Ice & Iron (Titanic)

Chapter 17

It took about three hours for the RMS Carpathia to reach the site of the sinking. They had been four hours away after the iceberg collision. The Carpathia was a Cunard Line ship, who were the White Star Line's main rival. When the Carpathia arrived, the man with the pocket watch said it was four o'clock.

I was still huddled beside Mother, trying to stay warm in the freezing air. I didn't want to look out to the water, I made that mistake before and saw all the bodies floating on the surface.

"Stacey," Mother whispered. "The rescue ship is here."

I looked up and saw a smaller ship than the Titanic approaching. It had a similar red and black paint job, and only one funnel.

"We need to row the lifeboat over to the ship," Hogg said.

The men in the lifeboat prepped the oars. Each stroke took great effort as all our limbs were frozen from sitting in the icy air. In the distance, I could see passengers of another lifeboat being lifted aboard the Carpathia.

I couldn't wait to feel my feet on the firm surface of a sturdy, strong ship and to stand again. My bones ached from being slightly crowded and not moving in the tiny lifeboat. As I shifted beside Mother, a cramp shot through my leg and I gasped at the sudden pain.

"You okay?" Mother asked me.

I nodded. "Just stiff," I said.

"Soon you'll be able to move again," she said.

Slowly, our lifeboat made it over to the ship. The rescue crews were in the middle of lifting the passengers out of another lifeboat. But we were next in line. The rescue crews had to lift each person up one at a time through a harness. I clutched to my fabric bag with all my life. All that mattered to me was inside this bag. I couldn't let anything happen to it.

Once we were on the ship, the crew immediately tended to us. Wrapping us in warm blankets and offering us water and hot soup. Passengers aboard the Carpathia even catered to us by offering their cabins. I couldn't see anyone else that I knew from the Titanic. The decks of Carpathia were filled with the shivering passengers of Titanic. I could mainly see First Class passengers, with some Second and Third Class mixed among them. But I suppose class didn't matter now. We were all survivors.

The crew of the Carpathia took our names. Mother and I were still standing on the deck holding onto our few belongings. We were both looking around, trying to see if Murdoch made it onto a lifeboat and survived the disaster. I caught glimpses of other officers who survived. There were four of them standing in a huddle, and I recognised the Second through to Fifth Officers; Lightoller, Pitman, Boxhall and Lowe.

No Murdoch.

There was only one option to what happened to him, but I didn't want to believe the truth. It couldn't be. Murdoch had to be around here somewhere.

Lightoller noticed Mother and I and slowly walked over, a grim look on his face. Mother gripped my arm tightly, but I didn't notice. All I saw was Lightoller's expression, and the truth came crashing down on us. Murdoch was dead.

"I'm sorry," Lightoller said. "I lost sight of him just for a couple minutes. When I came back to the collapsible, he was gone."

"There was a shooting," Mother got out. "Was that him?"

"I don't know," he said. "Wilde was there as well, but he didn't see what happened. Will could have gone to another part of the ship. He was very good at his job, you should be proud of him for what he did. Majority of the passengers are saying they were launched in lifeboats from the starboard side."