Gustave woke as the train jolted to a halt. He hoped they was finally in Cherbourg. They had stopped so many times, he was getting tired of all the false alarms. And sometimes when they stopped, people would come into the boxcar and take things, and every time he was terrified they would find him in his hiding spot. Not to mention it was so hot in the boxcar. The only time he ever got any fresh air was when someone came in. Hopefully this would be it.

He ducked behind a crate as the boxcar door slid open again. "Alright let's get the last of this stuff out of here. We gotta get this train reloaded so it can head back to Paris." Gustave could feel his heart racing as they took more and more out of the train. If they found him, there was no telling what kind of trouble he'd be in or what they'd do. His eyes grew wide as one of the men approached the crate he was hiding behind.

"Hey we need you over here!" Gustave gave a sigh of relief as the man left to go do whatever they were calling him over for. He grabbed his bag and his violin and slipped out of the boxcar and sprinted away from the tracks before anyone could spot him.

The air smelled of saltwater, and from what Gustave remembered from when they went to New York the first time, the train station wasn't too far away from the port itself. He carried his belongings throughout the city, trying to follow his nose for the source of the salty scent, but it just seemed to come from everywhere.

After a few hours of wandering, afraid to go too far from the train station, Gustave thought he heard a boat's horn. He ran in the direction of the sound until he found a massive structure made of steel and iron floating on the water. He had forgotten just how big ships really were. It was a monstrous thing, and Gustave stared at it, gawking for a long while.

"Thing o' beauty ain't she?" Gustave jumped at the sudden voice. It was a man in a sailor's uniform, staring at the ship with a smile. "One of the biggest ocean liners ever built. Rumor has it White Star Line up in England has some titanic ships planned but I doubt anything could top her. She's off to New York City tonight. I'm excited; I've never seen it with my own eyes. I've been a lot of places, but never there."

"It's a big city," Gustave replied. "I didn't like it much, but I have to go back."

"You've been?" the sailor asked in surprise.

"Once. My father lives there. I guess I am too now. That's where I'm going, to live with him."

The sailor stared at him incredulously. "You're going all the way to New York on your own? How old are you? Nine?"

"I'll be twelve in a month," Gustave snapped back. "And I don't have a choice. My mother died. I have to go. I don't have anyone else."

His voice trembled when he brought up his mother, and the sailor seemed to notice. "I'm sorry kid." The man clapped his hand on Gustave's shoulder. "Listen, I gotta go, there's a lot to do before the ship takes off. Maybe I'll see you around in New York."

Gustave watched the sailor walk away for a few minutes before realizing he wasn't going where the passengers were being loaded. Gustave needed a way to sneak on since there was no way he'd be able to afford a ticket; maybe there was another door that the sailor would lead him to.

He saw the sailor join several others, where they seemed to be loading cargo, but there was no way he'd be able to sneak past all of them. Not unless they were all drawn away at once. But Gustave had to get onto that ship or he'd never be able to get to New York and Mr. Y.

"What are you doing?" one of the sailors shouted. For a moment, Gustave thought the man was shouting at him, but then he realized there was group of kids that seemed to be trying to open a crate to see what was inside. It was enough to draw the sailors in that direction to make sure the kids didn't get into the box and to chase them away. Gustave thanked his lucky stars, before dashing into the cargo hold to hide. As he stashed himself away, he realized that his mother must have been looking out for him from Heaven, or otherwise he wouldn't have been able to get on the boat. She must have wanted him to get to Mr. Y. "Thank you Mother," he whispered softly, a tear sliding down his cheek at the thought of her.


Erik stared at the docks of Cherbourg. He couldn't stay here; the sooner he returned to Christine and told her what had happened, the better it would be. Christine needed to know her son was dead. But at the same time, he knew she wouldn't take it well, and Erik was terrified how exactly she'd react. Christine hadn't been entirely stable after everything she went through last summer, and he wasn't sure she was ready for another big shock. Part of him had thought about sending her a telegraph, but then he decided it was news he best deliver in person.

Unfortunately the first ocean liner back to America was to New York City. As much as he didn't want to go back there, Erik needed to get back to his Christine as soon as possible. He would take the train back down to Virginia from there.

"Ticket please." Erik handed it over, and was allowed to board the ship. He was going to be traveling back to America first class. When he crossed the Atlantic with the Girys, he had been forced to stow away in the underbelly of the ship, smuggled across the ocean as human cargo. The conditions had been horrendous, and it had cost the Girys what little of their savings they had left after purchasing their own tickets, leaving them penniless upon their arrival, and Erik was anxious not to repeat any of that experience ever again.

After finding his quarters for the next week or so, Erik placed a demand to have all meals brought to his room. He wasn't going to leave this room until they arrived in America. He didn't want to face anyone right now. He couldn't face anyone. For now he just wanted to wallow in his grief, yet instead of his lost son, all Erik could think about was just how absolutely devastated his Christine was going to be. It was going to take the entire journey for him to figure out the best way to break the tragic news to her.