Chapter Four

"Stop her!"

At Hockley's orders to Lovejoy the adrenaline kicked in as my feet pounded the corridors. I quickly looked down to Robbie's hand that was gripping mine - almost chalk-white. I'm pretty sure I could say the same about his face if he had the courage to look back. He quickly led me outside where we raced across the promenade deck, our footsteps thundering along the wooden deck. I could hear the quick pace of Hockley and Lovejoy as they followed us too. I guess I must have looked somewhat convincing from the back then.

"You keeping up okay?!" Robbie asked me breathlessly as we flew downstairs, keeping his eyes firmly ahead.

Swerving by a passenger once we reached the bottom of the stairs into the forward well deck, I replied, "I am!"

Ahead, I could see Joe watching us before ducking into the cargo hold. I guess that meant Wilde was off his watch now. I only have to hope my father doesn't see us and come investigating. Just feet away from the cargo hold, I braced myself for what the lads had instore for Lovejoy, and now Hockley, as we hurried inside.

"Son of a bitch!" I cried as I landed on my knees with a loud thud, with Robbie skidding several feet in front of me but maintaining his balance. Looks like Charlie was inspired by my father after all as I ran a finger across the waxy surface of the cargo hold floor. I pulled myself along, not attempting to get to my feet in case I slipped again, and mainly because my knees were too sore to attempt standing up. Part of me wished I had, as moments later, I was drenched with what I could only describe as the iciest water ever. And I mean that literally, as cubes of ice slid across the floor.

Robbie quickly scrambled behind a couple of crates, where I heard a shout of, "You idiot! You got Heather, not Lovejoy!"

"I thought Lights warned her to be careful of the floor!" Came a voice I recognised immediately as James'. Well, at least I know who to blame.

Praying that the situation wouldn't worsen, I shouted, "Thanks for that James!"

Sadly, it got much worse as I heard the door behind me open and footsteps crash down the stairs. Fully expecting to see Lovejoy and Hockley enter the room, I was surprised to see Wilde standing before me. Well, at least I think it was him. I only saw him for a brief moment as he hit the floor too, releasing several curse words into the now very quiet hold. Watching as he slowly got to his feet, I had a feeling that this was going to be the end of our fun. Already ...

"What the bloody hell is going on in here?!" Wilde roared, as he looked around for the culprits before realising that I was still on the wet and waxy floor. He held out a hand to me and offered, "Let me help you up Miss."

"Thank you," I mumbled rather sheepishly as I took his hand and somewhat stiffly got to my feet. I almost lost my balance as I stood up, but thankfully Wilde was there to help me and lead me towards the stairs. Grateful to be off that floor, I sank down on them as he pulled off my hairpiece, which by now was almost hanging sideways off my head.

"Miss Murdoch, what is going on here?" Wilde questioned, tossing the hairpiece aside as he loomed over me. He could actually be quite imposing, not that it really put me off much. Then again, the combination of freezing water and ice being launched at me kind of left me in a daze.

Shrugging, I glanced around the cargo hold. Not one of the guys were in sight, and wait - Inspecting the Renault that was sitting in the middle of the hold, I could see Charlie and Freddie quickly duck down inside the vehicle. So that's where Charlie had gotten to then, always setting things up, but hiding from the fallout. Unless he just wanted a front row seat to watch the prank play out.

With a sigh, Wilde informed me before leaving, "I will be telling your father about this. Not to mention questioning Boxhall, Fleet and Lee. I saw them all hanging around the door upstairs today, I know that there's something going on. Mark my words, I will find out."

As he slammed the door shut behind him, I called out rather playfully, "Busted!"

"Where are Lovejoy and Hockley?" Robbie asked, climbing on top of a crate and shouting over at me as James appeared from behind, looking rather foolish.

"Henry must have stopped them before they could come in," Joe stated coolly as he and Reggie emerged from a crate. They quickly climbed out and carefully made their way towards the stairs, watching for ice, as did Robbie and James.

"You must be freezing Heather, I'm so sorry," James began apologetically. He looked at me sincerely and said, "I'll escort you back so you can get into some dry clothes."

"Sure you won't end up setting fire to her on the way up?" Charlie joked as he and Freddie climbed out of the Renault, snickering as they made their way up to us.

