A/N - Phew, long chapter! But lots of stuff happens, so hopefully it's still interesting. Herein, we finally get on the ship and we meet a couple new characters, neither of whom ever existed anywhere but my own brain. They'll be the only originals in the fic I think, other than the random mentions of Kate et al's respective families. Herein, we also see the one factoid that practically drove me up the wall, and that is the numbering of cabins. GAH. Would it absolutely KILL someone to put an good-sized, legible version of the deck plans online somewhere? I mean honestly. I managed to find some pretty good ones that at least let me visualise where I wanted the girls to end up, but I sure couldn't tell by looking what cabin numbers those were supposed to be. For the record, I picture them on F-deck, about as far forward in the ship as single women were permitted to be. So, for the curious, I picked cabins surrounding an Irish girl named Katie Gilnagh (yes, another Kate. There were, like, fifteen of them or something. Seriously, you can't make this stuff up) who sailed on the Titanic and was berthed in cabin M-133. Unfortunately, I have no idea where that cabin was actually situated so for all I know I'm off the mark completely. Anyhow... that was a major digression. Apologies.
One more important note - I'm going away on vacation for the next ten days (leaving in the morning) and I'll have very limited, if any internet access so it'll be a longer stertch of time before I can update again. So it's probably a good thing that this chapter is long. Plus, it gives me time to work out a few kinks that have arisen in the next few chapters which is awesome for me.
Lastly, huge, enormous, ABSOLUTELY MASSIVE thanks to LazyChestnut and Pretty Lady Pansy for their kind words about the last chapter. You guys rock the house, indeed you do.
ETA: After receiving the most amazing birthday present ever - massive tome called Titanic: Triumph and Tragedy - I have, in my posession, proper deck plans. Thus, the girls' room numbers have been changed accordingly.
"Ye didn't get his name?"
"No."
"Ye were talkin' fer near on ten minutes, how'd ye manage te not get his name?"
Kate laughed at Murphy's complete bafflement on this matter and grinned at her over her shoulder, "It never came up." She said unconcernedly. "Besides," Kate added with just a touch of smugness, "Now he's got a reason te come lookin' fer me again."
Murphy made a noise that indicated that she was either slightly disapproving or slightly impressed by these antics, "Yer awful." She admonished half-heartedly.
"I s'pose I am a little." Kate replied with a guilty smile, "Next time I see him, first thing I'll do is introduce m'self. Oy! Kate Mullins, how ye doin' there?"
Kate Mullins was ahead of Kate on the gangway and she kept pausing and shooting nervous glances over the high sides of the ramp as though afraid that a sudden wave might come along and sweep her out to sea. Her jumpy progress was holding up the line. Realising this, Mullins tore her gaze away from the rails and stared fixedly at her boots instead, "'M sorry. We're jus' so high up!"
Patting her consolingly on the shoulder, Kate said' "It's fine, just keep movin' and we'll be safe on board in no time."
Mullins brightened considerably at this prospect and picked up her pace, "I've never seen the ocean before." She commented, "Only in pictures."
"Well, we'll soon be seein' plenty of it, won't we?" Kate replied cheerfully. The trio had reached the open door leading into the depths of the Titanic. Peering anxiously over the heads of the officers manning the door, Kate could make out clean white walls and real electric lights dotting the hallways. A thrill went through her like lightning.
"Mother of God, we're really here aren't we?" Kate Murphy breathed, unconsciously speaking Kate's thoughts out loud.
Unable to speak around the sudden, inexplicable lump in her throat, Kate could only nod dumbly in response. Mutely, she handed over her boarding papers one final time. Kate held her breath as the documents were given a perfunctory once-over, then wonderfully, miraculously, she found herself stepping off the ramp and onto the Titanic.
Kate had never seen a place so new in her entire life. Every inch gleamed with the freshness of virgin snow, as of yet unmarred by age and use. Breathing deeply, Kate could smell new paint and floor polish and something else that she couldn't identify but that brought to mind open fields and the wind right after a rainfall. It made Kate feel slightly giddy.
"Where d'we go now then?" Kate Mullins asked finally as Murphy retrieved her papers and joined the group. The blond woman was staring around herself with eyes wide as bread plates, as though she was afraid to blink and have the scene dissolve like an early morning dream.
Doing her best to pretend as though she wasn't overwhelmed and that she didn't feel as though her stomach had tied itself into a dozen knots, Kate said, "I s'pose we've gotta find our rooms." She glanced around, trying to find some indication of where they had to go, "Er… let's move along a bit, we're blockin' folks. I'm sure there's a sign or somethin' somewhere te tell us the right way."
