A/N: It's my day off, so that means new chapter! Along with probably a new one shortly after I finish posting this one. I'll be honest in saying I needed a day off from writing, and not just because I've been exhausted from all the work. After what happened in the last chapter, I needed to figure out how exactly I wanted this day to play out. I still don't have the whole thing played out, but that's part of the fun. I'll even admit I still don't know who's going to die in this, but no one is totally safe, not even our first class ladies.

Friday, April 12, 1912, Northern Atlantic Ocean

Curly woke up that morning feeling empty. The previous morning he felt like the luckiest man in the world, that nothing could bring him down. And now, he wished he didn't use Rhonda as a way to try and forget his fight with Nadine. It didn't help, but only made him feel worse, despite that she took advantage of him as well. For what reason, he didn't know, but he knew that he had to talk to her.

After getting dressed and eating breakfast, Curly walked through the corridors to Rhonda's room. Shortly before arriving to his destination, he spotted Nadine heading his way. He didn't want to talk to her, but he was in uniform. Therefore was required to treat every passenger well, even if he was not fond of them.

"Good morning, Nadine," Curly muttered as she walked closer. She stopped and looked at him with tired eyes, which lit up when he spoke her name.

"Curly…" she began, then closed her mouth as she began to think of what to say next. "I know you're not happy with me at the moment, but please understand why I chose to keep quiet. It's best for everyone involved."

"How?" Curly asked. "The way I see it, the only one happy is this milkmaid. Your mistress is unhappy because she's being blackmailed, and you're unhappy because of how she's treating you because she's being blackmailed. It's all too simple. I gave you a brilliant plan, and yet you choose to do nothing, except be miserable." He took a deep breath. "Have you even thought of what we talked about yesterday?"

"No," she admitted, shaking her head. "I hadn't the time."

"Well, I suggest you try and make time," Curly said sternly. "Until then, I believe it's best I don't see you. I'm sorry, but I believe it's for the best. I just find it disappointing you won't help yourself. Excuse me."

Curly continued on his way before Nadine could speak another word. That is, if she wanted to saying anything else. She watched him leave. When he was out of sight, she turned and went back the way she was headed, with a single teardrop escaping.

Curly knocked on Rhonda's door. He waited impatiently until she opened the door. Her eyes were bloodshot and her face stained from her eyes to her jawline.

"Not right now, Curly," she said. "I'm not feeling well."

"I'm not here for that," Curly explained. "I was hoping we could talk about what happened last night."

Rhonda nodded and opened the door wider to let Curly through. He entered, and went straight to the table. Rhonda followed suit after closing the door. "You wanted to talk?"

"More like apologize," Curly clarified. "I was using our time last night as a way to forget what happened between me and a friend, and it was wrong of me to do that. So, I would like to formally apologize for my actions and how I treated you."

"There's no need to apologize," Rhonda said. "I did the same thing to you, although I must say, it didn't help me forget. I feel like it only enhanced everything that happened."

"May I ask what happened?" Curly asked, placing his hand on top of hers. "Not to be rude, but you look worse than when I left you last night."

"I can imagine," she chuckled softly. "And for once, I don't care how I look. As for what's going on, I don't want to go into detail, but the basic idea is someone I know wants me to keep two people apart because she cannot stand one of them."

"And how do you feel about them?" Curly asked.

"The gentleman is one of the nicest people I have ever known," Ronda said. "As for the woman, the one she despises, she isn't the easiest to get along with. She is quite outspoken, and doesn't allow anyone to tear her down. I'm quite envious of her, actually."

Rhonda chuckled at the realization. Of all people, she was jealous of Helga Pataki. Someone who had a tongue so sharp it could cut metal. Someone who had a boisterous father, an alcoholic mother, and a sister who was oblivious to how cruel the world can be. And yet, Helga didn't let what people thought of her stop her from being who she was. She didn't let her family get in her way. Helga was a free soul, and Rhonda wanted nothing more than to have that.

"If you don't dislike them, then why are you doing it? That is, if you agreed to do it." Curly wondered.

"I promised to help her with something else in exchange for her to keep a secret," Rhonda explained. "When it didn't go according to plan, she switched what she wanted, which is keep them apart."

"It seems to me that you don't want to do this," Curly said. Rhonda nodded her head in agreement. "It is a tricky situation, but there must be a way out of this."

"She won't give up power so easily," Rhonda told him. "She's in control of just about everything."

A smile crept on Curly's face. "Or let her think she has the power."

"What do you mean?" Rhonda asked. "How do I let her believe she's in charge even though she actually is?"

