A/N: YAY FAST UPDATE!!!!!! I can do this because I've had this section of the story written since June, because I am strange and wrote the sinking first. Go figure. But it's good, since I have a goal to finish this story by the end of February. Considering my previous goal was to finish this by Christmas, and clearly THAT didn't happen, I have no idea if this is a realisitc goal or not. But hey, let's see how she goes. XD ANYHOO, moving right along, this chapter is actually based around a song, but I have very, VERY loosly interpreted said song into what you see below you. people who know the musical will be able to spot the direct references, people who don't know the musical will be like "WTF, they sing here?!?". The answer is yes, yes they do. ALSO, we introduce a new character. I know, I know, 26 chapters in and a new person shows up. BLAME PETER STONE. I'd have cut this meeting if it didn't prove integral to the plot later on. But it does, so it stays. :)
I dedicate this chapter to Maury Yeston, who had recently proven himself to be one of the coolest people on the planet. XD Also, to LC and Vee for reading and reviewing every single chapter of this behemoth so far. You guys are amazing.
The congestion in the hallway increased the closer Kate and her friends got to the staircase. Kate began scanning the gathering masses for any sign of Jim, figuring that he should be appearing any moment, if he wasn't there already. He was, however, no where to be found, so Kate and the others continued their slow progress. At the base of the staircase, traffic flow went from pitifully slow to non-existent. This brought the little group to a full-stop, their way barred by an unmoving wall of people.
"Kate, what's goin' on?" Murphy asked, clutching a fistful of Kate's coat, "Why've we stopped?"
"I'm not sure," Kate replied, straining to see over the heads of the people in front of her. So far as she could tell, the human blockade extended all the way up the stairs. Just ahead of Kate was a man that she recognised as one of the musicians from Friday's party. She grabbed him by the arm, "What the Hell's all this about? Why aren't we movin'?"
"Beats the Hell outta me," the man replied, "I can't see a damned thing."
Kate bobbed on the balls of her feet, trying to ignore the anxious faces of her companions and the jostling of the crowd. A knot of something uncomfortably close to panic had settled in the pit of Kate's stomach. None of this made any sense; they'd been told to gather by the Well Deck hadn't they? So why could nobody seem to get there? What had happened? And where the hell was Jim? Surely he should have been there by then, surely he had to know that Kate would be wondering where he was.
Suddenly a burly fellow came barrelling back down the stairs, nearly knocking several people flying, "The gate's locked!" He informed everyone in a thick Yorkshire accent that was positively dripping with fury, "They've bloody locked us down here!"
Nearly everyone who understood gasped. Kate Mullins gave a whimper of pure terror. The knot in Kate's stomach threatened to unravel and overwhelm her and she laced her fingers together across the front of her life vest, as though trying to physically hold herself together. She wanted Jim with her so badly that it almost hurt; if he was with her they could figure out what to do, together. She couldn't make a decision without knowing where he was. What if something had happened that was preventing him from getting to her?
Pushing these thoughts aside, Kate said, "All right, it's all right." She thought she was trying to reassure herself as much as anyone else.
"How is it all right?" Kate Murphy asked, looking every bit as beside herself as Kate felt, "What're we s'posed te do?"
Kate shook her head. She didn't know, she had no idea. And whatever they were supposed to do, or wherever they were supposed to go, Kate flatly refused to go anywhere without finding out what had become of Jim. No sooner had she thought this then did a male voice call her name. Kate whirled around, relief flooding every corner of her body.
"Took ye…" She stopped short, the words lodging themselves in the back of her throat. Because it was not Jim striding towards her but Jerry Bourke, his little cousin Nora by his side. Kate felt as though her insides had all turned to lead.
Oblivious of this, Jerry halted in front of Kate and her group, "Kate, d'ye know what's goin' on? I only just got back here te get Nora, see, an' no one's told me a thing,"
Kate barely heard him, "Jerry," she said urgently, hooking her fingers around his wrist, "Jerry, have ye seen Jim?"
Jerry frowned, "No Kate, I haven't," he shrugged, "Figured he was back here with you."
The look on Kate's face must have been positively ghastly, because both Mullins and Murphy took a step towards her. "Kate?" Mullins said tentatively, her eyes enormous with concern, "Ye've gone white as a sheet, are ye all right?"
Kate did not respond. Without even making a conscious decision to do so, she turned away from Jerry and Nora and began to push her way back through the crowd. Bewildered, Murphy and Mullins hesitated for a moment and then followed. Murphy took Petra's hand and tried to get her and Mathilde to come along as well, but neither German girl had any idea what had was going on. They backed away, gesturing frantically at the stairs. Murphy, not knowing what else to do, allowed them to stay put.
