CAUGHT BETWEEN TWO WORLDS
Chapter Seven

Meanwhile, up on deck at the lifeboats, Caroline, Ruth, and Molly were at a lifeboat. Ruth and Molly were taking a seat in the lifeboat, but Caroline wasn’t ready to go yet. She wanted to make sure that Rose and Jack remained apart for good, and if possible, that Jack returned back to Chippewa Falls with her for their long overdue wedding. She wanted to be Mrs. Dawson as soon as possible.

"Come on, Caroline. There’s room for you." Molly motioned.

"I’ll catch the next lifeboat. I need to check on Jack." Caroline waved. "You do understand?"

"Of course, darling. We’ll see you soon." Ruth waved, while Molly pushed back the fear that rose in her heart. Rose was probably with Jack now, and she didn’t want to think about the coming confrontation between her niece and Caroline. Hopefully, things would work out for the best.

*****

Jack and Rose broke through a locked door into a well-lit and slightly crowded corridor. They just looked back at the ruined door and continued moving through the corridor, looking for a way up to the upper deck.

"Hey! You’ll have to pay for that, you know!" a steward yelled at them. "That’s White Star Line property!"

"Shut up!" both Jack and Rose yelled at the steward. Really, the man should have been aware that the ship was sinking and that a damaged door didn’t mean much.

Finally, they did reach a stairway leading up. But it was crowded, and it led up to a locked gate with two stewards holding guns. People were trying to storm the gate, but the stewards were holding them back with guns and axes. That was when Jack heard a familiar Irish voice.

"For God’s sake, man! Let us out so we can have a chance!"

A minute late, Tommy Ryan came running down the stairs. His eyes lit up when he spotted Jack and Rose.

"Tommy!" Jack rushed to him.

"They’re not letting us through this way!" Tommy motioned to the locked gate. Then he noticed Rose. "What is she doing here, Jack? She’s first class! She should be on a boat!"

"It’s a long story." Rose looked up at the locked gates. Were those stewards mad? Why did they have all these people locked down there when the ship was sinking?

"Jack!" another voice called. Jack turned to see Fabrizio. He immediately hugged his best friend.

"Fabrizio!"

"The boats are all gone!" Fabrizio exclaimed.

Jack nodded. "Okay. We have to do something, and we have to do it fast. She’s going quick."

"There’s no way out this way!" Tommy sighed.

"We’ll find a way! Follow me!" Jack grabbed Rose’s hand and led his friends to another entranceway.

*****

Caroline moved along the deck, looking for Rose and quite possibly Jack. She had to find them before they could get to a lifeboat. Stepping up behind an officer, she spotted the handle of a gun. Looking to both sides to make sure no one was looking, she lifted the gun slowly out of the officer’s pocket. A little insurance never had hurt her before. It wouldn’t hurt her now. She was going to take Rose out of the picture, one way or another. She was determined.

*****

Jack led his friends up to another locked gate, but this time it was guarded only by one steward, and this was the wimpy one he and Rose had yelled at. Jack remembered how the steward had backed down with fear in his eyes. Maybe old-fashioned bullying would work on him.

Jack pushed through the crowd and looked the steward dead in the eye. "Open the gate."

"Go back to the main stairwell," the steward directed.

Jack’s voice was more forceful this time. "Open the gate right now."

"Go back to the main stairwell like I told you, and everything will get sorted out there." The steward stood his ground.

Jack got frustrated. This wasn’t working. He looked behind him at Rose, and his heart stopped in his throat. She was in this mess because of him. She would be on a lifeboat, floating to safety, if she hadn’t come after him. He couldn’t let her die like this. He had to get her out of here. He wasn’t going to let this wimpy steward stop him.

He lost it. He cursed at the steward and jerked at the gate hard. He turned and spotted a bench that was nailed to the floor. He immediately went to it and began pulling on it. "Fabri! Tommy! Give me a hand here!"

With all three of them pulling, the bench came loose. They hoisted the bench up and aimed for the gate.

"Okay! One! Two! Three!" Jack yelled, as they brought the bench into the gate, which gave a loud shudder. "Again!" Jack yelled.

This time, the bench went through the gate, letting all the people free. "Come on, Rose." Jack grabbed Rose’s hand and led her out.

"You can’t go through there," the steward protested. "You can’t go through there…" The steward’s further protests were cut off by Tommy’s fist.

*****

Caroline was on the other side of the ship. She looked down just in time to see an officer standing on the rim of a hanging lifeboat shooting a gun. Everything was falling apart. She had to find Jack and Rose fast.

