AN ADVENTURE TO REMEMBER AND A MEMORY TO FORGET
Chapter Twenty-Two
After eating lunch, Shannon went
off to play with some of the other children on the level we were on when we got
finished in Melissa’s room. I watched her for a few minutes and was amazed at
how she could overcome sadness in one instant as if she were turning off a
light, turning off the emotions, and moving on to happy thoughts.
"If only I could do
that," I muttered to myself as I walked into our stateroom. Rose was
already in there, putting on her shawl.
"If only you could do
what?" she asked.
I shook my head. "Nothing.
Just a silly thought. Where are you going?"
Rose smiled as she replied.
"Jack’s taking me for a walk up on deck. Want to go with us?"
I nodded, and together we walked
up the stairs to meet Jack. He was speaking with another passenger on board the
Carpathia and turned to face us when we walked up. Rose extended her hand
towards Jack. As an expert first class gentleman would do, he kissed it gently
and introduced us to the passenger he was speaking with. He nodded and walked
off, leaving the three of us to talk amongst ourselves.
Jack started the conversation.
"Where’ve you been? Rose has been looking for you all morning long."
I looked at him, then at the
sinking sun over his shoulder. It was so beautiful. "My sister and I went
belowdecks to check on her attendant. Father said she survived. Come to find
out, my attendant and my father’s attendant sacrificed their lives so Melissa
could live."
Rose looked confused. "What
are you talking about?"
I wiped a tear away with the long
sleeve of the borrowed dress I was wearing. "Franklin and Belinda shoved
Melissa onto a lowering lifeboat. She injured her ankle in the fall. Melissa
didn’t want to go without them, but the two of them knew that she alone stood a
better chance of getting rescued than the three of them together. I am so angry
at my father." I wiped another tear away from the corner of my eye. I
stared out into the crystal blue ocean water as I listened to Jack talk.
"I don’t know if Rose told
you, but my folks died, too, you know."
I shook my head and turned to
face him. "I didn’t know."
He nodded his head. "When
they died, nothing was there to hold me to the town and to the painful
memories. So I hightailed it on out of there and haven’t looked back
since."
My curiosity was piqued.
"Where have you been?"
"Oh, you name it. The pier
in Santa Monica, California, ice-fishing out on Lake Wissota, all over America,
art galleries in Paris, and pubs in England, which was where I won my ticket to
come back home. Fabrizio and me…" Jack stopped, obviously remembering a
painful memory. "It’s all my fault. If I hadn’t have won those damned
tickets…"
Rose realized what was going on.
I still didn’t know. "Who is Fabrizio?"
Jack slowly spoke. "My best
friend. He died on the Titanic. We got separated somehow, and we never found
each other. He died because of me."
Rose looked at her fiancé.
"No, dear. Fabrizio didn’t die because of you. He will live because of
you. You’ll never forget him, and that’s what is going to keep him alive."
Jack slowly nodded, but said
nothing. He was fixated on the icy waters of the Atlantic as we steamed to New
York. We started to walk back around to the front part of the ship where the
officers were.
"Miss Metcalfe." I
heard a voice call out for me and spun around to face a strange person who
obviously knew me.
I was confused. "Yes?"
He kissed my outstretched hand as
I looked up, still unsure as to what was going on. "Officer Charles
Lightoller. I was on board the Titanic with your…um…fiancé, as I have heard.
Congratulations."
I began to blush. "Thank
you. I didn’t realize Harry told anyone."
"I do hope you’re not mad at
him. He was just so excited, and he let it slip. He’s in his room if you want
to go say hello." He held out his arm to lead me to Harry. I looked over
my shoulder at Rose and Jack.
"Go! We’ll catch up
later!" was what Rose called out as I walked with Officer Lightoller
towards Harry’s room. He beat on the door. I heard Harry call out from the
other side.
"Go away!"
"You really need to open
this door. I still outrank you." Officer Lightoller looked at me and
smiled. I had a feeling this type of camaraderie happened often on board.
The door to Harry’s room flung
open. "I told you that I don’t want to be…" He stopped speaking long
enough to look at me. "Victoria. What are you doing here?" He reached
forward and kissed me gently on my cheek. "Do I need to be worried about
you and Charlie here?"
I blushed again. "No."
I looked up at Officer Lightoller. "As nice as he is, I only have eyes for
one officer on board." That made Harry blush. He did his best to hide his
reddening face from his superior officer, but he couldn’t hide it fast enough.
