Author's notes: There are probably a ton of inaccuracies in the way events play out in this chapter. Sorry. Enjoy anyway.
Violet came to, rubbing her head, feeling the knot that was forming there. She looked around the room, confused. She got to her feet, pulling herself up on the bed post. Something about the room looked wrong.
She took a step and realized the floor seemed tilted. She went out onto the private promenade and looked out the open window. The water was coming up very close.
Violet stumbled back into the bedroom. Still dizzy and with a rapidly forming headache, she headed for the door, only to collapse again next to the sofa.
Harold helped Melody into Lifeboat 14. She sat down and watched as he helped more women and young children enter the lifeboat. She wrung her hands, terrified. Why hadn't she seen her parents or Violet?
The people on deck were beginning to sound panicked. Melody looked up at Harold, who was ordering several men to step back so he could assist the women. She looked over the side of the lifeboat, down at the still, cold water. The tilt of the deck was growing more severe ever so slowly. Melody looked down over the edge of the lifeboat.
There were shouts and Melody whirled to see several men trying to shove their way onto the lifeboat. Lightoller was yelling. "Back or I'll shoot you all like dogs!" He pulled out his revolver and brandished it at the men. "Keep order! Keep order I say!" The men stopped and backed up, their faces twisted in shock. Lightoller turned to Harold. "Mr. Lowe, man this boat." Harold nodded and climbed aboard, asking the passengers if they were all right to go.
"Lower away!" cried a voice overhead. The boat hitched downward with a lurch. Melody's stomach clenched from terror. She tried to get to her feet. "Harold . . ." she began.
Suddenly Harold was on his feet and shouting. There were people trying to jump into the lifeboat from the ship. His revolver was in his hand. He was yelling at the people on the lifeboat to stay seated before turning to the panicking crowd. "Stay back, you lot! Just stay back!" He held the revolver aloft and fired three shots out over the water.
"Harold!" cried Melody, covering her ears. The sound was deafening. When she removed her hands, her ears were ringing.
When the life boat hit the water, the seaman on board went for the oars and began rowing away from Titanic. Melody looked back up at the ship, panicking.
"Harold!" she cried. "My family is still on the ship!" She was sure of it. She could feel the tears coming.
"Please, Melody," he said. "We've got to get far away. If we're too close when she founders, we'll be sucked down with her."
Melody bit her lip, trying to stop from openly crying. She couldn't hold back for but a few seconds. "I don't care about that!" she cried. "I care about my parents and I care about my sister!"
Harold turned and shot her a pained look, but he said nothing. Melody sank down against the side of the lifeboat, sobbing. She looked back up at the ship once more. God help them, she thought.
Violet felt her away along the corridor from the stateroom. One hand grazed the wall, the other was at her head. Her head was throbbing. She pulled her hand down and stared at it. There was a small amount of blood on her fingers.
A man in a crew uniform came running up the hall behind her. He saw Violet and went to her, grabbing her arm. "Miss, you must come out on deck! The lifeboats are nearly all gone. Let me help you."
Violet turned and looked at the man, squinting at him through the pain in her head. "My Momma . . ." she drawled weakly. "She's still on the ship . . ."
The man didn't seem to hear her. He was pulling her along through the corridor. "Come on, miss, please. Let's get you to a lifeboat."
Violet didn't fight him—she allowed him to help her to exit first class onto the deck. He turned to her, trying to smile comfortingly. "There miss, now go find a lifeboat and get on." He left her.
Violet's head began to throb. She reached up and put her hand over the knot there, backing up against a wall. As she sunk to the floor of the deck, wincing from the pain, the thought of trying to go back for her parents came to her. She dashed it quickly, as she felt far too dizzy upon trying to stand up. She hoped Melody had at least found a lifeboat. She had heard gunshots and screams earlier—she hoped that Melody hadn't been anywhere near the business end of the gun that fired them.
People were crowded on the deck, running about and panicking. Their voices sounded strange over the now audible throb in her head. She leaned her head back against the wall, wrapping her arms around her knees. She had closed her eyes when she heard a man's voice above her.
"Violet?" It was James. "Violet, what are you still doing here?"
Violet looked up, smiling at James weakly. "James . . ." was all she could say.
He reached down and grabbed her hands, pulling her up to her feet. "Come on, Violet. We're sinking fast, we . . ." He noticed her dazed expression. "Violet, are you bleeding?" He saw where some of her auburn hair was encrusted with blood.
"I hit my head," she replied.
James reached up and touched her head, feeling the knot almost immediately. He saw the blood on his fingers when he pulled his hand away. He pulled a handkerchief from his pocket and gave it to Violet. "The bleeding's not bad, but hold this on it anyway. Come on."
James pulled Violet with him as they climbed the tilting deck. The deck began to list sharply under their feet. Many people screamed. Violet gasped and clutched at James.
