Hey guys! I'm really doing well with not keeping you waiting to long! Yay for me!!! Ok, so this is kind of just a bliss chappie, no real drama. Cal is in it, but I decided to give our dynamic trio a break. There will be chappies like this every so often. So yeah. Let's get it started!
I own nada. So I write on fanfiction. I write only on hotel paper... jk. I loooooooove Michelle Branch. She is DA BOMB!!!! WAHOO!!!!!!
Also, I hope you like my Chippewa Falls explanation. I really have no idea what it is, or if it even exists. I had to look t up to make sure it was even Chippewa. My friend kept on saying it was, like, Chipperwood, or something. Anyway, I really didn't feel like going online and seeing what Chippewa was. So I let my imagination take me away. God, that is so sappy...
Rose woke up to Molly shaking her. "Come on!" she exclaimed, sounding very much like an overexcited ten year old, (A/N- No offence to all of you ten year olds reading this... even though this story is rated T... naughty naughty... Santa won't give you any presents... haha) "We're docking in a few minutes!"
Rose was immediately wide awake. "What's the time?"
"Eight o'clock. Now hurry up, get up!" Molly left, telling Rose to come up to the first deck when she was ready.
Rose got up, quickly washed her face, and went up to the first deck. Jack was already up thee, and she got up just in time to see Molly disappear to do last-minute jobs. Jack wasn't paying attention to anything around him. He was staring up at something. She followed his gaze and saw it. A huge pillar of copper that symbolized the freedom and tolerance of the country they were entering. Something Rose and Jack had come so close to never seeing again. The Statue of Liberty.
There were tears rolling down her face and she didn't notice until Jack wrapped his arms around her, pulling her back to Earth.
"Welcome home, Rose."
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After a little confusion, the boat docked and first class passengers got off in all their finery. Rose shuddered to think she had just barely escaped getting off like that. She wouldn't miss that life at all. She would really live now.
The Titanic passengers were supposed to get off last, to minimize the inability to find loved ones in confusion. Despite this, Rose saw Cal's retreating back down the gangway. He must have bribed someone to get off with the first class passengers, where he belonged. And he really did. He belonged with the snotty, overstiff, first class passengers who only cared about their money. It was a rash generalization, but Rose had seen enough of high classmen to know that it was true most of the time.
Second class got off, followed by third. Trailing after the third class passengers were the Titanic survivors, looking lost. They had lost nearly everything: clothes, jewelry, money, family, all at the bottom of the ocean now. But there was new hope for them in America, even for those who had lost all. This county was their only ray of light for the future. And how bright it shone. Even though Rose and Jack were both Americans, they felt it, too.
In the bustle of getting off, Rose held fast to Jack's hand so they wouldn't be separated. They had no family waiting for them here, so they went off to the side to wait for Molly, who was resigning her position to come with them. Jack had also made her promise to complain to the captain about how he let Cal rule the ship, nearly killing Jack in the process. Of course, that was his goal, but that didn't make it right. Classes still existed in America, but everyone has the Constitutional right to a fair trial.
As soon as Molly found them, the three of them went to a train station, walking calmly through the crowd of Titanic survivors and frantic relatives searching for loved ones.
Cal was among the searching. He had gotten off the ship first so he could blend in with the crowd looking for survivors. He was doing his best to find Rose and Dawson, (A/N- He really shouldn't be repetitive... lol) whom he would have thought would stick out, yet the only people who seemed to be doing so were the first classmen in their fancy, ruined clothing. His fiancé and that gutter rat would look like every other steerage passenger.
Or not. The boy might blend in, but she was wearing a white dress. And his coat. And she happened to have bright red hair. He just might be able to spot her.
He scanned the crowd. Nothing. Fool, he scolded himself, she would think to hide her clothing and hair. She knows she would stick out if she did not.
Then, at the corner of his eye, he saw a flash of dirty blonde. He looked again and saw a woman walking next to two people covered in blankets. They were survivors, even if the woman was not. Even so, that hair looked familiar...
She had been the woman doing 'rounds' near were they had been holding the boy before Cal had him moved. She had seemed suspicious to him, trying very hard to get into the room he did his best to keep her from. He hadn't succeeded, and she had gotten into the room. He hadn't thought much of it then, but now it hit him with a whole new meaning, almost harder than Jack ever had.
She was helping the two to get away. And that was them. That woman was going to go down with the two of them. More like, she was doing to go down with Jack, while Rose would live happily with him. He would always get what he wanted.
He sneered at their retreating backs. He motioned to two of his men and pointed at the trio. They nodded in understanding and began their mission. The perfect plan, he thought smugly, Caladan Hockley is always one step ahead.
