CAUGHT BETWEEN TWO WORLDS
Chapter Five
Jack leaned out of the window on
the private promenade deck. And looked up at the stars. He shivered as a blast
of cold air blew past him. He walked back in just as Rose walked back out
wearing another dress. She was gorgeous. The dress made her look like a
princess.
"It’s getting cold."
Jack looked towards the window. "But you look nice."
Suddenly, there was a knock at
the door. "Miss Rose!" Lovejoy called.
Of course, her mother would be
looking for her, and Caroline was probably looking for Jack, as well. Neither
of them was ready for a confrontation with either Caroline or Ruth, so Rose
grabbed Jack’s hand and pulled him into Ruth’s room.
"My drawings!" Jack
remembered that he had left his portfolio on the table. But there was no time
to go back for them. Rose pulled him into another room and quickly closed the
door.
"This way." Rose pulled
him to another door that led out into the hallway.
They were halfway to the elevator
when Lovejoy emerged. They would have gotten away unnoticed if they hadn’t
looked behind them and back again. That was when Lovejoy knew he had who he
wanted. He quickened his pace.
Knowing this, Rose grabbed Jack’s
hand, and yelled, "Run!"
Both burst into laughter and ran
down the hall, causing the older man to give chase.
"Wait!" Rose yelled to
the lift operator.
"Wait!" Jack joined
her.
"Which floor?" the lift
attendant asked.
"Any floor but this
one!" Rose laughed.
The door closed, and the lift
moved down just as Lovejoy reached it. Laughing, Rose gave him the finger,
causing Jack to laugh even harder.
Lovejoy’s eyes just widened in
shock and surprise at the rude gesture. What would Mrs. DeWitt Bukater say?
Well, this wasn’t over. He was going to catch them if it was the last thing he
did. Pushing a passing man out of the way, he headed for the stairs.
*****
Jack pushed the elevator door
open, and both he and Rose fell out, laughing hysterically. Jack ran into a
steward.
"Sorry." Jack laughed
as the shocked man walked away. They ran through some double doors and Jack
crashed into another steward wheeling pots and pans. "I’m sorry!"
"My fault." The steward
smiled with amusement, noticing how hard the young couple was laughing.
Something was awfully amusing.
Jack and Rose ran through another
set of double doors and collapsed into uncontrollable laughter.
"Pretty tough for a
butler." Jack laughed. "He’s more like a cop."
"I think he was." Rose
laughed.
"Oh, shit," Jack whispered,
seeing Lovejoy appear in the next room.
"Go!" Rose laughed,
following Jack around a corner, where they ran into a dead end.
"No, this way!" Jack
spotted a door. They ran into the room, and Jack locked the door behind them.
They both laughed hysterically as Lovejoy tried to open the door but failed.
"Now what?" Rose yelled
over the loud noise coming from the hatch in the middle of the floor.
"What?" Jack yelled
back, his laughter coming under control.
"Where too next?"
"Down there!" Jack
pointed to a ladder leading down.
Jack was the first to descend the
ladder. Rose came after. Jack stopped to take in his surroundings when a rough
voice spoke up from behind them.
"Hey, what are you two doing
down here? It can be dangerous!"
Rose grabbed Jack, and they again
were on the run.
"Wait!" the stoker
called after them.
"Carry on! Don’t mind us!
You’re doing a great job!" Jack called, as they ran past the other
stokers. Finally, they entered into the cold cargo hold. Jack looked behind
them to make sure they weren’t being followed.
"Hey, look what we have
here." He spotted a brand new Renault. He’d heard about the new Renault
town cars, and he couldn’t pass up the chance to check this one out. So, still
holding Rose’s hand, he led her over to the car.
He was examining the fine
bodywork when he heard someone clear their throat behind him. He turned to
Rose, who looked at him with expectation in her eyes. He stifled a laugh,
opened the door for her, and helped her climb into the back seat. He closed the
door and climbed into the front seat, behind the wheel. He beeped the horn.
"Where to, miss?" he
asked, with a false British accent, as Rose pushed down the glass divider. She
grabbed him by the coat he had lifted earlier that day.
"To the stars," she
whispered, and pulled him over into the backseat with her. The sound of his breathing
was all she could hear. At that moment, looking into his eyes, she knew what
was coming next.
"Nervous?" he asked.
"No." Rose shook her
head. She took his hand and kissed each one of his fingers, loving the feel of
his warm flesh on her lips. She wanted more. "Put your hands on me,
Jack," she whispered, placing his hand on her breast. Jack, his eyes
filled with desire and passion, obliged. Soon, his lips totally covered hers,
and she welcomed his weight as she slid down onto the seat under him.
