A VOYAGE TO REMEMBER
Chapter Seven
The pair quietly walked into the
Grand Staircase area. Their once visible breath disappeared. The glass dome
revealed the stars. Isolde stared up, still amazed at the incredible work of
the ship. Harold smiled down at her. She returned the gesture. Their footsteps
were softened by the lush carpet. A first class man, the one who had been rude
to Isolde on the first day, looked at the pair with disgust written on his
face.
"Are you even allowed in
here?" he sneered.
The happy, relaxed mood instantly
disappeared. Isolde felt Harold tense against her. He took an angry step
towards the man. He obviously knew who Mr. Hockley was. The first class
passenger just laughed at his antics. Harold tried to take another step
forward, but Isolde placed a hand on his arm. He reluctantly stepped back and
pulled Isolde towards the lift, Hockley's laughter following them.
"Coward!" he called
after the two.
Lowe tried to turn around, but
Isolde looked up at him with wide eyes. He let out a deep breath and calmed
down. Isolde was happy to see the gentlemanly side of him again. Harold
continued towards the lift, ignoring Mr. Hockley, who had just stopped
laughing.
As they stepped into the lift,
Isolde recognized the young man who had stared at her earlier. He made sure to
keep his eyes to himself. As the lift came to a stop, Harold smiled and offered
his arm to Isolde. She curtsied and played along with his game. The two stepped
off arm-in-arm and went towards her room. As they reached the door, Harold
reached out to brush a strand of hair from her face. He bent down and gently
kissed her cheek.
"I believe this is
yours," Isolde whispered, shrugging off the coat. She handed it back to
him. "Will you be off this time tomorrow?"
Harold sadly shook his head.
Isolde sighed, thinking this might be their last meeting.
"Don't look so grim,"
he said with a laugh. "I'm off from noon until four."
Isolde smiled up at him, the
worry gone from her eyes. "Where do you want to meet?"
"I'll bring lunch," he
said after a moment's thought. "Just meet me at the stern at 12:30."
Isolde nodded and got up on her
tiptoes to reach his lips. She smiled against them. Harold made it a bit deeper
and almost lifted her off the ground. He suddenly looked at his pocket watch
and saw the time.
"I have to go," he
said, giving her another quick kiss. "I'll see you tomorrow!"
Isolde nodded and saw him hurry
down the hallway, coat in hand. She placed a hand over her lips. It was as if
they were on fire. She leaned against the wall and suddenly opened the door to
her room. Flynn and Aine were fast asleep. Shamus was sprawled on the bottom
bunk.
Too tired to change, Isolde
silently kicked off her shoes and set them in her suitcase, which was next to
the bunk. She dropped her shawl off as well. As Isolde tried to climb onto the
top bunk, it creaked and Shamus stirred beneath her. She silently cursed under
her breath.
"Where've you been?"
Shamus grumbled with a slur. He half sat up.
Isolde dropped to the floor and
looked at him. "I went for a bit of fresh air."
"You shouldn't have been by
yourself," he said, now more awake/ "You never know what could
happen."
"Oh, don't be so
worried," she said, laughing softly. She could smell the heavy alcohol on
his breath. "I was fine. No need to fret."
Shamus looked at her closely and
then nodded. Before he could say another word, he fell back onto the bed, out
cold. Isolde let out the breath she was holding and quickly climbed to the top
bunk. She turned on her side while leaning against the soft pillow. She gently touched
her face where Harold had kissed her. She couldn't wait for tomorrow. It seemed
as if it would be an eternity until she saw him again.
*****
Meanwhile, Harold was back in his
quarters and changing quickly into his officer's attire. He shoved his hat on
and walked out on deck. As he stood in front of the window that revealed the
sea, Murdoch stepped behind him while shaking his head. Lowe didn't notice at
all what Murdoch and the other officers were hiding their smiles at. He chose
to ignore it and could only think of this new young woman he had met.
The officers continued to laugh,
for Lowe's hat was on backwards, and in his rush to come to duty, he had
managed to put his shoes on the wrong feet. The officers let him stay that way,
not wanting to ruin his unusually good mood.