HOW I FOUND MY LOVE...JACK DAWSON: IN ROSE'S EYES ONLY
Chapter Five

April 14, 1912

As I woke up, I got some clothes on to go have breakfast with Cal on our private promenade deck.

As I sat down, Cal said, "Good morning, Rose."

"Good morning, Cal," I replied. I picked up my coffee, and stirred it quietly.

"I had hoped you would come to me last night," he said.

"I was tired," I replied.

"I missed you last night, Rose. Don't you understand? Don't you miss me at night all the time?"

"Cal, how can I miss you, if you won't go away?" I said back to him.

"You are never to behave like that again. Do you understand me?"

All right, that's it! I am fed up with this you have to do this and you have to do that! "I am not a person in one of your mills that you can command. I am your fiancée."

As he stood up, he said, "My fiancée. My fiancée! Yes, you are. My wife in practice, if not yet by law, so you will honor me!" He flung everything around, like he was on a rampage. "You will honor me a wife is required to honor a husband. And I will not be made out a fool, Rose. Is that in any way unclear?"

As tears came down my eyes, I said, "No."

"Good. Excuse me." And then he left the room.

As I lay down on the floor, Trudy came over and started to pick stuff up. "We had a little accident. I am so sorry, Trudy."

"It's all right, miss. It's all right," she said.

I cried and cried.

"Come, miss. Let's put you into your room to rest a while, as I clean up this mess."

As she helped me into my room, I rested on the couch. God, I will never get out of this place! I had better get dressed, I thought, as Trudy came in and signaled that she was done with the cleaning.

"Can you come and help me put my corset on?"

"Yes, ma'am," she said.

As Trudy tightened the laces, Mother came in. I turned around.

"Tea, Trudy," Mother said.

Curtseying, she said, "Yes, ma'am."

As Trudy left, Mother signaled to me to turn around. Tightening the corset, she said, "You are not to see that boy again. Do you understand me, Rose? I forbid it."

Oh, not again! "Oh, stop it, Mother. You'll give yourself a nosebleed!"

Turning me around, she said, "This is not a game. You know the money's gone."

Why did she have to do that? "Of course I know it's gone. You remind me about it every day."

"Your father left us with nothing but bad debts, hidden by a good name. That name is the only card we can play. I don’t understand you. It is a fine match with Hockley. It will assure our survival," she said.

"Why do you put this on my shoulders?" I asked her.

"Why are you being so selfish?"

"I'm being selfish?"

Mother looked at me, as she tried to hold her tears back. "Do you want to want to see me working as a seamstress? Is that what you want? Our fine goods sold at auction? Our memories scattered to the winds?" As she put her hand over her face, the tears came out of her eyes.

"It's so unfair."

Turning around, she said, "Of course it is not fair. We're women. Our choices are never easy." Coming close to me, she kissed me on the cheek, and told me to turn around to do the rest of my corset. When she got done, she said, "Now get dressed for church."

As she left the room, I got my dress on, and did my hair.

As we arrived at church, we sang some hymns, and the pastor did some preaching.

When church was over, Cal had made arrangements for him Mother and I to have a tour of the ship, conducted by Thomas Andrews, the master ship builder.

"The first stop is the gymnasium," he said.

When we got there, Cal saw the rowing machine, and went to try it out. "This is like my old days at Harvard," he said.

"Miss, would you like to try the camel?" asked the head supervisor of the gymnasium.

Mother looked at him like he was insane.

"Heavens, no."

"We better be moving along. The next stop is the bridge," Thomas Andrews said, pointing out the door.

Cal grabbed his jacket, and we were off to the bridge. As we approached the bridge, Captain Smith was there. From what I heard, this was going to be his last crossing.

"Hello," he said to me.

"Pleasure to meet you, Captain," I said back.

Then, a young boy came from somewhere with a piece of paper, possibly from the wireless room. "Excuse me, sir. Another ice warning. This is from the Northern."

An ice warning? Just then, it was like my heart dropped. I could see in Mother's eyes that her heart dropped also.

"Oh, not to worry." The captain waved the paper.

I could see in my mother's eyes that her heart floated back up, but not mine. Not yet, at least.

"Actually, I just lit the last four boilers."

"Well, we had better go now. We should not bother the captain for long," Thomas Andrews said. "Come, now. Let's look at the lifeboats."

As we approached them, I said to Mr. Andrews, "Mr. Andrews, I did the sum in my head, and with the lifeboats times the capacity, forgive me, but I don't think there's enough room for everyone aboard."

Mr. Andrews looked at me, and said, "Not enough by half, actually. Rose, you miss nothing, do you?"

Banging the lifeboats, Cal hit them with his cane. "Not enough deck space on this unsinkable ship."

Thomas Andrews came over by me, and said, "Sleep soundly, young Rose. I have built you a good ship. Move along. The next stop is the engine room."

Suddenly, I felt someone grab my arm. It was Jack, signaling to me to go into the gym with him. I did.

"Jack, this is impossible. I can’t see you."

Jack took off his hat, and said, "I need to talk to you."

I shook my head, and said, "No, Jack, no. Jack, I’m engaged. I am marrying Cal. I love Cal."

