Titanic Twelve Tales - A Short Story Anthology RMS Titanic (5 page)

“Yes sir.”

“How long until a rescue ship gets here?”

“
Carpathia’s
on her
way,
said she’d be with us about 4.00 am.”

By the time we sighted
Carpathia
we had been rescued from our upturned lifeboat by one of the other boats. They took us into the spare places they had. I couldn’t understand why there were so few people aboard. Had they died from the cold and been thrown overboard? I shuddered and thought of my mother and brothers.

Our lifeboat was the last to be picked up by
Carpathia
and we were taken to a large saloon where hot drinks and sandwiches were given out. A kindly lady wrapped a large steamer rug around me and a steward asked my name, but I wasn’t interested in what he had to say, I scanned the room for my family, especially my father. I sank onto a bench in the corner of the room and found myself next to the gentleman I’d met on the Boat Deck when the ship first struck.

“Excuse me sir,” I said, “I’m looking for my mother and brothers, have you seen them?”

“I don’t know,” he said, “I’ve only just come aboard myself, but weren’t you the lad I spoke to just after we struck the iceberg?”

I nodded but didn’t have time to reply. Two young screams echoed across the saloon and I stood up and opened my arms to Jack and Joe. I hugged them so tightly, as if I didn’t want to let them go ever again. Mama walked towards me, her face a mixture of joy and incredulity. She threw her arms around me and sobbed.

We hoped Papa had been saved, but when the news came that all
Titanic’s
boats had been recovered, we knew there was little left to do but mourn.

I felt no joy in my heart as we passed the Statue of Liberty three days later.
Titanic’s
lifeboats were unloaded at the White Star pier where the mother ship should have berthed. Less than a third of her passengers and crew arrived safely in New York on that Thursday evening. We were among them, reunited but in mourning for my dear father.

His body was recovered from the sea. He rests with a couple of hundred others in a cemetery in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada.

RIP Papa.

Lover Boy

Inside a Second Class Stateroom Sunday April 14
th
1912

“Are you sure no one will recognise us?”

Norman shook his head and smiled admiringly at Clara. “No my dear, we have taken the most careful precautions. Should anyone from home know me, then I am travelling to New York on behalf of the brewery accompanied by my nephew, who is soon to be apprenticed.”

“Oh, Norm, you are so very clever, you think of everything. You have made me the happiest woman in the world.”

Norman’s heart skipped, she made him feel so good, especially when she ran her fingers around the back of his neck. Her touch alone could arouse him in seconds, as if he was nineteen again. Nineteen, he thought, how gauche he had been at that tender age between youth and manhood, but those days seemed far behind him now. “And long may I continue to make you happy, my dearest, my beautiful, my own Clara.”

“I wish I felt beautiful,” Clara sighed, “but dressed like a boy, I feel like a fish out of water. And Norm, I do miss my long golden curls. I cried all night when I had them cut off.”

“Hush, my love, this boy’s apparel is only until we are safely landed in New York. Then I shall take up my new post and introduce you as my wife.”

“But...won’t people know we’re not married? I mean I wouldn’t want to lie about it.”

Norman drew her close to his chest, until he could feel the gentle rise and fall of her bosom. How he wanted to tear off the deep stiff collar she wore, pull the hideous tweed jacket off her shoulders and slip his hands up the voluminous shirt until he found the small peaks of her breast that excited him so much.

Clara stepped back. “Just look at my hair!
Short back and sides.”
Her hand ran along the nape of her neck, fingering her bristle like haircut. “How you men go around for life like this. Why my ears are frozen.”

Norman reached for her again, caressing one ear, then the next, dropping sweet kisses on her delicate earlobes. “My darling Clara, you have the most divine ears known to man.”

“And you say the sweetest things Norm, and if you weren’t so sweet to me I don’t know how I would have endured this voyage. You can’t imagine how awkward I feel, dressed up in boy’s clothing when underneath I’m feeling all passionate and can’t wait until we are alone together.”

“Yes, but you must be careful about inviting the steward into our cabin.”

“But why, Norm, dearest?
I’m sure he’s only trying to please us so you’ll give him a generous tip when we land in New York.”

“Just don’t let him know too much, understand? If we are to get away without May’s solicitor pursuing us, we mustn’t leave a trail. No one knows us on board. I am convinced of it, certainly not in Second Class. I’ve been through the passenger list with a fine-tooth comb.”

“But Norm, we haven’t got that much to hide. Men leave their wives every day of the week.”

“And if they all run off of with gorgeous girls like you, good luck to them I say.”

“I do hope my mother’s not missing me too much.” Clare thrust her hands inside her trouser pockets. “It’ll be a shock for her, I mean going into my room and finding me gone. That’s why I had to leave her a note.”

Norman grabbed her by the shoulders and swung her round to face him.
“Note!
What note? I told you not to leave a shred of evidence behind when you left. You were supposed to disappear without a trace, remember?”

“Yes, but I couldn’t let my mother worry about me. I only said I was going to America with an angel and she wasn’t to worry about me and one day I’d come back dressed in the very latest New York gowns.”

“Foolish child!”

“Hey, who are you calling a child? I’m nineteen years old which is hardly a child and you certainly didn’t think I was a slip of a girl when you were having your way with me last night.”

True, Norm took a deep breath. The very last thing he wanted to do was fire Clara’s temper, not after he had tasted her sweet juices every night and morning since they had left Southampton. The first night, he had missed the softness of her golden tresses, but her short haircut had not spoilt his enjoyment of the rest of her supple body. He loved every inch of her and marvelled at her lack of inhibition when he had stripped her clothes off. He moistened his lips at the thought of tasting her again.

