Chapter four there's more than meets the eye
The next morning Kate woke up early to especially since she wanted to talk to Jack that morning. She got dressed and headed out of her cabin to begin her day.
Usually, the morning after the auction, the crew would be exhausted, yet the work would be twice their usual load since the auction left the ship in a messy unorganized state, that required all to help clean and fix it back to it's usual self. No one wanted to do anything that day but the weather was growing cold and the passengers needed to be taken care of so it was a forced struggle for the crew. Michael was one of the many people who was stuck cleaning up the ballroom for the upcoming balls held for the wealthy. It was a disastrous mess in that room nothing had been cleaned since the auction had ended at one in the morning. As Michael began to pick up dirty dishes, he noticed Kate had a strange look on her face. She looked nervous, shocked, a bit scared and razzled. He walked over to her and offered to take her tub of dirty dishes, but she refused and turned away from him. Michael knew something was wrong without her even having to say a word. One reason was that whenever Kate had something bothering her, she did a bad job pretending to hide it from him, and the second reason was that Kate was a horrible liar and couldn't keep her story straight.
He tried to follow her so he could talk to her but she kept moving away from him. She knew he was onto her but she didn't want to tell him about Jack just yet unless there was a problem. He kept following her until he ended up cornering her against the wall. "I have you pinned now talk," he said sharply. "Why so cold this morning?" She asked trying to change the subject. "My feet hurt, I'm tired, I have a full days work ahead of me and I have only had three hours of sleep. Now tell me what the problem is with you!" He demanded. She sighed for a moment thinking carefully about her next chosen words, then spoke. "All I can tell you is that it's something I need to figure out, then I might tell you." She replied. That pretty much told him to back off and let her deal with it on her own. "Fine, but eventually I may find out. Your horrible at bending the truth ya know." He stated as he walked off to pick up more dishes. As soon as he was out of her sight, she dropped her bin off at the nearest service cart and left the ballroom, but watchful eyes where on her as Michael watched her run past him as she was exiting the ballroom. "She's acting really strange." He declared.
Jack was in his room sitting alone on his bed thinking to himself about the girl he saved the night before. "Oh no! She's gonna tell the captain everything! I'm busted! The whole mission's busted!" He cried. That's when Eddy came back in after his morning bath. "Good morning Jack, how are you today?" He asked. Jack looked at him with a fake smile and wide eyes trying not to look like something was panicking him. "I'm good!" He replied. Eddy wasn't a fool, he knew Jack was troubled. "Want to talk about something man?" He asked. "'cause if you do, you better start before Melman comes in here with his pancake train again." Jack looked away from him and grabbed his coat. "No, I'm fine, I just need to take care of something now, so I'll be back soon." And with that, he was gone. Eddy didn't think much of it. Surely he knew his friend would let him know if he was upset about something. So he just laid down and drifted off to sleep.
Jack actually didn't have anything to do, but to worry about his situation he had gotten himself into. He walked to his usual spot and sat down on one of the benches. He did what he had always done when he was upset,... draw. He began to trace the sky and the birds flying in it.
As Kate was walking across the ship, she couldn't help but feel curious about Jack. He didn't seem like the murderous type but they never do if you think about it for a moment. She looked for anyone that looked shady and tall. She saw people in cloaks, hats, raincoats and blazers, but no one who wore a large article of clothing to protect himself from the cold weather was mister Dawson. "Maybe I scared him away," she thought. She decided to check one last area that wasn't close by the storage room where he saved her the previous night. She walked all the way to the front of the ship and there sitting on a bench, was a young man drawing in his drawing pad. He wasn't wearing any cloak to cover his body or face just his regular clothing. She knew right away it was him. He had the kind of face you couldn't ever forget even after seeing it one time. She gulped down some refreshing sea air and slowly began to approach him. As she walked, her stomach began to churn and bubble up from nervousness. "Is this a smart idea?" She wondered over and over again, but she knew she needed to know if he was truly a threat or not. So she bravely kept going forward even with her gut telling her no.