The threesome moved through the hallway with their arms looped through each other's arms, forming an anxious human knot. They paused near the top of a promising-looking staircase, keeping to one side so as not to disrupt the passage of people coming up and down the stairs. Kate scrutinised her ticket, frowning, "Ye'd think they could've written these in plain English." She grumbled, trying to make sense of the various numbers and letters that were her identity in the ship's roster. Squinting at the bottom left corner of the ticket, Kate said, "Ah, I think this is it – 'M one hundred an' seventy one'. What about you lot?"
"Oh! I'm right near that!" Mullins exclaimed, bouncing up and down. Kate was already growing accustomed to the other woman's natural excitability but she still had to wonder if Mullins ever got really and truly downcast. Somehow, Kate didn't think so. "Mine says 'M one seven three'. Must be right next door te ye Kate!"
Kate Murphy proved to be berthed just across the hall in cabin number M-one-seventy-seven. Kate Mullins wasted no time in proclaiming that this proved their meeting each other to be fate, "Else we'd of ended up separated ev'ry which way."
Not seeing any reason to argue this point, Kate merely grinned and waved an arm in the direction of the staircase, "Well, let's get movin'. I'd like te find my room 'fore the ship leaves port."
They traipsed down the stairs, still gawking around at how clean everything was. It made Kate feel like she was a real passenger who mattered, not just a poor little steerage nothing. At the bottom of the stairs, they pushed past a small knot of people who were all speaking to each other in a language Kate couldn't identify. She glanced over her shoulder at them, fascinated by the way the syllables rolled off of their tongues in intricate patterns and shapes. The familiar, lilting Irish voices of herself and her companions sounded almost plain in comparison.
"I thought ye weren't one fer goodbyes?" Murphy asked, snapping Kate's attention away from the curiosity of the foreign speakers.
"What're ye on about?" Kate asked, tilting her head to one side.
Murphy gestured above her head in a vague sort of way, "Ye didn't wave g'bye with the rest of us on the tender boat, but ye said ye wanted te be on deck when the ship pulled away."
Kate laughed, "Aye, and who said anythin' about wavin' g'bye then?" Off of Murphy's puzzled look she explained, "We're headin' to a new world Kate Murphy and I fer one want te see this boat get on its way, else I'm not sure I'll be able te believe we're really leavin'."
It was unclear whether or not Murphy fully understood this logic, but she nodded anyway and said, "Then we'd better hurry up."
The ship housed a labyrinth in its belly. The corridors with their white-painted walls and reddish flooring all looked the same to the three Kates, all of whom were still too floored by the simple fact of their actually being there to register any landmarks or defining features. It was only through careful inspection of the signs, and the eventual help of a steward who pointed them in the right direction that the women managed not to get completely lost.
Kate found her cabin door propped open and two occupants already inside. It was a four bunk cabin, small, but not so cramped as to be uncomfortable. The pair of women who looked up in surprise as Kate entered the room looked so much alike that they could only be sisters. One appeared younger than the other, maybe fifteen or sixteen. The older sister was probably Kate's age, no older than twenty. They had claimed the two bunks on the left hand side of the room.
"Hello there!" Kate greeted cheerfully, "Guess we're roommates then?"
The sisters exchanged looks, than the older one stepped forward and stammered out in heavily accented English, "H-hallo." She shot her sister a helpless little look, then shrugged and smiled sheepishly at Kate, indicating that this was the extent of her English skills.
Kate blinked. She had never been confronted with someone who didn't speak her language, and short of being able to say 'hello' in French, Kate had no experience with foreign dialects. "Er… well. I'm Kate." The younger sister asked a question in a language that Kate thought might have been German. A German businessman had once stopped for lunch at the inn Kate worked at and she'd never forgotten his guttural accent; it was so different from what Kate was used to. Realising that the sisters had no idea what she'd just said, Kate pointed to her self and repeated, "I'm Kate."
The older girl seemed to understand. She beamed suddenly, pointed at Kate and asked in her halting way, "Kate?" When Kate nodded an affirmative, the young woman beamed even harder. She prodded herself in the chest and said, "Petra," than indicated the teenage girl, "Mathilde."
This small breakthrough had all three of them grinning at each other as though they'd just put an end to world hunger or found a cure for consumption. Kate patted the top bunk on the right hand side of the room, and shot Petra a questioning look. Petra took a moment to interpret what Kate was asking, then nodded, "Ja, ja," She said, which was at least one word that needed no translation. Kate grinned and swung her small suitcase up onto the bunk. She was already trying to figure out how much German a person could learn in the space of five days. It looked to be a promising challenge.
