hiraeth

eleven

xi. Enne

They decide to test their luck again with being tourists.

"Enne, Enne, listen to this." Nia holds up her fake boarding pass and recites the description in a British accent: "'Elizabeth Shutes. First class passenger. Age: forty. Residence: Greenwich, Connecticut. If you had money like my employer had, it was customary to have a governess on the household staff. That was me, Elizabeth Shutes, governess to 19-year-old Margaret Graham, daughter of co-founder of the Dixie Cup Company.'"

"Ooh, governess!" Enne exclaims. "She's important or whatever."

Peter bites back a laugh at Nia's enthusiasm. "Forty. I could see it." She smacks him lightly with the paper.

"What's yours?" she challenges, making a grab for his.

"Woah, hold on a sec." Peter flips over the printed card and begins reading. "Let's see. 'Eva Hart. Second class passenger. Age: seven. Residence: London, England. I was an impressionable seven-year-old girl when I boarded Titanic. It all seemed magical to me, like a palace where I lived as a fairy princess." He ignores Nia's snickers. "'My name is Eva Hart, and I'm pleased to meet you. I'm with my father and mother, and we're going to Winnipeg, Canada, where father plans to work.'"

"Wow, she was so young," says Enne, wondering just how terrifying it would have been to face such tragedy at seven. "I can't believe these were real people."

Nia merely laughs triumphantly. "I'm a first class passenger. Suck it, fairy princess."

"At least I'm not a middle-aged caretaker." Peter tucks his pass into the pocket of his jeans. Nia had bought him a change of normal clothes at a thrift store, much to Peter's chagrin and Enne's surprise.

"I'm a governess," Nia emphasizes indignantly.

The waiting line outside the entrance crawls forward now that the employee has explained what the boarding passes are.

Enne reads hers to herself while Peter and Nia debate if it would be better to be Elizabeth or Eva.

Ms. Lucile Carter. First class passenger. Age: thirteen. Residence: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania-

"I'm a child!" Peter bursts. "Therefore, I would get on the lifeboat faster!"

Nia fumes. "No. No, you wouldn't! You know why?"

"Let's hear it."

"Because I'm a first class passenger woman with an important occupation!"

Hello. I hope you don't mind being accompanied on your tour by a very proper young lady from Pennsylvania. I'm Miss Lucile Polk Carter, and I come from a very long line of Philadelphia blue bloods-

"-but think about how much lighter I would be than you as a seven-year-old!"

"Yeah, and think about how effortlessly I could push you off the damn ship, and don't get me started on-"

My father and mother are very social creatures. They love arranging parties that bring power players together-

Enne casually dodges a kick from Nia directed at Peter, slipping by the two without looking up.

My younger brother, William, and I are family show pieces, often paraded about on such occasions...

"Ticket?" the employee requests.

Enne stops reading and produces her actual ticket to the Titanic Museum. "Here you go." She folds her arms over her chest. "Peter. Nia."

The two pause their scuffle behind her, with Nia grabbing Peter by the collar and Peter's face way too close to hers. They jump apart so quickly, Enne can't help but lift the corner of her mouth.