THE SHIP OF DREAMS
Chapter Four
"Coddie Anna!"
"Yes, Nana?" Coddie Anna called
from the bathroom, as she heard her grandmother’s sharp voice. She checked her
makeup in the mirror one last time before scurrying into the suite. Her
grandmother and her mother stood waiting for her, and Cal was outside the door.
"We have to leave now. What was taking
you so long?"
"I was fixing my face," Coddie Anna
replied matter-of-factly. "As you said, Mama."
Rose chuckled. "Well, you look fine.
Grab your coat, dear--we’re going out to breakfast, and then we have to bring
our luggage to the ship. We want to beat the crowds."
Coddie Anna took a deep breath and nodded,
feeling her heart pounding a hundred beats a minute now, as she grabbed her
things and followed her family out the door. They had a ton of luggage to bring
aboard the ship, including Cal’s large, hideous green safe that Coddie had
wanted to toss into the ocean several times. They met Spicer Lovejoy, Cal’s
bodyguard, outside of the hotel, and he gave Coddie Anna a rather cool,
"Hello." Coddie Anna hid behind her mother a bit, watching as Lovejoy
spoke to Cal in private, and the women waited patiently a few feet away.
"What are they talking about,
Mommy?" Coddie Anna whispered.
"I’m not sure, Coddie," Rose
admitted.
Eventually, Cal and Lovejoy came back over to
them, and Cal announced, "Let us get something to eat, and then we’ll head
over to the ship. Does that sound like a plan?" He looked at Coddie Anna,
who could have sworn he smiled at her.
"Sounds all right to me," Ruth told
him. "Come along, dears." She clapped her hands, and Coddie Anna took
her mother’s hand, following close behind.
*****
"Papa!"
Jack mumbled something under his breath when
he heard his daughter’s voice. He only turned over, burying deep under the
covers, too comfortable to climb out of bed. He had no idea what time it was,
and he did not care.
"Is he always this stubborn?" It
was Anastasia now.
"Mostly." Mac clicked her tongue.
"Papa, wake up. You promised you’d take us to the ship early,
remember?" She climbed up onto the bed with him and pulled the covers off
swiftly. Jack’s eyes snapped open with surprise, and he turned his head,
staring at Mac.
"What?" he croaked, rubbing his
face with one hand.
"It’s 7:45. Anastasia and I want to go
and see the ship before we go to breakfast. Oh, please, Papa?"
Jack smirked. "All right, sweetheart.
Let me wake up first and get dressed."
Anastasia giggled. "You would not want
to be out on the street in those." She pointed at his silk pajamas that
Alexandra had given to him while he and Mac stayed at the palace.
He blushed a bit, and nodded. "Well, my
dear, you’re right about that. Girls, make sure everything is packed. Once we
leave, we’re not turning back." He gave his daughter a warning look, and
she nodded.
"We will, Papa."
Jack took out an outfit for the day and
carried it into the bathroom so that he could change, and the girls immediately
set to work making sure they had everything they needed. Anastasia kept her
prized Kodak camera out so she could take pictures of everyone boarding the
ship. "I promised everyone at home that I would," she told Mac, after
putting it over her neck so she could carry it like a pocketbook. Mac smiled.
"You’ll have good pictures to send them,
especially when we get to New York!" She sat on her suitcase until it
clicked, and stood up, nodding proudly. "There, everything’s in. How about
you?"
Anastasia pointed to her suitcase, which was
shut tight also. "Yep!"
"Okay. Now we just have to wait for my
father to finish getting ready and we’ll get to see the Titanic up close!"
Jack soon came out of the bathroom, looking
more refreshed, and made sure he had everything, including the money that the
Tsar had given him for his work, tucked in a safe place, and he and the girls
made their way out of the hotel. Jack paid the owner for allowing them to spend
the night.
"Have a wonderful voyage," the old
woman told them, waving.
"Thank you!" the girls chorused,
and followed Jack outside. The air was icy cold, and they had to draw their
jackets tighter around their bodies to keep out the wind.
"C-cold," Mac shivered, leaning
against her father as she held his hand.
"Oh!" Anastasia suddenly darted
ahead, and Jack and Mac hurried after her, wondering where on earth she was
going.
"Slow down!" Mac sniggered.
"Look!" Anastasia found a little
crest of rocks that led to the beach on one side of the street, opposite the
Titanic, and she held her arms out to her sides, closing her eyes and sticking
out her tongue. "Take a picture of me like this, Mac!" she giggled,
handing her friend the camera. Jack laughed as Anastasia struck the same pose,
looking absolutely ridiculous, and soon a slight poof could be heard as Mac
took the picture.
"Now we ought to get one in front of the
ship," Anastasia added, pointing as they approached the ships’ bow. The
area around the Titanic was empty, but in a few hours, Mac knew it would be
packed with passersby on the street waiting for it to set sail. "Pardon
me, sir." Anastasia stopped a man on the street, who stepped back and bent
down so he could listen to her. "Could you take photo of all of us?"
