A New Beginning

Chapter 79: Read All About It

Chapter 79: Read All About It

Rose is curled up in a ball, holding the weight of her unborn child with her knees as her hands are bound behind her. Her red, curly hair lays sprawled out like a fan on the cold concrete floor. She only has a cotton robe that Cal had provided for her for any form of warmth. She lets her tears fall into her hair as she lays on the cold floor.

What had she done to warrant this type of treatment? All she wanted was to be free from Cal once and for all... now she is in his clutches again, this time it seems indefinite... or at least that's what Cal says all the time. He tells her that he will make sure that Jack is never released from prison and that her "pathetic" friends will never find her. They weren't even looking for her, she was told. He boasts about how when the search for her dies down, they will leave the country, perhaps on another ship and travel far away from where no one would recognize her and they could finally be married, just as they were always "meant" to do. Either that, or he'd arrange an accident at sea, where she really could "go down with a ship" and Rose DeWitt Bukater would truly be dead.

The threats make her heart pound and she cries continuously. She's doing her best to remain strong, or at least trying to do so. When given the chance to speak, Rose refuses to denounce Jack or anyone else and she outwardly insults him, despite the pain that it will bring her in the end. She needs to keep that fire going, the one that has burned inside her for so long now... the one that made her free from society and Cal's control in the first place.

She hears the door open at the end of the hall, she winces, expecting it to be Cal, but it's Riptide. He comes bearing another tray of food for her. His shadow is cast along the concrete wall as he turns on the single bulb. She turns her eyes away from him as he walks closer to her. He places the tray down and waits for Rose to make the next move.

She wants to just ignore him, maybe starve herself enough that Cal will have to let her go, but she is carrying another life inside of her, she can't be a martyr while her child is still inside of her. She slowly sits up and the manservant undoes the gag around her mouth. Immediately she licks her lips to moisten them and allow her mouth to recover from being forcibly silenced for so long. She doesn't say anything to him and avoids looking any further. Riptide then loosens the ropes that held her wrists behind her. He gives her enough leeway that she can move them around to the front and actually eat the food given to her.

She notices that there is a bit more food than before as she begins to eat. Her baby thanks her for the extra nourishment. She doubts this is Cal's doing, but it could've been the manservant. Rose has noticed that the silent servant at least had a partial soul. He had allegedly lost the key to the cellar, sparing her at least a day away from Cal and had actually left her some extra food to last that particular day. She wasn't sure if it was her imagination, but it seemed as if he was trying to show her some kindness, a sentiment that Cal did not share. At least he wasn't Lovejoy... In some ways, he is worse and others, less. He has a heart and some form of sympathy, but he still participates in Cal's schemes without questioning anything. Perhaps he is trying to make it up to God so he won't be sent to hell after he dies. Maybe he feels sorry for her plight or maybe it is just because of the baby.

Her thoughts went to when the baby was born... what would happen to him or her? Would Cal let her keep it? Or would he abandon it? If that happened, Rose would gladly give her life for her child rather than let anyone hurt her child.

The prisoner and the warden remain silent for a long time, the tension hanging in the air like a thick sheet of fog. However, Riptide has something else for her. He awkwardly places it down next to the food tray and then leaves, locking the cellar door behind him.

Rose is hesitant to pick it up but realizes that it's a newspaper. Several actually. She puts aside her food and picks it up. Reading the date, she can see that she's been down in the filthy cellar for almost a week now. Her heart breaks thinking about how long she's been victimized.