DUST IN THE WIND
Chapter Two
Two Weeks Later
Molly and Rose stepped off the
train in Eau Claire and sighed deeply. About ten miles away was Chippewa Falls,
Jack’s hometown and his history. The people who knew and loved him. Rose tried
to stop the trembling of her hands. She didn’t know how she was going to tell
these people that Jack was dead, or that she was carrying his child. But, of
course, Molly had taken care of this detail for her.
"Now, remember, Rose, you’re
the young widow of Jack Dawson, who perished aboard the Titanic. Jack never
talked much about his past, and you’re here to find out more about your young
husband so you can share it with your child when the time’s right," Molly
explained. "Of course, they’ll know who I am, and it’ll become obvious
where we met. I’ll go get a car, and we’ll head out to Chippewa Falls."
"Yes, Molly." Rose
smiled and nodded, fighting back her tears. She hoped she was strong enough to
do this, to hear the details of her poor Jack’s life here. She hoped it had
been a happy one, that he had known no pain here.
"Ready, Rose? I found us a
driver. This is George Dawson. He was heading to Chippewa Falls and will be
happy to drop us off at the local inn there." Molly came up with a young
man with blond hair and gray eyes.
"Dawson?" Rose asked,
shaking the man’s hand.
"Later, Rose," Molly
whispered to her. "Let’s get some rest first."
"Follow me, ladies."
The man smiled, taking Rose’s bags.
It was an hour trip, but they had
finally reached the town of Chippewa Falls. It was quaint and modest. There
were more horses than cars, but that was okay with both Molly and Rose. It was
a nice change from the hustle and bustle of the city.
"Here you go. Just go on in
and talk to Mrs. Cleary inside. She’ll be happy to put you up."
"Thank you, Mr. Dawson. I
hope we see you again. Come along, Rosie." Molly was about to help her out
when George insisted on doing so. It was the gentlemanly thing to do, he
insisted.
"Thank you, Mr.
Dawson." Rose smiled nervously, wondering if he was any relation to Jack.
But she guessed she’d have plenty of time to find that out.
"I see you’re in the family
way, ma’am. Would it be rude asking if your husband will be joining you
soon?"
"Her husband’s deceased,
sadly. It’s a long story." Molly spoke up for Rose, who had gone pale.
"Poor dear is still mourning."
"Oh, I’m sorry. I didn’t
know." George bowed his head.
"Oh, that’s all right.
There’s no way you could have known." Rose cleared her throat.
"Molly, shall we be going?"
"Of course. Thank you, Mr.
Dawson, for the drive."
"Here, let me help you with
the bags." George smiled, taking their luggage out of the car and
following the two women into the inn.
"Why, George Dawson, what
are you doing out so late, when you know that young wife of yours is at that
big house by her lonesome?" A woman about Molly’s age placed her hands on
her hips. "Your aunt and uncle would be rolling in their graves if they
knew."
"I was just heading back,
Mrs. Cleary. Was just helping these two ladies in with their luggage."
Mrs. Cleary turned her gaze to
the two women and gasped. "Oh, my God, it’s you! George, don’t you know
who this is? Don’t you read the papers?"
"Huh?" George was
confused. He made it a point not to read the paper anymore. With all the
Titanic stuff, it was just plain depressing.
"George Dawson! I can’t
believe you don’t recognize the Unsinkable Molly Brown! She’s been in all the
papers!" Mrs. Cleary gasped happily. "Oh, my. Mrs. Brown, this is a
pleasure to have you here in our small town! I never dreamed…"
"Calm down, sugar. There’s
no need to work yourself up into a ruckus. I’m just a normal person, like you
and George here. I’d appreciate it if you treat me as such."
"Oh, yes, Mrs. Brown. Of
course. What may I do for you this afternoon?" Mrs. Cleary nodded,
controlling herself from jumping up and down and asking for an autograph.
"Well, my companion and I
are in need of some rooms. Two would be nice. We’ll be staying for quite a
while."
"Your names, please?"
Mrs. Cleary asked.
"Molly Brown and Rose
Dawson." Molly cleared her throat, noticing the curiosity in both George
and Mrs. Cleary’s eyes.
"Okay. You have adjoining
rooms right at the top of the stairs there."
"Come along, Rose."
Molly grabbed all the bags before George could offer and led Rose up to the
rooms.
When the two women were out of
earshot, Mrs. Cleary turned to George. "Do you know that young lady?"
"No, ma’am. Never set eyes
on her before today. All I know is that she’s a widow."
"Well, your family is the
only Dawsons around these parts. I wonder what the story is. You know, George,
you’re a strong young man, and it was right decent of you to come to town and
preserve your family’s land. It’s such a shame what happened."
"Yes, it is. But I think
Aunt Sarah and Uncle Matthew would have wanted it this way. Well, I’d better be
on my way. Samantha is waiting, and with the baby due any day, I don’t want to
leave her alone. I’ll drop by again tomorrow, Mrs. Cleary. I don’t know, but
something’s telling me that I should stop by and check on your new tenant. Good
night."
"Night, George." Mrs.
Cleary watched the young man leave, and she glanced up at the closed door of
Rose’s room. She was indeed curious about the young, pregnant widow upstairs,
and wondered what business she could have in Chippewa Falls.
*****
Rose lay in her bed, staring up
at the ceiling, her thoughts full of Jack. She sighed. "Well, here I am,
Jack. In Chippewa Falls to get information for our child. It’s so strange to be
here, and you’re not with me. Jack, we should be doing this together! I shouldn’t
have to get information from strangers to tell our child about her father! Oh,
why, Jack? Why did you leave me? Why couldn’t you have tried harder to get on
the board? Why couldn’t you have tried harder to stay awake, knowing that you
would freeze? All you had to do was wait for a little while, Jack, only a
little while, and then we would have been rescued. Why, Jack, why?" Rose
burst into tears, her sobs bursting from her, shaking her shoulders. She didn’t
notice Molly racing into her room until she felt the woman’s arms around her.
"Shh. It’s okay, Rose. It’s
okay. Everything will be fine."
"No, it won’t, Molly. Jack’s
gone, and he won’t be back. He’s gone."
"Shh, Rose. Shh." Molly
rubbed her back, rocking her back and forth. "Crying like this won’t bring
him back."
"I want Jack back, Molly.
I’d do anything just to have him back, to hear his voice…to look into his
beautiful eyes."
"I know, Rosie. Get some
sleep, darling. We’ll do our searching tomorrow. Just go to sleep and dream of
your baby."
Rose nodded, pulling away from
Molly and laying back in bed. "Thank you, Molly."
"No problem, darling. Now,
get some sleep." Molly left the room, turning the light out as she went.
She left the door open just in case Rose needed her again. Molly looked up at
the sky and sighed. "That girl of yours needs you, Jack. I hope you’re
looking out for her, for the both of them."
Molly closed her eyes and almost
swore she heard a voice whisper in her ear. "I am, Molly. I am."