I saw James scowl at him before retorting, "Fire's more your style Lightoller!"

"Ooooh, now it's Lightoller?" Charlie chuckled, nudging Joe in the ribs. "Looks like someone's a bit touchy!"

I rolled my eyes as James led me from the cargo hold to some more heckling and taunts from Charlie. Honestly, the man could be his own worst enemy at times. Especially when I got my senses back and came to the following conclusion which I shared with James right away, "So phase two went belly up ... But phase three will be better. Our target? Charlie."

James turned to me, his face and eyes suddenly alight, "You're so devious! I daresay everyone will be up for that! Even your father ... Perhaps."

"Tempting, but let's leave him out of it. I don't know what Wilde is going to tell him, but it can't be good."

"That's a good point," He agreed as we climbed the stairs taking us back up to the promenade deck, where Harry and Herb were waiting for us anxiously. Noting the looks on their faces, he asked, "What's up lads?"

"Henry stopped Lovejoy and Mister Hockley from entering the cargo hold. So naturally, the two of them realised that they were being set up," Herb began quietly, walking alongside us on the promenade deck.

Harry nodded along and added, "They demanded to see your father. And from what we've overheard, Wilde's planning to do the same."

"Okay, so this didn't just go belly up ... It backfired spectacularly then," I said in a tense voice. "In case you two were wondering why I'm soaking, the ice water that I assume was headed for Lovejoy hit me instead."

Both men immediately grimaced as James blushed beside me. Giving my hand a squeeze, he apologised again, "I am so sorry, I really didn't mean to get you."

"I know," I smiled back at him as Herb and Harry burst out laughing, causing poor James to blush further. Feeling bad for him, because it was an easy mistake to occur in the heat of the moment, I scolded the two of them, "That's enough! Be nice or I won't let you in on phase three!"

Worked like a charm - the two of them shut their mouths instantly, before making their excuses and running off. James and I hurried inside to my stateroom, being careful to avoid possibly bumping into Lovejoy or Hockley. Or Rose, for that matter, but given her obvious dislike for Lovejoy, part of me wondered if she'd actually see the humour in it.

Reaching the door, I felt James brush his lips against my cheek before remarking, "You're cheeks are ice cold! Get yourself a hot bath Heather, and no doubt I'll see you again later."

"That sounds like a good idea, thanks James. And honestly, don't worry about the water," I whispered as I reached up to peck his cheek too. "Thanks for escorting me back, and hopefully I will see you at some point to discuss phase three."

With one final smile at him, I entered my stateroom, intent on heating up and relaxing.

I finally got my bath after an hour of what I could only describe as an interrogation of questions by Lily. Babysitting young Matthew clearly didn't stop her, especially as he went to play tea party with imaginary friend Pierre. My body finally back at a normal temperature, I felt relaxed for the first time today, pushing all thoughts of this morning's debacle out of my mind. I was combing the knots out of my damp hair when there was a polite knock at my bedroom door.

"Come in!"

Just as I expected, the only person who would knock on my bedroom door. My father, looking rather weary and disappointed. While most people would be relieved at disappointment as opposed to anger, I hated it. There was something in disappointment that was unsettling to me, as though he had gone past the stage of anger and was just really let down.

"We need to talk about this morning darling," He said quietly as he stepped into my room, watching as I tied my hair off to the side with a ribbon.

Standing up from the chair at the dressing table and making sure my robe was keeping me covered, I motioned towards the bed, where I sat down at the head. I crossed my legs onto the bed and held a pillow in front of me, protecting any possible flashes of modesty. Sighing as he sat next to me, I whispered, "I'm sorry dad ..."

"Heather, I'm not angry at you. I thought you would have known better than to target a passenger, especially one who is closely associated with someone as influencial as Mister Hockley. I know this isn't all your fault, believe me, I will have Lights' guts for garters by the time I'm through with him! I expected better from you darling, and I'm sorry to say that you've let me down a little today. Quartermaster Rowe was absolutely fine because he was one of us, part of the crew. Passengers are strictly off-limits," Father said in his calmest voice possible.

