Ice & Iron (Titanic)

Chapter 6

As the afternoon wore on, I explored more the ship, staying within the First Class headquarters. I never realised how large First Class was, settled right in the middle of the ship. There were restaurants, cafes, a heated swimming pool which I knew was the first heated pool on a ship like this, squash court, gymnasium, barber, Turkish baths and private massage room.

If I went outside, I walked along the decks, out on the bow and the stern. Many passengers from all three classes were wandering around. Out on the stern, I talked to three girls who had all met each other in Second Class the day before. Annie was tall and on the voyage with her family, she was sixteen, like me. Hazel was nineteen and travelling by herself. And Ellen was also here with her family, which included her parents and two younger twin brothers.

"Who are you with on the voyage?" Hazel asked.

"With my mother and stepfather," I replied, and hesitated before saying. "But my stepfather is an officer on the ship." I decided to tell them as we are in different classes.

"Really!" Annie exclaimed. "That's so cool."

"Who?" asked Ellen.

"First Officer Murdoch," I answered.

"That's amazing," said Hazel. "So if he's your stepfather, what happened to your real dad?"

"He left when I was a baby," I explained. "I've heard things about how he often drank and gambled. And he didn't want a baby in his life. So I was raised by a single mother, until she met Murdoch while he was working on another ship back in 1903. They married nearly five years ago. He's the only father I've ever had in my life."

"Wow," said Ellen. "I'm sorry about your real dad, but your stepfather sounds very cool."

I sighed with relief. That went well. It felt nice to talk to people again. If you didn't know anyone, you were lonely on this ship. I'd talked to Mother my whole life I was eager to make some new friends on this voyage. Maybe I would have a story like Mother and Father's. Meeting on a ship, corresponding through letters and then eventually getting married.

"Our parents are going to be wondering where we are by now," Annie said. "Will we meet again, Stacey?"

"Yes," I said. "How about we meet on the stern at the same time every day?"

"Good idea," Hazel agreed. "We can ask our parents, but this time sounds good?"

"Okay," I said. "That's a deal. See you tomorrow."

Once Annie, Hazel and Ellen left, I stayed out on the bow, leaning on the rails and staring out into the water. I liked those three girls. We didn't know much about each other, but hopefully tomorrow we could continue getting to know one another.

"You look like you're deep in thought," a voice said behind me, jolting me out of my daydream.

"I was until you talked," I said to Joe. I knew it would be him. I hadn't seen him since we were on the bow earlier that morning. It was now mid-afternoon. This time we were on the stern, watching the wake in the water the ship left behind, moving further and further away from land. Away from Southampton, but closer to New York. We'd been on the Titanic for over a day now.

"What were you thinking about?" he asked, leaning on the rails beside me.

"Things," I replied. "Some friends I just made, my parents."

"Still not going to tell me more about them?" Joe inquired.

"Good try, but no," I responded. "I don't tell many people about my life story. It's hard for me to trust people, I get to know people before I tell them about me." But I had just told three girls who I didn't know my life story. They had given me a nice impression when I met them. Joe was giving me a slightly annoying impression.