TRAPPED!
Chapter Five
As soon as the guests left, the
whole house tensed up. Rose hated the silence. She hated everything about her
life.
"More pictures?"
stuttered Cal; he turned to Ruth, who was just as angry as he was.
"I didn’t know about
these," said Rose truthfully. She felt like she was on trial and heading
for execution. She braced herself in case Cal decided to hit her, but to her
surprise, he kept his cool.
"Rose, sweetpea," he
said in a strained voice, "this picture of you two on the railing--it
didn’t happen, did it?"
Rose shook her head quickly.
"No," she lied, fearing that if she answered truthfully Cal would
explode.
"Good." He walked over
to her slowly. "You should go to bed. You have a long day ahead of you."
Quickly, Rose rushed to her room,
listening to the quiet voices outside that belonged to Cal and her mother.
"What are we going to do,
Cal?" asked Ruth, her voice desperate. "I thought he was in prison.
We can’t let anyone find out about him and Rose--"
"I know." Cal cut her
off. "Look. Everything is fine. Rose will soon forget about him."
Never! thought Rose angrily.
"And the marriage is going
ahead as planned," continued Cal. She could hear him pacing restlessly.
"Besides, I doubt anyone would believe the fool if he even mentioned
anything about their brief…well..." His voice trailed off. "Don’t
worry, Ruth," he said sharply. "Everything is fine. He is out of the
picture."
*****
Molly Brown frowned as she
watched Rose from the other side of the table. Something was definitely wrong,
very wrong...she remembered only weeks before when she had caught Rose on the
balcony. Like the young woman had wanted, she had kept it a secret, but it was
weighing on her conscience heavily. As soon as the rest of the guests left, she
decided to get Ruth alone and talk to her.
"Hey, Ruth, darlin’. Do ya
think we can talk?" she asked quietly, leading her into an empty room.
Ruth followed, somewhat slowly,
before closing the door behind them. "Whatever do you want, Molly?"
she asked in a quiet yet threatening voice.
That, however, wouldn’t stop
Molly. "I came to talk to you about Rose. Ruth, she is miserable!"
For a moment, Ruth’s eyes
narrowed. She forced a laugh. "Nonsense, Molly. Rose is happier than she’s
ever been before. Everyone knows that."
Molly shook her head. "No,
everyone thinks that this Jack is who she loves."
Confronted with her worst fears,
Ruth looked ready to attack. "Nonsense," she said firmly. "Rose
is engaged to Cal. She loves Cal. And you…" She pointed a finger rudely at
Molly. "…will bring up nothing of their silly, brief affair." She
shuddered as she said the word, but she looked so serious and held Molly under
such a piercing stare that for the first time in her life, Molly Brown felt
intimidated and said nothing.
*****
Jack concentrated hard on the
portrait of Rose he was drawing. He had many of them already--each one so real
that he felt like he could walk into it. Yet he still couldn’t help but draw
her. He smiled as he finished it, then folded it carefully but quickly, for
something had caught his eye.
"Ma’am, wait!" he
yelled, running after the well-dressed woman, wishing he knew her name.
"Hey! Wait!"
The woman swung around, but when
she saw who it was, her face relaxed a bit and she said, "Oh…um…hello, Mr.
Dawson."
Jack tried to stand up
straighter, feeling self-conscious. "Sorry to bother you," he said
quietly, "but I was just wondering--do you know Rose?" He’d been
thinking about it ever since he’d met her.
"Why, yes," said the
lady. She replied rather stiffly, as if it were none of his business, but there
was a small smile on her face.
"Could you give her
this?" he asked, handing her the folded piece of paper. "Er…in
private, do you think?" He didn’t want Cal or Ruth to find out.
Mrs. Bernard gazed the handsome
but poor young man before her and found herself replying, "Why, yes. Of
course."
*****
"Rose, I’d like to talk to
you in private." Mrs. Bernard had been waiting all day for this chance.
Rose glanced at Cal and her
mother. She knew they wouldn’t want her around Lucy Bernard after she had
mentioned Jack, but they were too busy chatting. Quickly, she beckoned for Lucy
to follow her into an empty corridor.
"Well, Rose," said
Lucy, "I have something for you from the young man, Jack." She handed
her the folded piece of paper, still folded.
Rose took it slowly. "Thank
you, Lucy," she said, almost breathless.
Lucy realized that Rose wanted to
be alone and quickly turned to leave. As soon as she was gone, Rose carefully
unfolded the paper. On it was a stunning drawing, the best Jack had ever done.
They were on the Titanic, Jack embracing her tightly, both smiling, so
happy...Rose remembered that moment, only minutes before the ship had struck
the iceberg. Above it their song was written, and below that, four simple
words, full of meaning. I love you, Rose. Rose took a deep breath and
held the picture against her heart, wishing it were Jack instead.
*****
Rose wrapped her shawl around
herself tightly as the chilly air bit at her exposed skin, making her shiver
all over. She knew she was going to pay dearly for what she was doing if Cal
and her mother found out--and chances were they would. But she couldn’t help
herself. She had to find Jack. She just had to. She couldn’t remain trapped
like this anymore. She searched the streets for hours, but found no sign of
him. She knew that she had been out too long, but she didn’t care. She had to
find Jack. She had to! Suddenly, a sound caught her attention--music--familiar
music. But not the boring songs she had always listened to. No, this was
similar to the music she and Jack had once danced to at the steerage party on
the Titanic, warm and fun. She stood for a moment, gazing at the bar from which
it came.
*****
As soon as Rose opened the door
and stepped inside, the whole bar went quiet, just as the steerage party had
done. Some people whispered, while many others gazed at her in awe--they had
never seen anyone like Rose there. Soon, however, the room began to get louder,
until once again people were talking, laughing, and dancing to the music. Rose
sat down by herself and watched as the people danced. She began to clap to the
sound of the music, smiling, really smiling, for the first time in months.
Half an hour later, Rose was
dancing with everyone else. They were all so nice and friendly that she was
accepted straightaway. For a long time, she danced. The only thing that would
have made the night better was Jack.
*****
By the time she left the bar, it
was early morning. She yawned, tired, and looked around. Jack had to be here
somewhere. A few people in the bar had said they knew him, but they hadn’t been
able to show her where he was.