by Jim Wetton
“Lizzy, you promised. Lizzy, you promised. Lizzy, you promised. Lizzy, you promised. Lizzy, you promised. Lizzy, you promised. Lizzy, you promised. Lizzy, you promised. Lizzy, you promised.”
“Stop!” Lizzy yelled out as she bolted from the bench.
As soon as she’d proclaimed her command, the air turned still. What just a few seconds before was a mass of chaos was now filled with silence. Lizzy shook her head to clear the remaining echoes. She pushed her hair out of her eyes and wiped the sweat from her brow. She looked to her left and then to her right. Nothing.
“Lizzy?”
Lizzy turned to the softness of the call. She could see the woman with long, flowing blond hair walking away, calling out her name.
“Lizzy?”
She needed to get to the woman to find out what she wanted.
“Lizzy?”
She began to follow the woman. She tripped on something and cursed.
“Don’t curse, child. We taught you better than that.”
Lizzy jerked back at the calmness of the woman’s reproach. She tried to get closer, but with each step, the woman remained two steps further ahead.
“I, I can’t ge-get to you.”
“Lizzy?”
“I, I’m trying.”
Lizzy felt exhausted. She stopped and sat on a log. She lifted her head and turned towards the woman. The back of her head was all she could see.
“Lizzy?”
“I’m trying; for God’s sake, I’m trying!”
“Don’t yell, child, and don’t talk to God that way; it hurts Him,” the woman cried out as she began to turn around.
Lizzy stopped and stood in awe. The woman was radiant. Her eyes were an emerald blue-green and her face glowed like the fullest of moons. Her smile was luminous and welcoming as if she encompassed the epitome of what love was all about.
Lizzy stopped and stared at the smiling woman.
“Lizzy.”
“Hannah?”
“Don’t give up, child. Don’t give up!”
* * * *
“Momma! Oh, dear Lord, Momma, thank God we found you!”
Lizzy shook her head at the sound of Nellie’s voice. “We’ve been looking all day for you. If it wasn’t for Caroline’s intuition about this old bench, we’d never have thought of coming all the way over here to find you. What were you thinking coming all the way over here by yourself!?”
The sounds around Lizzy began to fall into a vacuum. She leaned back on her bench with a soft thud. Those around her spoke but all she could see were their mouths moving but no words spoken. She turned and looked across at Washington’s Monument. She thought of Jacob and his role in the building of the nation. She thought of Hannah and realized that she was being woken from a dream, a dream that she wished she could return to. She looked at the ground and then over to the monument. A smile appeared on her face though others around her were belting out words of frustration and worry. She thought again of Hannah.
Yes, I know that was you. And no, I haven’t given up. Just give me some time before guiding me home again, OK? We’ll get her done. Hey?
“So, this is the place that I’ve heard so much about!”
Lizzy shook her head to clear her mind then turned to see who it was that was making such an announcement. Not twenty feet from where Lizzy sat and walking gingerly on the loose sand were Molly Brown followed by Edith, Caroline, Hannah, Bonnie, Teddy and Nancy Lee.
“It is a beautiful spot, if I do say so myself, but if you ask me, it’s not the best walk for a lady in her. . . .”
“Now there, Spencer, my mother has done it for years and could probably do it in her sleep.”
Lizzy blinked hard and leaned forward. She placed both hands on each side of her head and instinctively patted down her hair at the sound of an unknown male’s voice.
“Momma? This is Spencer Foster. Spencer, this is my mother, Lizzy McKeever.”
“Hey there, Mrs. M.; I actually wanted to be the one to introduce you to Spencer, but well, I guess that’s fine.”
Lizzy turned towards the voice and after blinking twice, realized it was Molly Brown.
“Spencer and I, well, we kind of met on a boat, a very small boat.”
Lizzy watched as Molly glanced back over at Foster before continuing.
“The truth of the matter is, Spencer was injured trying to get four children onto Lifeboat #6 and before it was launched, a deck hand shoved Spencer into the boat. Before anyone knew anything, we were all bobbing in the water as we watched the girl go down.”