“When we get to New York, you will buy me some dresses, won’t you? Only I don’t think I could stand wearing these awful tweeds in Manhattan.”

“Of course, my love,” New York had begun to feel like a huge magnet to him, drawing him closer as the mighty ship ploughed her way across the Atlantic. In New York he would be free, free to live the life he wanted, free of the shackles...and if...in a few months time, he told Clara that he had heard from May’s solicitor and that she had agreed to a divorce, he could marry Clara officially. He
smiled,
they were well and truly married in the carnal way.

A knock came at the door, the steward opened it and called from outside. “The dinner bugle has sounded Mr. and Master Fox.”

“Thank you,” Norman responded, then turning to Clara said, “come on Master Clarence, time to eat.”

The Marconi Room later the same night

“I’ll take over now,” Jack Philips said to his assistant Harold Bride.

“Sorry old man, there’s an enormous pile of traffic waiting to be sent. And we’ve received several ice-warnings from other ships in the vicinity.”

“Okay, you turn in now, get some shut eye. I’ll take over.”

Harold signed off and left. Jack sat down and was about to begin transmitting when he received an incoming message from Cape Race. He copied the signal onto a standard Marconi form:

TO: CAPTAIN RMS TITANIC

WANTED FOR QUESTIONING RE SUSPICIOUS DEATH OF MAY BAINES STOP NORMAN FOX BAINES TRAVELING WITH CLARA WITHERS STOP DETAIN IN NEW YORK UNTIL FURTHER INSTRUCTION END

“Bride?
Are you still there?” Jack removed his earphones and glanced over his shoulder, but the Marconi Room was empty. He placed the message on top of the pile of ice warnings.

Starboard side Promenade Deck 9.30 pm same night

“I’ve eaten too much,” Clara said.

Norman wanted to put his arm around her and comfort her as they strolled along the Promenade Deck. Although the area was enclosed with glass windows, Norman shivered. “Do you want to go back to the stateroom?” he asked, hoping she would say yes.

“In a few minutes, I thought a walk might easy my bloated belly.”

“Has it? Do you feel relieved?”

“Not really, I shouldn’t have had the extra portion of pudding the waiter brought me.”

“Then why did you?”

“I’m supposed to be a boy, remember? Boys always eat too much. Besides, I was dying for a drink, why you couldn’t have ordered me a glass of wine, I don’t know.”

Norman let out a long sigh. “We must both act our parts and not draw attention to ourselves. No one must get a clue about our true identity.”

Clara stopped and turned to face her lover. “Norm, I don’t understand, May has agreed to a divorce, so why do we have to run away and hide?”

Norman looked into her eyes and thought how lovely they looked. “It’s the money, I’m prepared to pay her an annuity but she is not having the bulk of my savings. I’ve worked hard all those years in the brewery counting house. I worked my way up in the company. Now that’s all behind me. I resigned from my job to be with you. We both deserve a fresh start in the New World, but we can’t do that without finance.”

“I wish I could kiss you,
Uncle Norman.”

Norman breathed a sigh of
relief,
Clara seemed to accept his rationale, at least for the time being. “Then let’s turn in and you can kiss me as much as you like.”

Keeping a polite distance between uncle and nephew, they strolled along the corridor until Mr. Fox and Master Clarence Fox reached their stateroom and retired for the night.

11.43 pm same night

Norman sat
up,
he thought he felt the ship’s engines quiver and send a strange dancing motion through the mattress. “Did you hear that?”

“Hear what? What time is it?” Clara asked.

Norman fumbled on the side table for his gold pocket watch and switched on the light.

“
Oooh
, that’s bright!” Clara rubbed her eyes.

“
It’s
quarter to twelve, we could go back to sleep or you could come into my bed for cuddle.”

“Oh, I don’t know
Norm,
my belly is still aching from all that pudding. I don’t think I could I’d rather go back to sleep.”

Feeling disappointed, Norman switched off the light, but he couldn’t get back to sleep. He tried not to think of May back home, but he couldn’t get her insulting remarks out of his head. If only she hadn’t started to belittle him by asking who would be interested in a
bald forty-five year old man with a pot belly? He had told her, told her everything and she had said his little Clara was only interested in his money.

“Divorce?” she had screamed at him, “I’ll never let you go!”

He had snapped
,
lost every bit of sense he had, launched at her, grabbed her by the throat and squeezed the life out of her. Then desperate to conceal the body, he had dragged her down the cellar and covered her in coal. That’s when he had decided to run away to New York with Clara. That afternoon, he bought tickets on the next ship to sail out of Southampton, the brand new
Titanic
. He had not thought of May since, strange he should be thinking of her now.

Following two loud knocks on the door, the steward poked his head inside the
cabin  and
switched on the light.
“Sorry to disturb you sir, but you must get up, get dressed, put on your life-preservers and come up on deck.”

“What? What’s the meaning of this?” Norman bellowed.

“Captain’s orders sir, all passengers are to get dressed, put on their life-preservers and go on deck.”

“Oh bugger, Norm, what’s happening?”

1.35 am Monday, April 15
th
1912

“Why did we have to wait so long before coming up on the deck?” Clara moaned.

“I needed to get to the Purser’s
Office,
I wasn’t going to leave the ship without my money and valuables.”

“Forget your
valuables,
I think this ship is sinking! Come on Norm, we’ve got to get to the lifeboats.”

“Okay, I’m coming, I’m right behind you.”

Norman struggled up the stairs gasping for breath as he tried to keep up with Clara. People pushed and shoved each other, some women cried and there was a lot of screams. He caught up with Clara on the portside of the Boat Deck. “God, I thought I’d lost you.”