BETWEEN TWO HEARTS
Chapter Seven
April 14, 1912
9:30 PM
"So, we’re going to meet for
breakfast tomorrow, right?"
"Of course…but Siobhan, I’ve
really got to get some sleep or else I won’t be able to make it through my
watch tonight." The two were walking along the A-Deck promenade, enjoying
the crisp night air. Her uncle had let her go back to First Class when he noticed
that she was getting antsy. She met Lowe when he was coming back from her
stateroom--slightly disappointed that he didn’t get an answer, but happy when
he saw her. They went out on deck and managed to catch the sunset before they
went to the Café Parisian for dinner.
"I know what you mean…I
really need to get some sleep, too. I didn’t sleep at all last night."
"Go to sleep, then," he
said before giving her a farewell kiss. "I’ll meet you tomorrow at
nine."
"Sleep well." With
that, the two parted ways.
By the time Siobhan got back to
her stateroom, she was about ready to drop and go to sleep in front of the
doorway. It was a miracle that she was able to change out of her clothes and
into her nightgown…or, at least, it seemed like her nightgown. She picked a
white dress out of her closet and put it on right before dropping on top of her
bed.
She didn’t even bother to get
under the covers, for she felt her eyes shutting beneath her. She was extremely
tired and felt the fatigue overtaking her.
She felt like she could sleep
through the end of the world.
As she succumbed to
unconsciousness, she didn’t realize that in just a couple of hours it would
indeed be the end of the world for many people.
11:50
"Miss Andrews!"
Sharp knocking at the door
brought her around--of course, quite groggy and disoriented, considering she
had only been asleep for a little over two hours.
She fumbled for her robe in the
darkness and, finding it, made her way over to the door by following the wall.
She opened it and saw Mr. Moody standing there.
"Miss Andrews, I need for
you to get dressed and put your lifebelt on."
"Mr. Moody? What’s going
on?" She saw him look around at the desolate hall that was soon to be full
of passengers.
"The ship hit an
iceberg," he said in a low voice. "Your uncle is sounding the ship
right now with the carpenter. I don’t want to take any chances--from what I
saw, the first five compartments were damaged."
Her mind slowly took in the words
of the Titanic’s junior-most officer and her mind drifted back to her conversation
with Harold just a few days ago. "Three hundred feet…" She looked up
at him incredulously. "Are you certain?"
"Siobhan, I was there when
it happened. I saw the entire accident, and I was there when Captain Smith
ordered your uncle to be awakened in order to sound the ship. We’re meeting in
five minutes or so in order to hear the damage and if we should get the
lifeboats ready for lowering."
She nodded her head, knowing all
too well what would become inevitable. "Why did you come to tell me even though
it might not be true? I know it is, but if there’s the slightest chance…"
"I did it for Harold. I know
that if what happened will result in sinking, he would want to see to it that
you were put in a lifeboat."
Somehow, she got an inkling that
he was right about everything--and both Harold and her uncle would be
attempting to track her down.
"Moody…Jim…I don’t know what
to say."
"Don’t say anything. Just
promise me that if I never see you again that you’ll do whatever it takes to
take care of Harry."
"Don’t say that," she
said while hugging him. She felt his arms wrap around her as he returned the
hug. "Thank you," she whispered into his ear.
As they broke the hug, he smiled
at her and said, "Dress warmly. It’s quite cold outside." With that,
he started off down the hall.
*****
Siobhan was just about dressed
when she heard another knock on the door. With her lifebelt in her hand, she
opened it and found both her uncle and who she presumed to be the carpenter
standing there. "Uncle?"
"Siobhan…I don’t know who
told you, but you have read my mind. Get your lifebelt on and get up to the
boat deck."
"Is it that bad?"
"It is, miss," the
carpenter spoke up. "Your uncle is right. It’s best for you to get up top
and into a boat before they’re all gone. Thomas, we’ve got to go--we’ll be late
for the briefing."
As he turned back to nod to his
companion, she remembered certain statistics that she had hoped would never
need to be important. "Uncle Thomas, wait!"
She threw her lifebelt off to the
side as she quickly went up to her uncle. "I need to go down to the Third
Class area."
"What? Why?"
"Two of my friends from
Queenstown are sailing down there."
"Siobhan…"
"No. Uncle Thomas, a very
wise man once taught me to never leave my friends behind. They’re all you have
in this world, with exception of your family. Now, is that certain man going to
go against all he’s taught me and tell me to abandon my friends?"
He looked into her blue eyes and
knew that he had indeed taught her to never leave a friend behind.
"No," he said to her softly. "Just be sure to get back up to the
boat deck by 1:30 at the latest--the lifeboats will be going fast. You will get
on one."
She nodded to her uncle, who
turned back to the carpenter who was with him. "Come on, or we’re going to
be late." With that, the two took off at a run towards the Grand
Staircase. She turned back to her stateroom and slid on her lifebelt. She
grabbed a large overcoat from the closet inside her room and went to try to
find a back way from the First Class areas to the Third Class areas.