Jack looked at me. He said, "Rose, you're no picnic. You're a spoiled little brat, even, but under that, you're the most amazingly, astoundingly wonderful girl--woman--that I've ever met."

As I felt my head fill up with things, I said, "Jack, I--"

Interrupting me, he said, "Let me try to get this out. I'm not an idiot. I know how the world works. I've got ten bucks in my pocket. I have nothing to offer you, and I know that. I understand. You jump, I jump, remember? I can’t go without knowing that you’ll be okay."

I looked at him, and said, "Well, I’m fine, really. I’ll be fine."

He looked at me, and said, "Really? It doesn’t look like it. They’ve got you trapped, Rose, and you're gonna die if you don’t break free. Maybe not right now, because you're strong, but sooner or later, that fire that I love about you, Rose, that fire is going to burn out."

With his hand over my cheek, and me trying to hold my tears back, I said, "It’s not up to you to save me, Jack."

Looking at me, he continued, saying, "You're right. Only you can do that."

Taking his hand off my cheek, I said, "I am going back. Leave me alone."

I knew I did not want to leave the room, but I had to. Closing the door behind me, my heart dropped down more, and I was back in the real world...my world.

As Mother saw me, she said, "Good heavens, Rose. Where were you?"

Quick, think of something! "I had to sit for a while. I felt a little queasy." I think she fell for it.

"Well, tell me the next time, Rose!" she said, strictly. "Come on. We are going to have tea."

As we were having tea, the topic of the day was my wedding, and the horrible things that happened. As I reached for my tea, I spilt a little on me, but it just landed on the napkin. Oh, look what I've done. Thinking of how Jack felt, I had to go talk to him.

"Mother, will you excuse me? I spilt some tea on my dress."

She was too busy, but I know she heard me. I left to go find him.

I saw Fabrizio, and I knew he was one of Jack's friends.

"Excuse me, Fabrizio. Do you know where Jack is?"

Talking in his accent, he said, "Ah...yeah. He is at the boat deck."

Nodding my head, I started to go into the steerage promenade. There he was, at the tip of the deck, kneeling, just staring at the water.

"Hello, Jack. I've changed my mind. Fabrizio said you might be up here--"

"Shh!" he said. "Give me your hand. Close your eyes."

As I closed my eyes, and gave him my hand, he said, "Step up. Now, hold onto the railing. Don't peek."

I had no idea what I was doing, but I said, "I'm not."

He grabbed my hand, and said, "Now, hold on to the railing. Hold on. Keep your eyes closed."

I had no idea what he was doing.

"Do you trust me?" Jack asked.

"I trust you," I said back.

It then felt as if he was spreading my arms out. He then put his hands on my hips, and said, "All right. Open your eyes."

As I opened them, I gasped, and then I paused for a minute. "I'm flying! Jack!" I looked around, and I just felt happy.

Jack held my hands, and whispered in my ear. "Come Josephine in my flying machine, and it's up she goes, up she goes."

Still holding my hands, he put them down on my waist. His lips got closer to mine, and mine got closer to his, until we interlocked. My heart, right then, was dancing happily. After our passionate kiss was over, I had to ask Jack to do something for me.

"Jack, I need you to do something for me. I need you to do a drawing for me."

He looked at me, and said, "All right, but I need to get my book and pencils."

As we headed to Jack’s room, he opened the door, picked up the utensils, and we headed for my room.

As we headed to my room, Jack said, "Are you sure I can handle these rooms? Are they proper for me to be in?"

I laughed, and said, "It is quite proper, I assure you." Putting my shawl down, I said, "Will this light do?"

He looked at me, and said, "What?"

"Don't artists need good light?"

Going over to the mantel, he ran his finger across it, like he was checking for dust. Speaking in a French voice, he said, "Zat is true, but I am not use to working in such good conditions." Then, suddenly, he spotted something. "Monet." Kneeling over and touching it, he said, "Wow. Look at his use of color here. Isn't it great? I saw him painting this in his home in France."

As I walked into the next room, I started unlocking the safe. "Cal insists on carting this hideous thing everywhere."

Looking around at the splendid room, he said, "Will we be expecting him anytime soon?"

Opening the safe and getting out the necklace, I answered him, saying, "Not unless the cigars and brandies give out."

Taking the necklace, he asked, "What is it, a sapphire?"

Cal, giving me sapphire? Oh no. "A diamond. A very rare diamond." All right, I have to tell him now. "Jack, I would like you to draw me like one of your French girls."

Looking at the precious necklace like he was a handsome jeweler, he said, "All right."

I didn't think I had his attention yet. "Wearing only this."

Then his eyes got off of the necklace, and I got his attention.

"I am going to go change," I told him, and I went into the other room to change. As I got my clothes off, I started to get nervous. I put on my kimono, and took my hair down. Before I exited the room, I needed to get something. As I grabbed ten cents, I entered where Jack was. I leaned against the door, and flung my robe tie around. There he was, like a surgeon getting ready for an operation.

Walking closer to him, I said, "The last thing I need is for me to look like a porcelain doll. As I a paying customer, I expect to get what I want."

I handed him the coin, and stepped back. As I slipped the robe off, my heart was pounding. The farther the robe fell down, the harder my heart pounded.