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The three used some of the money Cal had stuffed into the coat to buy tickets to New York. They got regular tickets, although they could afford more expensive tickets. All three of them agreed they felt more at home in lower classes. Rose was especially passionate about this. Especially if Cal was following them, he would get a fancy room. They just got three seats next to each other, on a train headed for Wisconsin. That was all they needed.
As the train started moving, Rose mulled over how fortunate she and Jack were. After a practically horrible few days, they finally had some peace. They were also lucky to have a friend like Molly. She was the best thing they could wish for.
Rose fell asleep leaning against Jack. Molly was leaning on her shoulder, and Jack was using the window as a pillow, and had a near-death grip on Rose.
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The train ride was nearly two days (A/N- That might not be completely accurate, but whatever). When they got to Wisconsin, the train station looked almost exactly like the one in New York, except less busy, and the people there looked more farmer-type. But things really changed when they stepped outside.
Wisconsin was gorgeous! Jack was grinning broadly. He should be; he was finally coming home after five years.
"Welcome home, Jack," Rose whispered in his ear. He nodded then kissed her. He seemed ecstatic.
Molly couldn't say a word. Rose couldn't blame her. She also grew up a city-girl in New York as well, so she and Molly felt exactly the same. This was coming home for Jack, but this was totally new to the two girls. It was a little overwhelming.
There were rolling hills, and everything was green. The sun was shining and it seemed like heaven on Earth. The dirty blonde had trouble figuring out why Jack had left here.
But one of the most amazing things was how much Jack blended in. The years he spent away from here had not changed the looks he had had for fifteen years.
Unbeknownst to them, Cal's two men were watching their every move, memorizing it to tell Cal later, occasionally writing notes on a pad. The one of the men took the pad and his knowledge and bought a train ticket back to New York, while the other man followed them on a bus to Chippewa Falls.
"It's basically four rivers that all fall off a mountain in the form of waterfall and they all merge into one river at the bottom of the falls. There's a forest next to it called the Chippewa Forest; no one knows which was named first," Jack explained, "My house is on the other side of the forest, right where the trees start to get thick. We were out of the general community. There's a whole neighborhood called Chippewa, that's definitely named after the falls and the forest. The actual falls are gorgeous."
"I'm sure," muttered Molly. Those were practically the first words she had said since they had gotten there. She had been too absorbed looking at the country. "Everything is gorgeous here."
"Yeah," he murmured in agreement, "but this is better. You absolutely have to see them. Our stop."
They got off the bus. It was a seemingly normal street in a seemingly normal neighborhood. There was a nice sign that said 'Welcome to Chippewa'.
"My dad made that. Took him a nice long time, too. I helped a bit, but I was only ten, so I imagine I must have been a bit more of a nuisance than a help."
The two women chuckled. They were walking through the neighborhood, looking around at all the different houses.
"The forest starts in a few blocks, but my house is a bit closer. It belongs to me. My parents left me everything in their will. A lot of this neighborhood was burned down, but it never had time to reach my house. My parents died in it though, because my dad had been working and my mom was going to get him to bring him home, because he was taking too long. That was because of the fire. It had started in the shop where he worked."
Both of them were silent as he relieved this bit of his past to them. It looked like he had wanted to have someone to say it to for years. Pain and relief were mixed in his face. Rose reached for his hand and gave it a comforting squeeze. He had lost so much in his lifetime, and he still was an amazing person. Things had turned for the worst for him, and he kept going on. He had lost his parents, then his home, then his friends on the Titanic. She had been in a similar situation; her life had started going downhill and had kept rolling down, and she had tried to kill herself. And Jack, who had gone through much more pain of his own, saved her. In ever way possible.
Now that he had gotten started sucking the poison out, he couldn't stop. He needed to get it all of in one go. All he needed from them was to listen.
"I wasn't born an only child. I was actually a twin, but she died shortly after her birth. Mom told me how close I had come to dying along with her. We were small, (A/N- Did the idea of premature exist back then? Were they able to tell? Well, if not, that's what he means) too small. Thankfully I was ok. I think I have my twin to thank for that. She took the worst of it. I also had a younger sister. She was always a bit fragile. She hated being called that. She was jealous of me. I would always tell her how I had been a tiny younger kid and how I had gotten bigger. She was about four years younger than me. She was really dispirited about being so weak. After our parents died, things just went horrible. She got really sick. I think it was partially out of shock. Her body couldn't take it. She got worse after that. Within about a week, she had died. I admit, I left because I really couldn't take being in this place. I also realized life was too short to waste. I could die at any minute, so I knew I had to live life to its fullest. I spent the first week on my own crying, though. It was awful. Coming back here does kind of trigger all the memories."
