ANOTHER PROMISE KEPT
Chapter One
When I was a little girl, I used
to think that there was no such thing as a perfect family. I guess it was
because the only family I knew, my own, was far from perfect. But I’ve learned
that there is at least one perfect family--Molly’s.
The moment I met Molly Brown, I
realized how great a woman she was. She was the opposite of the women I knew,
and that was why I liked her. And I think she liked me, too. We became friends
instantly. She understood what I felt. She was the only one on that damned ship
that I trusted. Well, her and Jack.
So, I didn’t hesitate when she
asked me to join her in Denver when we were on the Carpathia. I was having a
very bad time back then, and I think that if Molly hadn’t been there, I would
have jumped off the ship.
But how did I end up on the
Carpathia, feeling a pain so deep in my chest that I would have killed myself
just to stop it?
I was going back to America from
Europe to get married. I hated my life and everyone in it, so I tried to kill
myself, but I met the love of my life, and he showed me that I would only hurt
myself if I jumped, not my mother and not my fiancé. I would be the one who
suffered, as usual.
Jack, the man who saved me, and I
became very close friends. But I soon realized that I didn’t care for him in
the way one cared for a friend. He had managed to charm me with his blue eyes
and bright smile. I fell deeply in love with Jack. And I really thought he had
feelings for me, too.
But my love was tested the night
of April fourteenth. Everything was going perfectly, and I really thought that,
for once, I would be able to do whatever I wanted, and that was to go with
Jack. But there was an iceberg that wouldn’t let me be happy for the first time
in almost eighteen years.
The Titanic, the ship we were on,
sank that night, killing over fifteen hundred people. I was one of the first to
get into a lifeboat, along with my mother and Molly. It was like I was in a
dream, and I didn’t actually know what I was doing. When reality hit me, I
realized that my place was back on the Titanic with Jack.
But it was too late to go back.
Though I begged the crewman to go back, he wouldn’t listen. All I could do was
cry. Jack Dawson, the man I loved, was somewhere on the ship that was about to
disappear under the cold waters of the Atlantic, and it was my fault.
Cal, my fiancé, had fooled
everybody by placing a very expensive diamond necklace in Jack’s pocket when we
went to warn them about the danger we were facing. The Master-at-Arms searched
him and pulled the diamond out of his coat. When I saw this, I felt hurt,
because I thought that Jack had only used me to get Cal’s money. Not for a
second did I think that Cal could possibly be such a bastard. I never thought
him capable of having a man arrested because I loved him.
As I saw the floating palace
going down, I realized that the love Jack and I shared was real, and that he
would love me even if I was traveling in steerage. As I said, I tried to make
the crewman go back, but he was too panicked. I even tried to jump back, but I
felt someone holding me tightly.
"You will solve nothing by
jumping back. He wouldn’t have wanted you to jump."
I looked at the woman who was
keeping me from Jack, and I saw Molly. There was something in her expression
that comforted me and made me sit down.
"He’ll be fine, Rose."
The Titanic sank a couple of
hours after the collision. It was loud, and it brought tears to my eyes, but
what came after that was worse. The hundreds of voices crying for help. I could
have sworn that Jack was one of them, but I knew that it was impossible to
distinguish any of the voices. I suggested that we go back, but no one except
Molly seemed to share my idea. I felt like punching the crewman and grabbing an
oar, but I was too overwhelmed by the situation to do anything.
The Carpathia picked us up the
following morning. My mother tried to take me to the first class section to
wait for Cal, but I managed to escape. I was going to go with Jack, and I knew
my mother would never accept it.
For a few minutes, I felt happy
again. All I had to do was find Jack, and we would start a new life together.
"May I take your name,
please?" an officer asked me.
"Dawson. Rose Dawson."
The words came to my lips without me noticing it. Surprisingly, I didn’t feel
strange taking his name. After all, I felt more like a Dawson that I did a
DeWitt Bukater. The officer thanked me and wrote my name down. He was moving
towards another woman, but I stopped him. "Excuse me. Can you tell me if
my husband is on your list?"
I knew that the last boat had
already arrived, so Jack’s name had to be on the list. I waited for a couple of
moments, and then the officer looked at me.
"I’m sorry, ma’am."
I felt as if the Carpathia had
hit another iceberg. I felt everything around me shaking.
"What? No! He has to be
there. Jack Dawson. Check again," I begged.
He felt pity for me and checked
again, but there wasn’t any Dawson.
"I’m sorry, ma’am," he
said, and walked away.
I stood there for a couple of
minutes, unable to think clearly. But when I recovered my strength, I ran to
the back of the ship. There I had tried to jump once, and Jack had stopped me.
It wouldn’t happen twice.
I put my hands on the railing,
and I was about to climb over when I heard my name being called. I turned
around and saw Molly.
"What are you doing,
Rose?" she asked, very concerned.
Molly talked me out of suicide
and convinced me to go with her to Denver, where she and her family lived. We
stayed in New York for a couple of weeks before traveling.
When we got to Molly’s home, we
were received by her family. Watching her being hugged by her son and daughter
made me realize that there was a perfect family. I can’t lie. I felt nervous
about fitting in with such a incredible group, but when Helen, Molly’s
daughter, said that she had always wanted a girl around, I was sure that I
would have no problems there.
I had found a place where I could
feel safe. A place I could call home.