CONVICTED
Chapter Four
A few days later, the cargo ship
docked into Queenstown, Ireland, and I ran down the gangway before any of the
men could really decipher what had just happened. Once I was a safe distance
away, I needed to figure out where they were holding Jack.
Well, it would have to be some
sort of jail or detention center, I thought to myself.
Before the Titanic, Jack and I
had been in Ireland for about two months, but I really didn’t know my way
around. I went up to one of the police officers.
"Excuse me. Do you happen to
have a map? I’m a tourist," I told the man.
He smiled and handed me a map. I
smiled at him.
"Thank you," I said,
and dashed off.
I pulled out a pen from my pocket
and circled all the jails in the town. Sadly, there were two.
The first one I stopped at was
large and gray. I was a little reluctant to go in.
Do it for Jack, I reminded myself.
I pushed open the door and walked
up to a metal desk. A guard had his feet up on the desk and was looking at a
newspaper.
"Excuse me. I was wondering
if a certain man was here," I said.
The guard put down his newspaper
and looked at me. He grabbed a bunch of files and said, "What’s his name,
and when was he brought in?"
"Jack Dawson, and he
should’ve been brought in this morning."
"I’m terribly sorry, miss,
but no newcomers have been brought in today," he said, tucking away the
files.
I smiled anyway, partly relieved,
for I did not want to have to go back there.
"Thank you kindly," I
said, and exited the building.
Once I was out, I pulled out the
map and crossed out the building. The next detention center was six miles away.
I groaned and broke into a brisk run. My feet were aching after three miles, as
well as my sides.
I stopped for a moment to catch
my breath. People walked or drove by, like on any normal day. But this wasn’t a
normal day for me. An innocent man could be killed, and then what would I do?
I decided that that was enough
resting and ran the other three miles. By the time I reached the building, I
was exhausted and couldn’t feel my legs. On top of all that, it started to
rain.
I walked into the building,
basically the same as the last, but I could hear yelling and cursing coming
from the other side of the place.
"Excuse me. I am looking for
a certain man. Can I see him?"
The man stood up and asked me who
it was. I repeated Jack’s name, and the guard led me through the doors. Men
were lined up in the cells, and a lot of them didn’t look Irish. Some of them
looked like they were from other places.
Finally, we reached Jack’s cell.
He was sitting against the wall, his back turned to us.
"Hey, thief, you’ve got a
visitor," the guard said, and stood against the wall.
Jack turned, and when he saw me,
he stood up and ran to the bars.
"You’re here! I knew you
wouldn’t leave me. Oh, Marie!" he said, almost hysterical.
"Jack, I know you’re
innocent," I said, crying.
I looked up and saw a small
window above Jack’s cell. I grinned to myself and turned back to Jack.
"Jack…I’ve got to go,"
I said.
He nodded, and the guard began to
lead me away. I stuck out my hand and Jack took it, along with the note I had
written. I grinned at him and then fake cried as I was being led out.
When I left the building,
darkness had fallen. I pulled up my hood and covered my head, for the rain was
falling even more heavily than before. I checked to make sure everything I
needed was still in my pack and then turned to the side of the building. On the
street I was on, most of the lights were off. I walked around to the side of
the building and was met by a huge fence.
"This could be
problematic," I murmured, and started to climb the fence.
I got onto the other side, and
the security lights were on. I peeked among the rows of windows and found
Jack’s. He was waiting at the window.
"Are you sure this is a good
idea?" he asked in a hushed tone.
"Hell, no. I’m making it up
as I go along. Now, stand back."
Jack smiled and took a few steps
back. I pulled out a sledgehammer from my pack. I swung really hard at the bars
and they bent, making a loud clang.
"Hurry!" Jack said.
I swung again, and the bars bent
some more. With three more swings, the hole was wide enough for him the climb
through them.
"Okay. Now, we wait for the
lights to shift," I said.
Jack nodded and shivered. When
the lights had moved, we darted over the fence and were soon free.
"Now what?" Jack asked
once we were clear of the building.
"See that ship over there?
It’s a ship heading for New York, but it’s making a stop in Maine, too. I
bought these tickets for that ship earlier today," I said, pulling out the
third class tickets.
"Another ocean liner? Let’s
hope we don’t crash into another iceberg," Jack said, laughing.
"Come on," I said.
"We gotta find a place to stay. The ship leaves tomorrow morning."
Jack and I walked up and down
rows of buildings, careful not to draw too much attention to ourselves.
"Over here," Jack said
finally, pointing to an abandoned warehouse.
He climbed in through the window
and gave me the all clear. He helped me through and we sat in a corner, huddled
close together.
I laid my head on his shoulder
and he wrapped his arm around me.
"I wonder who framed
me," Jack said.
"I think I know. Possibly
one of Cal’s friends--I’m surprised he has any--or a man he bribed ran into the
house and Cal just said it was you," I answered.
"That’s a good theory. I’ll
use it when we get into Maine."
I smiled, and he kissed my
forehead.
"Everything will work out
okay," he said quietly.
"I know, Jack."
"All you have to do is never
give up hope. Everything happens for a reason."
"Yes, it does. Everything
happens for a reason," I repeated.
With that, the two of us were
soon asleep.