"I love you, Jack," she
whispered, as he came up for air.
"Are you sure about this,
Rose?"
"I’ve never been sure of
anything else in my whole life. I want to make love to you, Jack. Even if you
leave with Caroline when this ship docks, I at least want this one moment with
you."
"There’s no need to worry
about me leaving with Caroline, Rose. It’s not going to happen. I love you, and
only you. I can never be with anyone else." Jack lovingly gazed into her
eyes. His eyes became Rose’s whole world, and she remained lost in them as both
she and Jack undressed each other. They began kissing deeper and deeper, and
soon their hands were exploring each other. Rose gasped as they became one, and
she soon became so enrapt in her own passion that her hand slammed up against
the fogged up window of the Renault. Coming down from the stars, Jack and Rose
just lay in one another’s arms.
"You’re trembling."
Rose noticed.
"Don’t worry. I’ll be all
right." Jack smiled and stroked her long red hair.
At that moment, Rose wanted to hide
from him as he noticed her hair. Her ugly red hair that her mother abhorred.
"Stop, Jack. Don’t look at my hair." Rose turned away from him, a
single tear escaping her eyes.
"Why?" Jack asked,
concerned, noticing the tears. He pulled her closer, wanting to protect her
from whatever was making her cry.
"It’s ugly, that’s why. My
mother abhors it. She always told me how she wished she had a blond child
instead of an ugly redhead with curls. And I’m sure you feel the same. You must
hate my hair…Mother does."
Jack’s heart went out to her. How
could that horrible woman say such a thing to Rose? Rose was the most beautiful
woman he had ever set eyes on. In fact, her hair was the first thing he had
noticed about her. "Oh, Rose, that’s not true. Your hair is one of the
loveliest things about you. I love your hair and its color. It represents your
fiery spirit, and that’s what I love most about you, Rose. So don’t ever think
that your hair is ugly. It’s not. It’s gorgeous."
Rose looked up with Jack, tears
gleaming in her eyes. He was so wonderful. He made her feel beautiful and
desirable, for once in her life. She could die right now and she’d be happy,
knowing Jack’s love and kindness.
"I love you, Rose,"
Jack whispered in her ear, holding her tightly.
Rose smiled as he kissed her
again. Then she lay his head down on her chest and held him tight, not ever
wanting to let go.
*****
"Is there anything
missing?" Lovejoy asked, as the women returned to the staterooms.
Caroline looked around for any
sign of what might have been going on when she spotted Jack’s portfolio on the
table. "This is Jack’s." She picked up the leather folder. "He
never goes anywhere without it."
"Let me check my jewelry
box." Ruth worriedly went to her room. She gasped loudly at what she
found. A drawing and a note pinned down with her favorite necklace, a family
heirloom. Ruth gasped again when she noticed the nude drawing of Rose wearing
the necklace. She read the note.
Dear Ruth,
I hope you thoroughly enjoy
your gift. Just think of it as a little retribution for what you’ve done to me
for all these years.
Rose
"Oh, dear." Ruth’s hand
went to her throat.
"I’m going to kill
him," Caroline growled when she saw the drawing.
"Where’s Molly?" Ruth
turned to her butler.
"Mrs. Brown has decided to
take a drink in the Parisian café." The butler snorted.
"Good. I have a plan."
Caroline turned to Ruth. She was going to get even with Jack and his little
slut. She had tried to be nice about this with Rose, but now it was time to
play dirty. She was going to get even with them both. But it was really Rose
she wanted to suffer, and she would. Oh, she would.
*****
Rose and Jack ran out onto the
second class deck, holding hands and laughing. They had just ducked the
stewards who had come searching for them. Rose loved the feeling of excitement
at the possibility of getting caught.
"Did you see those guys’
faces? Did you see…" Jack laughed until Rose brought a finger to his lips,
her face now totally serious. She had something very important to tell him.
"When the ship docks, I’m
getting off with you."
Jack looked at her, his blue eyes
wide with amazement. "This is crazy." He smiled.
Rose laughed. "I know. It
doesn’t make any sense. That’s why I trust it."
Jack looked at her, all the love
in the world shining in his eyes. Soon, they were kissing passionately, their
arms wrapped around each other, ignoring the severe chill of the wind. Fifteen
minutes later, the ground moved.
"Wow," Rose whispered.
"What a kiss."
"That wasn’t the kiss, Rose."
Jack looked down and noticed that the ship was still shuddering. What was going
on? Suddenly, he knew, as a humongous mountain of ice loomed above them
"Get back!" Jack pulled Rose backward as giant chunks of ice fell
onto the deck.
"What is it, Jack?"