*****

Jack, Rose, and their two friends ran out of the ship. Jack ran to the rail and looked for lifeboats, but there were none. He was about to lead her to the other side when Rose spotted Colonel Gracie escorting a lady straight ahead.

"Colonel! Are there any boats left?" Rose ran up to the kind man.

"This way! I’ll show you." The colonel pointed straight ahead. Jack grabbed Rose’s hand, and they ran straight ahead into the churning crowd.

The music from the band floated through the air as if nothing was happening. This did not brighten Tommy’s mood at all.

"Now I know I’m in first class. Drowning by music." Tommy snorted sarcastically as they ran along. Soon, they reached the lifeboats and pushed their way to the rail. Jack pulled Rose ahead of him. He wanted to make sure that she got in a lifeboat.

The crowd grew wilder and rougher. Jack wrapped his arms protectively around Rose. Suddenly, loud gun shots rang out.

"Stay back, damn you!" an officer yelled.

"You two better go check the other side!" Jack turned to his two friends. They were reluctant to leave him, but by the look in his eyes, they knew not to argue. Jack’s first priority at that moment was getting Rose to safety.

Rose looked over and spotted a man putting his little girl into a lifeboat.

"Now, you be a good girl for Mommy. This is good-bye for a little while. Only a little while. This boat is for the mommies and the children." The man called to his daughter, tears streaming from both their eyes.

Oh, no. Of course! That stupid law of the ocean…women and children first! Jack couldn’t get in a lifeboat with her. That only meant one thing…she wasn’t going to get in one, either.

"I’m not going without you, Jack." Rose turned to him, determination in her eyes.

"No, you have to go. Get in the boat, Rose." Jack grabbed her shoulders tightly, looking her straight in the eye. If the ship wasn’t sinking and there was no danger, he’d let her stay, but there was danger, and he wanted her as far away from it as possible.

"No, Jack."

"Get in the boat, Rose. Please," Jack begged.

Rose shook her head. He wasn’t going to change her mind.

"Yes, Rose. Get in the boat." Caroline appeared behind Jack.

"You." Rose glared at Caroline. "I’m not going anywhere."

"Rose." Jack pulled her to the side. "Please get in the boat. Don’t worry about me. I’m a survivor."

"No, Jack. I’m not leaving without you."

"Listen, Rose. Your aunt told me she made arrangements with a boat at the other side of the ship. Jack can get off there." Caroline approached them again. "All you have to do is get in this boat, and I can make sure your aunt’s wishes are carried out."

Rose looked at Caroline suspiciously. Something wasn’t right here, but Jack didn’t give her much time to think about that.

"See? I have my own boat to catch. Now, go on. Get in the lifeboat." Jack led her back to the railing. Looking at him, she didn’t resist the officer pulling her away and into the lifeboat.

"Jack!" Rose reached her hand out to him. For just a second, their hands grasped each other tightly.

"Clear the way!" An officer pushed Jack aside, causing their hands to disconnect.

"Don’t worry, Rose. Everything will be all right." Jack nodded to her as the boat lowered.

Jack was now alone with a seething Caroline. He knew then that what she had said wasn’t true.

"There is no arrangement, is there?"

"Oh, there is. Not that your little girlfriend will be benefiting from it any. I always win, Jack. You should know that by now. We’ll get in that lifeboat. Then, we’ll hide out on the rescue ship ‘til we dock in New York. Our new names will be Jack and Carly Dahl. Rose won’t be the wiser. She’ll think you’ve perished after all on the Titanic."

"You can’t be serious." Jack stared at her coldly. "What’s to stop me from contacting Rose once we’re on the rescue ship? Or going to her after we dock?"

"Her mother. You see, Ruth and I grew close. She gave her word that she’d keep her pesky daughter away from my fiancé. Even if she had to have her committed to the infirmary with guards to do so. So, you see, Jack. You two will never see each other again."

"I don’t love you, Caroline," Jack said.

"I don’t care." Caroline shrugged. "No more talking now. Better catch the last glimpse of Rose, since you’ll never see her again."

Jack looked at Caroline, then back at the lowering lifeboat with his beloved in it. His heart ached as he knew that Caroline was right. Rose was out of his life forever. But he was grateful for what little time they had had together. That was something that Caroline could never take away.