As Jack looked at me from head to toe, he said, "Sit on the bed--the couch." He was probably nervous.

As I sat on the couch, I said, "Tell me when it looks right."

"Yeah, that looks good. Now, eyes on me. Keep them on me." As he took a deep breath, he started to draw. He was so handsome, but he looked like very professional artist.

Speaking in a deep voice, I said, "You look so serious." Looking at me, he kept on working. The way that I was laying, it looked to me like if he was blushing. "I believe you are blushing, Mr. Big Artiste. I can't imagine Monsieur Monet blushing."

Looking at me, he said, "He does landscapes. Now, just lay your head still. Don't move. Relax." Taking a deep breath, he kept on working. When he was done, he said, "Okay, you can get up now."

As I stood up, I reached for my kimono, and went over to look how he did. "Oh, Jack. It is indescribably beautiful."

He then turned around, and said, "No, Rose. You are indescribably beautiful." He looked around, and kissed me after he was done.

All right, Rose. You have to do something about Cal...I know! As I stepped into the other room, I started to write a note to Cal. What should I say? I thought, then, it just popped into my mind. I wrote down carefully: Darling, now you can keep us both locked up in your safe--Rose.

Jack came up, and asked, "What are you doing?"

Handing him the necklace, I asked him, "Will you put this back in the safe for me?"

He went over to put it in the safe. "Do you want me to close it?" he shouted.

"No, Jack. Just leave it open," I replied. As I went over to the safe, I put the note into the safe and locked it. "Jack, just make yourself at home while I go change into some clothes," I told him.

He looked at me, and said, "All right."

I stepped into the other room to change. I picked out a very pretty dress, my lavender and pink dress. I got it on, and found that Jack had his head out the window. Taking his head out of the window, he blew air into his hands, and said, "It is getting cold out there." Looking at my dress, he said, "You look nice."

Suddenly, I heard a knock on the door.

"Miss Rose?" It was Lovejoy.

Quickly, I grabbed Jack's hand and ran out of the room.

"My drawings!" he said, still walking.

"Not now, Jack. We’ll get them later."

As we got out of the room, I felt a sigh of relief exit my body. Then, I heard a door close. Just to be on the safe side, I turned around to see who it was. Again, it was Lovejoy. Quickly, Jack and I ran down the stairs, trying to get to the lift as it almost left for its destination.

"Wait, wait!" we both screamed at the top of our lungs.

As he stopped the lift, we both scrambled into the lift. We were in such a hurry to get away from him that Jack even helped the lift attendant close the gates.

"Where to?" he said.

"Um...anywhere. Just take us down!" he said.

Then, there was Lovejoy, standing there. As we went down, I also did a gesture.

"Bye," I said.

The lift attendant said again, "Where do you bloody want to go?"

"Well...how about E Deck?" I said.

Looking at Jack, he said, "It is fine with me."

I could not believe my ears. This was the first gentleman, except for my father, that actually agreed with me. I do not know what came over me, but I just had to lean over to Jack and kiss him.

"Well, here we are. E Deck. You two lovebirds have fun."

We looked back at him and laughed.

Stopping to catch our breath, Jack said, "Pretty tough for a valet, this fellow. What was he, a cop?"

"I think he was," I told him.

Suddenly, there he was again. Lovejoy.

"Oh, shit!"

"Go!" I told him.

As we ran through steerage, Jack accidentally ran into a steward that had many dishes with him.

Trying to help him pick them up, the steward said, "Go on. I got it."

We ran quickly down, until we found a door to go into so we could get away from him. Then we found one, quickly locking the door. The only thing I could hear was a very loud, annoying noise. The only thing I could do was to cover my ears.

"Now what?" I shouted, with my ears still covered.

With Jack's ears covered, he replied, "What?"

He saw the little hole from under us. As he went down, he said, "Wait here, Rose."

As he climbed down the tiny hole, he said, "Come on," and helped me down.

As I entered the little hole, I felt a burst of heat. As I entered the hellish boiler rooms, I started to sweat and sweat.

"What are you two doing here?"

My heart stopped, and I turned around. It was a man covered in sulfur. We ran away from him.

"Wait! It is too dangerous down here!"

We paid no attention to him.

We just kept on running, until we were out of the terrible heat. Then, suddenly, we entered the cargo hold. It was like we just got done visiting a desert, and then came into a village in the North Pole. As we swayed from cart to cart and nets, we found a car! As I cleared my throat, Jack opened the door, and took out his hand for balance.

"Thank you," I said, in a royal first class woman voice. As I entered the car, I felt the velvet seat rub against my hands, and a rose in a glass vase was hung on the side.

As I slid the window down, Jack honked the horn, and said, "Where to, miss?"

I leaned over, and whispered into his ear. "To the stars."

He turned around with a perplexed look on his face. I pulled him into the back, and started to hold his hands.

We were both silent for a minute as we stared each other lovingly. "Are you nervous?" Jack asked.

Slightly shaking my head, I said, "No."

Okay, so I was a tiny bit nervous, but that could not stop me! As I started to kiss his artist fingers one by one, I said, "Put your hands on me, Jack."

Even though he probably knew where the proper place to put them was, I helped him. He suddenly got the picture, and kissed me. I'll let you figure out what we did next.

