AN: Thank you so much for reviewing Ms. Gatsby. :-) Now this chapter is just like a transistion.

Chapter 2

The remaining survivors of Titanic aboard the Carpathia finally saw land when the ship docked in New York. Everyone left quickly and as fast as possible hoping to see their loved ones and leave the water once and for all. The first class people immediately got into their coaches and headed to their destination, whether it be their houses or the city hall, their complaints filed by someone else rather than them, including Caledon Hockley. He went to his father's estate immediately and started hiring investigators to look for his fiancé. His father won't pass down his business to him without a wife. Deep down, though, he wanted to know Rose was alright and breathing. Ruth
spent a few days in Cal's home to settle the debts before being picked up by Molly Brown. Ruth never had a sjngle person to talk to in Cal's big estate except for maids and herself, she was cared for yet she knew she did not belong.

Rose Dawson looked up at the sky. From a faint distance, she swore she could see Jack. But when she looked more intently, she only saw the beautiful mixture of blue and white up above. Rose had no idea where
to go. She was supposed to get off with Jack. Jack was gone. Rose wanted to board a train but she didn't have any cent to her name except for the diamond.

"I won't sell this," she thought. "I don't need Cal's money to live."

Rose said a silent prayer and told herself she would ask the first person she sees when she opens her eyes to ride with them wherever they go. "Jack," she whispered. "Help me."

She first saw a large man in his fifties making his way towards his car. Without a second to waste, she rushed towards him and said,

"Excuse me, I'm Rose. I came from the Titanic and I have nowhere to go. Can I please ride your car. Please."
It was actually ridiculous just to go on introducing yourself like a loony and asking a nice family to ride their car with a total stranger but Rose had this feeling it was the only thing to of pity and confusion, the family man agreed to let Rose ride with them to feed his curiousity of who this beautiful woman was. Rose sat with a young girl at the back. She was about 7. Their last living child, she eventually found out. The family just went there to look
for their firstborn son but no success came. They were going to Wisconsin. Wisconsin was Jack's hometown and that was where Rose decided she was going to spend the rest of her life. Instead of interrogating the peculiar young lady at the back, the family man just drove silently to their destination. There weren't any sounds of music
that came from the radio. Only rattling news about the ship of dreams and its passengers. The woman in front decided to turn the radio down. The news was already upsetting her as it was. The familyman didn't interrogate Rose. He felt it wasn't necessary as of the moment to know who this woman really was. She looked so cold, so sad and so numb.

When they finally arrived, the kind family agreed to let Rose stay with them only for a few days. The family, the Calverts, knew that she lost someone. They were just not sure who but they knew she was a survivor and that made them pity her more. Everyday, the man of the house, Mr. Calvert as Rose would call him, would look for their first
born son who worked in the ship as a waiter. Mrs. Calvert, the matron, would soothe the young girl's cries for her big brother. Mrs. Calvert was a hospitable soul. She was a stout housewife and a good mother. She took care of Rose as if she was family and not a visitor. Mr. Calvert, a fisherman, only allowed Rose to stay for a week until she
could look for a place to stay elsewhere. They didn't know anything about Rose except her name and that she survived but nonetheless, they had a good feeling about her. They saw how Rose was not able to manage
herself. She tripped a lot and responded slowly when being asked a question. She didn't look like she knew how to wash dishes and to cook her own meal. Mrs. Calvert decided to teach her while she was still staying with them.

"Rose," Mrs. Calvert called one day,
"Yes?" Rose wearily answered.
"Would you like me to teach you how to iron clothes? So you know, when
you have your own family, you could iron their clothes."
Rose's voice got lost. The word family was enough to make her stomach churn. If she would speak, she would only end up crying and so she simply nodded. It seemed weird that Rose always felt like crying but
that was the only thing she felt she had to do. To cry until the last teardrops fell but it never did. There were always teardrops for everything.

"Wow." Mrs. Calvert said as she was holding Rose's hands. "Your hands
look and feel like you haven't done any work your whole life!" Rose smiled faintly.

"Tell me, what do you do? I mean before you rode the ship?"
"Uhmm, nothing!" she said. "I just. Just stay at home. Nothing else."
"Oh. Why is that so dear?"
"My dad recently died and my mother, well, she didn't want me to go out of our house. We were always expecting visitors, you see?""I'm sorry to hear about your father. But you must be an important person to be receiving guests all the time! Pray tell again dear, what does your mother do?"
"My mother also stays at home but when father passed, someone had to take care of things."
Mrs. Calvert decided to drop the subject. This was as far as Rose would tell her. But she couldn't resist prying just a little more.

"Rose, " she said once again. Stopping the ironing to engage her in conversation. "Do you gave a place to stay?"
"Actually, Mrs. Calvert, California, but it's all gone. My father's gone so I can't go there anymore."
"But isn't your mother staying there?"
"Uhm, no. The house was sold to py for debts so we don't have anywhere. I was separated from my mother in the ship."

"I'm terribly sorry to hear that. But the important thing is that you're alive isn't it?"
Rose smiled once more. Sure, she thought. To be alive without Jack.
"Would you like to know where your mother is. I suppose you can come
with us tomorrow, were going back to see if our son has been found."
"Thank you but no. I can't bear to go back. It would just kill me
inside. I know wherever my mother is she's alright."
"Im sorry dear." Mrs. Calvert assumed her mother died in the sinking
because of Rose's words.
"Mrs, Calvert, may I ask something?" Rose voiced.
"Absolutely dear."
"How many years have you stayed here? Here in Wisconsin?"
"Well, since I married my husband. This is his hometown. That's about twenty years I guess. Why dear?"
"Oh, it's just that I'm looking for a friend but they don't stay here anymore. I'm just wondering if you knew them."
"And who are those?"
"The Dawsons."
"Hmm. Let me think. Are they your relatives? You're a Dawson aren't you?
"Yes. Rose Dawson actually." Rose could feel herself blushing.

"We'll ask my husband later. He knows this city and it's occupants
better than anyone."
Rose nodded and continued ironing.