"Wait, Kate stop, where're ye goin'?" Murphy called in protest, struggling to catch up with the others, "We ought te stay here!"
Murphy was right, of course, and Kate knew it. But she had to find Jim, she had to; in her haze of fear anything else was inconceivable. Kate, however, did not want to admit how afraid she was. Instead she allowed herself to get angry. Anger was safer, easier to handle. If she was angry she could keep the panic at bay for now.
Fury was etched into every line of Kate's body as she shoved past confused knots of people who made the mistake of stepping into her path. Kate was only vaguely aware of Mullins and Murphy trailing along behind her, still protesting half-heartedly. Her focus was solely on getting away from this madhouse at the staircase, finding her conspicuously absent Irishman and giving him a piece of her mind. If she headed towards the forward cabins, she was bound to run into Jim coming in the opposite direction. Any moment Kate expected to see him coming towards her down the long corridor. But he didn't appear.
The longer Jim remained missing the angrier Kate got. The others were deliberately hanging back a few steps as though afraid she might burn them if they got to close. Kate Murphy, however, decided to brave her friend's wrath and she drew up even with Kate's left shoulder.
"Look, Kate, this isn't doin' any good," Murphy said reasonably, practically jogging to keep up with Kate's strides, "Jim knows yer waitin' fer him an'…"
"Then where the Hell is he?" Kate demanded furiously, "Where the Hell's he got te if he knows I'm waitin'?" Murphy didn't appear to have an answer to this question and so settled for making a vague flapping gesture with both hands and throwing a helpless look back at Mullins.
Somewhere in the back of Kate's head was a little voice repeatedly warning her that she was behaving irrationally, quite possibly on the verge of hysterics. But she was so frightened, or angry, or both that she couldn't make herself stop and listen to that tiny voice of reason. Kate wondered absently if she would get better results if she simply stopped in the middle of the hallway and commenced bellowing Jim's name until somebody told her where he was.
Fortunately for all involved, Kate had not had time to adequately consider this course of action before the man himself came hurtling around the corner at the end of the corridor. Kate gasped and drew to a halt so suddenly that both of her friends crashed into her back.
Jim, clad now in coat and hat but sans life vest, hurried towards the trio, "Kate! Kate, I'm sorry I took so long; It's a mess up there an' I was tryin' te find a way te…" he drew up short, taking in Kate's clenched fists and furious face, "God, Kate, are ye all right?"
Kate flew at him with a shriek, "Jim Farrell!" She half-screamed, pounding both fists against his chest, "Where the Hell have ye been? Don't you ever do that te me again or I'll kill ye where ye stand, ye damn fool man!"
Looking positively alarmed at this explosion, Jim caught Kate by both wrists in an attempt to stop the assault, "Jesus! I'm sorry Katie, I'm sorry!" She was still glaring fiercely, but at least had not hit him again, which Jim saw as an improvement, "I went fast as I could, but…"
"Ye scared me," Kate said hoarsely, feeling her temper beginning to simmer down leaving something closer to mortification in its place, "Nobody's got any idea what's goin' on, an' I didn't know where ye were, or if somethin' might've happened to ye…"
"God Kate, I'm sorry," Jim repeated, "I didn't think…" he trailed off suddenly, as though realising just how far forward in the ship the three girls had come – they were past the dining saloon already. "Ye shouldn't've come so far up here. What happened at the stairs?"
Taking a deep breath to further clam herself, Kate said, "The staircase is blocked," she looked up at Jim, realising that, despite his presence a persistent ribbon of fear was still twined around her insides, "They've locked the gate. I don't know why, but we can't get through there," Kate swallowed hard, "I didn't know what else te do but come lookin' fer ye."
"Ev'ryone's scared outta their heads," Murphy informed him quietly, "Petra and Mathilde were too scared te even follow us,"
Jim looked back towards the aft decks, his features creasing into an expression of pure disbelief and something like horror. "Bleedin' Christ," he murmured under his breath. He still had Kate's wrists clasped in both hands and he pulled her a little way down the corridor to the T-intersection between this hall and the adjoining one. "Look here Kate," he said, pointing, "D'ye see?"
For a moment, Kate had no idea what he was showing her. Baffled, she tried to follow his gaze, disquieted by the look in his eyes, "Jim, what…?"