As the night passed on, I felt and saw him trembling. "Jack, you're trembling," I told him, with the deepest concern.

Taking heavy breaths, he replied with, "Don't worry. I will be all right."

As he laid his head on my chest, he said, "I can feel your heart beat." Then, suddenly, he heard something.

"Jack, what is--"

"Shh!" he snapped at me.

"Quick, get your clothes!" he whispered.

I took the jacket off of me, and picked them up.

When I was starting to put my clothes on, Jack said, "We do not have time to put them on. Just grab them, and we will put them on later."

"What?" I told him. "You want me to walk around the ship naked, Jack?"

"Listen, just grab your clothes and follow me, Rose. Come on!"

I felt so strange, but I think Jack knew what he was doing at that moment of time. As we ran behind some carts, we started to put our clothes on. As we got done, Jack put his finger over his lips for a sign to be quiet. Then, he waved his arms for me to look at something. As I leaned over, I saw two stewards with flashlights. Cal must have sent them to look for me! The steward snapped his fingers. Then, they saw the hand print I had made.

As they carefully opened the door, the steward quickly shone his light in the car, and said, "Got you!"

I desperately tried to hold my laughter as we left the cargo hold to go up on deck. As we got on top, I exploded with laughter.

"Did you see those guys' faces?" Jack asked.

Before I could get anything out, I put my finger over his lips, and said, "Jack, when the ship docks, I am getting off with you."

He stared at my face, and said, "This is crazy."

I knew exactly what I was doing. "I know. That is why I trust it."

He came close to me, and we had a passionate kiss. Suddenly, a couple minutes later, I felt a jolt. It made Jack and I break up our kiss.

"Jack, what's happening?" I said.

"I don’t know!"

Then, I saw something come closer. "What is that, Jack?"

He looked at it, and said, "It’s an iceberg." As it came closer, it started to scrape the ship. "Get back!"

As it scraped the ship, big chunks of ice fell on the deck. After the iceberg passed, Jack and I ran to the side of the boat, and looked over to the side to look down at what the iceberg did to the boat. We couldn't see much. Then we heard some people play with the ice. When Jack was talking to a third class passenger, I dropped some ice down the back of his shirt.

"Wow!" he said, as he squirmed.

I laughed.

He turned around, and said, "Come here, you!"

As I ran he caught me and kissed me. We walked to go up the stairs. Then I saw the carpenter, Mr. Andrews, and an Officer.

"This is bad," Jack said.

"We should tell Mother and Cal."

He looked at me, perplexed, and I said, "You jump, I jump, remember?"

He smiled, and said, "All right."

As we walked up the stairs, I said, "Just hold onto my hand."

We walked a little bit more, and then I saw Lovejoy.

"Here we go," I said.

He walked to us, and said, "We have been looking for you, miss." He stood behind us as we walked to my cabin.

The door was open, and as we stepped in, we could see the Master-at-Arms, Cal, Mother, and a steward. Of course, then Lovejoy was still right behind us.

As Lovejoy closed the door, I held Jack’s hand tighter, and said, "Something serious has happened."

Cal looked at Jack and I, and said, "Yes, it has. Now that one of them is back, I have a pretty good idea of where the other one is...search him." And he pointed to Jack.

"Take your coat off, sir," the Master-at-Arms said.

"Now what?" Jack said.

I went over to Cal, and said, "Cal, we're in the middle of an emergency. Now, what's going on?"

Then the steward said, "Is this it?" and held up the diamond necklace.

"This is horseshit!" Jack said. "Don’t you believe it, Rose. Don’t!"

"He couldn’t have," I said.

"It’s easy for a professional. He memorized the combination when you opened the safe."

I flashed back to when I was opening the safe. He wasn’t even around me to notice the combination.

"But he was with me the whole time. This is absurd."

Cal walked around me, and said, "Well, maybe he was doing it when you were putting your clothes back on, dear."

Jack pulled forward, and said, "Oh, really slick, Cal. Rose, he put it in my pocket."

Then Lovejoy held up the coat, and said, "It’s not even your coat, is it, son? Property of AL Ryerson."

Then the Master-at-Arms looked at it, and said, "That was reported stolen today."

Jack, looking at me, said, "I was just borrowing it. I was going to return it. Rose--" And they started to take him away. I looked around, and nobody did anything.

"No, wait!" I went over to him, and kissed him. "I love you," I said.

Before he could say anything else, Cal said to the Master-at-Arms, "Take him, you fool!"

"Rose! You know I didn’t do this, Rose! You know me, Rose! You know me!"

I felt utterly betrayed, hurt, and confused. Not only that, but I was devastated. My mother landed warm, comforting hands on my shoulders as my tears swelled up.

"Why do women believe men?" she said.

I turned to her, and said, "Cal’s a man, and you believed every word he said. I was with him the whole time, and he did not take that diamond!"

Then, Cal stepped in. He looked at my mother, and said, "Ruth, can I have a moment with your daughter?"

She nodded her head, and said, "Sure."

He put his arm on the doorway, and I looked at him in dismay. He came closer to me, and slapped me across the face.

"It's a little slut, isn’t it?"

I didn’t look at him.

"You look at me when I’m talking to you!"

