by Tonie Chacon
Lucas scrunched up his face with thought. His lips pressed together tightly before he opened his mouth to speak. “I think I might have a solution to your problem. I’ve thought of using it myself. They’ve had me loading the post these last few days with a couple of good gents. There are a lot of extra mail bags waiting to be filled with packages or boxes or bundles of letters all heading to different places. It’s been very exciting and all, but it’s given me ideas. I think I can help you out, my friend. Once we hit French waters, I’ll be helping to transport people, luggage and incoming mail. On the trip back to the ship, we shall hide your daughter in a mail sack. They are huge. I’m sure I would fit, so I know she will. Then, all we have to do is carry her on board and set her in the back so as she can get out. Cinch up the bag a wee bit, then a little wiggle, out she comes. Just like a damn cocoon. We leave Queensland after that, and it is open sea until New York. It’ll be back to being a fireman for me after that, in the coal room. I admit I’ll be glad to be back at it.” Lucas laughed out loud, again. “The mail room’s more work than you might think. You see, all the mail is placed into a huge holding room that houses all the mail plus the clerks that sort the mail and deliver it on board too, if needed. There are three British mail clerks and two Americans that sort that mail, mainly for the States. All in all, between them all they will probably work up to seven hundred thousand letters over the course of the voyage.”
“Mail sacks, you say?” Jacob asked.
“It’s simply brilliant, you know it is,” Lucas said. “Wish I could say I thought it up myself, but I didn’t. I heard some guy talking in his drink the other day and he planted the idea in my brain. After I heard it, I started thinking it was a right good plan. Thought about using it for myself in Queensland, but I think I’ll stay on board. I spied a little filly I wouldn’t mind taking a ride on, if you get my drift?” Lucas wiggled his eyebrows up and down. “Well, anyways, it’s a good plan. So, what do you think? Could it work for your girl?”
Just then Colin walked by with his violin in hand. “Hey, Colin,” Lucas called. “Come have a pint or two with us. Let me introduce you to a mate on the ship.”
“You’re on Titanic, you say,” Colin spoke enthusiastically. “After a bit I shall join you, but now I’ve got to sing for my supper here one last time.”
“One last time? What’s happened since we last spoke?” Lucas asked earnestly. “You didn’t lose this sweet gig, did you?”
“Well, yes and no,” Colin explained. “I took your advice and stood in line day before yesterday and snagged me a job aboard Titanic as a printer’s helper. Don’t quite know what that is, but I’ve been getting acquainted with the ship all day. She is a beauty.” Colin spoke with pride.
“Ho, ho, I know what that means mate. My name’s Jacob and I’ve been on board since Belfast.” Jacob shook hands with Colin. “A printer’s helper is just that, a helper. Not only with the printing shop, but with the stewards and the laundry and the post, if you get the drift of my thinking now?”
Colin stood there with a questioning look.
“A jack of all trades?” Jacob hinted.
“A jackass, you mean?” Colin said and laughed. “Oh, well. It’s only for a little while and then we shall port in New York City. I can manage ’til then.”
“You’ll have a fine time of it, a strapping young lad like you. Welcome aboard. You said you got all settled in then? We shove off in two days.” Jacob pointed at a case in Colin’s hand. “What’s that you’re carrying?”
“It’s my violin. I sing and play here, been doing it for a couple of years now to help keep a roof over our heads. Waiting for my ship to come in and give me good fortune. I’ve always wanted to play on a ship but have never been fortunate enough to obtain employment with an outgoing ship. So after a bit, I will come back and share my good fortunes with you. But alas, my audience awaits.”
Colin took his violin out of the case and started to pluck it, tuning until the strings sounded good to him. He started playing a slow soft ballad that suddenly turned into a rowdy dirty little ditty about the barkeep’s wife. Singing and waltzing from table to table, he looked and sounded like he had the whole world in his hands, like he was having a party just for himself. Lucas clapped and jiggled his leg in time, and even Jacob seemed to forget his troubles as Colin played. The more Colin played and sang, the louder and drunker the crowd became, singing and clapping as if they wouldn’t let him go there by himself. Smiles and laughter rose out of Donovan’s. It was quite the scene, Lucas marveled, and Colin had created it all himself.