She motioned to Jack and Mac, who were smiling at each other.
"Of course."
Anastasia handed the man her camera, and then
hurried over to Jack and Mac. Jack lifted Mac into one arm, and Anastasia into
his other, and after the picture was taken, he thanked the stranger and bid him
a good afternoon. "Passengers, eh?" the stranger asked.
"Yes," Jack replied.
"Good luck, man."
"Thanks." Jack nodded and watched
as the stranger walked off. Then he turned back to the girls. "Who is
hungry?" he wanted to know.
"We are!" Anastasia and Mac called
in unison again.
Jack went to step forward but he felt a wave
of dizziness came over him, and he nearly stumbled. If Mac hadn’t caught him by
the arm, he would have fallen. "Are you all right?" Mac asked, once
her father steadied himself. He blinked, and held a hand to his forehead.
"Yeah--I--think so."
"Are you sure?" Anastasia asked,
concerned.
"I just had a dizzy spell. Haven’t had
one in a little bit." He shook his head to clear it. "I’m sorry,
honey."
"That’s okay. Let’s go someplace where
you can sit down quickly." She kept hold on his arm as they headed the
rest of the way to find a restaurant for breakfast.
*****
Callista, Sam, and Michael, who had been
following behind, stared at each other. They had heard that Jack had gotten
very sick at the palace. "I hope he’s really okay," Michael
whispered. "He looked like he was ready to faint."
Sam nodded. "Hmm. Well, let’s go get
some food--I’m starving."
*****
"Three?" a beautiful blonde
waitress at one of the corner pubs asked as Jack and the girls entered.
"Yes, thanks." Jack still felt a
little bit weak and was afraid of experiencing another spell. Mac helped him
sit down, and then she joined Anastasia on the other side, and the girls
accepted the menus.
"Might I start you all off with
something to drink?"
"Hot water with lemon," Anastasia
replied.
"Milk, please," Mac added, much to
her father’s approval.
"I’ll take a cup of coffee. Thank
you," Jack told her.
"Great! I’ll come back in a few minutes
to take your orders." She left, and Jack leaned his head in his hands,
taking a deep, shaky breath. The girls stared at each other and then stared at
him.
"Are you feeling sick?" Mac asked.
"I’m not really sure, honey. I felt fine
when I woke up this morning." He took a sip of coffee and leaned back
against the booth, closing his eyes for a moment. Anastasia looked at Mac with
a shrug, and both girls started drinking from their own cups.
"You always get the same thing,"
Mac teased, pointing at Anastasia’s mug.
"Hot water with lemons?" Anastasia
asked, raising an eyebrow. "So?"
"Doesn’t it get boring?"
Anastasia rolled her eyes and shook her head.
"No, not really."
Jack smiled weakly at the girls. They were
both so opposite in status yet so alike in personality. They were always
playing jokes on people while at the palace, and were called clowns by
everyone. Usually, when Anastasia and Mac were together, everyone made a point
to stay as far away as possible. The girls continued bickering back and forth
over stupid things until the waitress came back to take their orders for
breakfast. Once everyone told her what they wanted, she left again, taking the
menus with her.
"Girls, are you going to argue the
entire time?" Jack asked, startling them.
Anastasia and Mac looked at each other,
eyebrows raised, and then giggled. "Say," Anastasia whispered.
"Do you see those three teenagers a few booths down? They’ve been
following us, I think."
Jack looked over his shoulder, and noticed
the three young adults dressed in black and red, and they seemed to be staring
at them, but then the trio immediately turned away and started gazing out the
window.
"Are you sure?" he asked Anastasia.
"I’ve seen them a few times since we got
off the train. I didn’t want to say anything because I don’t know for
sure."
"Hmm." Jack shrugged. "Who
knows?" He turned back to the girls. "As long as they don’t threaten
us, I wouldn’t worry about it."
Anastasia still looked a little bit
frightened, but she decided that Jack was right, and that she shouldn’t worry
too much, so she went back to eating, and tried to think only about the
Titanic.
*****
Michael, Callista, and Sam stared at each
other after a while. "They suspect something," Michael whispered.
"Do you think they know about us?"
"No, but we have to be very careful or
we’ll frighten her," Callista whispered back. "That’s not our
intention. We’re here to protect her."
"I know that, but they don’t,"
Michael added.
"Shh!" Sam hissed in irritation.
"Maybe if we changed clothing every so
often?" Michael suggested. "That way they wouldn’t be as
suspicious."
Callista shrugged. "That’s not a bad
idea. All black can mean a lot of things."
Sam cocked his head to one side. "What
we have to do is stay out of sight when we’re following them."
The waitress came over to their table and
served them their breakfast, and soon their discussion was pushed aside as they
began eating. Only two more hours, and they would board the Titanic and take
their first trip to America.