Then there was a knock on the door. "Sir..." a steward said.

"Not now," Cal said.

"Sir," the steward said again.

"I said not now," Cal said.

"Captain's orders. You need to put on your lifebelts. May I suggest topcoats and hats? Dress warmly. It's quite cold out tonight." As I rubbed where Cal slapped me, the steward said, "Don’t worry, miss. It's only a precaution."

As the steward left the room, Cal said, "Well, do what the steward said, now. Dress warmer, and put that life thing on."

I got a coat on, but didn’t put on the lifebelt. As we went to the Grand Staircase, I saw Mr. Andrews. I stopped him at the stairs. "Mr. Andrews." He turned around. "I saw the iceberg, and I see it in your eyes. Please tell me the truth."

He pulled me over to the side, and said, "The ship will sink. In an hour or so, all of this will be at the bottom of the Atlantic."

I was shocked. "Are you certain?" I asked.

"My God," Cal said.

"You remember what I said about the boats? So, get to a boat quickly. Don’t wait."

I shook my head. As we got there, a crewman told everyone that they would start putting women and children in the boats. They would start with women and children. During that time, I was thinking about Jack. I had to go find him.

"Will the lifeboats be seated according to class? I hope they're not too crowded."

I looked at her, and said, "Oh, Mother. Shut up! Don’t you understand? The water is freezing, and there aren’t enough boats. Not enough by half. Half of the people on the ship are going to die."

"Not the better half," Cal said. "You know, it’s a pity I didn’t keep that drawing. It will be worth a lot more by morning."

I looked at him, and said, "You unimaginable bastard."

He looked at me, and did a slight chuckle.

"Come on, Rose. Get into the boat, darling," Molly said.

I didn’t go in.

"Come into the boat, Rose," Mother said, but I still didn’t go in. "Rose, get into the boat!"

I still didn’t go in. "Good-bye, Mother," I said.

"Rose! Rose, come back here!" my mother said.

Then, as I went down the deck, Cal grabbed me, and said, "Where are you going? To him? Is that it? To be a whore to that gutter rat?"

I looked at him, and said, "I’d rather be his whore than your wife."

As I tried to go, he held onto me tight, and said, "No! I said no!"

Then I spit in his face. As I looked back in the crowd, I saw Cal come after me again. I ran to two proper looking men, and said, "That man tried to take advantage of me in the crowd!"

They grabbed him. As I ran back inside, I started to look for Mr. Andrews. I opened the door to go into a corridor, and started to yell, "Mr. Andrews?"

I heard his voice saying, "Is there anyone in here?"

I found him. "Mr. Andrews? Oh, thank God! Where would the Master-at-Arms take someone who was under arrest?"

He looked perplexed. "What? You have to get to a boat right away!"

"No! I’ll do it with or without your help, sir. But without will take longer."

He looked at me, and said, "Take the elevator down to the very bottom. Go left, down the crewmen’s passage, then make a right."

I thought for a minute. "Bottom, left, I have it."

As I ran down, I heard Mr. Andrews say, "Hurry, Rose!"

I started to dodge people left and right. I saw people around the elevators.

As I tried to get in, he said "I’m sorry, Miss, but the lifts are closed."

I looked at him, and said, "I am through being polite, God dammit! Now take me down! E Deck."

As the elevator went down more, I could see blue reflections in the water. Then water started to come into the elevator. I started to scream.

"I’m going back up," the lift attendant said.

"No!"

As I opened up the gate, he looked at me, and said, "I’m going back up. I'm going back up!" And he went back up.

I didn’t care. I had to find Jack, no matter what. All right, go left, I told myself. Crew passage. Now, run right. After I turned right, I started to shout.

"Jack!" I kept on yelling. Then, I heard something.

"Rose! Rose, I’m in here!" He started to clang his handcuffs together.

I started to follow the tapping. I started to look in rooms, and then I found him. "Jack. Oh, Jack. I’m sorry. I'm so sorry."

As I kissed him, he looked at me, and said, "That guy Lovejoy put it in my pocket."

"I know. I know."

"All right, Rose. You need to find a spare key, all right? Look on in that cabinet over there. It is a silver one."

I started to look, but I didn’t find any. "These are all brass ones."

"Check these drawers over here." As he pointed to the desk, I started to look. "Rose, how did you know I didn’t do it?"

I paused for a second, and said, "I didn’t. I just realized I already knew."

He smiled at me, and said, "Keep looking. Keep looking."

I went through every compartment in that desk and found no key. "No key. There's no key!"

He looked at me, and said, "All right, Rose. You need to go for help."

I kissed him, and said, "I’ll be right back."

As I went out, he said, "I’ll just wait here!"

As I started to look for people, I shouted out. "Hello! Is anyone down here? We need help! Hello? Dammit!" Then, I heard someone. It was an immigrant. He looked very petrified. "Wait! I need your help! There is a man down here, and he is trapped--" He shook his head at me and left. "Wait!" I kept on looking. Then, I saw a steward.

"Oh, miss. You shouldn’t be down here. Come on!" He grabbed me by the hand.

"Wait! I need your help! There is a man down here, and he is trapped--"

"There's no need to panic, Miss."

"I’m not panicking! You're going the wrong way! Listen!" And I punched him, which gave him a bloody nose.

