"Well, sir, I boarded the ship with me mum and sister," Alphie began, his Scottish burr making itself known once more as he spoke quickly. "I dinna meet the doctor until the last night we were on her. We all felt the ship shake something terrible, like. It happened real late an woke me up. I dinna know what it coulda been, but me mum musta, cause she 'ad me 'n my sis in those lifejackets 'n up the stairs afore I could blink. They all said she was crazy, what on account of the ship bein' so fancy an all, but she done knew somethin' was wrong. They called her crazy up top, too, but she just says, 'well, why is them readying up all those lifeboats, then?' and she makes up such a ruckus when they tells us to leave that they lets us stay put."

Alphie smiled then. "There was these big chunks of ice on the deck, sir, an me an some of the other boys had a grand old time kicking them around while we waited, see. An then the next thing I knows the deck is all crowded with these fancy people, like, an me mum grabs me up again an is trying to get us on one of those lifeboats. But she keeps a gettin blocked where she wants to go by all the people, sir, until this fancy gentleman appears from nowhere, grabs up my sister, holds her in one arm, an with the other he takes me mum's elbow. He shouts real loud he's got two more ladies for the boat an they better hold it. Well, sir, the crowd moves aside for him right enough, an he gets mum and me sister settled in the boat. I tries to climb in, too, sir, but this big sailor tells me no, I'm too old, and this other fancy lady needs on. Me mam tries to say yes, let me on, but the sailor says no, no men. Women 'n children only."

"Well, Mr. Holmes, next thing I knows I'm being held back by that fancy gentleman and he's telling mum that he'll stay with me and keep me safe. I dinna ken how he knew he could keep a promise like that, but me mum says, 'yes, do,' an then they were being lowered away in that boat an I was left standing on the deck with that gentleman watching them go ."

Alphie sat up a bit straighter, then, and quickly used the end of Holmes' scarf to wipe away the couple tears that had spilled as he spoke. Holmes didn't berate the boy for his tears, only smiled and pulled off his warm hat, placing it on the boy's head, patiently waiting for him to be ready to continue.

"Well, Mr. Holmes, I didn't like being left behind," Alphie said after taking a few deeps breaths. Once again, he took pains to articulate his words clearly without much of his accent. "I did sniffle a bit, just like I did now, but that gentleman bent down and looked me in the eye. 'Hello, lad,' he said, 'my name is John Watson. I am a doctor, I am going to take care of you, and for the rest of the night I'm going to need you to stay right by my side.' I really looked at him for the first time, then, Mr. Holmes, and I remember thinking that he must be the most gentlemanly of gentleman in the whole wide world. He had this kind of way about him, Mr. Holmes, and I knew I'd do whatever he asked me to."

Holmes couldn't help his amusement at Alphie's imitation of Watson's voice. It was clear his old friend had made quite the impression on the boy, and that didn't surprise Holmes in the least. Even in circumstances that weren't life or death, Watson always seemed to have a way with children and young people. He could calm them down and make them listen in a way Holmes never really got the hang of, which was the main reason only Wiggins was allowed in Baker Street for many years. Holmes' preferred method of getting children to behave was by putting coins in their hands; Watson's method was just to exist. Children seemed to love him by instinct alone. Holmes was not jealous of this. In fact, he was glad. This trait of Watson's had been important on more than one case they'd handled together, and Holmes knew it had served Watson well as he worked to save Alphie. Holmes pushed his reminiscences aside to focus on the boy in question as he continued his story.

"'I'll do what I can to help you,' the doctor said to me," Alphie continued, "'but we are men of honor, me and you, and so we must help others first before ourselves. I am going to need you to be very brave, and I know you will be. Now, tell me your name.' I did, sir, and there was something so kind and strong about him that it made me want to be courageous, too. So, Mr. Holmes, I was brave, and I followed him the whole time."

"We helped other people put their life vests on, helped ladies and little children get on boats, gave people blankets, and threw things in the water we found that might float. I've never been so brave in my life, Mr. Holmes. And then…"

The boy wiped away a few more tears before going on as steadfastly and as properly as he could. "There were these musicians there, sir, and they played their instruments the whole time me and the doctor worked. I remember they were still playing when the doctor knelt in front of me again. 'You've done your duty, now, Alphie, he said to me, 'and you've done it very well. Now, the time has come when we can't help anyone else. Every person must now work to save themselves and the people they are responsible for. There is no shame in this, Alphie. It's not wrong to want to live. People around us are going to die tonight. But whether you live or die, Alphie, you've done well. You have saved people, and you have nothing at all to be ashamed of. Believe me. Now, Alphie, I'm going to try to make sure you live, so stay brave.'"

"Then, sir, he took me a bit away from everyone else and told me that when the water was closer we were going to jump and then swim straight away from the ship. I thought the water was close enough already, sir, because the ship had been tilting something awful for a while then, but I agreed to jump when he told me. He told me I was supposed to find a table or a chair or a door or something to float on. He told me to find it in the water and keep my eye on it once I'd found it and swim for it as fast as I could and he'd be right behind me. He was going to jump right after I did, he said."

"He told me to have courage and then he made me drink something. It burned me all the way down, but it made me feel warm inside. I knew I could do what he told me to and promised him I would. He helped me up on the railing and he climbed up, too. He took my hand, asked me if I knew the Lord's Prayer, and told me to pray it out loud with my eyes open. I did, sir. I watched him, and he watched the water, and I prayed. And when I got finished with the part about the kingdom and the power and the glory he said 'now, Alphie' and let go of my hand."

"I remember the railing was cold but his hand had been warm. I remember when I took my eyes off of him I felt like I really couldn't do it after all, like a coward. I remember thinking I would die hanging on there, never havin' the bravery to let go of the railing." Alphie shook his head twice and then looked Holmes in they eye.

"And, then, sir, even as I thought it, I realized I wasn't holding onto anything anymore and I had jumped."

Historical Clarifications:

Thankfully, the urban legend that third class passengers were locked below decks to die is a myth. There were some gates about waist high patrolled by attendants, but no one was dramatically shot to keep them from having a chance at survival. It doesn't negate that most of them did, sadly, perish, but it was mostly due to a lack of communication and unwillingness to leave family behind (and lifeboats, obviously). Alphie doesn't specify what class his family was traveling in, but a determined Scottish lady with two children to protect could have bullied her way above deck regardless.

Unfortunately, Watson and Alphie must have been on the wrong side of the ship. Some officers strictly enforced "women and children only" and some allowed men when no women were near.

By the time Watson instructs Alphie to jump, all the lifeboats would have been away except for a collapsible boat first officer Lightoller was desperately trying to get launched. It was not launched in time, though some souls were saved by climbing on top of overturned boat. Lightoller himself took charge, directing people where to stand to keep the air pocket underneath the overturned boat from diminishing. He saved several people that way.

Alphie would have been far from the youngest person left on deck. The youngest person to die was a thirteen month old baby.

Watson's advice to Alphie is the right advice. Jumping close to the water before the ship went down would have been the best course of action for those left on deck. A jump from too high would kill, so it wouldn't have helped to jump right away, but staying on deck would result in being sucked under when she finally went down, not to mention having to fight with other survivors for something to float on. Swimming straight out would get a person away from the ship and keep their muscles working. Getting on a piece of debris would give a person much more time before they froze to death then being in the water.