Missing

Chapter One

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Chapter One

I was abandoned on the Prinzessin Victoria Luise aged eleven. The ship was on her maiden voyage and had docked at Plymouth. The public were being allowed on board for a short time only, to look around and peruse the amenities on offer. A man in a stripy booth was selling reduced tickets, as the ship was part the way through its voyage.

   Our family of eight were visiting the port when the ship docked. My five siblings and I leant over the dock railings and waved white rags in the air as it drew nearer, churning up white foamy waves.

   We boarded soon after, Mama leading and holding the hand of Aunt Eilís. My hand was gripped by my older sisterFíona and I was hauled a little too eagerly up the gangplank.

   I was the youngest of six. Fíona was second youngest at twelve, Erin older at fourteen, Niallán the youngest boy at seventeen. Then Nóinín, aged twenty and the second eldest and finally Séamus, the eldest at twenty-two. He lived in London, but he had arranged with his employer for a day off to meet us in Plymouth.

   We had been visiting friends of Mam’s. They were wealthy friends and had been talking to Mama about becoming Erin’s benefactors when she reached eighteen. Until then, they had promised to send her birthday and Christmas gifts of a suitable amount. I hadn’t dared ask how she knew them. Their arrogant demeanour was enough to put me off talking altogether.

   Now though, I was strangely excited. I had never been on a ship and the concept of the floating beast thrilled me. The lobby was lavishly decorated; polished mahogany flooring stretched out from beneath my navy sandals like an ocean. A man dressed in a white shirt and bowtie was mixing drinks from behind the bar, throwing the shaker in the air with one hand, spinning and catching it with the other. Potted plants taller than Fíona stood in corner, exuberantly displaying folds of bright green foliage. I wondered briefly how they stayed in one place when the boat was out at sea, but I was soon dragged into the next phase of our tour.

   We came to a balcony overlooking a shining dance hall and we wandered around in awe, watching a couple of young men in crimson waistcoats practising for the evening’s entertainment.

   We entered a library after that and I marvelled all over again, wondering why you would want a library full of books out in the middle of the ocean. If the ship sank, all the lovely books would be ruined, I thought to myself, stroking a finger along the hard backed titles, following the spiralling shelves as they stretched towards a glass ceiling on deck.

   There was even a mini chapel, complete with altar and a vestry.

   Séamus, seeming to know where he was going, lead us to the quarters below decks. The corridors were lined lavishly with green and gold damask wallpaper and red swirling carpet. The rooms were mostly locked, but there was one on the end, empty and unlocked, which we all peered into with eager, hungry eyes. It was a room for the wealthy alright. An unopened champagne bottle sat in an ice bucket on the marble counter. The window was draped in embroidered net curtains and the four-poster bed was curtained in silk.

   Niallán joked and reached for the champagne bottle, but Mama scolded him and dragged him out of the room by his collar. She marched us all out onto the deck, holding both Niallán’s collar and Aunt Eilís’s wrinkled hand. Séamus strode ahead, dictating to us all he knew about the revolutionary cruise ship, pointing out the port hole windows, the braided railing, the exotic wood decking.

   ‘Look, there’s music!’ Nóinín pointed out, leading us into a crowd of people gathered around the stern end of the ship. As we drew nearer, we heard a string quartet, sending sweet, gaudy music into the crisp winter air. I shivered for the first time, as Erin and Niallán pushed their way through. Fíona followed behind, eager not to lose sight of her adored older siblings. Mama and Aunt Eilís scurried round the side to see the band and somewhere in the mêlée, Fíona let go of my hand.

   I didn’t notice at first.

   Until I was stuck in the middle of the crowd, unable to see either the band or my sister. I looked for Séamus, knowing I was bound to see his crop of dark hair above everyone else. But I was boxed in. I tried to listen for Nóinín’s sharp voice, chatting to Mama or scolding Niallán, but the murmur of everyone else’s voice was too much.

   I didn’t panic though. I listened patiently to the music, until the time came when everyone would disperse and I could see Mama or Fíona again.

   The crowd began to evaporate as the music faded and I began to weave my way in and out of the bodies, searching. I broke free of the crowd and looked back, climbing on a pile of buoyancy aids to see better.

   Someone shouted at me to get down and I jumped and ran as I saw someone hurrying towards me angrily. I dived back into the crowd involuntarily and wormed my way all the way through to the railing.

   ‘Mama! Fíona!’ I cried happily, seeing them down on the dock. I waved and Mama looked up, but she didn’t wave back. Fíona didn’t look up at all. Behind her, Séamus was staring dejectedly at the ground and Nóinín had an arm around Erin’s shoulders. None of them looked up at me and I realised why.

   A sudden plume of smoke erupted from the great bowels of the ship and exploded out of the red chimneys. I stared at it and I felt the rumble of the engines starting beneath my feet. I felt the ship lurch forwards and all too soon, the dock was moving away.

   I ran to where the gangplank had been, to where we’d boarded. But it wasn’t there. In it’s place was a man dressed entirely in white, save the emblem on his cap and the belt around his waist.

   ‘Please let me off,’ I wailed.

   He looked at me in surprise. ‘I can’t do that missy. We’re leaving.’

   ‘My Mama’s down there,’ I cried.

   The dock was fading fast. The space between the dock and the boat was becoming inexorably bigger every second.

   ‘I’m sorry, I can’t do anything. Is your father on board?’

   I was incredibly shrewd for an eleven year old.

   ‘Yes,’ I answered placidly. The dock was merely a dark line behind us now, the people mere black marks in the distance. ‘I’m going to miss her, that’s all.’

   The man’s expression relaxed. ‘Alright then, run along. Go find your father now.’

   I ran all the way to the stern, pushing past the dissembling band. I leant over the railing and waved at my disappearing family. No one waved back.