Titanic Affair (25 page)

But there was no reply.

Alone in the stateroom, Emilia made another effort to break free of her bonds. She twisted her wrists in an effort to loosen the ropes, but to no avail. Even worse, the ropes grated over her cut and made it bleed even more. But she had to get free. It had been bad enough before, but since the ship had shifted, water had started to creep under the door. If she did not release herself soon she would drown.

She was just making another effort to work the ropes loose when the door opened and a woman - a maidservant by the look of her - entered the stateroom. She was dressed in a coat and wide-brimmed hat. A shawl was wrapped round her neck and shoulders.

Emilia felt a wave of relief. She was saved!

‘Oh, thank goodness,’ she said. ‘You have to help me. There’s a man, he’s kidnapped me and tied me up. Please, help me undo the ropes. I have to get away from him before he. . . ’

Her voice trailed away as she saw the "woman" more clearly. It was not a woman at all. It was Barker, dressed in women’s clothes.

‘No need to look so surprised,’ he sneered. ‘I haven’t gone mad. I’m just taking a few precautions, that’s all. They’re sticking to "women and children first" up there. Trouble is, there aren’t enough boats to go round, which means that anyone left ’til the end - the men - won’t be getting off at all. But I’m not going down with the ship. I wanted to get something from the ship’s infirmary to keep you quiet, but there wasn’t time, so I’ll have to make do with this.’

He pulled something out of the pocket in his skirt.

It was a revolver.

‘Plenty of these lying around,’ he smirked. ‘Plenty of everything, just there for the taking. Money, stocks, bonds, jewels - it’s a thief’s paradise. It’s a pity I didn’t have longer to plunder it all. Still.’ He jangled his pockets. ‘Can’t complain. Now,’ he said more briskly, ‘we’re going up on to the deck, and we’re going to go quietly.’ He waved the gun threateningly. ‘If you’re thinking of making a fuss, you’d better think again.’

Emily spoke in a lifeless voice. ‘It seems I have no choice.’

She hung her head and gave every appearance of being docile. It had occurred to her that Barker would have to put the gun down when he untied her bonds, and that that would be the moment for her to attempt to escape. It was important he thought she had given in, so that he wouldn’t be expecting trouble.

‘That’s it,’ he said with a leer. ‘You be a good girl and everything’ll be all right. I’ll get you out of this, never fear.’

He tucked the gun in the top of his skirt, then went round behind her to untie her ropes.

This was her chance.

As soon as her hands and feet were loose she stood up and spun round, making an effort to grasp the gun. But he was too quick for her,

‘Oh, no, you don’t,’ he said, grabbing her wrist with one hand, whilst he retrieved the gun with the other. ‘There’s no way I’m letting you get hold of that.’

He jerked her round and pushed her in front of him, facing forwards, then twisted her arm up behind her to keep her compliant. He pushed her out of the stateroom and down the corridor. She could do nothing about it: he was holding the gun to the small of her back. Propelling her forward, he pushed her through the corridors and finally up on to the deck.

Emilia gasped as she stepped out into the open. She had expected to see a similar scene to the one she had left behind, with people climbing into the lifeboats in an orderly fashion, but it was like something out of a nightmare. There was no order or discipline, and the smell of fear was in the air.  Officers were waving revolvers as they guarded the lifeboats against groups of men who looked as though they could rush them at any minute, whilst women climbed on board. As she watched in horror, one of the officers fired a couple of warning shots over the men’s heads. Women were no longer being coaxed into the boats. Those who would not go of their own accord were being picked up and thrown in bodily.

Ropes creaked. Rockets boomed. It was like a scene from hell.

‘My God,’ said Barker. ‘It’s even worse than I thought.’

Emilia stood, frozen with horror. But by and by her wits began to return. Despite the growing terror all around her, she was relieved to be out on deck. At least now she had a chance of escape - as long as Barker lowered the gun, that was.

But his hand did not waver, and he kept it pressed to her back.

‘Over there,’ he said, indicating a place further down the deck where a lifeboat was being loaded.

Emilia had no choice but to go where the gun prompted her to go. The crowds around the boats were getting unruly. The officers were shouting and swearing at the men to get back whilst the women got into the boats. She knew the time was fast approaching when she must try and make good her escape. Once in a boat with Barker she would be lost. He had only to knock her out with a well-placed blow, and in the confusion it would not be seen. Then he would be able to carry her, unconscious, onto the rescue ship - if a rescue ship arrived - and she would be in his power.

He pushed her over to one of the lifeboats.

‘Women and children,’ called the officers. ‘Are there any more women and children? Come on, miss,’ said one, grabbing her arm and pulling her into the boat.

As she started to fall into the boat, the gun was no longer at her back, and she saw her chance. As soon as her foot hit the seat of the lifeboat and she could gain some leverage, she twisted round and ripped the hat from Barker’s head. Without it, he was revealed for the man he was. It was enough to make him hesitate for a minute. Then, recovering himself,  he waved the gun - but behind him, an officer cracked a revolver down hard on his head. He swayed, and toppled, and fell between the lifeboat and the side of the ship, straight into the icy waters below. In his haste to loot the staterooms he had not put on a lifejacket. With the weight of the guns and the stolen gems in his pockets, Emilia knew he would go straight to the bottom.

