Spirit of the Titanic (16 page)

Authors: Nicola Pierce

BOOK: Spirit of the Titanic

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“Samuel? Samuel?”

It was a woman's voice, calling my name. How long had it been since I had heard my name said aloud. My face was wet with tears. When did
that
happen? The voice sounded sort of familiar, but I was too dazed to think straight. I stayed where I was. Out of the mist I could make out the shape of a rowing boat, much like the ones on
Titanic
. It sat low in the water and sent ripples toward me long before I could make out two figures. Neither of them appeared to be rowing yet the boat kept coming.

Now a man's voice rang out. “There he is! Samuel?”

I opened my mouth but I couldn't say anything. I just stared. It was my father, only he looked so much younger than I remembered, dressed in his Sunday suit with his old cap on his head. But how could that be? That cap wasn't with him the night he died. He had left it at home.

“Where is he? Wait, I see him. Oh, my son, my beautiful son.”

I couldn't move. I could only look stupidly back at her. She was beautiful, her hair golden like the sun, and her smile utterly radiant as she took my father's arm.

All I could manage were two words, maybe the best two words in the world. “Ma? Da?”

Before I could attempt to say anything else, something touched my hand. It was the dog, licking me and wagging his tail. I patted him, and felt his curly hair beneath my fingers. It was dry to touch. When I shyly looked back at my parents, I saw that their boat was now one of many. The mist started to lift as the sun climbed higher in the sky. All around me the passengers and crew were being collected by the boats. There were the five postmen, the orchestra with their instruments, Mr. Stead, who waved gaily at me, Arthur, the engineers, and the bellboys, while Mr. and Mrs. Strauss, the elderly couple that wouldn't be parted nor saved, danced their way into their boat. The Gatti cousins joked in Italian as they fished each other out of the water, and the Swedish family were still holding hands as they were greeted by their long-lost relatives in their boat. Everyone was being met by someone they knew. I saw the man Lucien being embraced by a large, jolly woman that I guessed to be his Aunt Margaret. Next to them was Harry, the foreman, crying over the little boy who called him “Dada.”

No one was being left behind this time.

Everyone saw me now. I was no longer invisible, no longer alone. Captain Smith, all the little children, Thomas Andrews, Jack Phillips, and Dr. O'Loughlin. It was like we had known one another forever. They looked at me expectantly, with smiles of encouragement.

I felt enveloped by love, understanding that love was the warm breeze, the pink mist, and the two people that I cared most about. They held out their arms, beckoning me to them.

“Samuel, pet, it's time for you to bring everyone home.”

“Back to Belfast?”

My mother's laughter was instant and light, “No, my darling, but somewhere just as good.”

Author's Notes

This is a fictional story based on true events. I have included real people, actual dialogue, and events as I found them in my research. However, I have taken liberties, here and there, as novelists frequently do.

SAMUEL SCOTT

Who knows, maybe the ghost of Samuel Joseph Scott did travel with the
Titanic
when she left Belfast two years after his death, but the rest of him is still lying today in an unmarked grave in Belfast City Cemetery (number R-474).

I have “imagined up” his life story, including his relationship with his parents, for this book, but what I do know for certain is that he was born sometime in 1895 and lived in east Belfast. Because he was only 15 years old, I would guess that he hadn't been working too long in the Harland & Wolff shipyard before his fatal accident.

Today, in Belfast, Samuel's grave is part of the official tour of the cemetery. His death was the very first tied to the
Titanic
. (Seven others died during the ship's construction and, of course, over 1,500 more would die on the fateful night of the sinking.) The man who runs the tours, ex-Lord Mayor of Belfast, Tom Hartley, wrote a book called
Written in Stone
, which is based on his tour, and this is how I found Samuel â¦ or he found me.

During the writing of this book I visited the cemetery, and although it was a bit of a disappointment that there was no headstone marking where Samuel lay, it was still a thrill to find myself standing there on 21 April 2010, 100 years and one day after he died. As I looked around at the other graves, in particular the ones that were older than 1910, it struck me that Samuel's relatives must have been standing in the exact same spot as they prayed for the safe journey of his soul back “home.”

JIM, ISOBEL, JOSEPH, AND SARAH

Had this family really existed, would they have survived the sinking? As much as I hate to say it, probably not is the answer. Only 178 third-class passengers survived out of a total of 706. This is the actual breakdown:

Third-class men:
75
survived out of
462

Third-class women:
76
survived out of
165

Third-class male children:
13
survived out of
48

Third-class female children:
14
survived out of
31

However, the 76 third-class women that were saved did include sisters Maggie and Kate Murphy, who, thanks to their neighbour James Farrell, eventually made it all the way to America, where they both found husbands, as Isobel predicted, and had children of their own. Maggie died in 1957, followed by the younger Kate in 1968.

