IN THE ARMS OF A STRANGER
Chapter Six
It was four days later, and the
Olympic had arrived in New York. Rose and Jack were ready to disembark and get
the whole confrontation with her mother over with. Jack and Rose were now in their
suite, packing their things.
"Are you feeling well enough
to travel, Jack? It's a long way to Philadelphia," Rose said.
"Like I've been telling you
for the past four days, Rose, I'm fine. I'm not even sore anymore," Jack
reassured his wife. "Rose, what is this really about? I mean, you've been
on my case about my health before, but you're worse today. Does this have to do
with your mother?"
"I just don't know what to
expect, Jack." Rose sighed. "I mean, what if she died on the Titanic?
Then what? But what if she's alive...I'll have a lot of explaining to do, and
you don't know my mother...she's very hard to explain things to."
"Don't worry, Rose. I'll be
with you." Jack took her in his arms. "I'll be with you the whole
time."
"Thank you, Jack. Thank you
for everything." Rose laid her head on his shoulder. "You've been
such a guardian angel for me...even when you didn't even know me."
"But I loved you, Rose. Even
when I didn't know you. I know that sounds corny, but that's how it was. I
always felt like I was missing something...like I wasn't completely whole. But
when I met you...I felt complete."
"So did I." Rose looked
into his eyes. "I was a hollow shell before I met you. In fact, I was
planning to jump off the back of the Titanic that very night. But then I
wandered off and met you."
"Mr. and Mrs. Dawson, we're
disembarking now!" A steward knocked on the door.
"Well, it's time to go, my
darling." Jack smiled, putting a secure arm around Rose's shoulders.
"Let's go on deck and meet Fabri. I can't wait to see his face when he
sees the Statue of Liberty."
Rose just nervously smiled as
Jack led her out of the suite.
*****
They stood on the dock outside of
the Olympic. Fabri, Kate, Rose, and Jack all huddled together, saying good-bye.
"Well, this is it." Jack
put a hand on his friend's shoulder. "Are you sure you don't want to come
with us?"
"I'm a’ sure. New York is
where I belong. Besides, this is where Kate wants to live." Fabrizio
lovingly gazed at his new girlfriend. "You have your Rose, and I have my Kate.
How do you like that?"
Jack just smiled. "I'm going
to miss ya, Fabri. We've been through a lot together."
"Stay out of trouble and
take care of Rose. That's what you're going to do." Fabrizio laughed.
"And I will take care of Kate. We plan to marry as soon as possible."
"Well, drop us a line.
Here's our address in Chippewa Falls. We should be down there in a couple of
months, if not in a couple of weeks." Jack handed Fabrizio a piece of
paper.
"Ciao, my friend."
Fabrizio gave Jack a quick hug. "Take care of that lady of yours."
"You, too, Fabri." Jack
hugged him back, then hugged Kate. "Take care of him, Kate. He's a good
man."
"I will, Jack. I
promise." Kate accepted the hug.
"And you take care of Jack,
Rose. He's very special." Fabri hugged Rose.
"I will, Fabri. You take
care of yourself." Rose felt tears come to her eyes. She hated saying
good-bye. They'd become such good friends to her...the first real friends she'd
had.
"Good luck with your mother,
Rose." Kate hugged her friend.
"Thank you."
"Ciao!" Fabrizio waved
as he and Kate disappeared into the churning crowds of New York City.
"Well, it's just the two of
us." Rose stared into the crowd.
"Yeah." Jack sounded a
little sad. "Just the two of us."
"Jack...I'll miss him, too, if
it's any consolation." Rose squeezed his hand. "But at least we have
each other. Right?"
"Right." Jack smiled
down at her. Then his eyes lit up again. "So, Mrs. Dawson, how does it
feel to be back on American soil?"
"All right, I guess."
Rose sighed. "Well, I guess it's on to the White Star Line office. They
should know if my mother survived. Right?"
"Hmm." Jack nodded.
"Come on. I know where it is." Jack pulled her into the churning
crowds.
White Star Line Office
Jack and Rose had been standing
in line, waiting to talk to someone in charge, for an hour now. Finally, they
were up at the desk, ready to find out about Rose's family.
"May I help you?" the
man asked.
"Yes. I've just gotten back
into the US, and I need some information about the Titanic survivors. You see,
my mother was on that ship, and I need to know if she survived or not,"
Rose hurriedly explained.
"What's her name?" the
man asked, taking out a list.
"Ruth DeWitt Bukater."
"Oh, yes, here she is. She's
among the survivors. She's now living in Philadelphia." The man nodded.
"Is there anyone else I may look up for you, miss?"