*****
As she passed the grandiose clock
on the Grand Staircase, Siobhan took note of the time--it was about fifteen
minutes after midnight. She could see the passengers starting to congregate on
the Grand Staircase as well as stewards handing out lifebelts and glasses of
brandy for the gentlemen. She proceeded outside when she reached the boat deck.
Right when she got outside, she
winced as she heard steam suddenly shoot out from the vents on the stacks. It
was earsplitting for those people who were out on the deck, and she could even
see a few of the crewmen cover their ears as the others went about readying the
lifeboats for launching. It truly was happening…Titanic was damaged beyond
repair and she would founder--when, she didn’t know. Her eyes drifted to the
entrance of the Grand Staircase right behind her. Would the other passengers
believe that the unsinkable Titanic would meet a watery grave--or would it be
too late for them?
"Miss Andrews!"
She turned to her right and saw
Officer Wilde approaching her. "Miss Andrews, why aren’t you inside with
the others? We aren’t going to begin loading the lifeboats for another ten or
fifteen minutes or so."
"Mr. Wilde, I need to get
down to Third Class as soon as I can. I need to get some people out of there
before this gets too bad."
"Siobhan, you can’t. You, of
all people, should know that the passenger/lifeboat ratio isn’t in favor of
those in Third Class."
Her face crinkled in rage.
"Mr. Wilde, my friends are down there. I will not stand around and watch
them die. I’m going to do this no matter what--but if you try to stop me, it
will just take longer."
He sighed in defeat, knowing that
she meant every word she said. "Get down to Scotland Road. That will be
the quickest way you can get there. There should be a door to the First Class
area somewhere around the Turkish bath. Use that to get back in."
"Thank you," she said
as she hurried off.
"Be quick," he called
to her. "Be as quick as you can--don’t linger too long in one place!"
She was gone in an instant.
*****
It didn’t take her too much
longer to get to Scotland Road. Shooting down the Second Class stairwell, she
reached E-Deck in no time and flung open the door. There were indeed
crewmembers that were rushing about--and a few Third Class passengers were
among the mix. She ran towards the area where Owen had once told her his cabin
was.
It took her about five minutes to
find the cabin, but when she tried to bang on the door, she got no answer.
"Miss," she heard a voice behind her say. When she turned around to
confront him, she saw that it was a cabin boy who recognized her station in
society. "Miss, check the dining hall. Whoever you are looking for will
most likely be there."
"Is there a back way I can
take? I don’t want to go through the main entrance…too crowded."
"Actually, yes…there
is."
"Take me to it." The
boy nodded and began to walk, leading her to her friends.
*****
It only took a short time to get
there, and when they arrived at the side entrance, the boy bid her a safe night
and left. From inside the hall, she could hear shouts at the main entrance of
those who wanted to know what was going on. That didn’t concern her, as she saw
Owen and Catriona sitting within earshot of the entrance.
"Aye! Owen…Catriona…over
here!"
The two looked over as she
motioned to them. They quietly hurried over to her as the others continued to
yell questions at the stewards.
"Siv…what’s going on? We
felt a rumble about forty-five minutes ago and now the ship is listing quite
noticeably."
"I don’t know much myself,
though Moody came and told me that the ship struck a berg and might sink…he was
right…anyway, I came to get you. They’re not going to load the Third Class
passengers until the First and Second Class women and children are away. There
won’t be many lifeboats for you…there’s not even enough for half on
board."
"Can you get us out of
here?"
"If we move quickly."
At that moment, she saw a family join them. The elder female greeted Catriona
with a hug and turned to the First Class passenger.
"Do you mind if they come
with us, Siobhan? I just met them when we sailed."
"Only them--too many people
will draw attention to us. The stewards will unlock the gates when they’re
ready. We’ll just have to find an alternate route. Come on--up to E-Deck."
They all headed for a stairwell that they knew would lead up to E-Deck.
*****
"Okay…the entrance to the
Turkish bath stairwell should be right…about…here." Siobhan ran her hand
across the wood paneling of the door in front of them and, when she tried the
doorknob, saw that it was locked. "No!" She knelt down and touched
the edge of the carpeting, recognizing what little there was to be the pattern
of the hallway.
"They locked it so the Third
Class won’t get in," she said while turning to the group. "We’ll have
to find another way."
"Can’t you find the key for
it?"
"There’s no time," one
of the members of the Scottish family said. She pointed to the end of the
hallway. "Look…water’s coming in."
Indeed it was true. The water
that was pouring into the first watertight compartment had filled to its
entirety and was spilling over the bulkhead. Siobhan cursed to herself as she
realized that the bulkheads didn’t stretch as high as she had hoped. "It’s
going to come in quickly. Come on!" The group went running down the
hallway, passing some foreign passengers who were trying to navigate their way
around the lower decks in order to try to find their way up top.
She frantically looked around
until she noticed a stairwell just up ahead. This one was not barred and locked
like the other Third Class gates.
"This way!" She
motioned to the stairs, and the group ran blindly ahead, unaware of what would
eventually begin to happen.