"You have to take the power back," Curly told her. "Instead of her doing the manipulating, you become the manipulator."

"And how am I supposed to do that?" Rhonda asked, getting irritated by Curly's word games. "Go to the two people she wants me to separate and tell them so they could trick her into thinking she won? Oh, my God, that's it! Curly, you're a genius!" Rhonda jumped from her seat and hugged Curly tightly. Curly wrapped his arms around her, happy that Rhonda is willing to take her life back.

"I'm happy to help," he laughed. "So, when are you going to tell them?"

"Immediately." Rhonda kissed him on the cheek and ran for the door. "Come back tonight and I'll tell you what happens!"

Curly couldn't help but laugh at her eagerness. He decided to wait awhile before leaving the room as to not appear suspicious. As he sat there waiting, he couldn't help but ponder how alike Rhonda's story was with Nadine's. Is it a coincidence? Or is it something else?


The sunlight peeked through the curtains straight into Arnold's face. He groaned first from the light, and then the thunderous pounding that was coming from his head.

"Good morning, Arnold." Gerald's voice said. He may have said it in his normal voice, but to Arnold, it sounded like Gerald was screaming so loud he could be heard down in the boiler rooms.

Arnold groaned again in agony. "Must you be so loud? And what happened last night?"

Gerald chuckled. "You might want to cover up first," he suggested.

"Huh?" Arnold looked down and saw that he was on the bed, wearing absolutely nothing. He also noticed that he was saluting Gerald. He quickly grabbed his blankets and pulled them over him. "Why am I not wearing anything?"

"You drank too much," Gerald told him in softer voice. "I was spending time with Phoebe at Helga's stateroom. When I was heading back to my room, one of the stewards finally found me and asked me to get you from the smoking room. They said you were belligerent. When I got you, you kept saying how horrible Lila was and how badly you wanted to toss her into a pig pen. It was quite amusing, actually. I managed to get you dressed for bed, but I'm guessing at some point during the night you took your clothes off and tore the blankets off of you."

"Did I really do that?" Arnold asked groggily.

"I'm afraid so," Gerald told him. "I have some tea made for you if you want some. It may help with the headache." Arnold nodded and slowly sat up. He hissed at the pain and held his head. Gerald offered him the cup, and Arnold thank him. As Arnold drank the tea, thoughts of dinner the night before came back to him. He remembered the confession of Lila's love for him and him yelling at her. He remembered going to the smoking room and drinking until he forgot what happened next.

"I can't believe the way I behaved last night," Arnold mumbled.

"Tell me about it," Gerald replied. "I've never seen you so intoxicated before. Come to think of it, I've never seen you intoxicated at all."

"I'm not talking about the drinking," Arnold said. "I'm talking about how I talked to Lila. That's not me, Gerald. I don't talk to women like that, even if they do deserve it. I'm better than that, and yet I allowed her to get the best of me."

"You're seriously upset about how you talked to Lila?" Gerald scoffed, sitting at the table with a cup of tea of his own. "Honestly, I don't think I'll ever get used to tea. I prefer coffee."

"Yes, I'm upset, Gerald," Arnold replied. "I'm upset because that is not who I am and you know it. I should probably apologize to her."

"Are you kidding me?" Gerald yelled, forgetting Arnold's hangover. Arnold grabbed his head in agony. "Sorry," he whispered. "But honestly, apologize to Lila? That's probably going to cause more harm than good to do that. She may take it as you changing her mind."

"It's the right thing to do, Gerald," Arnold told him. "And I'll only be apologizing for my behavior, not for what I said."

"It's a bold move, Arnold," Gerald said. "A bold move. I just don't see why you should be spending your energy on Lila, especially when you don't want her in your life, which you've made quite clear."

"I've already explained myself, and I'm not going to do it again," he said annoyingly. "Nothing you can say is going to stop me from changing my mind."

Gerald sighed in defeat. "If you say so, although I believe you're still drunk from last night and aren't thinking straight. At least promise me you won't do anything until you have breakfast and are able to think without a headache."

"Fine," Arnold agreed. "Do you mind waiting in the other room until I put on my clothes? I'll let you come back once I'm ready"

"Of course," Gerald said. He went into his room, sighing. He couldn't believe what Arnold was planning on doing. Surely, Arnold could have changed his mind, but Gerald wasn't going to take any chances. He quietly snuck out of his room and headed to the one person he knew Arnold would listen to.