Jacob smiled and turned back to Lucas. “Your friend is very good. Seems a very likable chap. I look forward to spending a little time with him here and on board. As to your proposal, I’ve given it some quick thought and, by Jove, I like it. It has a much better chance of succeeding with you on board than any other I have come upon. I shall volunteer to help load and unload the sacks of mail. They most likely will have me doing some extra jobs. I might as well ask for one that I want. I’m usually not needed unless something goes wrong. Then I am called. Let me get the gears in motion, and if you happen to see me that evening at the docking at Cherbourg, just treat me like any other mate you have been friendly with. Have an extra mail sack ready to hand me and be ready to help with Alexandria. I told her to wear a red scarf to help identify her. I hope she won’t mind hiding in a sack until we get on board. There we might have a wee bit of trouble. Help me look for her also. Thank you, thank you from the bottom of my heart. It feels as if a huge weight has been lifted off my chest. I have a small space to hide her while I search for somewhere else that she may claim an unclaimed berth.” Jacob smiled again. “Thank you.”
“But you can’t tell my secret either,” Lucas warned his friend. “If things don’t work out with the filly, I might use the same method to hop off.”
Jacob made a locking motion with his fingers across his lips. “My lips are sealed.”
Jacob and Lucas turned to watch Colin again, their minds whirling as they listened to the wonderful sound of Colin’s voice in harmony with some of the other people in the pub. A love song it was this time. Sitting before Colin, a young woman softly cried.
ALEXANDRIA SURVEYED HER mother’s apartment. Boxes half filled with clothes and knick-knacks waited to be moved into one room. She would do that tonight. She had to go to visit her mother today. Alexandria hated going to the sanatorium. She couldn’t even call it a hospital. Hospitals were for the living and breathing, and she wasn’t sure her mother qualified anymore. It was considered a good place, the best that Mama’s old benefactor could afford, but still the smell was so awful she had to wrap her face in a cloth bathed in lemon juice with a hint of spearmint, in order to be able to stand it. She’d learned early on only to visit during the lighted hours. The screaming in the middle of the day was enough to unnerve her. She couldn’t imagine her fears once the dark set in.
She had to talk to her mother and it couldn’t wait until tomorrow. This was the last day she would be welcome here. The apartment had been sold. She read the telegram again.
Landing in Cherbourg Titanic ship Ten April at 730 pm Stop Join me Going to America Stop Pack Light Wear Red scarf Stop Jacob Darcy
She needed to ask her mother all these questions while she was still able to answer. She put the telegram in her purse and went into the other room to change into something more appropriate for the sanatorium. She would go right away and then come back to pack up the rest of the apartment.
“MAMA, ARE YOU awake?” Alexandria asked, pausing to listen for a sound before she entered her mother’s room. She heard nothing so she peeked in and breathed a sigh of relief at seeing her mother sitting up. She breezed in and opened the curtains. “There now, this room needs some sunshine to lighten it up.” She turned and watched her mother’s eyes squint in the bright sunlight. “This sunshine will be good for those plants,” Alexandria said.
“How are you feeling today, Mama?” She was try
ing to put on a happy persona, though she didn’t feel it inside. “Would you like to go outside and sit and talk?” Alexandria looked at her expectantly. It was good that Mama was dressed and in her wheelchair already. A nod came from her mother. “All right, let’s get you into a shawl so your arms are covered and I’ll push you out.”
“My daughter,” Marchant’e said, slumped in her wooden wheelchair. “I’m glad you came to see me. I have much to say to you. I can feel it in my soul that I am dying.” She coughed and whispered the last words, then spit into a rag.
“Mama, you say that every time I see you. We are all dying in one way or another, aren’t we? Your body has chosen sooner rather than later.” Alexandria pushed her out the door and stopped by a bench beneath a big fig tree. Alexandria parked the chair by the bench and sat down. The landscape was lovely. There were green mounds with oak and fig trees scattered about.
