Ice & Iron (Titanic)

Chapter 22

11th  June 1912

The day after I saw Irene, I heard a knock at the door.

"Stacey, it's Grace!" Mary called.

Ellen who was sitting on my bed with me looked over at me. "Is Grace one of your friends?"

"Yes," I replied. "She's Irene's best friend since they were young. I didn't meet them until a few years ago."

What was Grace doing here? Irene must have spoken to her and told her I was alive and back in Southampton, now she's here to see me.

Grace walked into my room. "Stacey!" she exclaimed. "I haven't seen you in months! How are you?"

"Well, for the fact that I survived a sinking ship, lost my stepfather and then found out they're blaming the sinking on him, I'm fine," I said. "What are you doing here?"

"Irene told me you have been back in town for a couple weeks," Grace said, sitting down on my bed beside me and looking over at Ellen. "She's upset about what happened yesterday."

"She's upset?" I asked. "She's not the one who survived a sinking and lost her stepfather!"

"Hey, it's not her fault that the article was written," said Grace quietly. "We're both sorry about what happened. We both liked your stepfather. But you know it is their family business to publish the latest news. They're the best in Southampton."

"More like jumping to conclusions," I retorted. "I suppose she told you that I said half of it wasn't true what they wrote."

"Yes," she said. "Did you really see the collision?"

I rolled my eyes. "Yes, do you both think I'm lying about that?"

Grace hesitated. "Irene just thinks you would say anything to protect Murdoch."

"Stacey went to the officer's bridge multiple times a day!" Ellen cut in, defending me. "I know she went up there before the collision because she told me."

Grace looked over at Ellen again. "We haven't been introduced," she said. "How do you know Stacey?"

"I'm Ellen," she said. "I survived the Titanic along with my mother and twin brothers. My father and some friends died in the sinking."

"I'm sorry to hear that," Grace said. "What do you believe about Murdoch being responsible?"

"He was extremely nice the time I met him," Ellen said. "I believe he did his best to save the ship."

"Did Irene send you here to interview me?" I asked Grace, annoyed.

Grace hesitated before answering. "No," she said. "She told me you were back, and I wanted to see you again."

"How very nice of you," I said, my tone harsh.

Grace recoiled but quickly recovered. "Stacey, you don't even know the truth about how your stepfather died. People say it was suicide."

"Don't you dare talk about that," I said angrily. "No one knows what happened to him and he was buried at sea so we may never know the truth. But he spent that last moments of his life trying to save as many people as he could! And if Irene's family publish articles about him committing suicides when there are no hard facts about how he died, that's cold."

I looked over at the notebook that was sitting over on my chest of drawers. Grace followed my gaze and asked, "What are you looking at?"

"Who do you really believe?" I challenged, looking back at her.