A knock at the still-open cabin door signalled the arrival of Kates Mullins and Murphy who had evidently made fast work of settling themselves in their respective rooms. "Girls," Kate said, sweeping her arm out towards her two roommates, "These are Petra and Mathilde." She stumbled over the pronunciation a little; "I think they're sisters but I'm not sure as neither of 'em speak a lick of English."
Mullins and Murphy waved at the German women. Both Petra and Mathilde immediately waved back, proving that certain gestures were universal, which was a particularly comforting thought. Kate couldn't keep from grinning again.
"Petra, these are my friends," Kate continued indicating first Murphy than Mullins, "Kate and Kate."
Petra looked understandably nonplussed. She narrowed her eyes at Kate, as though trying to decide whether or not this strange English woman with the funny accent was making fun of her. Then she pointed to each of the three Irish girls and held up three fingers, arching one eyebrow in a silent inquiry. Positively delighted by this non-verbal exchange, Kate clapped her hands together and nodded vigorously. Petra, looking extremely pleased with herself, translated the proceedings for Mathilde, who was looking as though she thought that both her sister and Kate had lost their minds.
"Well…" Kate Murphy said after a beat, "Are ye comin' then? Ship's gotta be about ready te get movin' by now. "
"Oh aye," Kate did a bit of hand flapping and pointing to indicate where she was going, and Petra must have caught the gist of it because she waved the three Kates away with a smile and a nod.
The trip back through the maze that was Third Class was easier the second time around. Kate tried to make a mental note of signs that directed passengers to various locales around the ship. They passed several clumps of non-English travellers who were trying to translate the signs with help of little battered phrase books. Kate had to thank her lucky stars that, despite the numerous other challenges she was facing, at least learning the language wasn't one of them.
The main Third Class staircase was located in the stern of the ship, closer to the cabins reserved for women and families. Eavesdropping on a middle-aged Welsh couple walking a little ways ahead, Kate learned that the men's dorms were up in the bow, placing a ship's length between the single women and their male counterparts. Kate had to laugh inwardly, wondering if this show of propriety would actually work to keep a pair of determined enough lovers apart.
Kate and her friends climbed the staircase which, at the top, spilled out onto the aft well deck. A blast from the Titanic's great funnels and the low clear sound of a steam whistle welcomed the three women out onto the deck, signalling that they were just in time to witness leaving port. Kate made a beeline for the closest open spot at the rails, the others in close pursuit. Because this was the third port of call, and because the Titanic was already sitting out in the middle of the harbour, not as many people had flocked to the decks to see the great ship set off. There were still a fair few, however, enough to line the railings of the well deck.
A rumbling began beneath Kate's feet and a swooping sensation filled her gut, as though her stomach had just attempted to take a nose dive out of her body. It almost made her feel sick. Clutching the railing with sweat-slick hands, Kate took several deep breaths through her nose, trying to calm herself down.
For two months this voyage had been all she could think about, all she would let herself think about. At times, it had seemed like the only thing that kept her chin up, kept her putting one foot in front of the other. She had imagined the trip down to the most infinitesimal detail, holding the image in her mind's eye like an invisible shield. I'm getting out, she would tell herself, over and over like a mantra. I'm getting out.
The ship began to crawl forward and a cheer went up from the crowd. Kate didn't trust herself to cheer, did not trust herself to make any noise at all, in fact. She leaned out over the rails as far as she could manage safely, one hand pressed to the back of her head to keep her hat in place. Kate looked toward the Titanic's bow, watching the water begin to flow around the great, black hull as she gained speed.
The wind picked up, blowing Kate's hair back from her face and pushing playfully against the wide brim of her hat. Closing her eyes, Kate let the breeze sweep over her, fresh and clean and tasting of salt. She imagined the wind gathering up all of her secrets, all of her sins and blowing them back to shore where they couldn't touch her.
"I thought I'd be so sad leavin' everythin' behind" Mullins said from over Kate's left shoulder, half-shouting to be heard over the noise of the ship and the people. Kate turned to look at her in surprise, "An' I s'pose I am a little. But mostly I'm excited." She beamed at Kate through a tangle of blond hair that kept blowing into her eyes, "Aren't ye excited Kate?"
Excited hardly covered it. But then, Kate wasn't sure there was a word big enough for how she felt. She nodded at Kate Mullins, feeling her own mouth pulling into a grin as she did so, "Aye, I am."
Mullins grabbed her hand and gave it a squeeze. Kate, touched by the gesture, squeezed back then took Murphy's hand as well so that the three of them were standing linked together across the top of the railings, a chain.
"Well girls," Kate said, eyes on the horizon, "Here we go."