Henry & Sarah

by Kadrak, Suzanne

  “Icebergs,” the man with the monocle said mysteriously.

  Henry and Oscar turned their heads towards him. Monocle-man inched closer.

  “We are currently passing the coasts of Newfoundland, an area which is very popular for iceberg sightings. They also call these parts the ʻIceberg Alley.ʼ Iceberg Alley is quite dangerous because here the ice enters the shipping lanes. That is why the ship has reduced its speed so that it can more rapidly stop once an iceberg comes in sight. After all, we do not want to collide with one of them, do we?”

  Henry couldnʼt get rid of the impression that the man with the monocle found an inner delight in scaring everybody around him with his unsettling comments, and that he had only waited for an occasion to chat someone up. Henry took another sip of his whiskey and tried to ignored monocle-man, but the latter just kept on talking.

  “They break off from the edges of glaciers in Greenland. Then the Labrador Current carries them all the way down to the eastern coasts of Newfoundland. There are thousands of them every year. Quite a spectacular sight indeed. I have seen them; I know what I am talking about.”

  “Please forgive my interrupting, Sir,” Oscar threw in, “but I believe to have heard that these sightings only ever occur during the springtime.”

  “That is quite right,” monocle-man answered. “The icebergs preferably come down to these parts in May and June, and normally melt away in the warm water of the Gulf Stream by August or September. Still, there are always exceptions to the rule, and it is not seldom that the odd chunk can be seen even in late autumn.”

  “I doubt that such an odd chunk can be of real danger to a ship,” Henry said.

  Monocle-man raised an eyebrow and came even closer, an ominous look in his eyes.

  “November 11th, 1880. That is the date when the schooner ʻSchleswigʼ collided with an iceberg—right here in these waters. What makes it so dangerous is that only about one quarter of an iceberg is actually visible. The remaining three quarters and obviously much bigger parts lie below the waterʼs surface where not even the shipʼs spotlights can detect them.”

  “Arthur, will you please leave these two gentlemen in peace,” monocle-manʼs wife, who had not uttered a word so far, suddenly interfered. “They already look quite pale...”

  “Why should I not inform them about the possible dangers so that they are prepared?” monocle-man replied before turning to Henry and Oscar again, whispering conspiratorially. “It is always wise to check where exactly the lifeboats are located so that you are the first ones to get access to one—just in case. Did you know that there are only sixteen lifeboats on board? Isnʼt that ridiculous considering that there are about seven hundred passengers, not counting in the thousand downstairs in steerage class? They wouldnʼt stand a chance anyway if the ice rips open the length of the hull...”

  “Arthur, please...” Monocle-manʼs wife moaned in anguish.

  Henry nervously emptied his glass of Whiskey and got up, swaying slightly. The ground seemed to move under his feet and he couldnʼt tell if it was because of the several drinks he had already consumed or because the ship had maybe already hit an iceberg.

  “I think Iʼd better go and check on Sarah,” he said to Oscar. “She will surely already be wondering where we are.”

  “Good idea,” Oscar exclaimed and equally jumped up from his chair. The two men excused themselves politely and then left the bar in a haste. They couldnʼt get away from Arthur quick enough.

  Oscar headed to the gambling room, whereas Henry quickly returned to their cabin, noticing that he really had had one too many. He hoped that he would be able to find the right cabin door.

  Sarah was sitting on the bed, dressed in her nightgown and combing her long, shiny hair; a sight that immediately caught Henryʼs attention when he entered the room.

  “Henry, where have you been for so long? Donʼt you want to come now and lie in bed with me?” Sarah said, appearing a little sad.

  “I will be right with you, my sweetheart,” Henry answered softly. Then he walked over to the porthole and looked outside.

  Massive chunks of ice were silently gliding past the ship, their surface shimmering pale and white in the moonlight. Some of them were as tall as houses, rising up like sharp stalagmites out of the cold pitch-dark waters around them.

  “This is so beautiful, isnʼt it?” Henry suddenly heard Sarah whisper next to him.

  “Hm...” he mumbled absent-mindedly.

  “But isnʼt it dangerous?” Sarah added.

  “Well, not really,” Henry answered. He tried to sound as casual as possible and not to let his nervousness show. “The captain knows this area like the back of his hand, you know...”

  He was aware that this was a more than ridiculous explanation. After all, icebergs werenʼt static at all and therefore could hardly be predicted, not even by the most experienced seamen.

  An extremely big block of ice moved past them and momentarily covered the entire view out of their little porthole.

  What makes it so dangerous is that only about one quarter of an iceberg is actually visible. The bigger parts lie below the waterʼs surface...

  “Oh, well then…” Sarah remarked happily and added, “Would you do me a favor, Henry? Could you go and get me some more of these tiny pastries they served as a dessert today? The ones with the little cherry on top of it and the jam filling? I do not want to make love to you with an empty stomach.”