Both girls were crying for the fifteen year old Jack. Jack was nearly crying himself. But he seriously looked much better than he had before he had told them. Rose couldn't help but think he had never told anyone that bit of his past before. Both Rose and Molly felt touched that he decided to share it with them.
By then, they had reached a two story house. It was a whitewashed, elegant house, for all that it looked like it was cheap.
"My grandfather made this house when he first came here, about fifty ears ago," Jack said, completely calm. He looked really proud of it. For someone with small funds, his grandfather was some architect.
They quickly toured the house. Jack was silent, obviously soaking in memories from years ago. There was a kitchen, some kind of sitting room, and a bedroom. On the top floor were more bedrooms. There was also an attic with a slanted ceiling. It was some kind of storage space. It was full of boxes.
"Hey Jack," called Molly from the attic, "what's in the boxes? Can I look? D'you mind?"
"No, I think its just stuff we didn't use anymore. There's a ton of stuff I put in there after Ellie died."
Ellie could only have been his sister.
Molly was looking through a box that had been marked 'Jack'. She was going from bottom to top, which seemed to be chronological order. There was his birth certificate, and various toys. But closer to the top of the box were a huge box of colored pencils and a lot of really good drawings.
"I got into drawing when I was about five. Of course, then it was scribbling in the dirt outside with a sick. But I was so obsessed with it and my parents could tell that I loved it so much, they saved up for months to buy me those colored pencils and a huge pad of paper for my eighth birthday. I was so happy; the first thing I drew was them. That's it there."
He pointed to an elaborately colored drawing of a man with black hair and blue eyes standing next to a woman with green eyes and light blonde hair.
"I think, personally, I went a little nuts with the colors. I was too excited. See the background?" He pointed at the millions of colors he had colored behind his parents. "I gave it to them. When they died, I put it up here."
Molly gaped at him. "You did this when you were eight?"
Jack just smiled like he had when Rose had told him he had a gift. It was his way of taking compliment.
"There's one of my sis," he said, "She was gorgeous. She looked like a miniature version of my mom. I was just a crazy mixture of the two of them."
He was gesturing to a picture of a girl who did look remarkably like the other woman in the picture. She had the same blonde hair, same green eyes, and pale skin littered with freckles. She was sitting, smiling gorgeously.
"Jack, you saw the world in a nice way. Everything is so bright," commented Molly.
"I was a little kid. Plus, I loved those pencils."
"You should have been there to see what he did before now, in Europe. They're a little more adult (A/N- cough, cough), but they were gorgeous. But now they're now locked away in a safe at the bottom of the ocean."
Silence stretched between the three of them. They were all looking at Jack's past. Jack was the one to break the silence.
"Let's go see the falls. We can look at the rest of these later."
The girls nodded, then all three of then got up ant left the house. Jack led them straight into the forest itself. There was no apparent path, but Jack, after a minute or two's recalling, seemed to know where he was going. They went slowly, but that didn't bother anyone. If they hadn't been so lost in thought they would have noticed someone keeping to the shadows behind them. But they were, so they didn't.
After about ten minutes, they all heard the unmistakable sound of rushing water.
"This," he said dramatically, leading them past a final clump of trees, "is Chippewa Falls."
Four huge waterfalls soared over the edges of their various cliffs, pounding into the same pool that lengthened and became a river that stretched through the trees and wound out of sight. The mist spewed up by the water reached them, even though they were a good way away from it. Molly could count several rainbows in the haze.
Rose couldn't catch her breath. "It's beautiful..." her voice trailed off.
Jack was grinning. "I told you. This was my favorite place just to sit and think, or read, or draw. I was never able to draw the falls, though. I might be able to now."
"I'm sure you could, judging by what you did when you were eight." She would never give that one up.
"Thanks, Molly," he replied. Rose would never understand how they became friends so fast. Molly and Rose were close by now, but they had merely bonded over trying to save Jack. Oh, well. It didn't make any sense. She had learned to trust that sort of thing.
Well, did you like? I think the next chappie I'll give them a nice, bliss chappie, then Cal will come in and ruin it. Don't you hate it when Arnold gets dramaful? Once you get me going, there's a fat chance of stopping me. This story will go on for a while.
Thank you to all my supporters/reviewers, if you wanna keep that status, then I would suggest clicking the little lavender-grey box with the word 'submit review' next to it... go on... you know you want to...
Mwah!
Jennarnold