JOHN AND MIRIAM
Chapter Twenty-Four
Three evenings later, John sat in one of the
third class cabins watching the girls sleep. Both were clad in borrowed clothes
belonging to other small girls. They were curled up in the lower bunk with
Allegro snuggled between them, his back pressed against Mary and his head on
Nadia's chest.
John smoothed a bit of hair out of Mary's
face, then put a comforting hand on Nadia's shoulder as she whimpered and
mumbled in a strange language. Allegro awoke, licked Nadia's face, then
snuggled back between the two girls, tail thumping.
John looked at the children, relieved and
almost disbelieving that Mary was still with him. When he had taken her to the
infirmary three days earlier, the doctor had wrapped his ribs, and then examined
both Mary and Nadia carefully. Nadia had been found to be in perfect health,
but Mary had developed a slight cough that the doctor wanted to keep an eye on.
Within a few hours the cough had turned into
pneumonia. John had sat beside her as the little girl tossed and turned with a
high fever, struggling to breathe. Nadia had refused to leave her side, wailing
whenever John had tried to take her away to get some rest. Finally, he had
allowed her to stay, since she didn't seem to be in much danger of catching the
disease. Allegro had curled up at Mary's feet, occasionally crawling up to her
face to lick it. The doctor had tried to remove the dog, but after being nipped
with sharp puppy teeth, he had simply pulled the curtain around the bed and
allowed the animal to stay, out of sight of the other patients.
John, Nadia, and Allegro had kept watch
throughout the night and into the next morning, with Nadia finally falling
asleep in John's lap.
Toward noon, Mary's fever finally broke, and
she awakened around two o'clock, confused, hungry, thirsty, and with a sore
throat. She saw the concerned faces staring at her--her father, Nadia, and the
dog--and promptly burst into tears.
Mary had stayed in the infirmary for two more
days, until early this afternoon. The doctor had declared her strong enough to
leave, if not fully recovered. The ship was going to dock soon, and Mary needed
to join her family.
John went to the porthole window in the cabin
and looked out. A light could be seen on the horizon, which soon grew to a
whole city of lights. They were about to dock.
John walked around the room, picking up their
few belongings--Mary's and Nadia's clothes, Allegro's leash, and a small toy
that had been in Nadia's pocket. The clothes had dried now, except for one
small spot on Mary's dress, by the pocket. John put his hand in the pocket,
wondering if Mary might have put something in there.
He pulled out a wad of green paper. Startled,
he looked closer, verifying that it was, indeed, money. Where Mary had gotten it,
he had no idea, but he knew he needed to return it to its owner, no matter how
tempting it was to keep it.
John glanced at the two girls, then decided
that it wouldn't hurt to count the money. Perhaps the owner would be glad to
get it back and would offer some of it as a reward.
The money was in American dollars, mostly
hundreds and twenties, with a few ones scattered inside. John felt several hard
objects inside the wad, and opened it to see what they were. There were several
coins inside, a few British, a few American, and a few German. John frowned as
he saw a two tailed American silver dollar. Hadn't Miriam had a coin like that?
He spread out the bundle, and a small gold
locket fell from it. Inside was a water-damaged picture of a woman who resembled
Miriam. Something was written on the back of the last bill. John looked at it
closely.
If you are reading this now, it probably
means that I am dead. Please tell my parents what happened to me, as they may
not recognize my new last name. Show them this locket and the two-tailed silver
dollar as proof. Keep the money. I can no longer use it.
Miriam Anders Calvert, 1:02 AM, April 15,
1912
An address for an upper class neighborhood
was written below the note. John was stunned. Miriam must have tucked the money
into Mary's pocket before putting her in the lifeboat. Counting it carefully,
he realized that it was the money left after purchasing their tickets on the
Titanic. There was well over 3,700 dollars here. John wasn't sure of the value
of a dollar compared to a pound, but he knew that there was more than enough
money to get them started in America.
Tucking the money into one pocket, and the
silver dollar and locket into another, John woke the girls to dress them in
their own clothes.
The ship was approaching the dock.