Struck! A Titanic Love Story

by Tonie Chacon

  “They were when I came down, but that was a bit ago now. Let’s go have us a see, all right?”

  As they reached the elevator and pushed the button for the car they all lowered their sacks onto the floor. The elevator arrived and they dragged all the sacks into the car and jumped in after them.

  “Go up to the top. Do not stop for anyone. That is an order,” Albert barked. The elevator operator raised his eyebrows but obeyed.

  Megan grabbed for Alice’s hand and looked her in the eyes. “Are you all right? I don’t really understand any of this, but I do know we’re helping. Stay with me and we both will be fine. I love you.”

  Alice started to say something but the door opened and chaos arrived. Alice tucked her arm into Megan’s, grabbed her sack, and walked off into it.

  People were everywhere. Some were bewildered, carrying everything they owned in their arms. Mothers held crying children, people clung to their loved ones as they stood in line to board a lifeboat, while others waited patiently. Alice and Megan followed Albert. They reached a lifeboat, only to find it already being lowered.

  “Try over there,” Albert said, pointing to the next boat in line. “There might be some further down this way. I’ll go on and you start here.” He ran off carrying most of the Registered Mail sacks.

  “Thank you, good luck,” Megan cried. Alice was sure the sentiment was lost in the wind. “Let’s get on this one, Alice. It’s starting to be lowered.”

  The lifeboat had about twenty-five people, mostly well-dressed ladies and young children. Bewilderment shone in their eyes. There seemed to be room, but was there enough time? The ship was starting to take on a definite tilt as if they were walking uphill. Then Alice heard her name called in a genteel voice. The voice was Helene’s.

  Chapter Nineteen

  15 April 1912 — Midnight

  “OH, EMILY, I don’t know what I was thinking before I met you. To imagine that I could be in love with Alice. I do love her, but now that I know, I mean, know what the difference is, well, I was so naïve. You have shown me the world in these last few hours.” Frances gushed out the words to Emily, who cradled her down on her bosom, lovingly, but controlled. “I don’t know if it was the wine or the company that drew me to you. Like a moth to a light, a bright burning light that made me explode. Now, it is not only in my dreams. It is here with you.”

  “Oh, well, umm, thank you,” Emily murmured.

  Suddenly the door flew open and Ethan appeared, looking very worried and frazzled. Ethan wore a life vest, but it was not tied and it flapped when he walked. “Oh, here you are, and with her?” Ethan pointed at Frances. “Well, I am most sorry about this, but you both need to get up and get dressed at once and put on a life vest. Then follow me to the lifeboats. We’re sinking. We’ve struck an iceberg and we have to get off before we can’t. Hurry, now, please hurry. Make haste.”

  Emily got up so quickly she nearly threw Frances to the floor. She had no doubt that what Ethan had said was true. Even he couldn’t come up with something that outrageous.

  “Here, you’d best put on your own clothing,” Emily said. “And take one of my coats. It’s cold out tonight. Keep warm until I can keep you warmer.” Emily scurried around dressing herself. Frances threw on her petticoat and reached for her corset. “Not that,” Emily snapped. “There’s no time.” When they were presentable they emerged into the sitting room. There, Ethan helped them into life vests and out to the awaiting boats.

  Bedlam surrounded them. People were running, dragging trunks and suitcases with them, thinking they were all going to be saved, and their belongings too. The crew was slowly letting the lifeboats down to the water, working with a crane. The crewmen pushed and pulled at the boats trying to get them ready for boarding. Emily overheard a woman tell her husband that she had heard it was only for a little while, that there was a fire in one of the coal rooms. They needed everyone off the ship, but only for a little while. Emily breathed easier. Ethan led them to where the Cheswicks stood just inside the dining room doors keeping warm.

  Frances hugged her mother and father and looked around. “Where’s Alice?”

  “We thought she would be with you,” Helene said.

  Emily ignored the talk about Alice. Second Class could take care of itself. She looked over at Ethan. He was being so brave. Soon they would all get on a boat and row out a bit, and just come back. Then they all heard it.

  “Women and children first. Women and children only!” a steward yelled out to the crowd.