"We need to figure out how to get rid of this ghost," Sid told Stinky. They were sitting in the dining saloon, slumping over their plates. They hardly got any sleep since they were preoccupied with paranoia that they might start to smell the clues that Sour McGee would come back. Sid did smell lemon, but it turned out that Stinky was eating lemon pudding. How he could still be eating lemon pudding after that story, Sid will never understand.

"She has got to be around here somewhere," Stinky said, slowly turning his head around the room, looking for the one housekeeper that could help them. "She was here yesterday."

"She's always here, Stinky," Sid remarked. "We're on a ship. No one can leave unless they jump, and I doubt anyone will jump into the middle of the Atlantic Ocean."

"I know that," Stinky said. "I'm not an idiot. I was talking about the dining saloon. She was in this room when we had breakfast yesterday, so she should be here again."

"What makes you think that?" Sid asked.

"Because he's right," Patty said. Sid and Stinky jumped at her sudden appearance next to them. "You two are pretty jumpy. For a moment there, I thought you were near death. You almost fell into your food."

"It's been a long night, Miss Patty," Stinky explained. "We were too afraid to sleep because of the tale you told us yesterday."

"And here I thought you were celebrating your success with the skits last night," Patty smirked. She pulled out a chair and sat next to them. "I didn't realize you were so afraid of that, or I wouldn't have said anything."

"Is there anything that can be done get rid of Sour McGee's ghost or keep him away?" Sid asked with a hopeful look in his drowsy, dark circles eyes.

"There might be," Patty said as she pondered their request. "I believe there is, but I'm not completely sure. I could have sworn someone in the crew mentioned a way to do it."

"Well, can you think of it quickly?" Sid asked impatiently. "We would like to be able have a good night's sleep at least another night on this bloody ship."

"Not to be rude, Miss Patty, but we would like to know as soon as we could," Stinky asked politely. "Tuesday seems like an awful long time without a lot of sleep."

"I understand," Patty replied, still trying to think. "Let's see, there I believe there was mention about a quarrel among friends."

"What kind of quarrel?" Sid asked.

"One thing I forgot to mention was Sour McGee had an argument with two of his closest friends before committing suicide. When he received the letter from the woman he loved, he wanted to go after her. His friends told him he was being unreasonable and refused to let him leave. They actually locked him up in the cabin until he came to his senses. When they came back, it was too late. They say that he couldn't forgive his friends for treating him that way. They also say when there are friends who are fighting, he would torment the ones to blame for the fighting. He would continue to haunt them until the fighting stopped."

The two companions sat and stared at each other, trying to take in what Patty just said. It took them awhile because they were so exhausted.

"Wow," Sid muttered. "I can't believe Sour McGee had friends."

"I'm surprised, too," Stinky agreed. "Who would be friends with someone who smelled so badly?"

Patty sighed and rolled her eyes. "You're missing the point," she said. "Has there been any fighting or disagreements in your cabin since you've been on board?"

Sid and Stinky looked at each other, and then at their plates. They didn't want to admit their problems with Harold. Not to the person who he likes. They were too tired to think of why she would even ask if there were fighting, especially if she was talking to Harold. Harold should have told her, they should have thought if their minds were operating properly. But alas, they weren't.

"I'm guessing there is," Patty guessed, although she already knew the answer. "Well, if I were you, I would suggest finding a way to get everyone to get along, or else you'll be haunted until you get off the ship. It's something to think about." Patty got up and left, leaving the two men to their thoughts.

"So what do we do?" Stinky asked Sid.

"It sounds like we either try to figure things out with Harold, or we deal with the haunting for the next four nights," Sid said.

"Do you think we can figure this out after we had some sleep? I'm unable to think of anything else."

"I believe that answered our question," Sid said. "After some more sleep, we'll talk to Harold and try and figure things out."

"Agreed."

Patty smiled at her hiding place in the saloon when she heard Sid and Stinky's plan. She left the dining room and went to do her rounds. Soon, she saw Harold heading her way.

"Good morning, Harold," she said sweetly. "Did you sleep well?"

"For the most part," Harold replied. "Sid and Stinky kept waking up, freaking out if they smelled something. Did you say anything to them to make them act this way?"

Patty smiled. "I just gave them something to think about. But I have a feeling that they will want to talk to you today."

Harold looked at her. "What are you talking about? Is this about what happened last night? I'm so confused!"

"Don't worry about it," Patty assured him. "Everything is going to be fine. You just need to trust me that it all will work out."

Harold nodded, deciding to believe her. She hasn't steered him wrong yet, and she appeared to have his best interest at heart. "I trust you."


