AN ADVENTURE TO REMEMBER AND A MEMORY TO FORGET
Chapter Seventeen
Harry’s POV
I started walking towards the
bow. I noticed one of the Carpathia’s officers.
"Excuse me, sir, but do you
have a passenger list of the survivors of the Titanic?"
He turned to face me. "We
have a partial list, Officer. It is in no way definitive. We won’t get that
until we arrive in New York. But I will be happy to look. May I ask the name
which you are inquiring about?"
"Metcalfe. Should be a girl,
Shannon, and her father, James."
The officer scanned the list.
"Ah…here we are. Mr. James and Miss Shannon Elizabeth Metcalfe." He
pointed to the corridor of the ship leading up to the first class entrance.
"They should be up there. We just started fixing breakfast for the Titanic
survivors. You should see them there."
"Thank you." I walked
up a few flights of stairs until I got to the dining area. I opened the door. I
saw people from all classes, trying their best to contain themselves and their
emotions while trying to eat. I scanned the crowds, looking for any sign of
Victoria’s family.
"Lowe! Where have you
been?" Lightoller was walking up to me. "We almost counted you
lost."
"I went back for the
survivors in the water. I was the only one."
Lightoller looked at the ground,
ashamed of himself. He didn’t have anything to say. I broke the ice.
"Do you remember the
Metcalfe family?" He nodded. "Do you know where they are?"
He pointed over to a corner table
by a window. I thanked him and walked to them.
"Mr. Metcalfe, Miss Metcalfe."
Victoria’s father stood up.
"Officer Lowe. Please tell me you have news of my eldest daughter. I am
worried sick about her. No one else seems to know anything about her."
"I do have news, sir."
Shannon spoke up. "Where is
my sister?"
I kneeled down to Shannon’s eye
level. "Your sister is fine. She’s in the ship’s hospital." Shannon
broke into a smile at the thought of her sister being alive. I stood back up to
talk to Mr. Metcalfe. "I found her in the water. I saved her and two other
passengers from the same location. They were found on a door that was floating
in the water. They were the lucky ones."
Mr. Metcalfe stood up.
"Please take me to her." He gestured to Shannon, and together we
walked to the ship’s hospital where we had left Victoria.
I opened the door, expecting to
find Rose and Jack, but only Victoria was there. I was going to ask her where
Rose was, but it dawned on me. Mr. Metcalfe would recognize her as Rose DeWitt
Bukater and tell Cal she was alive.
"Victoria! Thank God you are
all right!" Mr. Metcalfe sat on the cot with Victoria and hugged her
tightly.
"Tory! Tory!" I smiled
as her younger sister climbed on top of her.
"If you will excuse me, Sir
and Miss Metcalfe, I am going to wait outside until you are finished."
Victoria’s father nodded, and I
let myself out the door. I ran into Rose in the hallway.
"I hope you’re not mad at me
for not waiting with her. I knew that if Mr. Metcalfe came in, he’d tell Cal I
was still alive." Rose lowered her voice. "I saw him earlier. I kept
hidden and he walked right by me. He didn’t even stop."
"Are you okay with
that?"
She nodded. "I’ve got all I
need with Jack."
Victoria’s POV
"Victoria, what in the hell
were you doing in the water? Did that Officer Lowe talk you into this? I demand
an explanation!" Father’s voice was not happy.
"Father, Officer Lowe did no
such thing. I went of my own accord." I told him the story of Cal’s
hideous manservant having Jack arrested and how Rose and I had saved Jack from
drowning. "But by the time we got back up, we realized it was too late to
catch a lifeboat. Plus, Jack would have never been able to board, with him
being third class and all." I stopped to prop myself up higher on the
pillow so I could hug Shannon. I continued on, "After the ship sank, the
three of us found ourselves in the water. Jack and Rose got on top of one door
and I got on top of one that was floating nearby. Jack had thrown me a piece of
a curtain or something for me to hang on to. I remember that I was feeling
weak. Very weak." The memories were painful as I recalled them. I looked
at Father. He was interested in my every word. "Anyway, as the time went
on, the icy water claimed life after life until it was just the three of us,
plus a couple more who Officer Lowe rescued out of the water. If it hadn’t been
for him, his being the only lifeboat to come back, I wouldn’t be here. I would
have died in that water. Officer Lowe saved me. He saved not only me, but Rose,
Jack, and those other people. He was the only one to turn around and come back."
"Rose is alive?" Father
was confused.
"Oh, Father, I promised I
wouldn’t say anything. You saw how unhappy Rose was with Cal."
"He is a bit of a pompous
ass."