FREDERICK FLEET â THE LOOKOUT

Frederick survived the sinking, thanks to his being ordered to get into lifeboat 6, but at what price? Unfortunately his colossal guilt over not seeing the iceberg in time haunted him for the rest of his life. At the inquiry that followed, Fred insisted that had he had binoculars he could have prevented the disaster. As it was, he never really recovered from the disaster and, at the age of 76, following the death of his wife, he took his own life.

There is a story, whether true or false, about his “visiting” the American
Titanic
exhibition in Las Vegas. It was said that his ghost lingered around the people who came to see the exhibit, gently touching them as if to reassure himself that they were safe from harm.

His fellow lookout, Reginald Lee, also survived, only to die the following year, 6 August 1913, from pneumonia while on board another ship.

HAROLD BRIDE â THE TELEGRAPHIST

By the time the
Carpathia
reached the survivors in the lifeboats, Harold was suffering from severe frostbite in both his feet. Despite this and his shock over losing his friend, Jack Phillips, he got to work immediately in the ship's telegraph office with Harold Cottam, the
Carpathia
's telegraphist. As you might imagine, there were at least 700 messages to be sent to worried relatives, assuring them that their loved ones had made it. The two men were exhausted by the time they reached New York, Harold having to be pushed off in a wheelchair on account of his swollen, numb feet.

In later years Harold moved his family to Scotland, to hide out from the limelight that shone permanently on the
Titanic
survivors. He hated talking about the sinking and never got over Jack's death. He died in 1956.

CHARLES JOUGHIN â CHIEF BAKER

Charles continued to work on other ships after the accident. And we can only assume that he continued to drink whisky too. He obviously liked America because he made it his home, along with his wife and daughters, dying in 1956, in New Jersey, at the ripe old age of 78 years.

CHARLES HERBERT LIGHTOLLER â SECOND OFFICER

Lightoller was the most senior officer to survive. His story is possibly the happiest out of all these survivors: he went on to have a very productive career at sea, including taking part in the two world wars. He was only demobbed, or released, from his army duties when he was 72 years old. However, instead of relaxing into his retirement, he went on to run a shipyard that built boats for the London River Police. He died in 1952, aged 80.

JACK PHILLIPS

Perhaps the most controversial liberty I have taken with the
Titanic
story involves the telegraphist Jack Phillips. After finding many conflicting accounts about his last minutes, as to whether or not he made it into the collapsible boat with Harold Bride, I decided to write my own, but in no way can I take from his achievement. If Jack hadn't bravely stuck by his desk until the very last minute, perhaps the
Carpathia
would never have found those 700 passengers who were freezing in the lifeboats.

Author Biography

Born in Tallaght, Ireland, Nicola Pierce is a writer who now splits her life between Drogheda and Belfast.

Spirit of the Titanic
is her first book for children.

Acknowledgements

For their invaluable help with this book, I would like to thank: Michael O'Brien, for believing in me; my editor, Susan Houlden, for her passion for the story and advice on the art of writing; and the wonderful designer Emma Byrne.

I also want to thank the brilliant illustrator Dave Hopkins for the cover. The first manuscript was read by three young readers, Jack Newport, Anna Gordon, and Tom Moore. They all contributed, with their opinions, to this final draft, and I solemnly thank them for that.

And, finally, thanks to Damian and my family, who have had to listen to an awful lot about
Titanic
, especially my dad, who not only drove me to the big exhibition and then had to listen politely as I showed off my research â while trying to enjoy the exhibition himself â but, furthermore, built me the small model of the
Titanic
that I bought in the gift shop.

Library and Archives Canada Cataloguing in Publication

Canadian edition published 2012 by Boulder Publications

Spirit of the Titanic / Nicola Pierce.

ISBN 978-1-927099-09-4

1. Scott, Samuel Joseph, d. 1910--Juvenile fiction.

2. Titanic (Steamship)--Juvenile fiction. I. Title.

PZ7.P61454Sp 2012 j823'.92 C2012-900315-8

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We acknowledge the financial support of the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador through the Department of Tourism, Culture and Recreation.

We acknowledge the financial support for our publishing program by the Government of Canada and the Department of Canadian Heritage through the Canada Book Fund.