UNDERCOVER on the TITANIC (book 1)

Part 36 - Charlotte

'No, my name is not Alice,' the girl snapped. 'It is Charlotte, and who are you, and what are you doing in here?'

Denny grimaced. 'The head steward let us in.  I'm Sir Saint Denny.'

'No, you aren't,' she said firmly. 'Sir Archie Saint Denny is my uncle and he just took my brother down to the swimming pool.' She stared at Denny. 'You do look a bit like him though but your moustache is smaller.'

Denny looked at her glumly for a moment. 'Ah, I guess the gig is up. My name is Denny Vernier and these are my, er, friends, Licia, Miguel and Ziff.  We are not supposed to be here.'

'Stowaways! How exciting,' she exclaimed. 'Ziff? You did say Ziff. That is an unusual name.' She regarded Licia sceptically.   'You look like a Chinaman.  Are you Chinese?'

'No,' Licia protested. 'I'm Canadian.'

'Oh! I thought you were Americans. You really do have peculiar accents.'

'Stowaways? I, uh, suppose we must be,' Denny replied. 

Charlotte dropped suddenly to her knees. 'Oh, what a jolly little doggie,' she giggled as she looked at Pacman. 'What's his name?'

'It's a cat,' Miguel dead-panned, 'and she answers to Pacman.' Pacman managed to look disgusted as Charlotte peered at him. 

'What kind of a name is that? She asked huffily. 'And, he is neither a she, nor a cat. Cats have pointy ears and she's don't have you-know-whats. Can I keep him?'

'You'll have to ask him,' I told her. 'Pacman is very particular.' 

'Poor little thing,' Charlotte gushed. 'He looks so thirsty.' She rushed from the room and returned with a large porcelain pot like a giant coffee cup with two handles. She had to balance it on its side so that Pacman could stick his head inside to drink the water it contained. 'It's a chamber pot,' she explained, 'but it hasn't been used.'

'Charlotte, I don't suppose you would have something to eat,' Miguel said. 'I haven't had a chocolate chip cookie for hours.'

Charlotte stared. 'Cookies? What are they?'

'He means biscuits,' Licia explained.

'I'm afraid I have nothing to eat but dinner will be served soon, so we can all go to the dining room.' She looked at us disapprovingly. 'But not in those dirty workmen's clothes. You will have to dress for dinner. And you must wash your faces first.'

We took turns in the bathroom washing the soot off our hands and faces and then Charlotte led us to an adjoining room where she rummaged in several large trunks and a number of chests of drawers and extracted trousers shirts and jackets belonging to her uncle and brother.

Fortunately, Licia and I were about the same size as Charlotte's brother and Miguel was able to wear one of her uncle's suits by folding up the trouser cuffs. While Denny, Miguel and I were trying on shirts Licia asked to use the bathroom. Charlotte went with her to show her how to use the toilet. It did not flush in the normal manner she explained but had a vacuum valve. 

They had gone only for a minute when there was a shriek of laugher as they rushed from the washroom and pushed passed us.

'Licia is a girl! Charlotte giggled. 'We're going to find a nice frock for her. This is the most fun I have had since we left England. Ships are very boring once you have found your way around.'

Still giggling they rushed into Charlotte's bedroom and just before the door closed Licia looked back mouthing what looked like 'Help!' 

Miguel, Denny and I figured out how to button our trousers. There were no zippers. And Denny showed Miguel and me how to attach separate stiff collars to our shirts using ingenious little collar studs. He also had to knot our ties for us as neither of us had ever worn a tie before. We all had to wear our track shoes as none of the shoes fitted our feet. Charlotte rejoined us sometime later still giggling. She was accompanied by a beautiful Asian girl wearing a very red lipstick and attired in a long yellow silk dress that Charlotte called a frock. Her long black hair was elegantly piled up on top of her head. 

Miguel and I stared in amazement, until we recognized Licia.

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