you still doing
up, young lady?" Thomas asked. He looked up from his plans and stared
directly into his daughter’s eyes.
"I couldn’t sleep,"
Elizabeth said as she approached his desk. She looked at the many different
blueprints of the ship spread all over the top of the desk. Elizabeth also
noticed that her father’s little brown book rested next to a couple of
blueprints. She reached for the little book and began reading some of the notes
her father had made in it.
"Too few screws in the
stateroom coat hooks. Stateroom fans not operating properly. Daddy, are these
the things that preoccupy you every day?" Elizabeth asked her father. He
looked up from the plans and gave her a sheepish-looking grin.
"We really should get you
back to bed," Thomas stated.
"Only if you come and tuck
me in," Elizabeth said. Thomas got up from his seat behind the desk and
walked over to his daughter. He put his arm around her as he led her back to
her bedroom. When they reached her room, Elizabeth climbed into the bed as her
father held the covers open for her. Once she was settled, Thomas drew the
covers over her and very lovingly tucked her in. He bent down and placed a
small kiss on her forehead.
"Good night, Elba. Sleep
well," Thomas said as he turned to leave. Elizabeth grabbed his hand. He
turned to her.
"Please stay with me, Daddy,
at least until I fall asleep," Elizabeth stated, winding her fingers
through her father’s. He allowed her to gently pull him back to the bed, where
he sat down beside her. He pushed a stray lock of hair from her face. The
warmth of her father’s hand was one that was nothing less than familiar.
"Thank you for staying. I know I must be a burden, considering all of the
work that you have to do," Elizabeth said as she settled deeper into the
bed. Thomas gently touched her cheek.
"You are never a bother to
me," Thomas replied.
"I know, but..."
Elizabeth began.
"Hush. Not another
word," Thomas said as he gingerly put a finger over Elizabeth’s lips. She
knew it would be futile to argue the point any further. In these situations,
her father always seemed to win their so-called battles. As her father
continued to hold her hand, she looked up and stared into his loving eyes. She
knew that all was well. Without further protest, Elizabeth soon gave way to a
peaceful sleep. Thomas stayed with her a few moments longer to make sure that
she was asleep. When he felt it would be safe, he very quietly got off the bed,
so as not to wake her. He took a final look at his daughter, who was fast
asleep.
"You have no idea, Elba,
what you mean to me. I love you more than anything else in this world. I hope
you will always remember that," Thomas said as he slipped quietly from her
room.
Suddenly, a large shudder rocked
the ship. Thomas felt the tremors under his foot trying to throw him off
balance. In that brief moment, he knew that there was something wrong with his
beloved ship. The shudder disappeared almost as fast as it had come.
"Thomas, what on earth was
that shudder I just felt?" Helen asked, stepping out of their bedroom in a
pale blue nightgown and her hair braided to mid-back length. Thomas looked at
her.
"Go back to sleep. I don’t
think it’s anything that you need to concern yourself with," Thomas said.
Helen saw the concern radiating from her husband’s eyes. She knew that
something was terribly wrong. Suddenly, there was a knock at the door. Mrs.
Greer hurried to open the door. John, James, and William entered the stateroom
in their robes.
"What the hell was that
Godawful noise?" John asked.
"It sounded like the ship
was being crushed in a meat grinder," James added. Just then, Eliza came
into the room, followed by Thomas’ parents. Finally, Elizabeth, who had not
been asleep for more than ten minutes, joined the family in the sitting room.
"Daddy, is the Titanic all
right? That noise sounded so horrible," Elizabeth stated. Thomas looked at
his daughter and the rest of his family. They were desperately looking for
information that only he knew.
"Thomas, you know what’s
wrong, don’t you?" Mrs. Andrews asked her son. Before Thomas could answer
his mother, another knock sounded. This time it was Fifth Officer Lowe on the
other side.
"Good evening, Harold,"
Thomas stated, waving him into the room.
"Mr. Andrews, the captain
requests that you join him on the bridge. He said that it’s urgent that you
come immediately and that I am to escort you there," Lowe reported.
"Just give me a
minute," Thomas said as he threw his large coat over his day suit. He went
to the desk covered with the Titanic’s blueprints. He grabbed three of them and
rolled them up, stuffing them under his arm. Thomas also grabbed the small book
that contained all of his personal notes and stuffed it inside his inner coat
pocket. Thomas looked at his family yet again.