  The urgency of those few words sucked the life out of most men. Wives clung to husbands, lovers clung to each other, and very quickly the few remaining lifeboats were loaded. This was no drill.

  Emily watched as Helene grabbed Fletcher and started crying. “No, no, you cannot make me go without you. I love you. You will die if you stay here. You must come with me. I have nothing if I don’t have you. When we first boarded Titanic, I was so depressed to the point of losing myself, but I have recently discovered why I fell in love with you in the first place. I’d forgotten, but now I’ll never forget. Never,” Helene wailed as she was pulled from Fletcher’s arms.

  Emily couldn’t stand it. She screamed at the quartermaster, “You cannot do this. We’ve paid more than a lot of these other women. You should let the families on board that can pay!”

  “Women and children only,” the steward said. “This is the word from the Captain, not from you, madam. Come along, in you go, you too, miss. You men, over there, go inside so it will make it easier on the women. Come on, gents. Show a backbone in front of the ladies.”

  Fletcher gave Frances a hug and said, “Take care of your mother for me whilst I’m away. You know how distraught she gets.” Fletcher kissed Frances on her forehead. “Go on, be a good girl.”

  “Come on now, Helene. It’s only for a while, then we will come back,” Emily said encouragingly, though she didn’t believe it herself. “Come sit by Frances and me.” Helene stepped in the boat, followed by Frances and Emily, and they all sat together. Frances put her arms around her mother and held her tight.

  “All right then, this boat is full. Lower away,” the crane man called. The lifeboat jerked into balance with three cranes lowering the apparatus, but suddenly one slipped leaving the other two to catch up, and the lifeboat jerked again. Those on the lifeboat desperately searched the decks for their loved ones still on board. Emily was searching for Ethan when she realized that Alice had just run by.

  “Alice!” Helene screamed.

  Alice and Megan stopped running and stared out at the lifeboat being lowered.

  “You must come with us at once,” Helene sounded off with her mother voice. “I insist.”

  “Is there room enough for both of us?” Alice asked. “And these mail sacks?”

  “No, I don’t think so,” Helene said. “We hardly know that girl anyway. And why do you have those dirty mail sacks? It’s appalling. Get in.”

  “If this helps, I forgive you,” Emily stated flatly. “There now, I’ve said it. Get in the boat, please. It will save your life.” She didn’t want Alice to die after all. She could still be of some use, later on down the line.

  “But what about Megan?” Alice pleaded with them.

  “There’s no room,” Emily said. “Only you. We are overcrowded as it is. But you must jump before it is too late.”

  Out of the blue shot Ethan. “If you won’t go, then I will. I’ll save your precious mail.” He grabbed the two mail sacks from Alice and Megan. Clutching the bags, he leapt out towards the lowering lifeboat, but he misjudged his trajectory. The weight of the mail sacks, with their heavy locks, propelled him too far. He overshot the boat.

  Emily watched with a smile as she recognized Ethan flying through the air toward the lifeboat. “Catch him!” she cried. Reaching out, her hand grazed Ethan’s. His feet hit the edge of the lifeboat and he teetered for a moment, and then the weight of the bags in his left hand with the strings tangled around his fingers, flu
ng him further out beyond the lifeboat. A dull splash sounded as he hit the cold water below. The loose life vest that he wore slipped off. He disappeared into the black water, along with the sacks of Registered Mail. His life vest floated on top of the water. Empty.

  “Ethan!” Emily screamed his name as he slipped out of her grasp into the dark, black sea. “Ethan! Oh my God, get us down there. We have to save him. Please, please get us down to the water. Maybe he’ll bob back up. I need to help him, to find him.” Emily pleaded and begged as she watched in horror as Ethan’s body failed to reappear.

  Helene continued to plead with Alice to get into the boat. “You’re one of us, darling.”

  “Clearly I am not,” Alice said, “because I am choosing to stay here and find another way. Goodbye. Thank you for all you have done for me. I release you from all obligations concerning me.” As she turned to go, she said, “Come on Megan. Let’s go to the other side and find another way.”