"There, see? Along the floor," Jim said, pointing again. If Kate was not entirely out of her mind, he looked almost afraid. She remembered the way the steward had looked at her and she felt all the breath disappear from her lungs, "Right there at the end o' the hall,"
Kate looked again and this time she saw it: water. Not a lot, not even a full inch yet but enough that Kate felt an ice-cold rivulet of fear trickle down the back of her neck. She heard Kate Mullins give a little scream and Kate Murphy mumble a panicky-sounding prayer. Evidently they too had spotted the water rolling towards them from the far end of the corridor.
Jim said, "It's already two foot deep in the men's dormitories, that's why I was so long in comin' back," Kate turned to stare at him and this time the fear in his eyes was unmistakeable. She felt the blood drain from her face as she realised what he was telling her, "Kate, the boat's sinkin'."
This was unthinkable. Not three hours earlier, Kate had been happier than she could ever recall being. She had felt untouchable, invincible, shielded by her joy and now, here she was thrust into a nightmare beyond anything she could have imagined. Kate looked up at Jim and she could tell from the expression on his face that he was thinking the same thing. He pulled Kate close and wrapped one arm around her waist protectively.
"What are we s'posed te do now then?" Murphy asked desolately. She had removed her bible from the inside of her coat and now had it clutched to her chest in white-knuckled hands, "Drown with all them other rats?"
Kate whirled on her, "Don't be daft!" She said, "There's lifeboats up there, I've seen 'em!" She pointed above her head to emphasise her point. Kate was frightened, very frightened, but damned if that meant she was going to stay down here and die. Damned if she gave up that easily.
"I've seen 'em too Kate," Mullins agreed eagerly, attempting a brave smile even though her face was as white as her sweater.
"Aye, so've I," Murphy said, "But how in Hell are we gonna get up there?"
"What about the forward staircase?" Kate asked Jim, meaning the one she'd used to get up on deck the other day. She already suspected what the answer would be.
As she feared, Jim shook his head, "The water up there's gotta be past knee deep by now Kate, we can't risk that one bein' locked as well,"
Not panicking was getting increasingly difficult. Kate had never gone up on deck by any means other than the two main Third Class staircases, and though she knew there had to be other passages to the higher decks, she had no idea where any of them were. And the water at the end of the hallway was getting closer.
Kate slammed one hand flat against the wall, frustration and fear getting the better of her, "Well fer God's sake, we can't just stand here starin' at each other!" She exclaimed, making everyone jump.
Before anyone could offer an alternative course of action, there were sound of foot falls in the corridor, and a man came splashing along at the end of the hallway. He stopped dead when he spotted the anxious foursome, and hurried to meet them. Kate had never seen him before, but his clothes and face were smeared with ash and he smelled distinctly of smoke and coal. He skidded to a halt in front of them, looking bewildered.
"What're you people doin' down here still?" The man demanded incredulously, "Don't ye know the ship's on her way down?"
"And who in Hell are you then?" Kate asked defensively, drawing herself up to her full height.
The man looked at her, "Fred Barrett, stoker," he gave the whole group a once-over and looked decidedly grim, "We need te get up te the boat deck, we're goners for sure if we don't,"
"What d'ye think we're tryin' te do man?" Jim snapped, once again pulling Kate closer, "But everythin's blocked. We'll have te find another way all right,"
Kate Murphy made a frantic with one hand, as though she'd gone to cross herself and changed her mind half way, "What other way? I've never seen no other way!"
Barrett considered this, brow furrowed, then suddenly slapped one hand across his thigh, "I know one! I've used it te sneak up on deck m'self. It's fer crew, no one'll have thought te close it off," he threw a glance at the three women in their long skirts, "We're gonna get a bit wet though, the door's that way," he pointed towards the rapidly flooding end of the corridor.
"We stand here much longer an' we're gonna get a lot wet," Kate said, with a twitch of one eyebrow.
Barrett flashed her a tight, fleeting smile, "Right then, follow me before we all drown,"
Nobody was about to argue with him. Jim grabbed Kate's hand and took off after the stoker, the other two Kates following without hesitation. The water, scant inches deep only ten minutes earlier, was now deep enough to slosh around the ankles of Kate's boots. With every step, sprays of icy water splashed up the backs of Kate's legs soaking her stockings at mid-calf.
Kate winced at the cold against her skin, "You mark my words Jim Farrell," she gasped as they sloshed ungracefully down the hallway, "We're gonna end up havin' te swim te America,"
Jim chuckled humourlessly, "Not if I can help it."