REMINDER: This is where the story splits into two different lines - one for Lowe and one for Siobhan. They'll rejoin later on in the story.
April 14th, 1912
9:30 p.m.
"So we're going to meet for breakfast tomorrow, right?"
"Of course…but Siobhan, I've really got to get some sleep or else I won't be able to make it through my watch tonight." The two were walking along the A-deck promenade, enjoying the crisp night air. Her uncle had let her go back to first class when he noticed that she was getting antsy. She met Lowe when he was coming back from her stateroom (slightly disappointed that he didn't get an answer, but happy when he saw her). They went out on deck and managed to catch the sunset before they went to the Café Parisian for dinner.
"I know what you mean…I really need to get some sleep too. I didn't sleep at all last night."
"Go to sleep, then," he said before giving her a farewell kiss. "I'll meet you tomorrow at 9."
"Sleep well…" With that, the two parted ways.
By the time Siobhan got back to her stateroom, she was about ready to drop and go to sleep in front of the doorway. It was a miracle that she was able to change out of her clothes and into her nightgown…or, at least it seemed like her nightgown. She picked a white dress out of her closet and put it on right before dropping on top of her bed.
She didn't even bother to get under the covers, for she felt her eyes shutting beneath her. She was extremely tired and felt the fatigue overtaking her.
She felt like she could sleep through the end of the world.
As she succumbed to unconsciousness, she didn't realize that in just a couple of hours it would indeed be the end of the world for many people.
(((11:50)))
"Miss Andrews!"
Sharp knocking at the door brought her around - of course, quite groggy and disoriented when considering she had only been asleep for a little over 2 hours.
She fumbled for her robe in the darkness and, finding it, made her way over to the door by following the wall. She opened it and saw Mr. Moody standing there.
"Miss Andrews, I need for you to get dressed and put your lifebelt on."
"Mr. Moody? What's going on?" She saw him look around at the desolate hall that was soon to be full with passengers.
"The ship hit an iceberg," he said in a lowered voice. "Your uncle is sounding the ship right now with the carpenter. I don't want to take any chances - from what I saw, the first 5 compartments were damaged."
Her mind slowly took in the words of the Titanic's junior-most officer and her mind drifted back to her conversation with Harold just a few days ago. "300 feet…" She looked up to him incredulously. "Are you certain?"
"Siobhan, I was there when it happened. I saw the entire accident, and I was there when Captain Smith ordered your uncle to be awoken in order to sound the ship. We're meeting in 5 minutes or so in order to hear the damages and if we should get the lifeboats ready for lowering."
She nodded her head, knowing all too well what would become inevitable. "Why did you come to tell me even though it might not be true? I know it is, but there's the slightest chance…"
"I did it for Harold. I know that if what happened will result in sinking he would want to see to it that you were put in a lifeboat."
Somehow she got an inkling that he was right on everything - and both Harold and her uncle would be attempting to track her down…
"Moody…Jim…I don't know what to say…"
"Don't say anything. Just promise me that if I never see you again that you'll do whatever it takes to take care of Harry…"
"Don't say that…" she said while hugging him. She felt his arms wrap around her as he returned the hug. "Thank you," she whispered into his ear.
As they broke the hug, he smiled at her and said, "Dress warmly. Its quite cold outside…" With that, he started off down the hall.
((()))
Siobhan was just about dressed when she heard another knock on the door. With her lifebelt in hand, she opened it and found both her uncle and whom she presumed to be the carpenter standing there. "Uncle…?"
"Siobhan…I don't know who told you, but you have read my mind. Get your lifebelt on and get up to the boat deck."
"Is it that bad?"
"It is, miss," the carpenter spoke up. "Your uncle is right. It's best for you to get up top and into a boat before they're all gone. Thomas, we've got to go - we'll be late for the briefing…"
As he turned back to nod to his companion, she remembered some certain statistics that she had hoped would never need to be important. "Uncle Thomas, wait!"
She threw her lifebelt off to the side as she quickly went up to her uncle. "I need to go down to the third class area."
"What? Why?"
"Two of my friends from Queenstown are sailing down there."
"Siobhan…"
"No. Uncle Thomas, a very wise man once taught me to never leave my friends behind. They're all you have in this world with exception of your family. Now, is that certain man going to go against all he's taught me and tell me to abandon my friends?"
He looked into her blue eyes and knew that he had indeed taught her to never leave a friend behind. "No…" he said to her softly. "Just be sure to get back up to the boat deck by 1:30 at the latest - the lifeboats will be going fast. You will get on one."
She nodded to her uncle, who turned back to the carpenter who was with him. "Come on, or we're going to be late…" With that, the two took off at a run towards the Grand Staircase. She turned back to her stateroom and slid on her lifebelt. She then slid on a lifebelt, grabbed a large overcoat from the closet inside her room, and went to try and find a back way from the First Class areas to the Third Class areas.
()()()
As she passed the grandiose clock in the Grand Staircase, Siobhan took a note of the time - it was about fifteen minutes after midnight. She could see the passengers start to congregate in the Grand Staircase as well as stewards handing out lifebelts as well as glasses of brandy for the gentlemen. She proceeded outside when she reached the boat deck.
Right when she got outside, she winced as she heard steam suddenly shoot out from the vents on the stacks. It was ear splitting for those people who were out on the deck, and she could even see a few of the crewmen cover their ears as the others went about readying the lifeboats for launching. It truly was happening…Titanic was damaged beyond repair and she would founder - when, she didn't know. Her eyes drifted to the entrance of the Grand Staircase right behind her. Would the other passengers believe that the Unsinkable Titanic would meet a watery grave - or would it be too late for them?