"No, thank you." Rose
shook her head. She'd find out about Cal when she went to see her mother.
"Come on, Jack."
"How about that Cal
fellow?" Jack asked curiously, noticing that she hadn't asked about him.
"I'll find out soon
enough," Rose answered. "So, shall we go ahead and buy the tickets to
Philadelphia?"
"We don't have any money,
Rose. In fact, I have to find somewhere safe for us to stay. I don't want us
running into anymore Sals and Eds."
"Me, neither." Rose
sighed. Then she remembered her engagement ring that Cal had given her. She
certainly didn't need it anymore, and they really did need the money.
"Jack, I have the answer to our problems. I'll pawn the engagement ring
from Cal. It certainly doesn't mean anything to me. What do you think?"
"I think it's a good
idea." Jack smiled. "Let's do it."
*****
The ring was worth two thousand
dollars, more than enough for what Jack and Rose needed to get a nice place to
stay and two train tickets to Philadelphia.
"Well, we're all set."
Rose clutched her third class ticket for the train back to her home in
Philadelphia. "We'll be leaving at eleven o'clock tomorrow morning."
"So, what are we going to
wear?" Jack asked a little nervously. Usually he didn't care what the
upper class people thought of him, but this was Rose's mother...Rose's whole
world. He wanted to make a good impression.
"We'll go shopping tomorrow
morning before we leave." Rose kissed her new husband and squeezed his
hand. She knew he was nervous, and so was she. Her mother was not going to be
happy when she learned that Rose had gone and married a poor drifter instead of
the rich Caledon Hockley.
"Rose...are you sure a life
with me is what you want? I mean...I have nothing to offer you. I really don't.
I'm dirt poor."
"Oh, Jack, you offer me so
much already. You offer me love, support, protection, and most of all, freedom.
That's all that matters." She kissed him gently. "I'm absolutely
positive that this is what I want. Besides, we're not dirt poor anymore. We're
now a couple of thousand dollars richer."
"Rose, that's your
money..."
"It's ours, Jack. What's
mine is yours, and what's yours is mine. We're a partnership here." Rose
smiled. "Now, no more fussing. Let's go find a comfortable place to stay
the night."
*****
They ended up staying the night
in a small inn in the better part of town. The room was small, with a double
bed, a window, a closet, and a phonograph.
"Good night, Jack."
Rose sighed happily that night as Jack wrapped his arms protectively around
her, banishing all thoughts of her mother from her mind.
"Night, Rosebud." Jack
smiled, kissing her on the cheek.
*****
The water was freezing as they
plunged through it, trying to get away from the madman with the gun. She clung
to Jack's hand as they ran away. Rose turned back to see Cal fire another shot.
"Move, Rose!" Jack
shouted, pulling her along.
"Jack! I can't run
anymore!" Rose cried.
Another gunshot. This time the
bullet landed right next to her. This gave her the strength to keep going.
"Come on, Rose!"
Jack pulled her into a room that was completely dry.
She turned again to see Cal
pointing the gun, his face twisted in hatred and defeat. "I hope you enjoy
your time together!"
*****
Rose bolted awake, sweat pouring
down her face and soaking the shirt that Jack had given her to wear as a
nightgown.
"Rose? Are you okay?"
Jack asked, waking up himself.
"I just had a nightmare,
Jack. We were on the Titanic while it was sinking, and we were running from
Cal, who was shooting at us." Rose began to sob. "Jack, why am I
having these dreams? This is the second one."
"I don't know, Rose."
Jack pulled her into his arms. "I don't know. But don't worry. Everything’s
all right. We never were on the Titanic. We're safe."
But for how long? Rose thought to herself, laying her head
on Jack's shoulder. All of a sudden, she didn't want to go back to
Philadelphia. She wanted to go straight to Wisconsin and pretend she had never
known the name DeWitt Bukater. But she knew she couldn't do that. She'd had to
face her mother sooner or later, and it was better to do so now and get it out
of the way.
"I love you, Jack."
Rose sighed.
"I love you, too,
Rose." Jack held her tighter, wanting to protect her from the world
outside. "Want to listen to some music?"
"That would be nice."
Rose smiled.
Jack reached for the phonograph,
and a familiar song began to play. Beautiful Dreamer, the song Jack had
sung to her the day after the wedding.
"Is that better?" Jack
put his arms around her.
"Much better." Rose
smiled, laying her head on his chest as they lay back down. "Jack, I want
you to know that I love you and I'm not leaving your side for anything."
"Same here." Jack
squeezed her shoulder. They both fell asleep, listening to the familiar tune of
Come, Josephine in my Flying Machine.