Jack didn't even notice she was approaching him until the wind blew the smell of roses under his nose. The smell of her perfume she was also wearing that previous night. He quickly turned his head over to the sight of the young woman he rescued approaching him. He was surprised to see her coming over to see him knowing full well of who he was. He stared at her wondering what she could possibly want other than to try to detain him. He decided to stay where he was and let her come over for whatever reasons she had, but he kept himself ready to run if she was gonna try to capture him in any way. His eyes followed her's as she got closer and closer. She stopped when she was about three feet away from him. The two stared at each other for a couple of awkward minutes before anyone had the courage to speak the first words. Finally, Kate got the nerve to say hello. "Hi," she said almost in a whisper. "Hello," Jack replied almost as quietly. Kate was afraid of looking to nice and innocent in case he thought she was an easy murder target, so she decided to ask him straight out why he was on board with no holding back. She looked at him sharply and began her discourse. "I want to know right now why your on board! I know who you are and what you have done to my uncle in the past. You can't fool me so you better tell me why your here and why I shouldn't tell security on you!" Jack wasn't surprised to see her act so aggressive towards him, who wouldn't? He replied to her in a calm and quiet voice, "I'm here to get back home to England. You see miss, I am a poor man who had to win a ticket through a poker game to get here. Otherwise, you wouldn't be talking to me today. I came here an alone young single man down on his luck. I'm not here to cause any problem for you or your apparent uncle, only to get back home and try to get on my feet." Kate wasn't convinced yet, but the sound of his gentle voice was calming her nerves down.
"Then why where you in the storage room last night? Where you the one messing with the electrical power?" She asked, still trying to sound angry and tough. "Power? I don't know how to even fix a leak in a sink let alone figure out how to short circuit a power supply without killing myself in the process. I was just hiding from some guards before they saw me. Even though I'm hear with no bad intentions, that doesn't mean I'm welcome." He replied. Kate was surprised by his reply. "Can he be trusted?" She kept wondering. Jack made an effort to stand up and try to shake her hand. "We haven't had a proper greeting, my name is Jack William Dawson." He said as he extended a hand for her's. Kate still wasn't sure but she went ahead and introduced herself. "My name Is Amanda Kate Rowten, but you can call me Kate, everyone who knows me does." She replied shaking his hand. It felt warm and strong yet soft. She couldn't bring herself to letting go of it and caught herself holding it longer then it was welcomed. She immediately let go with a slight blush of pink on her face. There was an awkward silence between the two for a few moments. Finally, being able to speak after her slight embarrassment, Kate said nervously, "thank you for saving me last night, and I'm sorry I ran away from you like that." Jack was happy to hear her thank him. That meant she was comfortable enough to be around him. "It's okay, I don't blame you for being scared. I mean, who wouldn't be with an ex con on board right?" He replied trying to lighten the mood. Kate actually felt comfortable around him, which is weird and far beyond normal, when facing a criminal who once stole almost everything of value on the boat. "Can we start over then?" She asked, hoping he wasn't angry with her. "Sure, no hard feelings." He replied, shaking her hand once more. She blushed when he did this so suddenly. She hid her face feeling like a kid for blushing like that. Jack felt comfortable in her company and thought she was pretty. "So, what are you doing for the rest of the day?" He asked. "Well, I'm working until my break at three." She replied. "Well if you want, would you like to meet me here around your break? Maybe we could start off on the right foot and get to know each other. "He asked, while brushing his hair behind his ear. She couldn't believe it, but she actually wanted to see him again. "Sure, I'll see you at three." She replied happily. Jack smiled and gave out a small chuckle making himself look like a nerd. "Okay, see ya." He said, while putting his cloak back on. As he walked away, he stopped to ask one final favor of her. "Please don't tell anyone who I am okay? It needs to be on the Dl (meaning down low)." Sure, I won't tell." She replied. He walked away after that.
Kate felt excited but also weird. "I can't believe I have a date with a kleptomaniac!" In a strange way, she kinda liked him and didn't feel threatened by him at all. She wanted to give him a chance. She also thought it would be a good idea to meet him later to really see the man under the mask. "It probably won't hurt to find out what I need to know about him just to be sure he's safe for the other passengers to be around." She stated. She hurried back to her duties before her afternoon with Jack.
Jack was hurrying back to his room needing to tell Eddy that someone on the deck discovered him. He threw the door open and found Eddy still asleep in his bed. Jack ran over to him and began to shake him. Eddy woke up and began to yell. He pushed Jack aside and rubbed his eyes to wake himself up. "What are you doing Jack?" He cried. The look on Jack's face was one of panic. "Eddy, we have a serious problem that I caused." He stated. "What happens when I'm asleep?" Eddy replied trying to wake up more. "Eddy, I saved a girl yesterday from being killed by a machine when I was hiding in the storage room, and she immediately knew who I was and freaked!" Eddy's eyes widened as he jumped to his feet. He raced over to his small bag and began to stuff it back up with his stuff. "What are you doing?" Jack cried, pulling his hair. "I'm leaving before the cops get us! Face it man, were busted!" Eddy replied as he ran for the door. Jack ran in front of him blocking him off from it. He began to push Eddy back as Eddy tried to shove him out of the way. "Jack let me through!" He cried frantically, trying to get out.
