Titanic: April 1912 (5 page)

“Gavin?” It was Wallace, his round face twisted with fear. He was standing near the back wall. “Gavin, Lionel says she's going to sink.”

Gavin's calmness evaporated, leaving behind a dryness in his throat. “Lionel said it?”

Wallace nodded. “I saw him maybe twenty minutes ago. He said he had been up in first class, pounding on people's doors to wake them up. Half of them wouldn't believe him.”

“You should get up on the boat deck, Wallace. Where's Harry? Is he with you?”

Wallace shook his head. “I saw him in our stateroom, but he stayed back to help some family carry their baggage, and I haven't seen him since.”

Gavin stepped back, turning. “I have to get someone in third class. Then I'll be up there. You just get going.”

Wallace pushed off the wall, his eyes focusing on the doors that led back into the pantry. He nodded and slouched his way toward them. Gavin watched him for a second, then started off again at a run. His extra shoes bounced against his shoulder so hard that it hurt. On an impulse he threw them to one side and ran faster. Lionel would never say something like that if he didn't believe it.

The second-class dining saloon was empty except for a few crew members who sat talking quietly on the far side. Gavin recognized two of them, but didn't know their names. The third, a stocky, red-faced man in a steward's uniform, looked up and frowned. Gavin tried to think of his name. Peterson? Or Peters? “There's water pouring into the forward crew cabins,” Gavin managed between ragged breaths, staggering to a stop, facing them. “You should all get up to the boat deck now.”

The steward shook his head in disapproval. “You'd better not let Captain Smith hear you trying to panic people like that. This is the
Titanic
, boy. She's unsinkable.”

Chapter Seven

Karolina lay for a long time in the darkness, listening to every tiny sound. The engines had not yet started up again, and the silence was unsettling. Her whole body was tense—she was expecting the emergency alarm to go off. But it didn't.

After a few moments, Karolina tried closing her eyes. As the silence went on, she began to calm down. She stretched, willing herself to relax. But she couldn't. Every tiny sound, every creak and whisper of the metal that surrounded her, kept her alert, made her listen harder.

Karolina tried to remember exactly what Gavin had said. He had reassured her, then he had told her that he would come to warn her if anything was really wrong. Karolina pulled in a deep breath and turned onto her side. He had
promised.
A moment later, she flopped back over and stared straight upward into the darkness. What if Gavin couldn't come?

Karolina sat up. It would take only a few minutes for her to run up the stairway and find a steward to ask—or maybe she should just go back up on the boat deck. Without thinking any further, Karolina stood up. She pulled on her coat and crossed the ­little stateroom.

The door latch made a little clicking sound, but Aunt Rose didn't stir. Karolina eased out into the hallway and closed the door behind her. For an instant she stood still, wondering if she should go back and get her life belt. Then she shook her head. If they were in danger, she would be coming straight back down to get Aunt Rose.

Feeling a prickle of nervousness slide over her skin, Karolina started down the hallway. There were a few people standing in open doorways. In front of the cabins nearest the stairway, two women were dragging a trunk from their room. One was tall and thin. The other was shorter and had long black hair. Karolina stared at them. They would never manage to get the heavy trunk up all those stairs. Unless the gangways were opened—

“Miss? Missy?”

The thin woman was gesturing. Karolina sighed. She pulled her coat tighter around her shoulders. “Yes?”

“My mother cannot walk up all these steps by herself. And I must help my sister with the trunk.”

Karolina hesitated. “Have you talked to a steward? Why are you leaving your stateroom?”

The thin woman shrugged. “Because my sister is a crazy.”

The dark-haired woman in the doorway made an impatient sound deep in her throat. “I am not crazy. The man said we hit an iceberg head-on and the ship is sinking.”

Karolina's legs felt weak. “What man? Who told you that?”

“A drunken man who accosted her in the general room up above.” The thin woman pointed upward. “And my sister believed him.”

“I saw the iceberg,” Karolina said. “I felt a little bump, and there was a scraping sound.”