  JACOB WAS BESIDE himself. How could he get his daughter out of the stack and into a lifeboat when he had to stay here and help put the lifeboats into the water? He just had to come up with a plausible excuse to go save them. Suddenly a loud argument broke out on the stern, giving him the excuse he needed.

  “Excuse me sir. I see some mishap going on back toward the stern. Mind if I go have a see?”

  The midshipman looked down the deck. He was too frazzled to argue. “Go on. See what you can do.”

  With that said, Jacob was off. He glanced over his shoulder to make sure he wasn’t being watched, then darted into the small alcove and started climbing the ladder. He wondered what he should do if he found them in a compromising position? He nodded his head, thinking that it was actually good if he did catch them. He loved Colin like a son already, and that meant all the more if his Alexandria loved him back. He’d have his blood matching a Mahoney’s strong bloodline that would, indeed, be a fine match. He opened the door without a ping warning to the inhabitants, climbed over the threshold and said, “Come on now. Get up and dressed.” As he expected, they lay in bed. “We’ve no need for explanations at this time. We have struck an iceberg and we seem to be going down from the bow section.” They both sat up. “We’re sinking I’m afraid, quite quickly. You need to get off the ship. Get up. Get dressed.” Jacob turned his back to grant them some privacy. “I would not trade these past few days with anyone,” he said, trying to keep his voice steady. He did not want to frighten them, but he doubted he would have another chance to say what he needed to say. “I am so grateful for the chance I had to embrace my flesh and blood. Nothing makes me prouder than you, Alexandria. Now, let’s go and save the both of you.”

  He turned back around. Alexandria was dressed and Colin was pulling on his boots. Jacob grabbed two life vests from the shelf he’d built with his own hands. “Here, put these on. We must get back to the lifeboats before there are not any left.” Jacob headed for the door. “Leave everything else. We must hurry.”

  “I’m not leaving without Violet,” Colin said, grabbing his violin. “Come on then.”

  They followed Jacob down the ladder.

  JACOB LED COLIN and Alexandria around the stern to the first available lifeboat but Alexandria refused to get into it without Colin.

  “No, I do not wish to be saved without you. I wish to stay with you and Papa.”

  Colin and Jacob exchanged a look. They each took one of Alexandria’s arms and lifted her into the lifeboat. She sank onto the seat and cried, big sobbing gasps. Colin hated to leave her.

  Wally walked by with the other band members. “Set up your instruments, boys,” Wally said. “Keep it lively, like the Captain said.”

  Colin followed, his case in hand.

  Wally turned. “Colin, what are you doing?”

  “Now that Alexandria is settled in a lifeboat, I would be honored to play with you until the end. If this is what is to be, then have at it, right?” Colin asked.

  Wally replied, “You don’t work for the Black Brothers. Get into this lifeboat with your friend and live.”

  Colin shook his head. “I will accompany you and the gents and go down like a man.”

  “No my friend, this is where you are wrong. You have a special gift with music. Do not cheat the world of your talent. The world needs to hear you.”

  Suddenly Wally grabbed Violet and gave the violin a hefty throw overboard. Instinctively, Colin lunged for the violin but, as Wally must have known it would, his lunge carried him overboard and he tumbled into the lifeboat, along with Alexandria and Violet, as it was lowered to the sea.

  Chapter Twenty

  15 April 1912 — Early Morning

  MEGAN LOOKED AROUND at the people surrounding them, some trying desperately to cling to loved ones as they were ripped from their arms and shoved into lifeboats, others crying. Confusion rapidly filled the air.

  “How much time do you think we have left? I mean, you know, before we sink?” Alice asked.

  Megan saw the pandemonium escalating around them and said, “By the looks of things, not too much longer. We saw it with our own eyes downstairs, how quickly the water was rising up out of the hold into the mailroom. I wonder if the men got out before the hold was completely immersed. And now that we have failed in our job of saving the Registered Mail, we had better figure something else out or we, too, shall perish. My poor trunk. I’ll never see it again.” Glancing down at her bracelet, Megan said, “At least I have this. When we get rescued, we can use it for stake money to purchase some land or travel somewhere we can be free.”