  “An empty stomach?” Henry couldnʼt help but laugh as he turned to face Sarah. “As far as I remember you had fresh liver with cranberries for dinner, along with dumplings and salad. And as a dessert you had German Königsberger Meatballs, which actually isnʼt a dessert at all but just another main course.”

  Sarah pouted and looked at him with puppy eyes.

  Henry smiled amusedly as he took a slow step towards Sarah, hypnotizing her with luscious looks. He raised his hand and caressed her cheek. Forgotten was the icy menace which was surrounding the ship.

  “I am afraid I wonʼt be able to get you another dessert, as I am unsure if I will ever find my way back to this cabin...” he said with a raspy voice.

  “Henry, are you drunk?” Sarah frowned.

  Henry chuckled.

  “I think so, yes...”

  Sarah let out a sigh.

  “Well, then forget about the pastries. Just make love to me, alright?” she said matter-of-factly.

  Henry nodded, took another step towards Sarah and returned the eager kisses which she was smothering him with.

  “Take off my bandage, Sarah,” he breathed. “I want to fully embrace you…”

  “Henry, do you really think that is a good idea?” Sarah said doubtfully.

  “Yes, I absolutely think so... Take it off, quick...”

  Sarah began to fumble with the gauze bandage around his arm and torso whilst Henry was impatiently sucking at her lips and neck. As soon as she had freed him from the dressing, he wrapped both his arms around her and shoved her over to the bed. He felt a slight stinging pain in his chest but decided that if he was careful, he would run no risk of straining the fracture too much. After all, it had already had some time to heal.

  Soon he laid on top of her, pulled up her nightgown and thrust inside of her, relishing on the feeling of her legs wrapped around his pelvis, her abdomen pressed against his, and her body wriggling in rapture underneath him. He felt her excited breathing on his naked skin as she buried her head on his shoulder, and soon he came with a loud cry.

  And all the while the ship was slowly gliding through the ice, soon leaving the coastal regions of Newfoundland behind, unscathed, and taking direct course towards America.

  * * *

  The last days of their journey were overshadowed by heavy storms. The sea got rough with waves as high as four feet, and most of the time the view out of the porthole of the cabin was covered all over with white sea spray.

  To Henryʼs surprise, Oscar got terribly seasick and was unable to get up anymore. Med
ication didnʼt help him at all, and soon the little cabin was rather crowded with Deirdre and Shannon coming around for sick calls every so often, pampering him all day long with biscuits and rusk.

  At this stage, Henry was sure that Oscar would get involved with either Shannon or Deirdre, preferably Deirdre, as Oscar had confided to him one day, the redhead with the heart-stopping smile. But then Henry learnt that Oscarʼs secret hopes had unexpectedly been shattered.

  “You know that jewelry which her father sells?” Oscar told Henry in one of the rare moments that Deirdre and Shannon were not sitting at his bedside. “Deirdre wears one of the rings of his collection; a Claddagh ring, as she explained to me. It shows two little hands holding a heart. She said that if that heart points towards the heart of the person wearing it, it means that that person is taken. Now guess which direction the heart on her ring is facing...”

  Oscar let out a sigh.

  “There is somebody waiting for her in New York,” he added. “Allegedly a man whom she already spent her childhood with, back in Ireland.”

  “You could fight for her,” Henry remarked.

  “Fighting like you?” Oscar laughed bitterly. “No, Henry. Our little adventure with Sarah was enough to last me for a lifetime. I am not made for things like that. Apart from that, this is an entirely different story as Deirdre seems to be terribly in love with my unknown rival. I can clearly see that there is no point in driving her away from him. You know, it wasnʼt that I had deeply fallen in love with her. But still... well, it could have developed into something more I guess, at least from my part...”

  “I am sorry, Oscar,” Henry remarked sympathetically, “but I am certain your day will come...”

  “Well, it is not that bad.” Oscar smiled faintly at Henry, trying to downplay the situation. “I will have much more important things to occupy my mind with once we arrive. After all, I will have to find a hotel room first, and eventually an apartment and a place to set up my doctorʼs office. There will not be much time for sitting back and taking things easy—let alone time for thinking about the birds and the bees.”

  “But, Oscar,” Henry exclaimed in wonder, “you donʼt intend to separate from us immediately after our arrival, do you? I thought we would all go and meet my brother first?”

  “Henry, be sensible,” Oscar replied softly. “Your brother is expecting only you. We can hardly all turn up at his doorstep, asking for lodging. Let me go my own way, Henry.”

  “God, you really are a loner, arenʼt you?” Henry remarked, shaking his head in disbelief. “If you really want to have a wife one day, you must give that up and start developing some kind of sense for having a family; or else you will permanently attract the wrong people who are not interested in a serious relationship. What I mean to say is, at least drop our suitcases at my brotherʼs place, and then let us go in search of a nearby place for you to stay. You helped me so much. Why donʼt you give me a chance now to do something for you? Apart from that, I really donʼt think that it would be wise if you left Sarah the very moment we set foot on American ground. It will surely not add to her well-being if she knows that you are wandering through the streets of New York all on your own. This will be an entirely new world for us. We donʼt know anything about it at all. Not every place there might be safe. I am sure that Sarah would die with worry. And she is busy enough worrying about herself and her own future. Do it for her. Come with us first. My gut is telling me that it is the right thing to do.”

