AN ADVENTURE TO REMEMBER AND A MEMORY TO FORGET
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Harry
I was unable to leave the ship
with Tory and her family, as the officers all had to exit the ship once it was
empty. I stood propped up next to a deck railing, watching the crowd disperse.
There were family and friends of both Carpathia passengers as well as the ones
from the Titanic. I could spot some of those families out of the crowd, just by
watching their expressions and gestures from up high.
"Good to be on solid ground,
eh?" My thoughts were interrupted when a voice spoke up behind me. I
didn’t even have to turn around to see who it was.
"Yeah. It is, especially
after everything that has gone on. I hope I never see anything like that
again."
Lightoller walked up next to me
and squinted his eyes, scanning the crowd. "How are you holding up?"
I shrugged my shoulders. "As
well as can be expected. I do hope that all this is gone when we finally get to
leave the ship." I motioned to the excitement below as reporters swamped
passengers getting off. I could see the flash of the bulbs going off and some
Titanic survivors trying in vain to get to their waiting cars and out of the
light. "But I doubt that happens."
"You’re probably right.
Looks like we’ll have to face the crowd, too. Where’s that lady friend of
yours?"
"I sent her down already. I
told her I’d meet her at the hotel her father is setting me up at later on
tonight for either a late, late dinner or a small snack. This will be the first
time I’ve actually slept in about four days. Are you going to wire the misses
and let her know you’re over here safe?"
Lightoller nodded. "Yeah,
once all this calms down. I’ll see if I can send a wire over from the hotel and
let her know I’m all right. She knows we were supposed to be docking tonight
after everything that has happened. I just want to make sure she’s all right."
The crowds below started to move away from the ship and we were motioned that
it was our time to get off the ship. "Here we go."
Lightoller and I walked off the
ship’s deck and were bombarded with reporters from all angles.
"Officers! Over here. What
was it like? Have you heard from the White Star Line as to what’s going to
happen next? Were the two of you on lifeboats?"
I turned around to face an
overanxious reporter trying to get a story. "Scary. No. Yes. Thank
you."
Lightoller smiled at me and together
we pushed ourselves through the crowd and caught a taxi.
"Waldorf-Astoria hotel,
please." The cabbie nodded and we took off into the night, headed to the
hotel.
Victoria
Father kept Shannon and me
shielded from most of the reporters. Rose walked between Shannon and me, close
to Father to keep her hidden from anyone who might recognize her. Jack thought
it might be best to not walk with us to keep Rose safe, so he said he’d catch a
taxi back to the hotel once he got off the ship. Father had wired ahead to the
Waldorf-Astoria hotel and they said that they would have a car waiting for us
to take us to the hotel.
"Mr. Metcalfe?" Father
turned around to face a reporter.
"Bradley. What a nice
surprise. I wasn’t expecting you. How have you been?" Father shook the
man’s hand.
"Very well, thank you. Are
these your daughters?" The reporter motioned to the three of us.
Father looked at me and nodded. I
took Rose by the arm, and Shannon and I led her away from the reporters to keep
her hidden. I could hear Father call out that two of them were and the third
was a third class lady that was on the same lifeboat as us that Father felt
sorry for and was going to put her up at a hotel and then buy her a train
ticket back out west to see her family.
I opened the door to the waiting
car and let Shannon and Rose get in first. I scanned the crowd, looking for
Harry, but figured he might still be on board the ship, waiting for his time to
exit. Father was not too far behind us. He climbed into the front seat and we
headed to the hotel.
I had forgotten how grand the
entrance to the hotel was. A large crystal chandelier hung in the entranceway
and the massive stone fireplace had a roaring fire already going. Father
explained to the desk clerk that two of the rooms we would be needing now and a
third room would be requested when Harry got here.
"You have some special
deliveries upstairs in your room, courtesy of the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel."
The bellboy came to get a small bag Shannon had and a small case that Father
had. He looked at me to collect my luggage.
