Chapter 2

6 hours later saw the four of them disembark from the Liverpool to Belfast ship in a very cheerful mood with their luggage for the next week.

"I hear these Olympic class ships are huge." said Lights.

Anna laughed "Yep, you lot are going to have great fun trying to memorise the layout."

Will smirked down at her mischievously, "They won't be the ones having fun Anna, it'll be us watching them get lost all the time."

"You two are evil!" moaned Davy "You won't let us get lost will you?"

"Depends" said Anna all innocence.

"On what" he replied.

"On how nice you are to us." Said Will with a grin.

Lights beside him snorted "So much for twelve years of friendship, you two, you especially Anna, after all I've done for you."

Anna giggled and said, "Well you're both about to get your chance to find your way around her because there she is" and pointed to the largest ship any of the four had ever seen. Her paintwork gleamed in the March sunlight, her four huge funnels standing tall and proud. Anna and Will grinned at each other, both already used to the sheer size of the Olympic class of ships. Lights and Davy on the other hand had stopped dead with their jaws hanging open. Neither of them had seen the Olympic and so were unprepared for the sight of their new berth.

"She's huge!" exclaimed Davy, flabbergasted.

"She's a beauty!" breathed Lights in awe.

Anna looked around and saw four men stood about four hundred metres in front of them who also seemed to be gazing at the enormous ship in wonder. She tilted her head to one side thoughtfully for a moment then broke out in a mischievous grin. "Looks like the rest of my fellow Junior Officers have arrived already. Come on follow me, and stay quiet will you." The others looked at her quizzically then cottoned on to what she was up to and followed her quietly. The four men were so lost in studying Titanic that they didn't notice her come up behind them. One of them was unfamiliar to her, but that didn't matter, they would all be friends soon enough. "BOO!" All four men jumped, startled and almost as one turned and saw her standing there with a grin on her face. The eldest of the four broke out into a wide smile and shook his head in fond exasperation. "One of these days young lady, you're going to do that to the wrong person! Come here." and promptly pulled her into a tight hug. No sooner had he let her go then the youngest of the four pulled her into a hug himself telling her that she was "a bad influence" on him and was "bound to get him into trouble one day" but "nonetheless he loved her dearly and wouldn't be without her if he could help it."

Just as the third man was about to hug her, Lights, Davy and Will appeared behind her. "Are you causing trouble again Anna?" asked Davy with a grin.

"Me? Never! I sir, am the epitome of ladylike decorum and naval discipline!" The man who had been about to hug her laughed and said in a strong welsh accent "That'll be the day Ann, for as long as I've known you you've been about as unladylike as it's possible to be, and you're proud of it!" He pulled her into a tight one armed hug and offered his hand to Will, Lights and Davy each in turn and introduced himself as Harold Lowe, that he was pleased to meet them and that they should call him Harry. Lowe was tall, slim and dark haired, with boyishly handsome features and eyes so dark, they were almost black.

Shorter than any of his companions, Herbert Pitman, the first of the men to greet Anna laughed his agreement "The lads got you there lass, you can't really dispute him can you."

Lights groaned "Don't say that Bert, you know what she's like, tell her she can't do something and she'll do it anyway. Not only that, she's the most argumentative woman I've ever met, she's worse than Sylvia."

The last of the four men, a tall and dark haired young man, with handsome features and a kind and gentle smile spoke up at this point jokingly "Don't tell me that you're living up to the old wives tales about sailors having a girl in every port Lights!"

Anna snorted, "He wishes, he can barely handle Sylvia, as it is, he couldn't handle another woman as well! Anna Morris, nice to meet you."

He gently to her hand in his, brought it to his lips and kissed it, "Joseph Boxhall, but please, call me Joe. You joining us on Titanic miss?"

"Yes, I'll be a Junior Officer, Senior Officers Assistant in fact. How about you?"

"Fourth Officer. So you're the infamous female Officer."

Anna's eyes narrowed dangerously and the other Officers backed away in apprehension. They were all well aware of her temper; her red hair wasn't the only fiery thing about her. She'd given them all a tongue lashing at some point or other. "Yes I am. Working with me won't be a problem will it?"

Joe smiled warmly at her and replied "Not at all miss. In fact, I've been wanting to work with you since Lights first mentioned you to me. If even half as what he's told me about you is true, then I think we'll get along rather well."

The others breathed a silent sigh of relief at this, and Anna smiled warmly, mollified. "Well, a person can never have too many friends, so I look forward to getting to know you better. What do you think of our new berth?"

"She's a beauty." But not as beautiful as you, he thought. In truth, he was entranced by her. She was small, but her size did nothing to hinder her clearly strong and fierce personality and it was this that fascinated him.

"Would you care for a tour? It would take a while but I've got the time if you have." Secretly, Anna was hoping he would say yes. He was incredibly handsome and she wasn't kidding about wanting to get to know him better.

"If you're sure then yes please." He held out his arm which she took with a smile and led him aboard.

All the while this was going on between the two; the other six were watching them with interest, and not a little amazement. Anna could seem rather unapproachable due to her beauty, yet this young man seemed to be unaffected. On the other hand, none of them could remember seeing this side of her, was it just them or was she flirting Boxhall. Anna didn't flirt, did she?

Well, thought Lights, this is going to be interesting.