He looked at her. "We need to get to the stern right away."
Constanza and Richard still sat together in the smoking room, holding hands. They ignored the screams of passengers that could be heard all around. Objects on the low tables and the mantelpiece began to slide from where they sat. The couple barely noticed.
Constanza smiled at Richard, her eyes burning with love. He reached up to tenderly stroke her cheek. "Oh, Stanzie, I've only known you for a short while. But I feel like I can go to my grave happy just having met you and your girls."
Constanza beamed, squeezing his hand. "I love you, Richard Pembry."
"I love you, Stanzie. Thank you for being who you are."
The couple kissed and Constanza's heartbeat quickened. When Richard pulled back, Constanza lay her head on his chest. He wrapped his arms around her and leaned back into the sofa. Just then, the lights guttered and went out.
Melody turned to look back at the ship. The lights onboard suddenly winked out before her eyes. The terrified screams grew louder. Melody clutched Harold's arm as the ship began to tip up higher and higher.
A huge roar and load creaking and splintering sounds could be heard. The ship was literally breaking in half. A woman sitting at the stern of Lifeboat 14 screamed. "Oh my GOD!" she cried.
"Harold!" screamed Melody. "Oh God, my family's on that thing!"
He looked at her gravely, putting his arms around her. "I know, sweet, I know," was all he could manage to say. Melody sobbed into the rough wool of his coat.
James pulled himself up to the railing at the stern before pulling Violet up as well. "Hold on, Violet," he cautioned as the bow half of Titanic finally broke free, the stern swinging sharply downward.
Violet closed her eyes, swallowing and fighting the urge to vomit from the sickening drop. There was a tremendous splash as the stern hit the water, jolting everyone still aboard. James clutched at Violet.
The stern half settled on the water, floating upright. Violet clung to the railing, turning her head to see Jack and Rose hanging on for dear life a few feet away. Rose was breathing hard, clinging to the railing with her eyes squeezed shut. Jack caught Violet's gaze, his eyes terrified. James grabbed Violet and pulled her roughly over the railing. She hadn't even noticed him climbing over himself.
Before Violet could say a word, the stern began to tip slowly upwards once more. She squeezed her eyes shut, clutching at James' arm with one hand. She inhaled and exhaled quickly, flattening herself against the railing. She opened her eyes as the Titanic's stern stopped rising, now completely upright. Violet gasped, watching passengers who had lost their grip fall, some hitting the railings and other fittings with sickening metallic thuds.
The stern began to sink straight down, and the screams of passengers grew even louder. James clutched at the back of Violet's coat. "When we reach the water, kick off and hold your breath," he said.
Violet turned to look at Rose and Jack again. They clung to the railing and each other, watching the water engulf the ship below. "Oh God!" cried Rose.
When the railing reached the water, Violet took a deep breath. She heard the others around her do the same—in her delirium of pain and fear, it almost seemed funny.
Violet kicked off the railing, immediately losing her grip on James' arm. The pain from the touch of the icy water quickly eclipsed the pain in her head. The water tore at her and she was pulled downward, her body twisted by the strong currents. She remembered swimming at Lake Austin when she was little, jumping off a rope swing and plunging deep into the water. She flailed her arms, trying to right herself by watching the direction of the bubbles rising to the surface as she had then. Violet pumped her legs and arms forcefully, managing a powerful stroke in spite of the layers of clothing she wore, her heavy skirt. Soon she surfaced, gasping as her lungs filled with frigid air.
People were all around her, floundering and screaming, calling for help. She couldn't see James anywhere. She heard a sharp whistle and a man yell "Return the boats!" Violet kept her head and quickly began to swim despite the cold. She shoved past the people surrounding her. Many tried to grab her and hang on, but she kicked at them and threw punches, knocking them away. Debris from Titanic was beginning to surface, so she looked about for something to grab onto.
Something brushed against her let on its way to the surface. She reached out to touch it. It was large and flat and textured on the top. Running a cold hand over the surface, she realized what it was. A piece of oak wall paneling from the grand staircase had drifted up from the sunken hull, just large enough to hold her. Violet tried to climb onto it but it immediately tipped her back into the water.
Violet thought back once again to swimming in Lake Austin. She remembered one particularly hot summer day when she was 10 years old and Melody was 8. They'd found some old boards next to a rotting tool shed and taken them into the water to float with. They had fun trying to stand on the boards by pushing them underwater, flat, and then pulling their legs under them to step on. Violet placed her hands flat on the carved surface, pushing down as hard as she could. She tucked her legs under herself, pushed up, and launched herself forward.
Violet fell flat as the water drained off the sheet of paneling. She collapsed in a soaking heap, breathing hard and sputtering. Oh, Melly, she thought.Where are you?