FORMALITY
Chapter Sixteen
The ship groaned from deep in its
hull. She was going fast. There wasn't much time left. The slanted halls were
all empty, but all the lights were on. Something made my heart beat unusually
fast. I think it was the idea that we might be the only ones left on the ship.
But that was not possible--there were not enough lifeboat space for everyone.
We ran up and down hall after
hall, all of them empty. "Rob, maybe she's up on deck waiting for a
boat," I said, trying to convince him to take me back up and out of this
coffin. It felt like the walls were closing in.
"Maybe..." he said,
distracted from me.
"Rob." I stopped him in
his tracks. "She's not down here."
"All right. All right, so
she's not," he agreed, and reluctantly turned back. We raced up the
awkward stairs of the Grand Staircase and back out on deck. I never realized
how cold the air was until then, when it hit me. If the air was that cold,
imagine how cold the water was...
"There's my father!"
Rob shouted, pulling me through a mob of people heading the other direction.
"Father!" Rob shouted
as we approached him. "Where's Mother?"
"Son! There you are! Your
mother went down in a lifeboat about twenty minutes ago, so don't worry. She's
safe," his father said, trying to reassure Rob. Rob's face fell and he
turned to me.
"My mother is already on a
boat, so we need to find a boat for you," he said, his eyes misty.
"I'm sorry, son, but all the
boats are gone," his father broke in.
"All of them?" Rob
asked, trying to convince himself that he would get me on a boat.
"The only ones left are the
collapsibles. That's where everyone is heading." His father pointed down
the deck.
"Come on." Rob took my
hand. All around me, people were pushing and shoving for the last few spots
left on the last collapsible. Water was starting to spill over the deck and
engulfing people and the great Titanic. There was such a crowd around the boat
that I couldn't even see it from where we were standing. And then, an officer
silenced the group and called out for women and children only. Rob turned to
me, eagerness in his eyes.
"This is your last chance.
Come on," he said, kissing my forehead, then leading me through the crowd
behind a man with a crying child.
Just as I sat down in the boat,
which was half-filled with water, I heard the officer yell, "Women and
children only!"
I turned and saw that he was
talking to Rob, who had tried to climb in after me. His eyes fell, and more
tears came to my eyes. He couldn't come with me. I was to go alone. And what
happened to my father? Would this boat even get off the Titanic before it was
too late?