“This is all silly,” the thin woman said. “A drunk and a child tell us we hit an iceberg. No one felt anything, there's no alarm, and the steward I asked told me to go back to bed. I'm inclined to believe him.” She kicked at the trunk.

“I'm on my way to ask an officer what to do,” Karolina told them.

“You should have done that.” The thin woman glared at her sister. “You have just about scared Mama to death.”

For the first time, Karolina looked past them and saw a frail and elderly lady perched on a trunk. Her eyes were wide, and her posture was rigid.

“I'll be right back down,” Karolina offered. “If you're still here, I'll tell you whatever I find out.”

“Is that good enough for you?” the thin woman demanded, facing her sister again.

“I don't think we should wait.” The dark-haired woman lifted her chin, and the argument began all over again. Karolina turned toward the stairs.

She hurried as fast as she could, slowing only to catch her breath as she topped the C-deck landing. The third-class general room was usually empty by ten when the lights were turned out. Not tonight. Karolina heard voices coming from behind the closed doors. As she came up the last few steps, two men passed her going the other way, their faces grim and worried.

The night was bitterly cold as Karolina stepped out onto the promenade. There was no wind, and still no moon. The awful sound of the steam coming out of the funnels had stopped. What did that mean? There was still no vibration from the engines, either.

Karolina could hear people talking from above and faint strains of music. The band was playing ragtime? At this hour on a Sunday? There was a crowd on the boat deck.

Almost running, Karolina crossed the deck, passing the cargo hoist where little Davey had played. Then she stopped, staring upward at an officer talking to three men on the second-class deck. She went up a few steps, straining to overhear.

“The Marconi operator has been sending out the CQD since we hit,” the officer was saying. “It won't be much longer before help arrives.”

“Then why risk getting into the lifeboats at all?” one man asked.

The officer smiled. “It's just a precaution, sir.”

“I don't like the idea of my wife being swung out over the Atlantic Ocean by a couple of flimsy pulleys.” The man shook his head. “Hell, sir. It's sixty feet or more down to the water.”

“You have nothing to worry about, sir,” the officer said. He was talking loudly, as though he wanted everyone around them to be able to hear. “The Harland and Wolff boys were telling us last night about the Welin davit. It's a new design, made to handle the weight of a full lifeboat. I would trust my wife and family—”

“Karolina Truman!”

Aunt Rose's angry voice startled Karolina, and she turned.

“What in the world . . . ?” Aunt Rose paused to drag in two or three laborious breaths.

Karolina rushed to her side. “Are you all right? You shouldn't have come up the stairs so fast, Aunt Rose. I'm sorry. I just wanted to ask someone if ­anything—”

“No.” Aunt Rose shook her head, still breathing too hard to speak easily. “I can hear the band playing, Karolina,” she finished.

“Aunt Rose, I'm not the only one who is worried. Look.” Karolina pointed upward at the crowds on the boat deck. Aunt Rose had been about to speak. She hesitated, then closed her mouth.

The sound of a woman crying made them both look upward. The officer was gone. His place by the rail had been taken by a couple. The man was holding his wife close, murmuring a stream of soothing words. Something was odd about their clothing. Their coats seemed awkward, lumpy. Karolina stared, understanding why. She looked at two women standing just behind the couple, then at several men who stood with their back to the rail.

“Look, Aunt Rose. They are all wearing life belts. Come up on the boat deck with me,” Karolina pleaded. “I just want to ask someone.”

“That seems prudent enough to me,” Aunt Rose said, giving in. She started forward, and Karolina took her arm. Together they climbed the stairs. Karolina stopped twice to let Aunt Rose catch her breath.

As they stepped onto B-deck, the second-class entry door swung open. Four beautifully dressed women came out, their fur coats buttoned up to their chins. One of them carried a small dog. Its ears were pricked forward, and it squirmed in her arms. They walked in silence, opening a door that Karolina had never noticed. She got a glimpse of heavy oak furniture. Then the women were gone.

