FORMALITY
Chapter Seventeen
The Titanic groaned as she
continued to slide under the oily sea. I sat in a collapsible boat half-filled
with water while people from all over struggled to climb in. The officers gave
up on controlling the crowd and went off to fend for themselves. Rob was
nowhere in sight amongst the huge throng trying to climb aboard the little
boat. A tall man had an oar and was hitting people who tried to climb aboard.
As the Titanic slid further underwater, the lifeboat floated off the top deck
and out into the open sea. Screaming people gave up and fled for the stern, the
only dry place left. I scanned the crowd with hopeful eyes--where had Rob gone?
The men with the oars began to
row quickly away from the dying ship. I heard water splashing behind
me--someone was swimming toward the boat.
"Belle!" the person
shouted as he came closer to the boat. I turned at the sound of his voice.
"Rob! Come on! Get in!"
I shouted. The men aboard heard me and moved to my end of the boat.
"No! No one else aboard!
We'll buckle!" one of them shouted back at me.
I just stared at him. "Shut
up!" I said harshly, reaching over for Rob's hand. The men just stood
still and watched as Rob came over the side and sat next to me, shivering.
"My God," I whispered,
hugging him close to warm him up.
"The w-water's just...just a
little ch-chilly," Rob said, chuckling. I kissed his forehead as the men
sat back down and began to row again.
The massive stern rose in the
air, glowing. The lights blinked, then went off one last time as all the
remaining passengers screamed in the dark aboard the sinking ship. I closed my
eyes, hugged Rob closer to me, and thought of my father. Where was he? Did he
get into a boat in time? Or was he on that stern, hanging on for dear life? I
couldn't cry. The air was too cold around me and the reality of this whole
disaster had not hit me then. At least I had Rob with me. At least we were
still together.
*****
After the mighty vessel
disappeared under the ocean, the people in the boats covered their ears to
block out the sound of the people in the water screaming for help. A few women
in my boat tried to get the stubborn men to row back and pick up who we could,
but they refused. That could have been my father out there, but I tried not to
think of that. All I could think of was the freezing air and Rob in my arms.
As the sky turned pink when the
sun began to rise, a looming shadow appeared not far from us--help had arrived.
Rob and I climbed aboard the Carpathia and welcomed warm blankets and cups of
soup. We picked out a sunny part of the deck and sat down, our eyes barely
staying open. I watched the side of the ship where passengers were climbing
aboard for my sister and my mother as I ate my warm soup. Soup never tasted so
good than it did then--I could feel the warm liquid go all the way down. I set
my cup aside when I had finished and turned to Rob, who was asleep next to me.
I laid back next to him and my eyes closed in sleep in the warm sun.
*****
"Isabelle! Dear God,
Isabelle!" I heard my mother shriek my name as soon as she saw me when she
boarded. "You're alive!"
I sat up as she came toward me
and knelt next to me, embracing me. Everything we fought about on the Titanic
had gone down with the ship, and she only thought about how lucky we were to be
together again.
"Now, we need to go find
your father," she said, standing up and looking for a passenger list. I
looked down at my lap, knowing that he hadn't survived. But I didn't want to
tell her just yet. Rob saw the look of sadness in my eyes and pulled me close
to him, kissing my forehead.
"It's all right. He's
resting peacefully now. You know that," he softly whispered so my mother
wouldn't hear him.
"I know," I whispered
back. One tear trickled down my cheek.