“I received a telegram, Mama. It was addressed to me from Jacob Darcy. Yes, I recognize the name from all your stories. I’ll read it to you.” She read the telegram, and a smile crossed her mother’s face.
“Yes. My goodness, it came so quickly,” Mama said.
“You knew about this? Did you write to him?”
“Yes, of course I did. You should go with him. This is the answer to my prayers.” Mama broke off to cough. “You must go with him. There is nothing here for you, except me. This is all I can ask of both of you.” A hacking stream of coughing followed. “Oh, I remember him. It was a warm day in Belfast and I met a nice boy. I swear we fell in love in that moment. Because of that love, you were created.” She commenced to cough again. “I never told him about you until now. It’s good that he will take care of you. He can show you the life you were meant to live. I have given all I could to you, but now I can rest knowing that you will be safe. Yes, of course you should go. That is why I wrote him, telling him that I would not be alive in the near future. Go, live your life. Your destiny is not here.” Her breathing was labored. Harsh, raspy air escaped her mouth, and a slight moan with every breath accompanied each sentence.
“There is a sock hidden amongst my undergarments that has a little money in it. Use it to answer Jacob that you will be joining him. Take any of my things you wish. I’ll never be able to wear them again. Albert gave me such fine things. You must take as many of my valuables with you as you can. I love you, always remember that.”
Alexandria thought she had nothing left to cry for Mama, but she found her cheeks bathed in tears. Even with the last of her strength, Mama was still taking care of her. “I love you too, Mama.”
“Now take me back in, please,” Mama said. “I’m getting a chill.”
ALEXANDRIA LOOKED AROUND the apartment she had called home for many years. Her mother had somewhat exotic tastes, a little too much so for Alexandria. Leopard skin rugs and lounging couches, with round, long pillows on them. The pictures on the walls were of jungles in Africa, she presumed.
She continued her task of sorting through Mama’s possessions. She couldn’t take everything, and all that was left would be sold to pay the bills. Sorting through Mama’s things was rather gruesome. She was not even dead, and here Alexandria was trying to tie everything up pretty in a bow. But again, what choice did she have?
Alexandria stared at some of the gowns she found. Despite her taste in décor, Mama had excellent taste in clothing. Why did she never know this about her mother? Every time Alexandria had come home from boarding school, they never went out on the town. They mostly stayed in, enjoying each other’s company so much it left little time for other socialization.
Alexandria held up a gown. She and Mama were close to the same size. She packed four of the more tempting ones and left the rest. She found jewelry and cuffs, furs and coats, enough to keep herself warm and adorned on a cold night.
But it was the shoes that caught Alexandria’s eye the most. She had never seen such a wonderful assortment of shoes. She started packing what she could take in her carpetbags. She didn’t take the time to try anything on. The telegram didn’t say that passage was booked, but Alexandria was not concerned. She wanted to be prepared for anything on the ship. For that matter, she needed to be prepared for the rest of her life. If he wished for her company, he should pay her passage for the pleasure of it. It was a good thing she had a red scarf, since she had no funds to buy one. But how would she recognize him?
She knew next to nothing about this man except the story of Mama’s misplaced youth. Have faith, Mama always said. After all the time that had passed, she would have thought the story would change. It never did. Should she believe because Mama believed? Again, she asked herself, what choice did she have?
She would pack and meet up with this man, this father, but that didn’t mean she would go with him, wherever he went. She would love to go to New York City, in America. They had the greatest music in America. But London would be fine, if that was where the ship went. She could get off the ship there if she didn’t like her father. Someday, she thought, Cherbourg would be a great place to be from.
She would answer him. She went down to the telegraph office. She hurried, slipped on the cobblestone, and her heel got caught between the stones. When she finally got into the front office of the telegraph station, she was a disheveled woman. She held the heel of her shoe in her left hand, and her stockings were ruined. On top of that, it had started sprinkling. As she glared into the sky she exclaimed, “Oh how I loathe the rain.”
