Getting To Titanic
Previously:
I said, looking thoughtfully around, and added, "I wonder what Christmas would have been like on the ship if it were still sailing today."
Olivia grinned broadly. "I imagine it would be really hectic and full of life." She said, smiling.
Sapphire grinned back, and glanced up to see her mother smiling down at them both.
"I thought I would find you in here, and Michael will be very happy indeed," she said warmly. As the three of them made to leave the library, Olivia asked, "Who's Michael?"
"My personal librarian. It operates as a usual library, too. It's closed on public holidays, but not Sundays. In the winter, he lights the fire and opens the doors at quarter past seven, in summer, he puts on all the fans and opens the doors at quarter to seven," Sapphire explained with a grin.
"You have an amazing life, Sapphire," Olivia grinned, and she smiled back. Unlike most rich people, who in secret are the most unhappy people you could find, Sapphire loved it. One of the reasons for that was from the 16th of September until the 30th of November, Sapphire lived in the cottage with her family, and knew what it was like to have a middle class life, too.
The reason why Ariana, Sapphire's mother, had come to find Sapphire and Olivia, was for the simple reason that lunch was served. Weekend lunches were always lovely, and today was no exception. Sizzling in the middle of the table in a very grand dinning room, was a turkey. There was salad, fruit, cheese, crackers, buns, and grapefruit juice to drink.
Already seated were Sapphire's siblings, Alice Genevieve and Felix Anthony. All three were triplets, and most would have had trouble telling Alice and Sapphire apart, were it not for the fact that Alice had green eyes, as opposed to blue. She was wearing a lavender summer dress with black flats, and Felix was wearing a dark blue t-shirt, black slacks, and shoes.
They both looked up and smiled at their sister, greeting her with a hug.
"Never forget that I love you, Sapphy," Felix said warmly. Sapphire smiled back, and said, "I never will, Felix."
Then, turning with a smile towards her guest, she said, "Do help yourself, Olivia. Guests first."
Olivia helped herself to turkey and salad, and within five minutes, everyone was eating and chatting about Christmas.
"So, what do you want for Christmas, Sapphire?" Olivia asked, and Sapphire shrugged. "Maybe a new colouring book, but apart from that, I'm pretty happy. A few years ago, if you had asked, I would have said, "My family," but not much else."
Olivia was intruged as to why she would have asked for her family, but didn't press the matter. If Sapphire wanted to tell her, then she would on her own terms.
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After lunch, Sapphire and Olivia decided to practice for their end of year musical, "Joseph and the Amazing Techni-colored Dream Coat." While Sapphire, who was playing an Egyptian slave and singing in the song "Stone The Crows," and knew her lines, Olivia was playing one of the brothers, (they went to an all-girls school) and was struggling to remember the vast number of colors that she had to learn, and in their proper order.
"Can you tell me what you know?" Sapphire asked helpfully.
"Red, yellow, green, brown, scarlet, black, ocher, and peach, and the last color is blue," Olivia said.
"Hmm, how about we look up the lyrics, and I can help you out?" Sapphire suggested.
"Yes, please," Olivia beamed as her friend searched.
"Well, you certainly have a few down. The next one's are ruby, olive, violet, and fawn," she said, and Olivia repeated back the colors she knew, including the new ones.
"Good. Lilac, gold, chocolate, and mauve," again, Olivia repeated them.
"Cream, crimson, silver, and rose," Sapphire said, and Olivia's eyes lit up. "I remember the others: Azure, lemon, russet, grey, purple, white, pink, orange, and blue." She said, and Sapphire gave her a high-five.
"Well done, Olivia, so do you reckon you do the whole thing?" She asked, and Olivia nodded.
"I think so, but I'm not sure I could remember it all, if you get what I mean."
Sapphire nodded. "Well, I can give you the song and the lyrics, if you like," she said, turning around to look at her vast quantities of Cd's. Spotting the soundtrack for Joseph, she handed it to her friend and printed out the lyrics, highlighting the colors.
Then, halfway through highlighting, she paused. For she could hear a faint, but distinctly Scottish accented voice. Olivia had heard it too, and decided that they would both investigate. Opening the door, they both took one step forward, and tumbled...
They cried out in fright at the sudden give way of the floor, but they were very happy when they had finally stopped falling.
"Well, that was unexpected," Olivia said, rubbing her rear, which she had landed heavily on.
"Yes, are you alright?" Sapphire asked, and helped her up.
"Well, my rear hurts a little, but I think I'll be fine," Olivia said.
"Well, that's good. Now, where do you suppose we are, Olivia?" She asked, before wafting a hand in front of her face. "It's quite hot in here, isn't it?" She added, before they started looking around. Seeing something very familiar after a little searching, Sapphire stiffened. It was a beautiful Renault, an exact copy of the one from the movie Titanic.
But jumping into other worlds or back in time, though fun to contemplate, were simply ideas of fiction. However, Sapphire wasn't so sure what to believe, so she called Olivia's name.
