AN OCEAN FULL OF MEMORIES
Chapter Four
As the sun painted luminous colors across the
sky that morning, Jack and Rose stood at the bow hand-in-hand, the minister
with his back to the ocean and Fabrizio, Tommy, and Trudy all present. Jack
looked as handsome as ever in the French-cut tuxedo that Molly had let him
borrow again, and Rose was a vision in a white lace gown. On her shoulders was
a white silk shawl, which she placed near the bow after a while to stop it
flapping in the wind. As the minister, Jack, and Rose spoke each word, the
colors of the sky grew more intense until finally it looked as if the world was
on fire. It was then that the clapping that could be heard to signal the end of
the ceremony if one listened intently, eight hundred feet down the other end of
the ship. It was there that Cal emerged, tired, cranky, and carrying a loaded
gun. Meanwhile, the party at the bow sat on the well deck, sipping hot tea and
eating cake. Rose realized that this would be probably the best of the life she
would live with Jack, but she didn't care. She was happy and he…he was alive,
and they were married…that was all she’d ever wanted in her previous
eighty-four years of life, but she couldn’t explain why she was lucky enough to
have it. Everybody gathered was laughing and smiling when Rose remembered the
shawl near the bow. Excusing herself and then ascending the steps to the
forecastle deck, she paced across the deck and was bending down to pick it up
when she saw Cal emerge from the entrance to the promenade with a gun in his
hand. Faster than lightning, she ran down the stairs to the group, tripping at
the bottom of the steps and falling into the arms of Tommy. She was halfway
through telling them that Cal was coming when a bullet went by no further than
two inches from Jack. Lifting Rose into his arms and running with her, Fabrizio
made it to the doors of the cargo hold first, followed soon after by Trudy,
Tommy, the minister, and Jack. Down the long array of cargo they ran, and into
the boiler rooms, where they were too busy running to hear the warnings yelled
by the stokers. Finally, nearly out of breath, they approached the engine room,
but suddenly halted when choking flames confronted them from a coal chute.
Desperate to find an escape, they clambered up the stairs to the top of the air
vent, their only alternative, as they knew that Cal was not far behind. Up they
went, clambering on dozens of ladders until they reached the top and
frantically looked for an escape. Trudy, the most observant, noticed a ladder
on the outside of the vent and gracefully clambered over the side, begging the
others to follow.
*****
The sight of the small group clambering down
the side of one of the funnels of the Titanic was enough to make anybody stare,
but it was crewman Jones, who was on watch that day, that was privileged enough
to see the scene. What happened next still plays in the minds of the party--a
gunshot as they ran across the decks, officers running towards the scene,
passengers on the decks nearby crying out in despair, and finally the sight of
a thick red liquid dripping slowly over the side of the ship.