A New Beginning

Chapter 90: Help for the Helpless

"Your statement is certainly making headlines," Ruth says, as she brings in the evening paper the following night. "I don't think I've ever seen these many reporters get excited over anything."

Not even when Roosevelt got shot two weeks ago," Molly agrees.

Emma bounces Sybil on her lap while shaking the family's silver rattle to amuse the young one, sitting in her father's favourite chair. Peter sits on the couch next to her, drinking some hot cider in an attempt to calm himself down after a long day at the office. Much like before, he and Emma had been trying to work with the police department in order to launch a search for their friends, however, this time those in charge of the law were actually putting effort into finding the two and caring about this case.

Holly and Carl finish up the dishes in the kitchen while Thomas sits on the floor of the living room in front of a roaring fire, playing with his toy soldiers. Ruth and Molly mill about the house, making sure all the windows are locked and the curtains were drawn, which did very little to block out the sounds of gunpowder exploding or stop the bright flairs from the flashbulbs from being seen through the curtains.

Ever since the two of them had returned home, things had turned in favour in the search for Rose DeWitt Bukater and Jack Dawson. It seemed that every newspaper and magazine in the city are camped out in front of the Carson household, hoping to get the latest scoop of news to this developing story. From the forbidden romance to the kidnapping, this story was one for the ages, the kind the public seemed to be eating up. This seemed to work in the family and friends' favour as Emma's declaration of empowerment and the demand for justice, painted the New York Police Department in a bad light and they were now bowing to the demands of the public to find this couple. Some people in the press were even labelling Jack and Rose as America's Missing Sweethearts, the Star-Crossed Lovers of the Titanic, the "Missing Family," and this generation's Romeo and Juliet. Their love story would inspire the centuries to come and could one day be a fantastic moving-picture. While it seems that the titles could be exaggerated to create interest and drama, the press was not far from the truth in terms of what Rose and Jack have been through. From falling in love on a doomed ship to having their wedding interrupted, the two had endured a lot while trying to have a normal and peaceful life. Rumours were spreading like wildfire and everyone wanted to help find the couple.

The icing on the top of this cake was that Caledon Hockley was now a wanted man. He and his manservant have become enemies' number one and two. Despite their reservations of sharing any further information, Emma and Peter publicly shared more details of what they had suffered at the hands of this millionaire tycoon. From his kidnapping of Sybil to the framing of Jack and the shooting of both Peter and Emma; the man's "perfect" image of a steel tycoon and contributing member of society had been tarnished, seemingly beyond repair. While the couple did feel bad for putting Nathan Hockley, Cal's father, in the hot seat and have the entire Hockley legacy called into question, right now it seemed like the best way to make sure Rose and Jack were rescued.

A description of Cal, his manservant, and his car had been published in the papers and the warrant for the tycoon's arrest had been broadcast on the radio airwaves; everyone was on the lookout for these dangerous criminals and hoped to be able to bring a helpless family home to their loved ones.

"It's like a battlefield filled with gunpowder out there, no one can see two feet in front of them without being blinded," Molly adds, as she sits on the couch after both she and Ruth have secured the curtains in the front of the house. The heiress takes the paper from her friend and begins to read the evening's headlines.

"I just hope it's all worth it," Ruth mutters as she chews on her bottom lip.

After she'd heard that Jack had failed to rescue Rose, the poor mother feels even more fearful and upset than ever before. And yes, this trumps the time she'd thought Rose had been kidnapped when she had actually run away. Now that Ruth knew the truth about Cal and has seen the true nature of this man... she truly feared for her daughter's life. It was clear that the tycoon was relentless and would stop at nothing until he obtained Rose for himself. She wishes beyond everything else that she had never met the Hockleys or set her daughter up with Caledon for marriage. This "match" had jeopardized everything that was truly important, most specifically the life of Rose and her unborn child. The older woman worried about Jack as well, clearly, if Cal had overpowered him too, there wasn't anything holding this evil man back. No doubt Jack was living on borrowed time, the hunt would not stop the sadistic man from ending the last obstacle in his way for full possession of Rose. Ruth feels sick to her stomach, thinking of her unborn grandchild and wondered if Cal was depraved enough to do the absolute worst... after all, it was Jack and Rose's child, conceived on the Titanic, an abomination and insult to Mr. Hockley, the monster.