Lizzy looked over at Foster. She tried her best to follow Molly’s tale about Lifeboat #6 bobbing in the water and this man in front of her with his name being Foster. She put her hands to her temple and rubbed them slowly before trying to gain eye contact with Molly and this Mr. Foster. She was beginning to give up trying when Molly stepped in.
“I’d like to tell the whole world if I could and trust me that I might end up doing just that. To me, this man is a true hero.” All eyes were now on Molly Brown. “It was from the heroic efforts of Spencer Foster here that saved over two dozen women and children in Lifeboat #5. Once he handed over the last child across the bow of the lifeboat, this rather large girl shifted and the bow came crashing down, nearly taking Spencer’s head off with it. I was sitting in Lifeboat #6 and saw the whole thing.
“If I could, I would have jumped out and helped the poor fellow out, but it just so happens that a deck hand also saw it and ran over to help Spencer. Seeing the gash in his head, the deck hand physically lifted Spencer up and threw him into Lifeboat #6 and right at my feet just seconds before they dropped us into the ocean below.”
Molly looked back at Spencer. His eyes were fixed to the ground in a blank, dazed look, apparently very uncomfortable with the attention Molly was garnering on his behalf. “He doesn’t like talking about it, but hell, I still think of him as a hero by the way he saved so many, never caring about himself. He had a daughter on board, too; did I tell you that?”
Lizzy spun around in shock at the idea that this poor man had lost his child on the Titanic.
“Yes, her name was Adeline and she was only ten,” Molly continued. “Ten at the time.”
All eyes turned towards Spencer, which caught him off guard.
“Molly’s getting ahead of herself a bit, I’m afraid,” Foster interjected. “My Adeline is very much alive and well and living near Dupont Circle with her caretaker. I should say, we live near Dupont Circle and we have a live-in nanny to help out with Adeline. She still has nightmares about the entire ordeal as most of us do, but hers seem—well, I’m just concerned for her, that’s all. Doctors tell me to remain patient and that these things take time, especially for the children.”
“Spencer was coming back from England and was going to invest into the suffragist’s movement on behalf of his wife, Evelyn, who died in 1910. She’d been active over there since the turn of the century and wanted to move back to her roots in South Carolina until she became ill and never made the voyage,” Molly explained.
“Yes, my support now is with all of you,” Spencer began. “It seems as though I’ve cheated death by the skin of my teeth, so I’m dedicating all of my resources not only in honor of my Evelyn, but now it’s also dedicated to my Adeline. It’s an odd ordeal we all went through on the Titanic. Something that I’m sure will be read about for years. Odd thing though, we had people of all classes, all searching for a new beginning or a new chapter in their own lives. Molly here was already involved in philanthropy and with your women’s causes. Me, I just wanted to support my wife’s passion for the rights of women. Now when I look at it all, I see my Adeline and I want her to be able to grow up and raise up her own children in a society that treats men and women exactly the same. I just won’t be able to have a legend written out about me the way my dear friend over here has.”
Foster glanced in Molly’s direction before continuing. “My dear friend over there seems to be destin
ed to be remembered either as the ‘Captain of Lifeboat #6’ or the ‘Unsinkable Molly Brown.’ If you ask me, though,” Foster added, raising his voice as he moved forward. “I for one, I’ll always think of her as the ‘Captain of Lifeboat #6’ because it was her face and her soft touch that I first laid my eyes upon once I regained consciousness.”
Foster stopped and stared across the water to the Washington Monument. Tears welled up in his eyes as he regained his normal breathing before continuing. Lizzy, still seated on her bench, looked at Foster inquisitively. Teddy had lost interest long ago and had begun to wander towards the river, with Adeline watching him curiously. Bonnie and Nancy Lee sat in the grass beside their grandmother plucking at the grass on the ground, showing very little interest in what the others were talking about.