  Oscar grinned at Henry.

  “Alright, Henry,” he said, sounding much more optimistic. “If your gut is telling you so... And now you better hand me that bucket again...”

  * * *

  On the 20th November 1886, at 8.02 a.m. local time, the Princess of the Seas sailed into the harbor of New York.

  Henry took Sarah by the hand, then the two went on deck and over to the rails. The air was crisp and smelt of coal, as the shipʼs funnels were relentlessly pumping black smoke and steam into the skies.

  Next to Henry and Sarah stood Oscar, Deirdre and Shannon. It didnʼt take long until they were surrounded by hundreds of other people following suit and securing themselves a place at the rails so that they too could watch the Princess of the Seas peacefully and majestically gliding through the Upper Bay while announcing its arrival by letting the shipʼs horn sound.

  The sky was aflame with a soft orange glow as the sun was slowly emerging behind the city skyline which was still covered in the haze of an early morning mist. A strange silence and serenity hung in the air, and fascination, bliss and relief lay on the faces of the numerous spectators who had gathered on deck to bear witness to their long-awaited arrival.

  Henry wrapped his arms around Sarah, his hands lovingly stroking her belly. Close as she was to him now, he believed to feel her heart hammer excitedly in her chest until he realized that it was in fact not her heart but his own. But from the look in Sarahʼs eyes, he could see that she seemed equally taken aback, just like Oscar who was quietly and absent-mindedly staring into the distance, a little smile on his lips. Henry wondered what was going on in his friendʼs mind; after all, Oscar had only very spontaneously decided to come on this journey and was the one who had surely reckoned the least with the fact that he would be standing here now.

  Even for Henry America had originally been nothing but a dream, way out of reach just like the girl that he was holding in his arms.

  So, there has to be a God after all… he thought. Or else all of this wouldnʼt be happening to me right now...

  “God, Deirdre, isnʼt it just like our dear father has described it to us?” Shannon breathed in awe.

  “It is, Shannon, it is,” Deirdre answered. “And just look! That must be Brooklyn Bridge!”

  She excitedly pointed her finger over to a very long and tall suspension bridge which dominated the scenery and was about seven times taller than the actual skyline of the city, letting everything in its vicinity appear small like a toy.

  Henry felt himself becoming rather fidgety. The closer they came to the port the more he grew impatient to finally get off board and embrace his new life and his brother who, as he guessed, was already waiting for him.

  “What is that?” Sarah suddenly asked. Henry turned his head to see what she was pointing at: It was the tall, cast-iron statue of a lady with a tiara, her hand triumphantly holding up a torch into the salty air. Henry immediately recognized it from the descriptions in his brotherʼs letters.

  “That is the Statue of Liberty, Sarah,” he explained to Sarah. He was well aware that the statue, which had been unveiled about two weeks ago, in fact represented Americaʼs independence from British supremacy, which it had only gained about one hundred years ago after a long period of war. But despite being British himself, Henry didnʼt worry too much about politics. From his personal perspective, the statue was a symbol of freedom for him, just as it was a symbol of freedom for the Americans. It was about his freedom to live with the girl that he loved; just as he had always wanted to.

  Hundreds of wooden piers and innumerable masts of many sailing ships were lining the shore along the North River. Henry noticed the Princess of the Seas slow down and steer towards pier 58, which—as he could already see from afar—was overflowing with people awaiting the arrival of the ship.

  58, my bloody lucky number from today...

  Finally the steamer docked, the anchor was cast, and the ship was moored, and Henry, Sarah, and Oscar were walking along the shipʼs corridors in the direction of the main exits where the crew had already begun to open the doors so that the passengers could step outside and go off board.

  “We were really lucky,” Henry suddenly heard a familiar voice next to his ear. He turned around and to his horror found himself staring right into the face of Arthur, the monocle-man.

  “The life boats, I mean,” Arthur said in his usual conspiratorial manner. “Got a chance to have a closer look at them...”

  Monocle-man looked left and right to see if an
ybody was listening in on their conversation. Then he added mysteriously, “Extremely poor handiwork. If you ask me, these boats would not have lasted very long out there in the cold waters...”

  “Good to know,” Henry answered politely. He cast monocle-man a weak smile and quickly turned away from him.

  Henry followed Oscar who had already been approached by a practitioner, who cursorily examined the leaving 1st and 2nd Class passengers on their way out. The procedure was surprisingly short, especially when Henry claimed that he had sustained his rib injury after having slipped on one of the stairs outside on the wet deck. To Henryʼs inner amusement, the practitioner even apologized to him for this terrible inconvenience and promised that they would take better safety precautions in the future. Nobody was ever to find out that Henry had been involved in a nasty fight and that he was, as he guessed, currently sought by the English police.