"I’ll return soon,"
Thomas said as he hurried out the door with Mr. Lowe following close behind.
Mrs. Greer closed the door behind them.
"If the captain’s calling
for him, then there must be a serious problem with the ship," Eliza stated.
They all waited for Thomas to return with some news regarding the situation at
hand.
*****
Meanwhile, Thomas and Officer
Lowe reached the bridge, where they were greeted by Captain EJ Smith.
"Thank you, Lowe,"
Captain Smith stated. Lowe nodded first at the captain, then at Thomas before
he left the two to talk privately. "Thomas, we’ve struck an iceberg. Mr.
Murdoch did his best to try to avoid a collision, but there was no way that he
could," Captain Smith said. The words rang in Thomas’ head like a bad
dream. He knew what an iceberg could do to a ship. Even though they might seem
small and harmless on the top, underneath the surface of the water was where
most of the strength lay.
"At what time was the
accident?" Thomas asked.
"Mr. Moody recorded it in
the ship’s log as being at 11:40 this evening," Captain Smith replied.
"I will need to make an
inspection to see how badly she has been damaged. That will determine where we
all go from there," Thomas stated.
"Do you need one of the
officers to accompany you?" Captain Smith questioned.
"No offense, Captain, but I
believe that I can make my inspection faster and much more efficiently if I
work alone. However, thank you for the offer, sir," Thomas answered. With
that, Thomas departed the captain’s company to begin the inspection. Shortly
after Thomas left, Mr. Ismay appeared on the bridge.
"Captain, I demand to know
what is going on here!" Mr. Ismay barked. Captain Smith turned to Ismay.
"We’ve struck an iceberg.
The damage seems to be serious, but we we’ll know more when Mr. Andrews has
completed his inspection of the ship," Captain Smith replied.
*****
A short time later, Thomas
returned to the bridge to give the captain his report. He desperately tried to
wipe the images that he had seen downstairs from his mind, although he wished
he could have been back in the bowels of the ship when he saw Mr. Ismay
standing beside the captain.
"Captain, is there somewhere
we can talk privately?" Thomas asked, his face grim.
"Why don’t we go in the
chartroom?" Captain Smith suggested. Thomas nodded as he headed for the
room, where he would reveal the Titanic’s fate.
"If you think you can
exclude me from this conversation, you are sadly mistaken!" Ismay
retorted. Thomas knew that there was no arguing with him. After the
confrontation they had shared yesterday, Thomas thought it best not to push
anymore of Ismay’s buttons. Once they were in the chartroom, Thomas unrolled
one of the blueprints that showed the Titanic’s watertight compartments. The officers
of the ship gathered at the door to hear Thomas’ report.
"After inspecting the ship,
I have found that the first five watertight compartments are flooded.
Unfortunately, the Titanic was not designed to sustain that kind of damage. The
weight of the water in these five compartments will pull her down by the head.
The water will continue to spill over the tops of the bulkheads to the next
compartment and to the next, until she finally founders," Thomas reported.
Captain Smith and the officers were shocked by what they had just heard.
"There is no way in bloody
hell this ship can sink. She’s unsinkable!" Ismay exclaimed.
"Mr. Ismay, I built this
ship from scratch. I think I should know this ship better than anyone else
aboard, including you, sir," Thomas stated. He turned to the captain and
then looked back down at the blueprints.
"How much time do we have,
Thomas, before the Titanic founders?" Captain Smith questioned. Thomas was
already calculating that figure in his head. He scanned the plan, observing each
compartment and compared that against to the rate he determined the water to be
pouring into the ship.
"We’ve about an hour and a
half, maybe two," Thomas replied. He pulled out his pocket watch and
looked at the time. He knew that his creation would not have much longer to
live. Within a couple of hours, twenty-two hundred passengers, including his
family, would have to be put into twenty lifeboats and lowered into the frigid
North Atlantic. But there was only one problem with his deduction. There were
not enough lifeboats for every passenger aboard. Almost half of the people
would most likely die this night. As the realization of the Titanic’s fate set
into his mind, he made a solemn vow to help his family escape the deathtrap his
hands had created, no matter the risk to his own life. By the time the night
was over, Thomas knew that he would no longer be upon the earth, but in the
realms of heaven.