"Miss Andrews!"
She turned to her right and saw Officer Wilde approaching her. "Miss Andrews, why aren't you inside with the others? We aren't going to begin loading the lifeboats for another ten or fifteen minutes or so."
"Mr. Wilde, I need to get down to the third cabin as soon as I can. I need to get some people out of there before this gets too bad."
"Siobhan, you can't. You of all people should know that the passenger/lifeboat ratio isn't in favor of those in Third Class."
Her face crinkled in rage. "Mr. Wilde, my friends are down there. I will not stand around and watch them die. I'm going to do this no matter what - but if you try to stop me, it will just take longer…"
He sighed in defeat, knowing that she meant every word she said. "Get down to Scotland Road. That will be the quickest way you can get there. There should be a door to the First Class area somewhere around the Turkish Bath. Use that to get back in."
"Thank you," she said as she hurried off.
"Be quick," he called to her. "Be as quick as you can - don't linger too long in one place!" She was gone in an instant…
()()()
It didn't take her too much longer to get to Scotland Road. Shooting down the Second Class stairwell, she reached E-deck in no time and flung open the door. There were indeed crewmembers that were rushing about - and a few third-class passengers were among the mix. She ran towards the area where Owen had once told her where his cabin was.
It took her about 5 minutes to find the cabin and when she tried to bang on the door, she got no answer. "Miss," she heard a voice behind her say. When she turned around to confront him, she saw that it was just a mere cabin boy who recognized her "station" in society. "Miss, check the Dining Hall. Whoever you are looking for will most likely be there."
"Is there a back way I can take? I don't want to go through the main entrance…too crowded…"
"Actually, yes…there is…"
"Take me to it." The boy nodded and began to walk, leading her to her friends.
()()()
It only took a short time to get there, and when they arrived at the side entrance the boy bid her a safe night and left. From inside the hall, she could hear shouts at the main entrance of those who wanted to know what was going on. That didn't concern her, as she saw Owen and Catriona sitting within earshot of the entrance.
"Aye! Owen…Catriona…over here!"
The two looked over as she motioned to them. They quietly hurried over to her as the others continued to yell questions at the stewards.
"Siv…what's going on? We felt a rumble about 45 minutes ago and now the ship is listing quite noticeably."
"I don't know much myself, though Moody came and told me that the ship struck a berg and might sink… He was right… Anyway, I came to get you. They're not going to load the third class passengers until the first and second class women and children are away. There won't be many lifeboats for you guys…there's not even enough for half on board."
"Can you get us out of here?"
"If we move quickly…" At that moment, she saw a family join them. The elder female greeted Catriona with a hug and turned to the first-class passenger.
"Do you mind if they come with us, Siobhan? I just met them when we sailed."
"Only them - too many people will draw attention to us. The stewards will unlock the gates when they're ready. We'll just have to find an alternate route. Come on - up to E-deck." They all headed for a stairwell that they knew would lead up to E-deck.
()()()
"Okay… The entrance to the Turkish Bath stairwell should be right…about…here…" Siobhan ran her hand across the wood paneling of the door in front of them and, when she tried the doorknob, saw that it was locked. "No!" She knelt down and touched the edge of the carpeting, recognizing what little there was to be the pattern of the hallway.
"They locked it so the third class won't get in," she said while turning to the group. "We'll have to find another way."
"Can't you find the key for it?"
"There's no time," one of the members of the Scottish family said. She pointed to the end of the hallway. "Look…water's coming in."
Indeed it was true. The water that was pouring into the first watertight compartment had filled to its entirety and was spilling over the bulkhead. Siobhan cursed to herself as she realized that the bulkheads didn't stretch as high as she had hoped. "It's going to come in quickly. Come on!" The group went running down the hallway, passing some foreign passengers who were trying to navigate their way around the lower decks in order to try and find their way up top.
She frantically looked around until she noticed a stairwell just up ahead. This one was not barred and locked like the other third class gates.
"This way!" She motioned to the stairs, and the group ran blindly ahead, unaware of what would eventually begin to happen.
Yellow-faith: Yep, he finally got what was coming to him! It also gives Lowe another reason to dislike him…that will come around in the next few chapters…eh…yeah… Anyway, have fun watching the Olympics and here's the next chapter for you!
Liz: Well, Andrews never really liked Ismay to begin with. Andrews was the one who wanted to put in lifeboats to cover the entire group of passengers on board but Ismay thought it would look "too cluttered." Who won out? Take a guess… So yeah, a lot of people think that he's quite arrogant and self-centered, so Andrews had no problem in backing her up. LOL - I tried to get the chapter up as soon as I could, but a) my internet was down and b) I'll admit, it was hard writing that chapter to just (basically) fill time! The chapters will be coming a bit faster now, but come Saturday (eep!) I'm moving for college so it'll be a bit before I get the chapter up. So, until next time, enjoy! (BTW - I'll keep your suggestion in mind, but I'm not going to try to think about it too much because knowing me I'll never finish this one…so yeah…)
An extra special thanks goes out to evilspoofauthor2Cassi who has been keeping me on track (for the most part - lol) on the intimacies of all things Titanic. She's actually doing a Titanic spoof - so GO READ IT! Its quite hooking, she has some very interesting (not to mention amusing) ideas, and there's going to be a new character joining as of the next chapter! Yep…it's Siobhan! Go read - AND REVIEW - it!