Rose looked up at Jack, tears streaming from her eyes. How could she leave him like this? She loved him so much. As a flare went off in the sky, haloing Jack’s face, Rose saw the sparkle of unshed tears in his eyes. His beautiful, blue, happy eyes now contained only sadness and despair, and Caroline’s face…it shone with triumph. An evil grin spread from ear to ear. Something was up. Caroline was definitely up to something, and it wasn’t good. Rose had to stop her before it was too late.

Looking back up at Jack, Rose quickly stood up and leaped back onto the ship’s railing. Once her feet were back on solid ground, Rose raced through the hall, looking for a way to get to Jack.

"Rose! No!" Jack cried out as she leaped from the lifeboat. Shoving Caroline out of the way, he ran away from the railing and to the grand staircase to meet her. Their only thoughts were reaching one another.

"Jack! Jack!" Rose cried, as she rushed into the first class lounge.

"Rose!" Jack rushed down the stairs.

"Jack!" Rose burst into refreshed tears as they collided into each other’s arms, holding onto each other tight, not wanting to let go of each other ever again.

"You’re so stupid, Rose! Why did you do that? Why?" Jack looked straight into her eyes.

At first, Rose couldn’t speak. Her love for him was so strong that her voice wouldn’t work. But finally she smiled, and lovingly gazed into his eyes. "You jump, I jump. Right?"

"Right." Jack slightly laughed, and pulled her into another hug.

"I couldn’t go, Jack. I couldn’t go." Rose sobbed.

"It’s all right. We’ll think of something." Jack held her tighter.

"At least I’m with you."

For that one moment, Caroline was forgotten about. She stood up there and watched the two lovers. This wasn’t fair. Why had this happened? This voyage was supposed to be magical. It was supposed to give her some important connections and Jack some goals to work towards for once. But the only new goal Jack had was a new girlfriend, and Caroline was out in the cold. She knew that. She had lost everything because, really, Jack was the only thing she had.

She couldn’t take it anymore. Caroline pulled out the gun she had hidden in her lifebelt and began wildly shooting at them.

Jack looked up and saw Caroline with the gun, knowing that it was them she was aiming for. His former fiancée had gone completely mad.

"Run, Rose!" Jack pulled Rose along after him as they ran down the grand staircase, away from Caroline’s gunshots.

Caroline was in hot pursuit as Jack pulled Rose into waist deep water, making it harder to run. They ran even faster, though, when a bullet landed right next to them in the water. Finally, Jack pulled Rose up into a dry room, making it easier for them to run as a bullet flee into the glass window.

Caroline stopped running when she reached the waist high water and tried to shoot, but the gun was out of bullets. She screamed in frustration, but a deadly smile crossed her face when she heard the dying groan of the sinking ship. Regardless of their recent escape, Jack and Rose didn’t have a chance to survive the sinking. Revenge really did come in different forms.

"I hope you enjoy your time together!" Caroline called after them one more time before turning around to go up to the next to last lifeboat being launched.

Jack and Rose glanced behind them as Jack led her down some stairs leading to a flooded corridor. Signaling for her to be quiet, they leaned against the wall, looking up the stairs to make sure that Caroline was no longer following them. Rose’s heart dropped when she heard the sounds of a child crying for his father.

Jack and Rose looked around the corner of the corridor and saw a little boy standing in front of a door with water spilling out into the hallway.

"We can’t leave him." Rose clutched Jack’s arm.

Looking back up the stairs from where they had come and seeing water spilling down, Jack nodded, and with Rose following him, he ran to the boy and scooped him up into his arms. Seeing that the door was about to give way under the weight of the water on the other side, Jack turned and ran back for the stairs. He stopped and his eyes widened in horror as he saw that more water was coming down, making it impossible for them to go back up that way.

"Go back!" he yelled at Rose as they headed in the direction of the groaning door. Suddenly, a middle-aged man, who must have been the boy’s father, appeared out of a room carrying a suitcase. Seeing Jack with his son, the man cursed in some strange language and grabbed the boy away from Jack.

To both Jack and Rose’s horror, the man ran straight for the groaning door that was now bulging from all the weight. It was going to give way!

"Wait! Come back! You’re going the wrong way!" Jack called for the man, but he either didn’t listen or he didn’t understand. Rose screamed in horror as the door finally gave way and the roaring ocean swallowed up both the boy and his father. She didn’t have time for much else, because Jack pushed her into another corridor, and they were both running from the angry wall of water.

"Run!" Jack ordered.

They ran their fastest, but it was not fast enough, because both lost their balance as the wall of water slammed into them. About five seconds later, Rose and Jack were slammed up against a closed gate.