"Olivia?" she said, feeling both worried and excited at the same time.
"Yeah?" Olivia replied.
"This is going to sound completely and utterly insane, but I think we're on the Titanic."
Olivia raised an eyebrow in disbelief, and asked, "You're right, that does sound insane."
"Yes, but that Renault is an exact copy of the one that Jack and Rose went "to the stars" in during that scene," she pointed to it, and after a moment, Olivia agreed.
"So, " she began, but then stopped talking. She could hear voices above her, and, motioning to Sapphire to follow her, they crawled over to the Renault for a place to hide.
High above them, but drawing closer, came the voices that could only belong to the 1997 versions of First Officer William Murdoch and Second Officer Charles Lightoller.
"What are they doing down here?" Sapphire hissed quietly in Olivia's ear.
"Looking for something, or perhaps they got the feeling that there are two stowaways on board," Olivia hissed back, before getting down to ground level and made her way towards the Renault with the intention of hiding underneath. Sapphire, thinking that it was one of the best places they could go whilst being cornered, slid underneath just in time to hear footsteps on the stairs.
They lay there, for some moments as the two officers came down together, smiling and singing what both girls knew to be "O Come, All Ye Faithful," Murdoch's voice sounding like a fine wine, causing Sapphire to smile quietly to herself.
"What are you smiling at?" Olivia whispered quietly.
"Murdoch's voice is so dreamy," Sapphire whispered back just as quietly.
"Now, which box did he say the star was in?" Lights asked, and the response was, "A big blue one, Lights, marked "Christmas Star."
As the men searched for the box in question, Lights pulled a sheet off of a stack of boxes, sending a cloud of dust everywhere, and to make matters worse, he wasn't far from the Renault.
Sapphire stiffened in horror as the dust particles flew into her face. Before she had time to react, she felt a strong urge to sneeze.
"Aaaaa-choooo!" She sneezed violently, and five times in quick succession. Olivia's face went white as footsteps approached, and they could see one of the officers bending down to see what had caused such a noise.
Quick as a flash, they slid out from under the fancy automobile, and turned, facing two very shocked officers. Both of their hearts began to bang in sync to their shock, and before either William or Charles had time to do anything but take a step towards them, the two girls took to their heels and bolted like lightning.
The two officers stared for a moment, before coming to their senses, and began to follow.
As they ran towards the Engine Room, Sapphire had an idea. "I've got an idea. How about we hide in separate areas?"
"I wouldn't know where to go, and Sapphire, I'm scared," Olivia said, both a little breathless and worried at the same time. "They will throw us overboard."
The two officers right on their tails, the two girls led them through a labyrinth of hallways, not slowing down till they reached what had been the Third Class decks.
Just up ahead, Sapphire spotted a maid taking things out of a cupboard which seemed big enough to hide them both. But they neared it, Sapphire thought better of her idea, and told Olivia to take the left-hand corridor, whilst she took the right-hand corridor.
"I'm more likely to get caught, but we're both fast on our feet. Now, I want you to stop when you reach the First Class area, for I won't be far behind you," she said, spotting the two officers running towards them, and giving Olivia a shove.
Olivia obeyed, and ran for her life, and Sapphire did the same, sweat pouring down their faces. Coming to the crossroads, both officers paused, wondering where to go.
As Will wiped the sweat off his brow, knowing that he'd have to have a shower when the maddening chase was over, he had an idea.
"Come on," he said, and led Charles through another labyrinth which led to what was once known as "First Class," even though these days, especially in 2011, everyone on ships were respected in the same way.
"Why First Class?" panted Charles, as Will told him to stand at one end of the grand staircase, whilst he stood at the other.
"A trap, Lights. Nothing more, nothing less." He said, before glancing around at the Christmas displays, his jaw dropping. There were beautifully decorated Christmas Trees as far as the eye could see, beautiful mistletoe entwined around the banisters, as well as the amazing clock. The angels were wearing golden halos, and a little glitter on their wings. Two tall Christmas Trees stood at each end, and the guests were milling about, looking very happy.
"Quite stunning, don't you think?" Lights asked, and Will nodded, just as the two girls they had been chasing appeared in the foyer, panting heavily.
"What a run, eh?" Sapphire gasped, and a steward approached with two glasses of water, which they took gratefully.
"Indeed," Olivia gasped out, before they sat down to rest for a minute.
When they had rested, they staggered to their feet, and deciding to look around, they climbed the Grand Staircase, completely unaware of who was waiting to catch them. Both the first and second officers made their way towards them, cutting them off from going any further.
Sapphire walked right into Murdoch, and Olivia walked right into Lightoller; both of them grabbing their shoulders firmly.
Sapphire gasped in utter horror and dismay as she saw Murdoch in front of her, scowling. She turned slightly, and saw that Olivia was held firmly in the grasp of Lightoller.
"Oh, bugger," was all that she could say, wondering what was going to happen to them then...