I slowly nodded, letting the words sink in before I said anything. I could absolutely see where he was coming from, it's the exact same thing Lily pointed out. I knew she was right, but I still carried on regardless. Taking a breath, I admitted to him, "I knew it was wrong dad. But, that Lovejoy ... He's such a slimy looking git ..."

To my surprise, my father let out a slight chuckle. Taking my hand in his, he told me, "Nobody likes him darling. Still, he is a passenger, and he must be treated with our highest standards, separating personal feelings from the job. This is where Lights' bollocking comes in. As for you, I've had a quiet word in your ear, which is what I said to Henry and those two I would do. I've apologised for you, but I would still like you to do it in person, which is what we are going to do once your dressed."

My heart sank. Apologise? To them? Even I was a little mad at Charlie now! Getting up from the bed I said, "I guess there's no use protesting, is there?"

"Sorry darling," He apologised as he too rose from the bed. Taking me into his arms, he hugged me and whispered, "Don't ever tell your mother otherwise she'll end up taking you back to New Zealand with her!"

"I wasn't planning on it anyway," I smiled sweetly as he left the room, presumably to wait in the sitting room while I changed.

Apologising to Lovejoy and Hockley wasn't the teeth-pulling excerise I thought it was going to be. Seems like my father managed a fair bit of damage control as far as I was concerned, shifting most of the blame onto Charlie. In fact, Hockley seemed to laugh some of it off, before remaking that Lovejoy should have known better that I was wearing a hairpiece. We were able to get away pretty quickly as well, before my father had to go back and get some sleep before his next watch.

"How did it go?" Lily asked the second I put one foot back into the stateroom.

Leaping onto the couch I replied, "Not bad. I don't know what dad told them, but there were nowhere near as angry as I thought they'd be. Probably because dad made it out to be Charlie's fault, and that Wilde stopped them from becoming victims."

"I knew it wasn't going to end well," Lily laughed. Thankfully my friend was not one for scolding me, preferring to laugh instead. Which was always good, I had my parents - well, my mother - for scolding me.

"It seems like Charlie's going to get most of the blame anyway. Dad's furious with him! Oh, I wish I could see that. Just so I can point and laugh, of course."

"That's terrible!" Lily gasped, before letting go a huge cackle that momentarily distracted Matthew from his imaginary friend. "Still, from the stories you've told me, he had it coming!"

"He did," I nodded before an idea crossed my mind. "Hang on, I have an idea! Why don't we take Matthew up to the top deck? If I spot one of the officers, I can ask them to sneak us in and watch -"

"You never learn Heather, do you?"

"It's no so much not learning as it is pushing boundaries," I tried to reason. "I like to see how far I can go before being told otherwise."

Lily merely shook her head and sighed, "You can go. I'd rather Matthew remained innocent for as long as possible before he discovers the world of practical jokes."

"It'll be more fun if you go! Please?" I pleaded without success as she shook her head again.

"Charlie and those boys are a handful. Frankly, I don't understand why you find them so fascinating," She told me honestly, with a hint of coldness in her voice.

"We simply have something in common," I answered honestly. It is true, I met them all through our love of practical jokes. If it weren't for that, it would be polite greetings and pleasantries if my father or Charlie ever introduced me to them. "What would you rather do then?"

"Take my little brother along to the cafe for lunch, seeing as my parents have disappeared with the Duff-Gordons," Lily revealed to my surprise. I honestly didn't think her parents would socialise with society couples like them, but I guess they have to polite. After all, we're stuck on a ship with them, and no real means of escape unless it's ducking into the Second or Third class.

"Fair enough, I suppose it's that time already," I sighed, secretly disappointed. I did mentally scold myself, however, for forgetting that I was supposed to be spending time with Lily instead of constantly hanging around with crew.

"I can tell you don't want to Heather," Lily said pointedly, calling Matthew over to her. "I'll just see you at dinner, unless you're busy pranking some other poor person."

"Lily -"

"I'll see you at some point Heather. Go play with the boys while I handle responsibilities," She said rather huffily as she led her brother from the room.

I debated whether or not to go after her, instead deciding to let her cool off incase I cause any more damage. Kicking my shoes off, I lay across the couch and drifted off for a quick nap. I did want to go to and find one of the guys now, but that would only be proving her right, and would probably strain things even more so.