COLLIDING DESTINIES
Chapter Three
The ship’s whistle blew, warning
everyone that it was about to depart. In the third class common room, Jack
closed his portfolio, abandoning the drawing he was working on, and took Fran’s
arm.
"I’m gonna go watch the ship
depart," he told her. "Wanna come?"
"Sure," she responded,
taking his proffered hand and getting to her feet.
Jack looked around for Fabrizio
and Tommy. "Hey, guys, we’re gonna watch the ship leave. Wanna come with
us?"
A few minutes later, the four of
them were standing near the railing on the third class deck, facing the docks
and watching the crowds waving as the ship began to move. Jack and Fabrizio
pushed to the front of the crowd and leaned over the railing, shouting and
waving.
"Good-bye!" Jack shouted.
"Good-bye!"
"You know somebody?"
Fabrizio asked.
"No. That’s not the
point!" Jack made eye contact with a little boy who was watching the
departing ship with big eyes. "Bye! I’ll miss you!"
Caught up in the game, Fabrizio
added, "Good-bye! I will never forget you!"
They both chuckled as the boy
grinned and waved back.
Tommy and Fran hung back, Tommy
staring at them with a combination of amusement and confusion, while Fran
ducked down slightly, hoping no one on the crowded docks would see her and
recognize her.
"Who are you leaving
behind?" Tommy asked her, noticing her reticence.
"No one. Jack just likes to
say good-bye to every place we leave. He did the same thing on the way over
from France."
"Why aren’t you—" Tommy
started to ask, but at that moment there was a commotion from the bow of the
ship. They rushed to the railing, trying to see what was going on.
Fran took Jack’s arm, forgetting
her desire to hide in her curiosity over the commotion. "What
happened?"
"The Titanic almost hit
another ship." Jack pointed towards where several tugboats were pulling a
much smaller ship out of the way. The Titanic’s enormous wake had pulled the
S.S. New York from its mooring and the two ships had nearly collided.
The four of them moved forward,
trying to get a better look. Around them, people shouted and jostled for a
better position from which to view the near-collision. Some voices expressed
worry, while others spoke reassuringly, reminding everyone that the Titanic was
unsinkable.
"The Titanic might be
unsinkable, but that other ship ain’t," Tommy pointed out to the others.
"It’s a good thing they didn’t hit."
"It does ’a show that the
Titanic is ‘a unsinkable," Fabrizio told him, nodding with approval.
Fran watched as the Titanic slid
past the other ship, disaster averted. She frowned slightly, listening to the
people around her rejoicing in the fact that the ship they were on couldn’t
sink.
"That doesn’t prove it’s
unsinkable," she told Jack.
He raised an eyebrow. "What
makes you say that?"
"Well, it didn’t actually
hit the other ship. How do we know it wouldn’t have sunk if it had?"
"Oh, come on, Fran. You’ve
seen all the newspapers. Why would they say it was unsinkable if it
wasn’t?"
"Because the White Star Line
paid them to?"
"Why would the White Star
Line—" Jack stopped, realizing what Fran was getting at. "You’re
right, but I don’t think we have anything to worry about. What could stop a
ship this size?"
"I hope we don’t find
out."