‘Lower away!’ came the cry.

It brought her thoughts back to the present.

The ropes creaked, the davits groaned, and the boat began its descent towards the sea. But she did not want to leave the ship in a lifeboat. Not without Carl.

Acting quickly, she launched herself at the side of the ship. She managed to find a hand hold on one of the lower rails and began to pull herself back onto deck, but her thumb was still bleeding, and her wrists were sore from where they had been tied, and to her horror, she felt her grip starting to slip. If she slipped she would fall, down, down to the ocean, exactly as Barker had done, to die of cold in the icy waters, or to be crushed between the unsteadily lowering lifeboat and the ship.

She redoubled her efforts, trying desperately to renew her handhold. She had a firm hold with her left hand but had to fight for purchase with her right. It was wet with blood where her cut had opened up and her fingers kept slipping. She swung herself from her left hand, trying to build up enough momentum to hook her right elbow over the lower rail, but the fingers on her left hand were starting to open with the strain. She closed them, gritting her teeth against the pain.

And then she was aware of strong hands reaching down, catching her under her arms and lifting her up and out of danger. As her foot drew level with the rail she pushed against it, giving an added impetus to her rescue. She was being lifted over the rail, and as she was lowered to the deck and her eyes drew level with her rescuers’ she felt her heart leap, before a warm feeling flooded her whole being.

‘Carl!’

Her eyes met his, and the relief she saw there made her spirits soar.

He lowered her gently until her feet touched the deck, but even when she was standing safely in front of him he did not let her go. His eyes ran over her face and body, drinking her in.

‘Emilia,’ he said throatily.

His hand cupped her cheek.

And then he dragged her into his arms and kissed her with all the fire of his being and she returned his kisses with equal fervour. They were both of them lost in their joy of having found each other, and it blotted out the nightmare all around them, until at last he let her go.

‘Emilia!’ he said. ‘I’ve been so worried. What happened? Where did you go?

‘It was Barker,’ she told him. ‘He must have eluded Hutton. He dragged me down to a stateroom and tied me up whilst he looted the ship. I tried to escape, but it was impossible. I had only one chance: to reveal him as a man when he tried to climb aboard one of the boats.’

‘Thank God it worked,’ said Carl.

‘And thank goodness you were there to save me,’ she said. She shuddered. ‘When my fingers started slipping, I thought I was going to fall.’

He took her hands and raised them to his lips, kissing them fervently. Then he noticed the mound beneath her thumb.

‘You’re bleeding,’ he said.

‘I tried to cut my ropes with a razor. I cut myself instead.’

He pulled a large handkerchief out of his pocket and pressed it tightly over the cut. Then, when the blood stopped flowing, he removed the handkerchief and tore a strip from the side. Using the main handkerchief as a pad, he bound it in place with the strip and tied it in a knot.

‘It really ought to be cleaned, but there’s no time,’ he said. ‘I have to get you off the ship.’

There was a serious tilt to the deck now. It seemed to be slipping away beneath their feet. The stern was rising out of the water as the bow sank ever deeper, dragged down by the weight of water it had taken on board, and they were finding difficulty standing upright. Emilia leaned her body to counteract the tilt of the ship.

She scanned the deck, but as far as she could see, all the boats on the starboard side of the ship had gone.

‘Come on, we’ll try the port side,’ said Carl.

Catching Emilia by her uninjured hand, he rushed with her round to the other side of the ship.

In her haste, Emilia tripped - and saw that she had tripped over piles of bread on the deck. Bread? she thought in surprise, before realizing it must be meant to supply the lifeboats. But by the size of the piles, although the bread had been carried on to the deck, none of it had gone any further.

She looked ahead of her again, needing all her wits to slip through the masses of people as they ran here and there looking for a way off the ship. As the crowds lessened in their natural ebb and flow, she started to ask herself how they would stay alive until help reached them, even if they could find a lifeboat. If the boats should have been supplied with bread, it seemed as though help must be a long way away. But how long? Was it hours away? Days away? And would it ever come? She did not know. But she would worry about that later. Right now, she needed to get to a boat.

She and Carl reached the port side of the ship, close to the stern. There was a boat being loaded.

‘This is it,’ Carl said, turning her towards him. ‘This is your boat.’

A cry of ‘Women and children only,’ rang out in the night.

‘No. I’m not going unless you go,’ she said.

‘Yes, you are. You are going to do exactly as I tell you. You are going to get in that boat, if I have to lift you in myself.’

‘No,’ she said resolutely.

‘If you think I’m going to let you drown you’re mistaken,’ he said, taking her face between his hands and looking deep into her eyes.

‘Carl, there aren’t enough lifeboats for everyone,’ she said. ‘I’m not going without you.’

‘Now listen to me. You’re right, there aren’t enough lifeboats to go round, but the wireless operators have managed to get off a number of distress calls and the
Olympic
’s coming to rescue us. She’ll be here soon. If I don’t get off in a boat, I’ll get off some other way. There are tables, chairs - all things that float.’