THE CHIPPEWA FALLS DAWSONS
Chapter Three
"Can I take your name please,
miss?"
Rose turned around and looked at the customs
officer. "Rose. Rose DeWitt Bukater. This is my mother, Ruth DeWitt
Bukater. And this is my betrothed, Jack Dawson." Rose named everyone in
her party. The officer calmly wrote all three names down. Rose thought about
giving her name as Dawson, but it would be a few months before they married.
She had no reason to hide her name.
"Let’s see if we can find a place to
stay. Molly said that Astor’s hotel offered free rooms for everyone who was on
the Titanic. We could stay there until we get some tickets."
"Mother, we won’t be able to afford to
stay in hotels like that much longer."
"I know, Rose. That is why I’d like to
one last time. It was so nice of his family to do so."
Rose looked at Jack for his opinion. He had
never stayed anywhere fancy, and was willing. "Sure. Make each day
count."
Rose couldn’t help but smile. She knew she
was ready to give up everything for him. But she was willing to let her mother
have a few more nights of first class luxury.
As soon as they got away from all the
reporters, they got a cab to the hotel. Ruth insisted that she get a room
alone, and that Jack and Rose share one. "I know that it isn’t proper, but
you two will need to stay together anyway. We can’t afford too many rooms, even
if they are free right now. Tomorrow I will go and get train tickets to
Philadelphia."
"Mother, Jack and I aren’t going with
you. We want to go to Chippewa Falls, in Wisconsin. That is where Jack is from.
As soon as we have a place to stay, we’ll cable you. Then you can come and join
us."
"That sounds fine, dear. I think I’ll go
lay down. I’m a bit tired."
"See you for dinner, Mother."
Rose and Ruth were not used to wearing the
same clothes every day. Jack decided that they should go get at least one new
outfit. They counted the money they had, and it came to thirty dollars.
"Is this enough to buy any
clothes?" Rose asked Jack. The dress she was wearing was purchased for
three hundred dollars. Her mother’s was two hundred fifty dollars. Cal had not
been as willing to spend money on Ruth.
"Yes, it is, if we go to the re-sale
shops. I might even be able to get a new pair of pants." Jack smiled; he
knew that there was a lot that Rose was going to have to get used to.
They left the hotel, and headed towards a
shop that Jack knew about. All over the streets were newsboys, selling their
papers. All the papers had Titanic in the headlines. Jack led Rose into a tiny
clothes shop. "May I help you?" the clerk asked.
"Yes, sir," Jack said. "We
need to find some suitable clothing."
"Men’s clothing is over here, and ladies
this way, miss."
"I’ll also be needing clothes for my
mother," Rose said.
"You’ll see that for a re-sale store, I
have a large selection of different sizes."
"Thank you, sir."
Jack watched Rose as she shopped, and
wondered where Rose had learned to spot the higher quality clothes. All of the
dresses that she picked out were obviously well made and worth more than the
prices listed. When Rose was done shopping for herself and her mother, she was
ready to shop for Jack.