"Jack!" Rose cried.

"Follow me!" Jack ordered, having spotted a stairway on their way to the gate. Grabbing onto the pipes on the ceiling, Jack led Rose to the stairway. "Give me your hand." He grabbed the banister. He let Rose up first. Then he joined her, but to their dismay, they found that the gate at the top of the stairwell was locked.

"How are we going to get out?" Rose cried.

"I don’t know." Jack looked at her. Terror struck their hearts as they looked behind to see the water quickly rising.

Jack began jerking at the gate. "Help! Help!"

"Help!" Rose joined him.

They looked down again to see that the water was now up to their feet.

"Help us!" Jack called. Then, he suddenly spotted a steward about to head up the stairs. "Sir! Sir! Help us!" Jack reached a hand out through the gate.

"Please!" Rose cried along with him. She didn’t want to die…not now that she had found Jack.

The steward just looked at them. Then, began to head up the stairs, but he stopped.

"Oh, bloody hell." The steward headed back down, keys in hand.

"Hurry!" Rose cried, as the steward began trying every key he had in the lock.

"Come on!" Jack urged, as the water was now up to their waists. The ship was sinking fast.

The steward grew even more frantic as sparks flew from the ceiling. He had the key in his hand, but his hands had grown so slippery from his sweat that he dropped them. Sorrow and regret in his eyes, he looked at the young couple that was going to die down here tonight. He was truly sorry that he wasn’t able to save them. "I’m sorry! I dropped the keys!" he said, before darting up the stairs.

"No! Wait!" Rose cried. "Send for help! Wait!"

Thinking fast, Jack sucked in a big gulp of air and went under, searching for the keys. At first, he couldn’t find them, but soon enough he had them in his hand. When he reemerged, the water was up to their shoulders and rising fast.

"Which one is it, Rose?" Jack held the keys up.

"The pointy one!"

Finding the correct key, Jack got it in the keyhole, but the lock refused to turn.

"Hurry, Jack!" Rose screamed, as the water reached their necks.

"It’s stuck!" Jack twisted the key again.

"Hurry, Jack!" Rose cried. "Jack!"

Jack gave it one more hard turn, and relief flooded his eyes as it turned and the gate opened. "I got it, Rose! Go!" He pushed her out into the hallway.

Ducking under a pipe and reemerging, Rose looked in back of her to find that she was alone in the hallway. Where was Jack? "Jack!"

"Rose!" Jack grabbed onto the pipe from the other side.

"Jack, come on!" Rose reached out her hand.

Ducking under the pipe, Jack reemerged to rejoin Rose. "Move, Rose!" Jack pushed her to the stairs. They made their way up to the deck.

*****

Five minutes later, they were running through the first class smoking lounge when Rose spotted Mr. Andrews.

"Wait!" Rose called to Jack as he pulled her along. Jack stopped and stood aside as Rose went to the older man, knowing how much he loved this ship and how it must be destroying him to watch all his hard work sink to the bottom of the ocean. "Mr. Andrews…aren’t you going to make a try for it?"

Mr. Andrews looked at her, all the grief in the world contained in his eyes. His voice was soft and full of grief. "I’m sorry I didn’t build you a stronger ship, young Rose."

Rose immediately knew that he was planning to go down with his creation. She wanted to try to talk him into coming with them, but by the look in Jack’s eyes, there wasn’t time. The ship was going quickly.

She hugged him tightly. "It’s been a pleasure to have met you, Mr. Andrews."

"Same here, young Rose. Best of luck to you." Mr. Andrews picked up his lifebelt and handed it to her. "Here. Take this."

"Thank you."

"Rose, we have to go. She’s going fast." Jack held his hand out to her.

She took one more look at Mr. Andrews, then took Jack’s hand and allowed him to pull her out of the room.

*****

Caroline looked up at the sinking ship as her lifeboat sailed farther away. She felt a tinge of sadness at such a loss of a beautiful vessel, and a little sad at the loss of her fiancé, Jack. But this was what he had wanted. He had chosen death with Rose over life with her, so it was his own fault. She turned away from the sight of the sinking ship.

*****

Molly’s heart was in her throat as she looked at the sinking ship. Her Rose was on that ship right now. Hopefully she was with Jack…that way they’d die together, if need be. But then again, maybe Jack had gotten Rose into a boat in time and Rose was now alone and frightened…whichever the case, Molly wished she was with her niece now instead of in this lifeboat.

Chapter Eight
Stories