JACK'S ROSE
Chapter One
"Ah…sir, I don't think you'll find any
of yours down here. It's all steerage," one of the crewmen said. Curiosity
overtook Rose's weakness and fatigue, and she turned to see who the man was
talking to.
Fear seized Rose with ice cold hands as she
saw him.
Caledon.
His clothes were tattered and hair
wind-blown.
He looked over the grief-ridden faces of this
"lesser half" of the passengers that had survived, not finding
what—who he was looking for.
Rose pulled the plaid blanket tightly around
her face. He would not find her. He could not find her. She had fought to
escape them, and she would never go back. Not after she'd come this far.
Finally, Cal turned with a heavy sigh and
gave up his search. Rose inhaled a deep breath of relief as he climbed the
stairs and returned to his world. That world that had been hers once. But no
more, Rose. She was no longer one of them.
Crying pulled her out of her thoughts. And
that surprised her. For the past day, she had heard crying all around her.
Mothers wailing for their lost children, wives crying for their lost husbands,
children calling for their lost parents—herself moaning for her Jack to suddenly
appear before her. But this crying seemed to reach out and grab her heart.
Rose stood. She swayed for a brief moment,
but soon steadied herself. She took a quick satisfaction in herself. It was the
first time she had stood on her own since she had last been clutching the rails
of that doomed ship...with Jack. Oh, God! Jack.
But she forced herself to forget that. Forget
that for a brief moment. Rose looked around her for the crying that seemed to
be somehow connected to her own soul. And soon, she found it. A young girl was
huddled against a crate, a single blanket wrapped around her. Her dark curls
spilled from under the blanket. Rose studied the girl for a moment.
“You're still my best girl, Cora,” Jack
said as he and Rose moved together.
“I can't do this,” she said, unsure of
herself.
“We're gonna have to get a little bit
closer. Like this,” he said, pulling her close to him and smiling.
Rose's heart raced with the thrill of
being this close to him. Raced with the thrill of being in his arms. “I don't
know this dance!” she exclaimed as he began to swing her around.
“Neither do I! Just go with it—“
Rose pushed the memory of the loud, joyful
party out of her head and knelt beside the girl. She hesitated for a moment,
but forced herself to reach out and gently touch the girl's face. The girl
jumped and looked at Rose with tear-stained, grief-ridden eyes.
"Are you all right?" Rose asked
tenderly, though it was a silly question to ask any soul aboard that day.
"My da! He told me he'd find me!
Da!" she cried, throwing herself into Rose's arms.
Rose gently stroked the girl's hair.
"It'll be all right, Cora. I'm going to take care of you."
Cora suddenly looked up at Rose, her tears
momentarily subsiding. "You're Jack's Rose!" she exclaimed.
"Jack's Rose," Cora repeated quietly, touching the woman's crimson
curls. She gazed up at Rose.
A sad smiled crossed Rose's lips. Jack's
Rose, she thought. Jack's Rose.