"The hell with you," he said.

I was hopeless. What was I going to do? Then, the lights flickered. I knew that there was not a lot of time left, and I knew that if I didn’t hurry, there would not be any more lifeboats left.

Then, I saw an ax. As I took the hose, which was right beside it, I broke the glass, and grabbed the ax. I ran down to Jack, which had even more water in there than before.

"Jack, will this work?" And I held up the ax.

"I don’t know. Let's try it out. Wait! Try a couple of practice swings over there." He pointed to the cabinet as I moved drawers and chairs around. I hit it. "Good, Rose. Now try to hit the exact same spot. You can do it, Rose."

I tried so hard, but I didn’t hit it. "Okay, that's enough practice. Come on." I went over there. "All right, Rose. Hit it good and hard. You can do it Rose." As I held up the ax, he said, "Wait. Put your arms apart."

"Like that?" I said.

"Yes. Listen, Rose. I trust you." As he put the cuffs down, he closed his eyes and backed as far away as he could. I put the ax up get a good grip, closed my eyes, and hit. Then I hear a clang. I hit the chain, and let Jack free.

"Yahoo!" he said, and then gave me a hug, and kissed me. As he stepped into the water, he said, "Oh, shit. This is cold. Oh, shit!"

As we looked down the way I came out, I said, "This was the way out."

He looked at me, and said, "There is too much water that way, Rose. We need to go a different way." He looked around, and grabbed my hand. As we went down, we could see the water was less, but there was a door. Jack looked to see if it was open, but it was locked. "Stand back, Rose," he said. He took his elbow and started to bust the door down. It only took him one or two tries to bust it. Then, we saw people with stewards.

Then, one of the stewards said, "Hey! You’ll have to pay for that, you know. That’s White Star Line property."

When he told us this, we ignored him, but after he got to saying that it was White Star Line property--who cared! So at the same time, accidentally, Jack and I said together, "Shut up!"

He looked at us in shock, but we still kept on walking. Then we joined the steerage stragglers going forward. In places the corridor was almost completely blocked by large families carrying their luggage. Then, an Irishwoman gave me a blanket, since she saw my lips were blue, and I was shivering.

She gave me the blanket, and said, "Here, lass. Cover yourself."

Jack rubbed my arms, and tried to warm me up as we walked along. Then, the woman’s husband offered Jack and I a flask of whiskey.

He handed me the whiskey, and said, "This’ll take the chill off."

I took a mighty belt, and then handed it to Jack. He grinned at me, and followed suit. We kept walking, and Jack tried a number of doors and iron gates, but they were all locked. We walked some more. Then, we found a lot of steerage passengers, and we saw Fabrizio with Helga’s family.

"Fabrizio, Fabri!" Jack yelled out. Fabrizio came over, and hugged Jack as if they were brothers.

"The boats are all gone," Fabrizio said.

Jack looked around, and said, "We gotta get up there, or we’re gonna be gargling salt water. Where is Tommy?"

Fabrizio pointed to the crowd that was being packed down on the stair well. Then, I heard from the stairwell, "Women only. No men! Get back! Get back, you lot!" My God, I thought.

Tommy then came down, and said, "It’s hopeless this way."

Jack looked at him, and said, "Well, whatever we’re going to do, we better do it fast."

Fabrizio then went over to Helga, and said, "Come with me."

Helga stepped back with her family, and I held Jack’s hand tighter. Fabrizio took Helga and kissed her. Jack put his hand on his shoulder, and said, "Let's go."

"I will never forget you," Fabrizio said.

Fabrizio turned to Jack, who led us out of the crowd. We looked through all of them, but found that the gates and iron doors were locked. We were all lost, searching through confused passengers. We passed a mother changing her baby’s diaper on top of an upturned steamer trunk. Then, Jack and us came upon a narrow stairwell, and we went up two decks before a small group pressed against an iron gate stopped us. The steerage men were yelling at a scared steward.

Jack went up there, and said, "Open the gate."

"Go back down the main stairwell," the steward said.

"Open the gate right now," Jack said, pointing to him.

Then, the steward said, "Go back down the main stairwell like I told you."

Jack took a look at us and the passengers and he just lost it. He turned around, banging on the gate, saying, "God damn it to hell son of a bitch!"

Then, Jack went down the stairs, grabbed one end of a bench from the floor on the landing...I knew what Jack was doing. I put my arms out, parting the passengers, saying, "Move aside. Quickly, move aside!"

I looked back. Jack, Fabrizio, and Tommy were all holding the bench. "One, two, three!" Jack said, and they ran to the gate, holding the bench to try to open the gate. "Again!" Jack said, and they did it again. Luckily, it opened. They set down the bench, and Jack said, "Come on, Rose."

I held Jack’s hand as we went over the bench. Jack, Fabrizio, Tommy, and I got up to the boat deck. As we got up on deck, almost everybody was still on the boat.

"The boats are gone!" I said. I saw Colonel Gracie, and asked, "Are there any boats?"

The Colonel nodded his head, and said, "Yes, miss...there are still a couple of boats all the way forward. This way. I’ll lead you!"