“I'm freezing,” Aunt Rose said quietly. “Wish I had a fox coat tonight.”

Karolina shivered, then nodded without answering. She led the way again, stepping around a portly couple. “Do you know if we are in danger?” Aunt Rose asked them as they went past.

Karolina turned to hear as the man answered. “I have heard that the ship is going to sink,” he said without emotion in his voice.

Karolina saw Aunt Rose go pale. “Oh, my God.”

The man smiled confidently. “Don't worry too much. There will be help soon enough. This is a busy shipping lane, and the steward assured us that the distress signals will be honored by any boat that hears them.”

“Should we stay up here?” Karolina asked.

The man nodded. “We're going to. Our steward told us it would be wise.”

“He also said we should stay near the lifeboats,” the man's wife added. “So that we'll be among the first to be ferried to the rescue ship.” The man nodded politely and guided his wife on toward the door that led to the stairway.

“That seems sensible,” Aunt Rose agreed. “We can just go down and get our things and come right back up, then.”

Karolina hesitated. Aunt Rose was still breathing hard. “I could go get our belongings,” she said. “By myself.”

A scattering of shouts from above made them both look upward. Karolina saw the glaring green trail of a rocket in the ink-black sky. In its garish light, she spotted two small icebergs drifting in the still water. “Do you know the way up to the boat deck, Aunt Rose?” Karolina asked. She could feel her own heartbeat.

“I've never even been up this far,” Aunt Rose said. “These stairs are hard for me.”

“Lifeboat!” a man shouted above them. “Number seven lifeboat is away!”

“Aunt Rose, we'd better hurry,” Karolina said.

“Go on, then,” Aunt Rose told her, making a shooing motion with her hands. “Hurry back. I'll stay right here and wait for you. But wake Emily on your way past her cabin. Tell her.”

Karolina nodded and took a step back. Another flare shot skyward. She turned and ran, the image of the fiery rocket swimming before her vision.

Chapter Eight

“You're panicking over nothing,” the steward called out as Gavin went through the dining room, veering toward the stairs. Gavin didn't bother to answer him.

At the top, Gavin darted out onto C-deck. The doors to the second-class library had been opened wide. There were people standing inside it, their backs to Gavin. One man was talking in a low voice, and the others were leaning close to listen.

Without slowing, Gavin rounded the corner and dashed out onto the third-class promenade. The shock of the cold night air made him catch his breath. His feet and legs tingled with cold, and he realized for the first time how wet his shoes and trousers had gotten.

Shoving his way into the doors at the top of the third-class entrance, Gavin nearly ran into a bearded man who walked with his arm around a weeping girl. Just behind them, a middle-aged woman with a shrill voice shook her finger at Gavin, speaking in a language he couldn't understand.

At the bottom of the stairs, Gavin looked at the cabin numbers, glancing first to his right. “Fifty-six,” he whispered, and started toward that side. Halfway there he could see the next door. It was room sixty-­two. He spun around and started back across the landing.

There. Room fifty-five was the first one on the other side. Gavin broke into a run. “Karolina!” he called, knocking. No one answered. He pounded on the door.

“What's all the commotion about?” a woman asked from a cabin across the corridor.

Gavin looked at her. “You should get your things together and get up to the boat deck, ma'am.” The woman looked startled, then went back inside.

“Gavin!”

He recognized Karolina's American accent and whirled around to face her. She looked scared. “I'm supposed to meet my aunt up on the boat deck,” she said as she came closer. “I'm getting our cases. How bad is it?”

“There's water pouring into the bow,” Gavin told her. Saying it aloud made it seem even more real, more terrifying. “The
Titanic
is going to sink.” Gavin heard disbelief in his own voice. It was so hard to imagine.

Gavin stepped back as Karolina opened the door and went in. He stared down the passageway. The door to the next stateroom banged open. Two women marched out, dressed warmly. Their faces were prim and composed as they went past without a word.

