AN UNEXPECTED TURN
Chapter Twelve
As they rowed away Gwen couldn't
fight the tears anymore, she broke out into silent sobs. This had to all be a
horrible nightmare. Maybe she was still laying in Will's arms, having a
horrible nightmare. One that she would wake from soon. All around her she heard
the crying of women, they were right beside her and yet it seemed so far away.
The ship seemed to get smaller and smaller as they rowed away from it. Away
from the nightmare, away from the people who would die, away from her father,
and away from Will.
When they were as far away as
possible, but with the ship still clearly in view they stopped. As if they were
just going to sit there and watch as the ship with their loved ones went down.
She looked slightly and saw two other boats floating close by. They too were
watching the great ship go down.
Just then there was a loud noise,
Gwen somehow managed to look at the ship and saw as it cracked and then began
to go up into the air. She closed her eyes at the sounds of the screaming
people, the people who were still holding onto the ship for life. Somehow she
knew what would happen next, not knowing if this knowledge would come from the
discussions she had enjoyed with Will or her talks with her father. She opened
her eyes to see the ship going into the water. All the way in, the last thing
that she heard before the submerging of the ship was the screams from the
people who were still on the great Titanic. As she watched she thought back to
something Bruce had said.
"This maiden voyage of
Titanic must make headlines!"
Oh this would make headlines
alright, and he would be one of the number one men blamed for it. She was
pulled from her thoughts though at the sounds of the splashing water and the
screams for help.
"Please help us! Save one
life! Just save one if you have to!" a voice cried out.
Then she heard it, a whistle. And
then a voice.
"RETURN THE BOATS!" the
officers voice cried out over the sea.
"Father..." she managed
to whisper.
"Pardon miss?" a woman
from beside her asked.
"That was my father! You have
to return the boats now!" she said suddenly, which was the most talking
she had done before witnessing Will's death.
"Shut up! We can't go back!
They'll all swamp the boat!" the officer who was on the boat yelled.
"That was a order from my
father! Henry Wilde! He is the chief officer, right now he's in command! You
have to obey!" Gwen cried.
"I don't care who your
father is or who that was shouting! It's our lives now! Not theirs," the
man replied.
Gwen looked at him like he was
crazy. She settled back down as she listened to her fathers voice.
"Daddy..." she
whispered softly.
Gwen had not called her father by
the name daddy since she was ten years old. But tonight she was so terrified
and in being so frightened she was forced to use the name. The name that she
would always cry for when she was scared or when he was away on a ship. But
now, here at seventeen years old she was crying for her daddy. Just then she
heard the voice of a welsh-man ordering the boats all be brought together.
"Right now I want to
transfer all of the women from this boat into that one as quick as you
can!" the voice ordered.
She looked at the man and knew
him as Harold Lowe. The man that had been at lunch with Will that first day on
the ship. His boat was emptied about thirty minutes later, with the exception
of the officers that were on the boat.
"I want to go with
you," she said finally before they began to row towards the dead bodies.
"What? No miss you need to
stay here," Harold replied.
"My father is out there and
I could help! I need to go with you!" Gwen protested.
"Miss. Wilde I understand
that you are worried about your father but we can't bring you along. You would
just get in the way! Now stop wasting our time and let us go!" he shouted.
Gwen sat there, completely taken
aback. Then she was just quiet as she watched the boat row away, towards the
sea of bodies. For the entire time that Harold was gone she remained silent,
not looking at anyone, and not talking. By now her thoughts has wandered back
to the moment she heard her father yell 'No Will!' to when she looked and saw
Will shoot himself. And she couldn't help but to continue asking herself this
question, Why? Will had told her he loved her, why would he of given up like
that? Why?!
About an hour later the boat
returned, with only three people who had been rescued. Gwen searched the three
people's faces and sunk back into her seat. It wasn't her father, her father
had died. Just as Will had done. For the next two hours everyone was silent,
all in shock that the great Titanic was now at the bottom of the ocean. Not
really wanting to believe it, but they all knew it was true. Some had their
husbands or fathers with them. Some just knew that they had gone down with the
ship, or were now frozen. Just a little ways up ahead. But for Gwendolyn Ann
Wilde she knew exactly where her father and her loved one was. Her father had
frozen to death (which Lowe had confirmed) and the man she loved most in the
world had shot himself. Suddenly she was pulled from her thoughts. Not being
able to close her eyes, not once. She looked behind herself and saw a ship
pulling up to them. On the side in big yellow letters read the name; CARPATHIA.
They were now saved from these lifeboats. But no ship could save Gwen from the
memory. The horrible memory of seeing Will commit suicide. There was nothing on
this earth, that would ever wipe that from her mind. The boat she was on was
the first to start unloading the passengers and up onto the ship. She was the
last one, with some assistance she managed to climb up the ladder and onto the
ship.
After about three hours, all of
the lifeboats were emptied. The deck of this ship was now crowded with people
of all sorts. She was handed a blanket, she wrapped it around herself and then
she sat down. Not wanting to talk to anyone, or be recognized.
She still remained awake, not
wanting to listen to the cries of people who were searching for their loved
ones.
"Excuse me miss, could I get
your name?" somebody asked.
Gwen looked up at him.
"Gwendolyn Wilde
Murdoch," she muttered.
"Sorry?" the officer
asked.
"Gwendolyn Wilde
Murdoch," she said again.
The officer scribbled the name on
his list.
"Thank you miss," he
said.
He stood up and went to another
person who was on the deck. Gwen let out a sigh as another tear fell, knowing
full well that this would not be the last of the tears.