Jack grabbed my hand, and we sprinted off in front of Gracie, with Tommy and Fabrizio following us. We passed the band, and as we ran, Tommy said, "Music to drown by. Now I know I’m in first class."

We kept on running, and we stopped, but then I saw a crewman. Jack went over to him, and asked him, "Are there anymore boats left?"

He looked around, and said, "Uh, yeah. They're putting people on one over there."

We ran over there as quick as we could, but it just took off.

"Jack, the boats are all gone!"

As we looked around, we saw a boat.

"Wait!" Jack said.

"I’m sorry, sir, but we only have room for one more, not two," the steward said.

Jack looked at me, and said, "Get on."

I shook my head, and said, "No, Jack. No. I will not leave without you."

Then, Cal appeared, and said, "Yes, get into the boat, Rose." He looked at me, took off his coat, and said, "God, look at you. You look a fright," and put his coat on me.

Jack looked at me, and said, "Go on, Rose. Get into the boat."

"No! Not without you."

He looked at me, and said, "Listen, Rose. I’m a survivor, all right? Go on. Get on."

As I went on the boat I held Jack’s hand, and said out loud, "I love you."

He looked at me, and said, "I love you, too, Rosie."

He looked like he was about to cry. I was the same way. As the lifeboat went down more, I flashed back to all Jack and I did together. He had showed me what true love was. Comforted me, saved me from a big mistake. How could I leave my true love? If I stayed on this lifeboat, I would probably never see him again. I stood up, and jumped off.

"Rose!" Jack said.

I fled to the Grand Staircase. Then, I saw him.

"Rose!" We hugged each other. "You're so stupid, Rose. Why did you do that, why?"

I looked at him, and said, "You jump, I jump, right?"

He looked at me, and said, "All right."

"Oh, God. I couldn’t go. Please let me be with you."

"All right, Rose. We’ll figure this out. Don’t worry." He hugged me.

Then, I could see Jack looking at something. As I turned around, I could see Cal, and he was shooting at us. We moved out of the way, and started to go down the stairs. He still was shooting at us as we got down lower. We entered the saloon Jack and I had our first dinner together in, which was filled with water. It almost made me cry to think all of this would be at the bottom of the Atlantic, and I would never see this grand ship, ever again.

"Come on. Come on, Rosie!" he said. Then, we went to a particular place, where there were a lot of chairs floating around. He took me over to that spot, and said, "Stay there until I come and get you."

As I listened carefully, I could hear Jack say, "A little compliment from the Chippewa Falls Dawsons," and I could here Jack punch Lovejoy. Then he came back over to me, and said, "Come on, Rose."

We started to go through the kitchen, and we went down the stairs. We stopped to hear if Cal was still following us.

Then, we heard a child call out, "Dada!"

We looked to the side, and we saw a child. It was all alone. "We can’t leave him," I told Jack.

We ran over to the child, Jack picked him up, and we went out. The child started to cry. Then the father spoke in a different language, and took the child. He picked up the suitcase and started to go the wrong way.

"No, that's the wrong way!" Jack and I said.

Then the door busted down, with water exploding out of it. We started to run.

"Go, Rose! Go!"

The water was right behind us, and I went as fast as I could.

We passed different corridors, and then, suddenly, I felt the pressure of the water sweep me off my feet.

"Jack!" I yelled.

"Rose!" Jack yelled.

I held onto a railing, and Jack did, too, but then I let go. We were swept to a different place, where there was a stairwell. This time I held on. We climbed up the stairs to find that the gate was locked!

"Oh, God," I said, shaking the lock.

Then, a steward was crossing.

"Wait! Help us! Help us, please!"

As the steward started to go up the stairs, he went back down, got his keys out, and started to unlock the gate. Then, he dropped the keys.

"I’m sorry. I dropped the keys," he said.

Jack took a deep breath, and went under the water to find the keys.

"Wait! Go find more help," I said.

I could feel the water rising. Jack went under to find the keys, and he came up with the keys in his hand.

"Which one should I try, Rose?" Jack asked.

"The sharp one. Try the sharp one," I said.

Jack put his hand through the gate, and tried to get the key in the lock.

"Hurry, Jack," I said.

The water rose some more. It was now up to my shoulders.

"Oh, no. It’s stuck!" Jack said.

"Jack! Hurry!"

The water was up to my neck.

"Jack!"

I could barely even talk, since the water was rising. Then, I felt the gate open. I went through it, and under a pipe. I looked behind me, but there was no sign of Jack.

"Jack!" I yelled.

His head came up from the water. We went up the stairs.

As we were going to the boat deck, we saw Mr. Andrews, and I stopped.

"Mr. Andrews, aren’t you going to make a try for it?" I asked him.

"I’m sorry that I didn’t build a stronger ship, young Rose," he said.

"It’s going fast," Jack said, grabbing my hand.

"Wait," Mr. Andrews said, and he handed me his lifebelt. "Good luck to you Rose," he said.

"And to you," I said, and I hugged him.

We went back up to the boat deck. When we entered, we heard the band playing Nearer My God To Thee. As we climbed up the deck a little bit, Jack looked over at the side, and so did I.

He looked at me, and said, "We have to stay on the ship as long as possible. Come on!"