  “Rescued? We have to get off this ship first,” Alice said. “We just gave away a spot in a lifeboat. Ethan has died trying to save himself. My family, or what I have of family, are out in the ocean somewhere, and we’re still here, on this sinking ship. You have a plan, don’t you Megan?” Alice asked. “Please tell me you have a plan. What’s going on inside that head of yours?”

  “I have an idea, love. I’m not sure it will work, but we’re running out of options. Go and gather as many life vests as you can carry and bring them back here. It’s a crazy idea, but if you have a better one I’m willing to listen.”

  “I don’t have one at all,” Alice said. “Kiss me quick, and I shall go.”

  Megan gathered Alice into her arms, heedless of the other passengers who might see them. They embraced, followed by a passionate kiss. “Hurry back, love.”

  Megan began gathering all the table linen she could find. She saw a stack of deck chairs shoved to the side. She ran over to them with all the linen in her arms. Quickly she spread four chairs into a square. She lashed them together with the linen, tying passable knots to help them stay together. She figured they could tie the life jackets on top of the chairs and themselves on top of the life jackets. If they could stay out of the water, they had a chance of surviving.

  Alice came back with her arms full of life vests. She examined the square of linen and chairs and threw the vests on top. Using the ties that were attached to the vests, they further tied them to the chairs. Soon they had a big pile of items stacked on top of one another and Megan climbed on top of it all.

  “Come on up here, we need to be on top of this makeshift raft before we hit the water. Maybe we’ll get lucky and it won’t pull us under with the suction the ship is bound to create. She may flounder a bit, before she dies. I want us to have that chance. Oh look.” Flares lit up the sky. “That will help the other ships coming to our rescue.”

  The sky was bright with stars. Megan’s mind reeled from everything she saw. The ship was tilted halfway out of the water. The water was rapidly advancing towards them. It was amazing that the ship was still aglow with light and music. She wondered if Colin was playing. The wall behind them was helping to keep their strange contraption in one place as the floor tilted. At least she had picked a good spot. She watched as people streamed by, few noticing them and most hurrying on their way with crazy plans of their own. Megan glanced down at Alice and put on a brave smile. “Co
me now, up with you. We will be better able to see from up here. I just want us to be ready. For what, I don’t know, just ready.”

  Up Alice climbed to the top of their raft and Megan tied her to it as best she could with the ties of her life jacket. The water line was coming to them instead of making them go to it. The tilt of Titanic was causing items to fall over and crash into other things. Breaking glass, people shouting, moaning and crying, and sounds of sobbing, desperate men, were some of the things that Megan heard. She grabbed onto Alice and held her tight. Suddenly there was a terrible shudder on the ship and a couple of small explosions. The ship sounded like it was breaking apart.

  “Hold on to me,” Megan cried. “Try and hold your breath, for as long as you can. Don’t give up. We will be rescued. I love you, Alice. We’re going make it, I know it. I didn’t come all this way to find you and then die before we can have a life. Just hold on to me.”

  “I love you, Megan,” Alice sobbed. “I love you. If we have to die, at least we’ll be together.”

  The sounds were horrendous. Loud voices screamed and moaned. People jumped overboard trying to save themselves. It was every man for himself, or woman. The loud rumbling and shuddering of the deck made Alice scream and hold even tighter to Megan. Suddenly, the bow, by the last funnel, Jacob’s funnel, broke away. The ship gave an awful lurch and snapped in two. A surge of water lifted the makeshift raft and swept it off the deck. “Here we go. Hold your breath.”

  Several men tried to grab hold of the raft as it hit the open water of the ocean. Two of them latched on. “Let go!” Megan cried. “You’ll swamp us.” But it was too late. The raft shifted positions and flipped. Megan and Alice were now underwater, trapped by the ties of their life jackets. The needles of the icy water stung so bad it felt like a million sharp needles pricking Megan’s body with instant pain. She hadn’t thought about this part. She felt herself being thrown about the ocean like a Ping-Pong ball. Her lungs burned. Another wave appeared and flipped the raft over again, with them on the top. One man miraculously still held on. He had one hand tight on the ends of a trailing jacket line. He bobbed a moment, his head went underwater, and his hand let go.