Karolina came out into the corridor, carrying two leather cases. She had two life belts slung over her shoulder. He took the bigger case. “Is that unlocked?” he asked, pointing at the stairwell door across the corridor.

“It wasn't before,” Karolina told him.

He crossed the passageway to try the door. It wouldn't open. They started back up the corridor. At the foot of the main stairway, Karolina abruptly set down her case and the life belts next to a trunk someone had left behind. “Wait for me, please,” she said, and ran back the way they had come.

Gavin stood, staring as she slid to stop in front of cabin eighty-nine. She began beating on the door, calling out for someone named Emily. When the door opened, her voice quieted, and he couldn't understand what she was saying.

“That's our trunk,” a sharp-toned woman's voice startled him from above. He faced the stairs. Without another word, two women positioned themselves and began dragging the trunk upward.

“I have to wait for someone,” Gavin said apologetically, “or I'd help you.” Neither of them acknowledged him. It wasn't until they were nearly out of sight that he realized one of them had taken Karolina's life belts. He shouted, but it did no good.

Gavin saw Karolina hurrying toward him.

She banged on every door she passed. “The ship is sinking!” she yelled, over and over. People stepped out into the corridor in their nightclothes, blinking, half-awake. Gavin saw a man he recognized as a pantry­man going from one family to the next, talking earnestly. Gavin picked up Karolina's case and followed her up the stairs.

If they were lucky, they would get to the boat deck in time. He could get Karolina and her aunt into one of the lifeboats. Then he would have to find a life belt for himself. He refused to think further than that.

• • •

Karolina wanted to run up the stairs, but she couldn't. The case was too heavy. Gavin reached to help her. “Two women took your life belts before I could stop them,” he said. Karolina blinked, feeling her stomach tighten. “I know where they are kept,” Gavin assured her. “I can get more.”

“Karolina!”

She turned back and saw Emily blinking in the bright corridor lights below. Her hair was loose, her nightgown hastily covered with a robe. She held the front of it closed so tightly that her knuckles were white.

“Karolina? Did you see where Davey went?”

Karolina shook her head helplessly. “Wasn't he in the stateroom just now?”

Emily pushed her hair back out of her face, glancing around, her eyes wide with anxiety. “Yes, but you know how he is. Oh, God. I have to find him.” She spun back around.

Gavin leaned closer. “Who's Davey? Her son?”

“He's only four,” Karolina told Gavin. “He loves to run off.”

“Where could he have gone so quickly?” Emily wailed.

Karolina looked at Gavin. “I should go help her look for him.”

Gavin nodded. “I'll watch your things. But hurry. I don't know how much time we have.”

Karolina set down her case and ran back down the half flight of stairs. Emily was almost all the way back to her stateroom before Karolina caught up.

“He couldn't have gone very far,” Karolina said as Emily pulled the door open. Little Rebecca was still asleep on her berth.

“Oh, why does he have to do this?” Emily said in a tight, frightened voice.

Karolina took her hand. “We'll find him, don't worry.”

Emily turned back into the corridor, closing the door carefully. Her eyes flickered to one side, then the other. “I can't believe he got past me. I was just so sleepy—and then all of a sudden I realized he was gone.”

“You go that way,” Karolina said, pointing. “I'll take the other way.” Emily nodded and checked the door to make sure it was solidly closed. Then she started off, turning left down the main passage.

Karolina walked quickly in the other direction, then almost immediately slowed as she passed stateroom sixty-one's open door. “Davey?” She peered inside. “Hello,” she said to the couple standing beside their berth. “I was just—”

“What do you want?” the man demanded.

“I'm not going without you,” the woman was saying to him. “Why won't they let the men go?”

“We're going to be all right,” he answered her, glaring at Karolina.

Karolina shrugged apologetically. “Have you seen a little boy with dark curly hair?”

The man's face changed dramatically. He looked into her eyes. “You have lost a little brother?”

“A friend's child,” Karolina told him.