"I don’t have
anything." The bellboy nodded and showed us to our rooms.
He let Rose into her room first.
I went in with her. Rose had a simple room. It was a suite with two bedrooms
and an adjoining sitting room in the middle.
"Father probably wanted you
and Jack to sleep in separate beds until you get married."
"Victoria, I know. Out of
respect for your father, we were going to do that anyway. I think I’ll take
this room." Rose started walking towards the back of the suite. "Its
window faces away from the street. I have a nice view of a tree. It should hide
me from any intruders who try to get a look at me. Jack can have the front room
with the view of the street."
"Even though we are three
stories up, you’re still worried?"
She nodded her head. "You
don’t know Cal like I do. I have a feeling he’ll be staying here or at the
Biltmore until his parents send for him tomorrow and he goes on to Philadelphia
or Pittsburgh. He won’t stay here in New York. He never did like it much."
Rose started to run her hand over the pillows and the quilt on the bed.
"Such lovely things."
We were interrupted by a knock at
the door. I looked at Rose and she hid herself behind the bedroom door.
"Coming!" I called out.
I got to the door and opened it. There stood Jack and my father. "It’s all
right. You can come out." Rose appeared from behind the door to the
bedroom.
"Found everything."
Jack hugged Rose.
"Did the reporters not mob
you? They were all over us. Victoria had to shield me to keep my photograph
from being taken. That’s the last thing we need."
Jack shook his head. "They
don’t want too much with a poor boy like me. After all, what on earth could I
possibly tell them?"
Father spoke up. "I do trust
that you have realized that there are two bedrooms?"
Rose nodded. "Yes, sir. I’ve
already spoken with Victoria about taking the back bedroom, if that’s all right
with Jack."
Jack nodded as he surveyed the
room. "Okay."
Father looked pleased. "Good."
He turned to me. "Dear, you might want to go downstairs and wait on
Officer Lowe to arrive. He should be here any moment. His room is room number
286. It’s on the second floor. Just tell him to ask the desk clerk for the
key."
I nodded and excused myself,
heading downstairs to wait for Harry.
Harry
Lightoller and I finally made it
to the Waldorf-Astoria. The taxi dropped him off at another hotel that he and
Moody and another officer were going to be staying at.
"Were you on the
Titanic?"
I wasn’t in the mood to answer
questions, but he was my cabbie. "Yes, sir, I was. The Titanic’s Fifth
Officer, to be exact."
The cabbie turned around to face
me. "God bless you, son. God bless you."
I started to get out of the cab
and stuck my head back in the door. "How much?"
The cabbie shook his head.
"This one’s on me. You stay safe."
I shut the door and stood on the
wet street for a moment, trying to take it all in. I shook the thoughts out of
my head and headed inside the hotel. Tory was staring at the fire in the fireplace
when I came in.
"There you are." I
walked right up to her and hugged her tightly.
"Father has your room all
ready. It’s on the second floor. Our rooms are on the third." She led me
over to the desk clerk and he handed me my key and told me to enjoy my stay.
I shooed away the bellboy when he
came to get my lone bag. "I can handle it. But thank you." The
bellboy nodded and excused himself.
We rode the elevator up to the
second floor. Tory took me by the hand and led me to the room. She handed me
the key and I opened it. I started to walk inside and expected Tory to follow.
"What’s wrong?"
She looked at the carpet in the
hallway. Then her eyes darted back up to me. "I need to go. Father knows
it shouldn’t take long for you to arrive and for you to get to your room. I
promised him I wouldn’t be gone long."
I walked back to the doorway.
"As you wish." I kissed her on the lips. "I’ll see you tomorrow.
And please tell your father I said thank you." She said she would, and I
watched her get into the elevator. When I heard the ding of the elevator door
as it shut to begin its climb, I shut the door and went to lie down. It didn’t
take me long to fall asleep.