Helga couldn't help but smirk about the events that occurred the night before. She and Maggie watched as the fight between Lila and Arnold unfolded. They were too far away to hear what was being said, but they saw their expressions, and Helga enjoyed seeing Lila falter. On the other hand, she was a bit unnerved by how Arnold acted. She knew he was never one to behave as such unless he was pushed to his limit. That was how she knew that Lila was nothing but trouble. Helga knew that Phoebe was going to help Nadine with her work that day, and had hopes that she could figure out what exactly is the deal with the redheaded manipulator.

"You were saying that Gerald came back last night?" Helga asked Phoebe in a strained voice as Phoebe tightened the corset.

"Indeed, he did," the maid replied, pulling on the strings. "He looked exhausted, and it was understandable why."

"Care to explain what happened?" Helga held onto the bed post, grunting with each tug of the laces.

"On his way back to his cabin, a steward came and said Mr. Shortman was in the smoking room. Apparently he had too much to drink. He was being defiant and when Gerald got him, he was saying some horrible things about Miss Sawyer. Some of which I can never repeat. Or would want to."

Helga chuckled. "I guess he's been around me for too long. Can't you give me at least one thing he said?"

"I believe it was something to the effect of her belonging with donkeys or being one," Phoebe answered, finishing with the corset and grabbing a dress from the wardrobe. "I'm not quite sure. Gerald said them better."

"I can only imagine," Helga said thoughtfully as she stepped into her dress. "I can't believe Arnold got himself drunk, though. It is so unlike him. He hates drinking."

"He must really dislike Miss Sawyer then," Phoebe suggested while buttoning the dress. "Although I must admit, his behavior between what you and Gerald said sounded appalling. How can any man behave in such a fashion?"

"Don't you understand?" Helga asked. "She drove him to behave that way. She's a bad influence and will ruin him if she isn't stopped."

"Why do you care if Mr. Shortman is terrorized by Miss Sawyer?" Phoebe asked, returning to her role as the ignorant maid. She continued to hope that the two would finally admit their feelings toward one another.

"I-I, uh, well…" Helga stuttered, trying to figure out what exactly she wanted to say. Even though she knew people knew, she still couldn't bring herself to admit it. At least, not yet.

A knock on the door became her saving grace. Phoebe went to answer it. Outside was Rhonda.

"Is Helga here?" she asked. Phoebe nodded and opened the door wider. Just as Rhonda was about to enter, she was knocked down to the ground by someone. "Get off of me!" Rhonda squealed to the person who knocked her down.

"I am so sorry, Miss Lloyd," Gerald said. He moved next to her and helped her up. "I just need to talk to Miss Pataki about something important."

"Well, get in line, because I need to speak with Helga first," she scolded.

"What is going on?" Helga asked as walked towards the door. "Rhonda? Gerald? What are you two doing here?"

"I need to talk to you!" they said simultaneously. They looked at each other, and then to Helga. Helga looked to Phoebe.

"Who was here first?" Helga asked her maid. Phoebe motioned to Rhonda. "All right. You go first, Princess."

Rhonda rolled her eyes at the nickname. "There is something I wish to discuss with you and Arnold. It involves Lila. She wants me to do something that will harm the both of you, and I wanted to warn you."

Helga looked at her dumbfounded. "Why should I believe you?" Helga asked. "You're friends with Lila. How do I know this isn't a trick?"

"Lila is hardly a friend," Rhonda said. "She is a thorn in my side that has been pestering for too long. I'm trying to remove it without her knowing it."

Helga blinked her eyes several times. "Gerald, what do you want?"

"It's Mr. Shortman," he said. "He's thinking of apologizing to Miss Sawyer about what he said to her last night."

"He's about to what?" Helga asked, trying to make sure she heard that correctly.

"Apologize to Miss Sawyer," Gerald repeated. Helga, Phoebe, and Rhonda looked at him in shock.

"Why would he do that?" Rhonda asked. "It's a suicide mission. She'll claw her way back in. He needs to be stopped."

"I tried talking to him, but he wouldn't listen to me," Gerald informed. "The only person know he will listen to is Miss Pataki, so I came right over."

Helga took a deep breath. She couldn't allow Arnold to get close to Lila. Not again. "Gerald, lead the way."

The four scrambled to Arnold's stateroom room. Gerald went into his room and told the women to stay outside Arnold's door. The women obliged and waited to be allowed in. Arnold's door opened and Gerald looked out to them with a worried look.

"What is it?" Helga asked.

"He's not here."