He shook his head. “I have seen no little boys,” he said. “Do you know what is wrong with the ship?”

Karolina took a deep breath. “I think it's going to sink. You should get up to the boat deck.” As the man embraced his weeping wife, Karolina turned away.

Most of the doors were closed, but Karolina could hear more and more voices. As she passed the locked stairwell, she reached out and tried the door once more, but it held fast. The main stairs were going to get crowded, Karolina knew. Maybe someone would be down to open these eventually.

“Davey?” she called, then took a breath and shouted louder. She reached out and touched the wall, suddenly feeling slightly off balance. She shoved herself forward, barely avoiding two people who stepped suddenly in front of her from room fifty-­six. The woman was wrinkled and faltering. The man looked younger. They had on thick woolen coats and were carrying baskets with wooden ­handles. Karolina asked them if they had seen Davey. They both looked at her with kindly expressions, but neither answered. She repeated the question, but they only shook their heads. Embarrassed that she hadn't understood more quickly that they spoke no English, Karolina walked on.

She turned down one of the narrower corridors that ran at right angles to the main passage. “Davey?” she called. “Davey!”

The doors were all closed except one that stood ajar. Karolina knocked upon it, but there was no answer. The strange feeling of dizziness came over her again as she knocked a second time. Still, no one answered. She pushed the door open cautiously. “Davey?”

There was a sudden babble of voices from farther up the corridor. Karolina looked up and saw a family coming out of their stateroom. They were all so blond their hair looked almost white. The parents were each carrying a small child. Three little boys walked close to their mother's skirt. They all looked terrified.

As they got closer, Karolina stepped into the open doorway to let them pass. Once she was inside, she looked around. There was no one inside the cabin. The berths were rumpled, but there was no ­luggage—and no Davey.

“Karolina, where are you?”

At the sound of Gavin's voice, Karolina whirled. “Here!” she shouted, stepping awkwardly back into the corridor. Gavin was walking toward her.

“I put your cases in your room. I'll help. Tell me where to start.”

Karolina gestured. “Back that way. I was heading toward the stairs. Have you seen Emily?”

Gavin shrugged. “No. But I could hear her calling when I went by with the cases. So she hasn't found him.”

Karolina took a step and felt herself leaning to one side. She stopped, shaking her head. “Something is wrong with my balance. I feel like I can't walk straight.”

“It isn't you. The ship is listing to starboard,” Gavin said.

Karolina stared at him. “Listing?”

Gavin nodded. “It just means the ship is tilting a little.”

Even though he was trying to keep his fear out of his voice, Karolina could hear it. She swallowed hard. “We have to find Davey and get out of here. Aunt Rose is going to be frantic.”

“We'll find him,” Gavin said, and Karolina could hear the unsteadiness in his voice again.

A crashing sound from inside the cabin made them both turn. Karolina shook her head, puzzled. “I was just in there. I didn't see anyone.”

Gavin reached past her to knock on the door as he pushed it open again. “Is someone there?”

Karolina followed him inside. The berths were empty. She turned in a circle, looking at the blank walls, the stark white commode. For the first time she noticed a small passage leading off the main room.

“What's that?” She pointed. “Our stateroom doesn't have anything like that.”

Gavin was listening, his head tipped to one side. “It leads to a porthole,” he told her.

Karolina stepped forward, acutely aware of the weird slant of the floor, extending one hand to trace the shape of the angled wall as she went. For a moment, she thought no one was there. Then she heard Davey singing to himself, and she felt tears spring into her eyes.

He was standing on a stool, his nose pressed against the glass. “Hello, Karolina,” he said quietly. “Is my mama upset with me?”

“She'll just be glad to see you,” Karolina assured him. Then she raised her voice and called out to Gavin. She picked Davey up, and he perched on her hip, his arms around her neck. She ducked to glance out the porthole and caught her breath. The crooked horizon line was marked by bright stars. Karolina stared for a few seconds. The
Titanic
really was going to sink.