“Do continue, Mr. Foster,” Lizzy encouraged after watching Bonnie and Nancy Lee jump up to join their brother by the water. “Please excuse my grandchildren; they’ll understand soon enough.”
“The odd way God works, you know? Those lifeboats were meant for women and children, yet here I am. For that, I will always live with an extreme sense of guilt. Molly says that she saw me trying to save as many children as I could; that part I scarcely remember, but if we lost just one child because of my place in a lifeboat may God have mercy upon my soul, because I surely will not. My time to be called home was spared, but in an odd way, I feel not for long, so I must do my part now.”
“Papa, Papa!”
Spencer’s attention was redirected towards the water’s edge. They all looked down to the Potomac where the backdrop of the Washington Monument created a rippling reflection in the water. Several dogs skipped along at the water’s edge, their masters teasing them with sticks and balls.
“Papa can I go to the other side with Teddy?”
Spencer looked over at Lizzy, who shrugged her shoulders then deferred to Nellie.
“Hey, they’re fourteen; what harm can they get into?”
Lizzy was the first to burst into a knowing laugh. “I’ve got relatives who were married at fifteen, so hey, I don’t see any harm as long as the parents don’t. We’re all family and we’re all at my favorite spot, so let’s just enjoy it; forget the past, while still remembering it, and build on the future and the promises that we have all made. What say all of you?”
“Don’t know about the ‘Unsinkable Molly Brown’ thing, but if you ask me to be a part of this wonderful family full of loving friends and dedicated to the cause of giving rights to women, then I’m all in,” Molly yelled over from beyond the bench.
Nellie laughed and put her arm around Molly. She waved for Caroline and Edith to join them, eagerly pleading for their own personal pledge. “We four women do solemnly pledge that we will support and work in the best interests of all women in whatever endeavor we do so choose.”
Caroline looked at Nellie once she finished and laughed. “Yes, we are indeed women and mighty proud of it! We’re not cave women, just women. We want respect! We want equality! Most of all, we want our voices to be heard!”
Lizzy looked out at the water and smiled at the sight of her grandchildren splashing in the Potomac. If we could get along just as those children are, then we have a fighting chance that both men and women will always have a voice and will respect each other. That’s what Moses would’ve liked and that is what Hannah would like for me to do, give all of us Monroes an equal voice, man and woman. Equal thoughts, equal voices. Lifeboat #6 or Lifeboat #5, we are all in this together.
Lizzy smiled again as she looked down at her family. A peaceful sigh escaped her lips.
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
Family Ties That Won’t Bind
1914
“Mother, can you imagine an argument between you, Uncle Willie and Uncle Daniel that could ever push the entire world into a war?”
Lizzy slowly pulled her glasses off where they’d been perched on her nose, reached for her cup of coffee and looked over at Caroline questioningly.
“It’s rather quite fascinating if you ask me,” Caroline continued as she began to read from the morning’s newspaper:
“Despite the fact that the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, heir to Austria-Hungary’s throne, along with his wife Sophie by Serbian nationalist Gavrilo Princip on June 28 caused Austria-Hungary to declare war on Serbia, no one could have ever predicted the geopolitical fallout that has just transpired.” Caroline dropped the paper to her lap and looked over at Lizzy. She could see that her mother-in-law’s eyes were fixed on something outside, something that didn’t include the thought of war.
“I’m sorry, Mother; shall I stop?”
“No, dear,” Lizzy mumbled. “I’m just star struck, that’s all. It would seem that in my seventy years I’d have heard it all.”
Caroline looked over at Lizzy and her heart sank. Lizzy looked old. Far different since the two of them endured the ’06 earthquake together. That was over eight years ago, but still. She paused and studied her mother-in-law again. How much time does she have left? Caroline’s heart ached as she became lost in her thoughts and worried that Lizzy would never see the day she so longed for.
“Please, child, do continue. Your eyes are a might clearer than mine, so it’s best hearing from your lips than misguided through my eyes. I just pray my great-grandpa, grandpa and father are plugging their ears as much as I’d like to plug mine.”
