A New Beginning

Chapter 7: All Night Long

Chapter 7: All Night Long

"Are you sure we're not going to get caught?" Emma asks, pulling on comfortable shoes.

"Relax, we're not sneaking up to the higher class, we're going lower," Peter says. "Apparently third class has the best parties around. Music, cheap beer and lots of fun."

Emma swallows hard as she picks up Sybil and begins to feed her from a bottle.

"The neighbour next door will check on her every fifteen minutes and she's a mother herself," Peter says, trying to reassure the protective sister.

"I don't know," Emma mutters.

"Come on it'll be fun, what's one night out gonna do to you?" Peter smiles.

He kneels down to Emma's level and takes her free hand.

"You need to get out and spread those wings a bit. You've kept them so folded recently and I know you've been really down; I just think you need a bit of cheering up."

Emma feels that warm glow she always feels with Peter and manages a small smile. If Sybil will be safe, then she feels slightly better.

"Okay."

When Sybil finishes her bottle, Emma, and Peter both kiss her and put her to bed. They shut the door and head down one of the halls. They eventually come to the dividing gate between classes.

"One of the guys in the dining hall told me that this one is always unlocked," Peter says and they slip through.

As they go deeper into the ship, Emma starts to get nervous again. Her nightmares of being trapped down so deep in the ship with water filling it come back and she swallows hard again. She holds onto Peter's hand tightly to try and soothe her anxiety. They hear a loud ruckus coming down one of the lower hallways.

"Follow the music I guess." Peter snickers.

He pulls Emma along until the fiddle music becomes loud and the cheery sounds of laughter are heard.

A dance floor had been set up in the dining hall, all the tables are moved to one side and chairs spread out for patrons to sit. Some of the tables hold card players and another has a bartender serving pitchers of beer. People of all ages and nationalities are there, the accented voices overwhelming each other. The energy was amazing and so lovely. It seemed to bring everyone together.

Peter pulls Emma over to a corner of the dance and begins to dance with her. She is slightly self-conscious about dancing in front of strangers, but Peter twirls her a few times. Emma tries to keep the dancing minimal, but she manages a small smile as the music seemed to lighten her mood a bit.

Peter, at one point, goes up and dances with another woman, the whole time encouraging her to join him on the platform, but Emma just smiles and claps to the beat.

She eventually decides that she needs a drink and heads to the "bar" area.

"One please," She yells over the music.

The bartender smiles and begins pouring her one out of a Keg. Emma watches everyone dance around, all of them strangers to her, but they seem so warm and welcoming. Many of them are from families and many are immigrants coming to America for a new life. Emma wishes she was starting a new life, but she's going back to the old one, one that is quite painful to think about. When her glass comes, Emma sips it down. She sees two people dancing, both of whom are laughing all the time. They seem familiar, but they're moving too fast for her to positively identify who they are.

Emma is slowly sipping on her beer when the two people...Jack and Rose were their names, the artist, and the debutante. She is surprised to see the two of them together, but they had both met Emma previously.