I giggled at his description of
Cal. "Yes, that he is. Rose met a wonderful man on board by the name of
Jack Dawson. He was the one who joined us for dinner that night. They fell in
love and have decided to let their family believe that Rose DeWitt Bukater has
died with the Titanic." I watched Father’s expression again. There was
concern in his face. "I hope you’re not mad at me. I wasn’t supposed to
say anything, since you know Cal’s family. Rose wishes to keep things as they
are. I can understand."
Father slowly nodded his head.
"So, this Officer. Officer Lowe? He came back for you when none of the
other boats did?"
I nodded my head. "Yes, sir.
He was the only one to come back for us." I stopped, wanting to tell
Father how I felt. I decided to go for it. "Father, if it wasn’t for
Harry, I wouldn’t be here. I hope you understand this when I tell you. I love
him, Father. I do."
Father looked shocked. He just
nodded his head. "Do I need to ask if anything has happened that shouldn’t
have?"
I shook my head, again lying.
"No, Father. Nothing happened like that."
Shannon spoke up. "Like
what?"
Father laughed. "When you’re
old enough, Shannon." He kissed her. "Please continue,
Victoria."
"I do love him very much. I
hope you understand."
He nodded. "I figured this would
happen. I saw your admiration for Officer Lowe, or Harry, as you called him, on
board. I just did not expect it to happen this quickly. I will need to speak to
the young man to find out his intentions."
I silently nodded. "So, you
are not ashamed of or upset with me?"
Father shook his head. "I
could never be ashamed of or upset with you. Especially not now. I’m just happy
that you are alive." He reached to kiss me on my forehead. "I will
keep Rose’s secret about Jack. I understand her intentions. I do hope she
realizes what she has done and is all right with her decision."
"Father, what about Belinda
and Melissa? What about Franklin?"
Father lowered his head, about to
give me bad news. "Shannon, please walk outside and tell Officer Lowe I
would like to speak with him." He patted her on the shoulder, and she got
up and walked out the door. As soon as she left, he gave me the news. "I’m
afraid Franklin and Belinda didn’t make it. Melissa made it, but only after
someone shoved her into a lifeboat. She fell off the top deck when a fight
broke out. She landed in a boat on its way down. If it wasn’t for that, she
wouldn’t have been here, either."
"Oh, Father! How is Melissa?
Where is she?" Tears were forming in my eyes. As they began to fall and
wet the blanket still wrapped around me, I started to shake. Father reached in
to hold me while I cried for both my friend and personal servant, Belinda, but
also for Franklin not making it and for Melissa having to live her life without
them.
"She’s been taken to a second
class cabin to rest. She bruised her ankle pretty badly when she fell. The
doctor on board has already looked at her and said that it wasn’t broken."
"What are we going to do,
Father?"
He looked at me for a moment
before continuing. "I’m not sure. I am not sure if Melissa will want to go
back to England or stay with us in America. If she wishes to go back to
England, I’ll purchase her a first class ticket to anywhere she wants to go. If
she wishes to say here, whether it be with us to work for us or whether it be
that she wants to move away, I’ll take care of her however she wishes."
I slowly nodded my head. "I
understand."
Father arose off the cot.
"If you’ll excuse me, I wish to speak with Officer Lowe." Father
kissed me on the cheek as he started to walk out of the door. "I’ll send
everyone back in if you wish to have company."
I nodded my head, and watched
Father walk out to talk to Harry. I was worried as to what might happen.
There was a knock on the door.
"Come in."
Rose and Jack slowly entered. Rose
was holding onto Jack and Jack was walking beside my sister, who was laughing
at Jack’s stories. Rose sat down next to me on the couch.
"What happened?" Rose
asked.
"Father knows you’re
alive." I watched as a wave of fear washed over Rose’s face. "But do
not worry. He has promised not to reveal your secret. He had a feeling your
marriage to that pompous ass, in his words, was for financial gain or something
similar, and not for love. He only wishes for you the same thing he wishes for
my sister and me--for you to be happy." I looked over her shoulder at
Jack, still standing beside my sister and telling her a story about throwing up
on a roller coaster at the Santa Monica pier. She was taking in every word.
Rose followed my eyes to who I
was watching. "I am happy with Jack. He made me come to life in a way I
never thought possible." She stopped to take in what I was watching.
"I could never go back to Cal. I could never go back to that life. It
pains me to part company with my mother and my family and never see them again,
but if any of them knew I was alive, my life would be over. Mother would force
me to marry Cal, and I’d be unhappy for the rest of my life. With Jack by my
side, anything can happen as long as we’re together. It’s all that
matters." She stopped to catch up with her thoughts. "What happened
with your father and Lowe? I saw him walk off with Lowe out in the hall. What
was that all about?"
"Father wanted to speak with
Harry and find out what his intentions are."
"Victoria! He’s going to ask
your father to marry you!"
I blushed. "No, it’s too
soon. He won’t do that."
She rested her head on my
shoulder. "You never know."