Free (Titanic)

Part II

Author's Note: Hey all! I know this part is shorter, but it was the perfect place to stop :)

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When I arrived at the dock that morning, I had to pinch myself to make sure I wasn’t in a dream. I was in awe of the ship. I had read in the newspaper about it being the biggest, grandest ship in the world, but I guess I hadn’t fully comprehended it. Had someone been hovering above the crowd, each person milling about would have looked like the most miniscule of insects. The ship was that big. And it wasn’t just the size that was overwhelming. Clearly the men working in the boiler room meant business, because the smell of coal was thick in the air and strong enough to gag me.

I shut my eyes for a moment and listened to all the chaos surrounding me. The one specific conversation that has stuck with me took place between a third class man and his wife. They were about to go through the health screening checkpoint, and the man was trying his very hardest to avoid it.

“Now God damn it Charlotte, I’m not letting those self-serving jackasses touch me just because they think I might have some disease. They’re not checking first class!”

“But John, you…”

“Shh!!! Don’t you dare speak of it in public!”

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry.” Charlotte’s voice dropped to a near whisper when she said this, and it got much harder to hear her. “If we’re going to do this, can we just get it over with?”

I opened my eyes and watched as the couple walked up the gangway, only to be stopped about halfway up. I could faintly hear one of the White Star Line employees ask to see their receipts from the health check. John was making far too big a concern of it, and Charlotte was pacing from side to side and chewing her fingernails. I couldn’t let this happen to them. This was the Ship of Dreams, and these people deserved to experience it just as much as anyone else.

“John, Charlotte! There you are!” I left Raymond with my mother for a brief moment and ran up the gangway. “I’ve been looking all over for you.” In a brief moment when the employee had his head turned, I mouthed to them, “Trust me.”

“Miss, I do not believe this is any concern of yours,” said the employee.

“I’m so sorry for the misunderstanding sir. I’m a first class passenger and these are my servants. I thought they were behind me and my mother, but I guess they got lost in the crowd. There are an awful lot of people here today.”

The employee gave me a suspicious look, and then shifted his glance to John and Charlotte. “I suppose that’s alright then. Get them off this gangway and take them down to the first class entrance. And I suggest you and your mother keep better track of your things. Not everyone on this ship is going to be and lenient as me.”

I nodded. “I understand, sir. I won’t let it happen again.” I got in front of John and Charlotte and led them back to Raymond and my mother. She welcomed me with the same suspicious look as the employee.

“That man wasn’t going to let them on the ship, Mom. I just couldn’t let that happen. This voyage is supposed to be grand and wonderful and every other adjective of luxury, and I wasn’t going to let some arrogant employee take that away from them, White Star Line or not.”

I turned around to face John and Charlotte, the latter of whom was simultaneously crying and shaking. “Oh, thank you so much dear. Thank you,” she said. Before I knew it, her arms were around my neck and she was hugging me.

John’s response was a bit more gruff. “Thanks,” he said in a deep voice. I noticed that every few moments he would try to suppress a cough, and would actually turn away from me when he did it. The only time he didn’t was when Raymond took him by surprise and wrapped his little arms around John’s leg. John was caught by surprise and coughed several times in a row, all of which were in close proximity to Raymond.

“I’m so sorry, it’s just that he’s quite curious with strangers.” I untangled Raymond from John’s leg and apologized again.

“It’s okay, sweetheart.” Charlotte’s gaze fell upon the first class gangway. “Well, it looks like it’s time to board. Hopefully we’ll cross each other’s paths again sometime this week. Thank you again, Miss Brown.”

“Not a problem at all, ma’am. Just follow behind me, my mom and my son until we get on board, then the two of you can head down to E-deck.” I took Raymond’s hand and led the group up the gangway. We were met with no problems, and even had employees ready to carry our luggage to our cabins for us. I waved at John and Charlotte as they headed down to their own deck, wondering if our paths would ever cross again.