CHAPTER ONE – Lily Shaw
"A boat?" Lily turned abruptly, her attention finally captured.
"Well, a ship, yes." Lily smiled a small, vague smile.
"Alright, you have my attention, ma'am." Mrs Walthamstow smiled to herself, not taking her eyes off the contrary little girl that sat before her. Lily was exhausted, to the point where one might think she would be relaxed, sprawled across the chaise lounge. But she sat perched, as if watching something intently.
Lily Shaw was 14 years old. She was quite tall, slim and had quite long, golden hair with gentle waves, as opposed to turbulent curls or a flat sheet. She was a good-looking child, pretty, but not stunning. She wasn't what one might call 'ordinary', but was a perfectly normal looking girl. Perhaps it was only her situation that was abnormal in any way. Orphaned at 3, Lily had not had the happiest of lives. She had immediately been handed to a distant Aunt, a brash but nevertheless loving woman. Sadly, this lady, a Mrs Green, died of a sudden and unexpected heart attack when Lily was almost 8. The doctors found an exceptionally huge stash of cakes and fancies under her bed after she died, and concluded that her indulgence in such things had most likely been the contributing factor in her death.
From this moment onwards, Miss Shaw had been passed from home to home, orphanage to orphanage, until at rising 11 years old, a woman with considerable experience in taking in children agreed to bring up Lily. A Mrs Walthamstow, widowed, an amusing but subdued woman.
So I suppose it was no surprise that Lily was the way she was. She had become so used to smothering her screaming emotions that she had become quite a bad-tempered child, rather quiet, and very stubborn indeed. It was Mrs Walthamstow and Mrs Walthamstow only who could see that Lily had a shining personality inside. And she had finally decided it was time for this to be unleashed upon the unsuspecting world. She herself had admitted defeat, only a wonderful experience, to the point of almost overwhelming Lily, could bring her out of her stony shell.
"Why are you sending me off on a boat, ma'am? I thoguht you wanted to keep an eye on me?" Mrs Walthamstow sighed.
"Well if you want the truth, my dear, I've given up. You need to see more of life than the misery you've come through so far. I want you to have something amazing to treasure as a memory. That's why I want to have you on the Titanic sailing across the Atlantic."
Lily smiled properly for the first time in a considerable duration.
"I suppose," she began, thoughtfully, "It would be rather lovely, sailing across the Atlantic like that." There was a pause. "Alright, I'll go." Her companion smiled.
"She sets sail the day after tomorrow, Lily darling. You shall be going with Miss Federick, my good friend whom you met at that party recently. She'll look after you, see to it you have the best time possible."
Lily looked up, almost overwhelmed by this sudden-ness.
"Well run along, Lily, you'd best start packing, hadn't you?" Lily obeyed.
That night in bed, Lily's mind went into overdrive. She had secretly always wanted to go on a ship. The Titanic. It sounded almost regal! And this was her maiden voyage. Plates that had never been used. Sheets that had never been slept on. A tear escaped from her eyes. How her parents, how Mrs Green would have been so proud of her. Lily was no longer a little child, and she knew it.