Caroline snapped out of her dreadful thoughts with a slight jerk. She waited until she knew Lizzy was paying attention before she began again. She picked up the newspaper, folded it in half and turned it towards Lizzy so she could see the headline.
“Mother, there’ no other way to say it and the newspaper says it clear as day.”
W . . . A . . . R!!!
Lizzy stared at the three bold letters. She couldn’t hear her favorite bird singing on her window ledge. Her eyes narrowed in pain as her lips puckered in disgust. She felt a sharp stab deep within her chest and half hoped that it would be the end for her.
Caroline turned the paper around and began to read again:
“By August 6, the U.K., France, Germany, Russia, and Serbia were at war. U.S. President Woodrow Wilson announced the U.S. would remain neutral. The Tsar of Russia, Nicholas II, in alliance with his cousin King George of England, have declared war on their cousin, Germany’s Kaiser Wilhelm II. Other countries have committed or have shared their desires to choose sides in the immediate future. Obviously, Serbia and Austria-Hungary have made their intentions known, but it was the word from the president of the United States that the entire world had been waiting for.” Caroline paused for a moment and then continued:
“After hours of dire expectations, the wire erupted with the news that President Woodrow Wilson was maintaining his ‘neutral’ standing, stating that the United States will not, and will never, become involved in a European Conflict.”
Caroline placed the paper on her lap and looked over at Lizzy.
“What do you think, Mother?”
A hawk screeched out in a high pitch. A squirrel scurried up the tree just a few feet from the window, an acorn firmly in his mouth.
“Wonder how they do that?” Lizzy asked outloud.
“Do what, Mother?” Caroline asked in reply.
“How does nature know how to survive, while we, the more educated species, cannot fathom a clue to the idea of surviving together.
“Look at the bright side, Mother.” Caroline leaned forward with a smile. “President Wilson says that we will never be involved. It’s on the other side of the world, so why worry?”
Lizzy’s face grew sad as she focused out the window. She stared out at the squirrel who for some reason remained still, eyes locked with hers.
“I still remember as if it were yesterday.” Lizzy’s voice rose as she shifted in her chair. “It was April of ’61 and news had come to us that a fort had been attacked by the Southern Confederates. I was seventeen and thought I knew everything. I remember thinking since we lived
in Fredericksburg, Virginia and the fort everyone was talking about was so many miles south in Charleston, South Carolina, what could be the worry? Plus, everyone, and I mean everyone, just knew that if there would be any kind of conflict, it would last but a few weeks, maybe a few months; that’s all, no worry.”
“But you didn’t believe them?” Caroline asked. “Did your Papa worry?”
Lizzy snickered at the thought of her father. “At that time, we’d already lost Willie. Micah had plumb run away to join the South so it was just me, Johnny Russell and Daniel to keep Papa from worrying himself to death.” Lizzy paused in retrospect.
Caroline remained silent, watching her mother-in-law’s every expression.
“My father hated war. He once had a fascination for it, with its white horses and gallant young officers dressed to the nines, but that imagery soon vanished. You see, once he marched off to fight the Mexicans in ’46, he came back a different man. Of course, I was far too young to remember any of this, but my mother and especially my two older brothers used to tell me stories.” Lizzy broke out in a raucous laugh which startled her more than anyone else.
“Oh, Caroline, I could tell you stories that could go on for years. I can’t tell you how much I loved being a Monroe. The values that my father instilled into all of us. You see, my mother died in ’53, so it really was my father who raised us, taught us about our family and groomed us to be who we are today. Don’t get me wrong; I loved my mother dearly, but keep in mind I was the only girl. The Monroe family consisted of four boys and me. That’s a whole lot of menfolk around so when it came to trying to get a woman’s perspective discussed at the dinner table, good luck!”
“So, what happened after your mother died?” Caroline asked gingerly. “It must have been so hard on you, I’m guessing. I mean, I can surely remember how hard it was for me and I just have two boys and a husband.” Caroline’s eyes moistened as she corrected herself. “I mean, had.”