She hobbled to the window with her telegram in hand. It read:
To: Jacob Darcy Stop Mama near death Stop No hope of recovery Stop Will meet you at docks in Cherbourg wearing red scarf Stop Alex
There, she had done it and it was off to the ship, Titanic. She used the last of the money she found in the sock. There was so much more to be done and so little time left in which to do it. Broken shoe in hand, she could only pray that her Mama’s shoes fit. They were now the only shoes she had.
Chapter Six
09 April 1912 — Southampton
THE DRIVER MANEUVERED the shiny black Rolls Royce onto the pier and stopped at the offices of The White Star Line. He got out and opened the back door. Alice stepped out, followed by Frances. They were both dressed in the latest fashions. Alice had on a blue and white striped shirttail top with the long sleeves gathered at the wrist with a matching, flowing skirt that gave her freedom to walk. Frances had chosen a white, ruffled blouse with a cameo at her neck, striking against the black material of her skirt. They wore large brimmed hats with wide ribbons cascading down their backs. Frances had chosen a white ribbon for her hat to show the contrast of black and white on her hair. Alice wished her hair shone as brightly in the sun as Frances’s did, but her ribbon stood out with its striped layers against the straw of her hat.
They walked into the ticket offices of the White Star Line. Alice was expecting a man to help her with the tickets and her step faltered a bit when she saw a woman standing at the counter. Frances ran into the back of her. Alice saw a striking young woman in a large White Star Line hat. A beautiful woman in charge of the office, well, it threw Alice into a nervous frenzy. It was much like seeing a man in uniform did to some women. Her heartbeat pattered a little faster as she smiled and approached the window.
“Hello, yes, my name is Alice Pearce and this is my, uh, friend, Frances Cheswick. Her father is Fletcher Cheswick, and we are here to pick up some sort of packet to be reviewed and something done with it before sailing tomorrow.” Alice stopped when she heard the odd inflection in her voice. She needed a moment to regain her composure. She took a deep breath.
“How do you do?” Alice had this line down pat. “I’ll start over. My name is Alice Pearce and we have come to retrieve the tickets I assume were ready yesterday, when I had scheduled out a time to come on this particular errand, but no, someone else didn’t want to. I had to drag her here. Frances, say hello to, I’m sorry, what is your name, miss? I can see from your nametag that your name is Mahoney.” She spell
ed out the name. “But what shall I call you? Using your last name sounds inappropriate.”
“I am, um, I mean, oh, Megan Mahoney at your service miss,” Megan replied. “I’ll go get that packet. It’s in the back safe. When you didn’t show up yesterday, I put it back there.”
Alice glared at Frances as Megan turned to leave. Frances looked sheepish.
“Okay, here we are.” Megan shook out the contents onto the counter for them to go over together. “Here are all four boarding passes. This is what you will need to get on board Titanic. These are for your personal luggage, distinguishing them from these.” Megan showed a different tag. “This one is for deep storage, for things that should not need to be disturbed, for it is stored in the bottom of the ship and it would be very difficult to get to one particular trunk or box, mind you. The stewards on board are not to be sent on a wild goose chase for a bag you, yourself, have misrepresented.”
Alice tried to concentrate, while watching Megan’s fingers flit from one document to the next.
“So as I was saying, this is really all you need to attain passage as long as you have your possessions well marked. I usually send out these packets in the post,” Megan said. “Everything really explains itself. I thought I’d give a little extra touch for you. I’m not sure why.”
“It’s because Daddy thinks he could control me better on a ship than in his own back yard. I can’t help it that the backyard is a hundred acres thick,” Frances Cheswick stated as if everyone should be listening to her even if they were not. “With lots of hiding places and lots and lots of friends to share it with. So what if we stay out a little bit too late, or come into the estate in not quite the regular way? He thinks I will be easier to keep track of, that’s why we are going on this holiday to the States. We were asked not to return to the Canary Islands this season because of his outrageous conduct.”