He took my hand, and we climbed up the ship. As we climbed up, I could see people praying, and men and women screaming and crying. As we went up more there seemed to be more panic building. Then, the lights flickered. Everyone screamed. My heart stopped, but the lights came back on. As we got to the top, Jack held tightly to the bar and me. I held him so tightly, and filled him with warmth and love.

Then, I felt a tap on my back. I turned around, and it was a woman.

"Excuse me, miss. If I don’t make it, please give my husband this."

I could tell she was French, and she handed me a piece of paper with a ring attached to it.

I asked, "Can I have your name?"

She looked at me, and said, "It’s on the piece of paper."

I looked at her, and said, "But what if your husband does not make it, and you do?"

She looked down at the deck, and said, "He won’t die, but if he does, I will too."

I nodded my head, and said, "I promise I will give it back to you if you make it, or if you don’t make it, I will give it to him. I promise."

I could see there was a name on the piece of paper, but I just slipped it in Cal’s pocket.

I then looked at Jack, and said, "Jack, this is where we first met."

He kissed my forehead, and held me tighter. Then the ship started to move more. I could almost feel myself slipping from Jack's body. Then the ship went up a little, and I heard a yawning sound coming from under me. As I looked around I could see that the ship was starting to split in two. As the ship started to crack, I could even hear more screaming, crackling, and loud booms.

I heard a mother tell her child, "It will all be over soon, darling. It will be all over soon."

I started to cry for those two. Then the ship went up, like it was still attached a little, because we were going up. Then, suddenly, it fell, and splashed back into the ocean, which made some people fall off the boat. For a minute, I thought that it was just going to stay like that, but then it started to rise up a little.

"Hold on, Rose!" Jack said, as he started to climb over the ship. "Come on, Rose. I’ve got you. Come. I’ve got you."

As I went over the edge with Jack, I felt glad that I succeeded. As he held on to me really tight, the ship began to rise up more. Then, suddenly, it stopped. As I looked over, I saw the woman, and she was holding on with her hands as tight as she could.

"Come over. I’ve got you."

She shook her head, and said, "Tell my husband I love him. Good luck. Good luck."

Before I could say anything else, she let go.

"No!" I screamed.

I looked at Jack, and he kissed me on my forehead, and said, "It’s all right, Rose. She has gone to a better place now."

Then, suddenly, the ship started to go down.

"This is it!" Jack said.

It felt like I was riding an elevator. He held onto my hand very tightly.

"The suction is going to pull us down," Jack said. "Do not let go of my hand. Keep to the surface, and keep kicking. Take a deep breath when I say. Do you trust me, Rose?"

"I trust you," I said.

I could feel water splashing into my face as we got closer to the water.

"Ready? Breathe!" Jack said, and I took a deep breath, and we went down.

It was very blurry under the water, but I still had hold of Jack’s hand. Then I felt Jack kiss me, and I let go of his hand. I looked around for it, and then I got pulled up. I let go of my breath.

"Jack!" I yelled.

I looked around for him, but he was nowhere in sight. "Jack!" I yelled for him again.

I didn’t see him. I started to cry, but then someone pulled me under. It was like the person was using me as a human life raft.

Then he lifted me back up, and I could here someone say, "Hey, get off of her!" and he punched him two times.

It was Jack. I was so glad to see him.

"Jack!" I said.

"Swim, Rose. I need you to swim!" he said, and he grabbed onto my lifebelt as I started to swim.

"It’s so cold," I said.

"Keep swimming," Jack said.

I could see a very big piece of driftwood. We stopped there.

"Get on top of it!" he said.

As I got on top of it, he went to the other side, and got on top of it, too.

As he got over to me, he said, "It will be all right, now."

He started to rub my hands.

"Oh, thank God for you, Jack," I said.

He looked over his shoulder, and said, "The boats are coming back for us, Rose. They just had to move away from the suction, but they will be back."

Time passed, and I was so cold.

"It’s getting quiet," I said.

"It will just take a few minutes to organize the boats," he told me. "I don’t know about you, but I intend to write a strongly worded letter to the White Star Line about all of this."

"I love you, Jack."

He looked at me, and said, "Don’t you do that. Don’t you say your good-byes. Not yet. Do you understand me?"

"I’m so cold. I can’t feel my body," I told him.

"Rose, listen. Listen to me. Listen. Winning that ticket, Rose, was the best thing that ever happened to me. It brought me to you. And I’m thankful, Rose. I’m thankful for that."

I looked at him, and said, "Jack, does this mean the end?"

He shook his head, and said, "Of course not, Rose. This is only the beginning. We're going to ride horses right in the surf, ride on the roller coaster until we throw up. We’ll raise a family, and make lots of babies. This is just one of our adventures, Rose. We're going to look back at this one day, and laugh at it, Rose. We're going to die old, old people, warm in our bed. Not here. Not on this night. Not yet. Do you understand me? You jump, I jump, right?"

He kissed my hand, and we kissed each other. After that moment, I felt more comforted. As I looked up in the sky, I could see lots of shooting stars.

"Do you see them, Rose?" Jack asked.

"Yes. Yes, I do," I told him.

He turned around, and said, "What did you wish for?"

I looked at him, and said, "Something I can surely have."

He smiled at me, and said, "I love you, Rose."

Chapter Six
Stories