"So sweet. Young love. I
remember it well when the Misses and I were first married. In any event, I’ll
leave the two of you alone." He kissed my hand one more time before he
excused himself and walked away.
Harry brought me inside his room
and quickly shut the door behind me. He looked me right in the eye as he kissed
me. "God, I’ve missed you."
I smiled. "And it’s only
been a few hours since you’ve seen me."
Harry brushed a strand of hair
out of my eyes and tucked it behind my ear as he looked at me again. "But
it seems like a lot longer than that."
"How did that officer know
my name?"
Harry looked ashamed. "He
saw us together on the Titanic and asked me about you one night. I told him
nothing was going on, and I know he didn’t believe me. But on the Carpathia, he
saw me with you when we got on board and saw me take you into the ship’s hospital.
He knew something was up. I told him I had asked you to marry me. Are you
mad?"
I shook my head. "No. I’m
not mad."
We stayed in Harry’s room a
little bit longer, talking and catching up on what all we had done today. We
met Rose and Jack in the dining area for dinner. They had already begun to eat
when we sat down.
Jack stood up as I sat down.
"I do hope we aren’t being rude by starting without you. Rose was rather
hungry." Jack pushed my chair in, and he sat down after he finished
speaking.
Harry shook his head and ordered
for both of us. It didn’t take long for our food to arrive.
"If I may, I would like to
say a blessing." Everyone nodded, and Rose said a prayer as we bowed our
heads.
"We thank You for this meal
set before us. We also thank You for allowing us to have a second chance after
the Titanic disaster. Please stay with those families who need you the most
right now. Amen." Rose looked up with a pained expression on her face.
"Mother," was all she said, and we all knew what she meant.
Harry was quiet throughout most
of dinner. Jack told us many of his stories about doing portraits on the pier
at Santa Monica for a dime each and how he used to go horseback riding and
throw up from riding roller coasters too many times. It all sounded amazing.
Harry stood up and asked me to
join him. We excused ourselves, and together we walked around the boat deck in
the frigid night air.
"What was that about?"
Harry looked at me. "I just
wanted you all to myself for a little bit." He seemed far away and distant
when he spoke.
"Harry, talk to me. You’re
hiding something. What is it? I’m a big girl. I can handle it."
He looked down at the wood of the
deck, then back up at me. "I just got word from the White Star Line
offices that there is going to be a meeting held in New York about the sinking.
I don’t know how long it’s going to last."
"Well, you figured something
like this was bound to happen. Between the sinking and the lives lost, we all
knew this was a possibility." I looked at him again. "But that’s not
what is bothering you, is it?"
He shook his head and remained
silent for a few moments. "After that, I am being sent back to England.
They won’t let me stay here long. The White Star Line wants to conduct its own
interviews in England. I had hoped to stay here with you and work out of the
New York offices and sail from there, but they want us back in England when the
congressional hearings are through."
I now knew why Harry looked so
pained. "What does this mean?" I wasn’t sure I wanted the answer.
"It means that I want you to
go with me. Marry me when we get to New York, then come with me back to
England. I can show you my home, you can meet my folks, and when we’re done, we
can sail back to America to be with your family. Think of it as our
honeymoon." He stopped to look at me to see my expression. "The
Carpathia isn’t due to dock for a couple more days. We can get married before
the inquests start, then sail back to England when they’re done. I love you.
Come with me. I don’t want to be without you that long."
I nodded slowly, trying to take
everything in I had just heard. "Why can’t you stay here?"
He took me in his arms, and I
gently lay my head on his shoulder as he hugged me tightly. "Some politics
that some bigwig has thought up in England, supposedly to keep us from talking
too much. The White Star Line isn’t admitting fault in this incident, saying
they were well within the law, but the families of the passengers don’t think
so. Lightoller said he’s already gotten wind of the wireless operators sending
wires back to the States, asking their families for lawyers and legal advice.
This is big."
"When do you leave?"
He looked down at me and kissed
my forehead. "After the congressional inquest. I was told that will
probably take a few weeks. As for the English portion of the questions, I’m not
sure. Probably the same amount of time. If I have to quit the White Star Line
to start over so we can live in America, I will."
I shook my head. "I don’t
want you to do that. I want you to be happy. If that means living in England, I
guess I can learn to speak Welsh." Harry broke into a huge smile.
"Will you teach me?"
He laughed. "That is the
reason I fell in love with you. Your willingness to try new things and accept
them for what they are amazes me."
I didn’t let him know I was
terrified of what was going on. But I sensed he already knew. "I love you,
too."