My Clarity

Chapter twenty two

"What is it?" Rose mumbled, scraping back a tangled curtain of hair from her face.

At first Jack’s face was disembodied in the darkness, but as Rose's eyes adjusted, the rest of him became dimly visible.

“I don’t know, it sounds like a gunshot.”

“But I felt the very walls tremble.”

"I smell smoke," Jack said.

Such words were never used lightly, nor could they ever be dismissed without investigation. Fire was an ever-present concern no matter where one lived. It could start in any number of ways, from overturned candles, lamps, sparks that leaped from the hearth or embers from coal-burning ovens. And fire aboard a ship this large would be nothing less than disaster, but it was also, seemingly unheard of.

Struggling from the bed, Rose hunted for the clothes which had been discarded during Jack’s exploration of her body.

‘’Here, you stay. Do not move from here, not until I return. Get yourself dressed in the warmest--’’ Jack paused, seeing that she wore only her night gown as he pulled his own shirt over his head. ‘’Did you fetch more things?’’

‘’Yes, just a small bag; a few dresses, a coat and a shawl with a hat, gloves and shoes.’’

‘’Dress yourself as you can. Take any garments which you may need from my wardrobe and do not move, all right?’’

Jack’s voice was laced with far more shudders than he cared for, and he felt Rose nod as he kissed her weary head.

‘'Could a fire do much damage to a ship of this size? But that couldn’t explain such a noise, could it?’’

‘’I don’t know what it could do.’’

Jack moved to the door which such a purpose and glanced out at the corridor. People moved about, as though there wasn’t really a care in the world and then, the odd steward would dash past with a shifting eye and an averted gaze. It was well past midnight, late enough for passengers to be asleep in their rooms well past now.

Turning back on the threshold, Jack watched her stood alone clad in white in the centre of his room. His heart was right there with her.

“Only flee if you must for your safety.”

“Yes,” her eyes were large and frightened but as he kissed her forehead, he savoured every scent of her.

Jack marched out into the corridor and went towards the centre of life aboard the ship. Reaching the top of the Grand Staircase, Jack sniffed hard but could detect nothing other than the familiar accumulation of cleanliness, fresh paint and faint scent of dinner which had finished a couple of hours before.

“I don't smell any smoke." Beside him, Molly Brown joined him upon the bottom step, with tired, dark eyes and a large hat to shield from her face. “Folk gotta be all tangled up out here for nothing.”

"Your nose isn't awake. Try again." Jack told her.

This time there was a definite taint of something burning. Alarm speared through her.

‘’What in God’s name is happening here?’’

‘’I don’t know, Molly, but I pray that we will find out soon enough.’’ Jack noted the casual sitting of passengers on the chaise across from the staircase. How people were so very calm. How this was like a strange and warped dream from which one expected to awake from soon.

"Mr. Andrews!" The whip-crack force of her voice caused Jack to jump. He gripped her arm to steady her, as the master shipbuilder approached them with eyes darker than smoke itself.