Rose asked, once the ship was past, and followed Jack to the rail.
"Iceberg," was Jack’s
simple answer. As he heard the sound of the alarms. "Come on. Let’s go to
the bridge and see if we can get any idea of what’s going on."
*****
Ten minutes later, Captain Smith,
Thomas Andrews, and a couple of officers rushed past Jack and Rose as they gave
up and headed back to first class, thinking that maybe everything was okay
after all.
"Can you shore up?"
Captain Smith asked.
"Not unless the pumps get
ahead," one of the officers answered.
"This is bad," Jack
whispered to Rose.
"We have to tell Aunt
Molly." Rose leaned into Jack and held tightly to his hand. She was
scared, but she was determined to remain brave. She didn’t want Jack to think
she was a baby. "Come with me, Jack…just in case Mother’s there. I jump,
you jump…right?"
"Right." Jack nodded.
Both went through the door into the ship.
*****
Lovejoy was waiting for them as
they entered the hall that led to Rose’s stateroom.
"We’ve been looking for you,
miss." Lovejoy nodded. Neither noticed him move up closer behind Jack and
slip something into his pocket.
*****
Jack and Rose entered the room to
find Molly, Caroline, Ruth, the Master-at-Arms, and two stewards waiting for
them.
"Something serious has
happened," Rose announced, gripping tightly to Jack’s hand as she spotted
Caroline glaring at her.
"Yes, it has. I come back to
the room and find two things dear to me have disappeared." Ruth glared at
her daughter. "Now that one is back, I think I have a pretty good idea
where the other is. Search him." Ruth nodded towards Jack.
"Is this it?" one of
the stewards held up Ruth’s necklace, the one that Jack had drawn Rose wearing.
"Wait a minute…how did that
get in there?" Jack stared at the necklace, shock in his blue eyes.
"That’s it." Ruth
snatched the necklace away from the steward.
"Okay, then. It’s obvious
what we have to do." The Master-at-Arms handcuffed Jack.
"Don’t you believe it, Rose!
Don’t! I didn’t do this." Jack turned to Rose, desperate for her to
believe him.
"But he couldn’t have."
Rose’s voice betrayed her uncertainty. Jack couldn’t have done this. He
wouldn’t have. He loved her too much…God, he was the only one, besides her Aunt
Molly who loved her. He would never do anything like this…it’d hurt her too
much.
"Of course he could."
Caroline glared at her. "Easy enough for a professional." She turned
her glare on Jack. "Really, Rose, don’t feel foolish. I was a fool, too.
Just think, he promised his days of crime were over. That he loved me too much
to do that anymore. But I guess that was one of his many lies."
"That’s a lie, Rose!"
Jack denied Caroline’s claim. "I never stole anything in my life."
"I was with him the whole
time." Rose went to her Aunt Molly. She’d believe her.
"Of course you were,
darlin‘." Molly nodded.
"Maybe he did it while you
were putting your clothes back on, dear." Ruth glared at her daughter,
took a glance at Caroline, and immediately went to her. "You poor dear. To
find out your fiancé is a criminal."
Jack looked at the way the two
women looked at each other and suddenly knew what was up. "Real slick.
Rose, they put it in my pocket."
"Shut up!" Caroline
snapped.
"It’s not even your pocket,
is it, son?" Lovejoy held up the coat the Master-at-Arms had taken from
Jack. He read, "Property of AL Ryerson."
"That was reported stolen
today." The Master-at-Arms read the label.
"I just borrowed it."
Jack turned back to Rose. "I was going to return it."
Rose felt totally betrayed, hurt,
and confused. She turned to her aunt, who placed a comforting arm around her.
"Rose, don’t listen to
them…I didn’t do this! You know I didn’t! You know it!" Jack called to her
as they took him away. She didn’t turn around. She just clung to her aunt and
cried.
"There, there, Rosie…there,
there." Molly patted Rose’s back, looked at both Ruth and Caroline, and
saw the self-satisfactory grins. Something was up with those two. She knew it.
She suddenly knew that young Jack hadn’t taken that necklace, and she was going
to have a long talk with Rose in order to prove it.
"Molly, will you please take
poor Caroline back down to her cabin? She’s having a rough night. Plus, I’d
like to speak to my daughter alone." Ruth turned to Molly.
"But, Ruth, I really
think…" Molly began.
"I didn’t ask you to think,
Molly. I just asked you to make sure this poor child gets back to her cabin all
right," Ruth snapped.
"Okay, Ruth. Come along,
Caroline," Molly growled between clenched teeth. She didn't see whatever
Jack had seen in this girl. She was mean and vindictive, just like Ruth. Well,
it looked like that talk with Rose was going to have to wait.