Jack kneed him in the stomach making him bend down holding himself in pain. That's when Jack tucked his head up under his arm and had him in a choke hole. "Jack let go!" He struggled to cry to his friend. Jack bent down to his level and whispered in his ear. "Look, I met up with her again today and I think I gained her trust .I didn't tell her about you and she swore not to tell anybody about me!" Eddy stopped struggling more now that he heard what he said. "Who is she exactly?" Asked Eddy. "She's the captain's niece, her name is Kate she looks young. I'm supposed to meet her this afternoon to get to know her better." He explained. This gave Eddy a bright idea. He shook Jack's grip off of him, and began to explain to him his sudden idea. "Jack, have you considered getting her to give out some info on the goods where here to steal?" Asked Eddy. The words that came out of his mouth made Jack shutter to here. "Eddy, she's just a young lady, I don't want to use her like that!" He replied. "Jack, we might be able to get the heist pulled off sooner than planned." Eddy replied. "Come on, consider where we would be in a few weeks. You know what they say, strike when the iron is hot." Jack wasn't sure if that was a good idea. He actually liked Kate and wasn't sure if he wanted to try this idea of Eddy's. w After all, he did save her life. "I don't know," he replied softly.
He walked to the end of the room and stared out the window that looked out into ocean. Eddy approached him and placed a hand on his shoulder. "Come on, it's better if we get her through the heist, she'd be safer that way if we got it done quicker. "Eddy explained." I just don't know, I swore I would never do anything like that again after what happened with her uncle. But now,you want me to do it to his niece...I just don't know if I can do that especially to a young girl like herself."Jack Eddy,he didn't care what it took to get himself out of the stealing business,and he was gonna do whatever it took to make sure he got out. He knew he needed to convince Jack to do it even though he knew it was bad, but it was the only way to him to get out of the business easily. He placed a hand on Jack's shoulder and looked at him face to face. The serious look in his eyes made Jack stare right back at him. "Jack, we're in trouble if this heist isn't pulled off soon, we need to get out or we'll die." He said bluntly. "Look, I know you regret what happened last time, but you need to put your past behind you and do what you need to for the best." Jack pulled away and walked across the room arms folded and facing the wall with anger in his eyes. "Your asking me to do something I swore I would never do again!" He cried angrily. "I had a hard time dealing with the fact that I used that man for our sport, the guilt was almost to much. Why do you think I wanted to stop this life style? It hurts people and it can even kill them. Can you possibly name one thing that may be worth me even considering this idea?" Eddy wasn't sure how to respond to his comments, but a thought came to his mind."Jack, the boss has his eye on us, do you really want him to come down here thinking we chickened out, and have him come on board and kill everybody including us?" Jack went from ignoring him to becoming fixed on what he was saying to him.
He turned around with widened eyes and stared at him with the look of concern coming over his face. "I can't believe I forgot about that!" He replied. "Yeah, if he suspects us being chicken or if he thinks we're trying to run off with the stuff for ourselves, there's no doubt he'll invade and kill us along with the hundreds of others on board. He's got people he'll out number us!" Eddy cried. "I'm not asking you to kill her Jack, I'm just asking you to pump out some info from her." With all this potential danger to consider, Jack had an important decision to make. It was one of those decisions where you have two bad choices and you have to figure out which one is the least of the worst. Well, Jack thought about it long and hard and finally decided, even though it was against his morals, to do what he knew was the best idea to keep himself and everybody he knew alive. "Fine, I'll get her to confess where the most valuable furniture, jewels, paintings and anything this boat may have on it, and I'll let you know so we can start making a plan for an early heist. "Eddy gave him a hug knowing this was going to be a hard thing for him to do. "Your doing the right thing Jack," he said, trying to comfort his stressed friend. "But how can this wrong make a right?"He replied in a sad tone.
As the sun began to move across the sky, the hour of two had passed by like the speed of light. Now it was about two forty five in the afternoon and Kate had been rushing through her chores. She and Michael where in charge of cleaning the whole ballroom along with a few other crew members, so that the planners and caterers could come in and prepare it for the snow owl ball in the next couple of days. The snow owl ball was a ball where mainly rich people, since they where the only ones financially able to attend it, would go to raise money for the endangered snow owl. Downstairs below the ballroom, is where the middle class or lower class had a big party with food and a live band, but it was a smaller space and usually a lot more people where down stairs then up. Since that area had not been used for anything other then storage for the items for the previous auction, no one felt they needed to clean it. Even though the cob webs clearly where a sign of much needed tlc. Michael picked up a few chairs on the stage and began to carry them towards the stairs that led to the room below the ballroom. When he got to the door, he forgot that it was locked and he hadn't a key with him. "Hey Kate! Do you have the key to the basement?" He cried, but Kate was so into her work, she didn't hear him at all. "Hey!" He cried again, but still, no answer just the sound of workers working. He rolled his eyes and abandoned the chairs to see what she was doing. He walked back up the stairs and found her mopping the floor so fast as if her very life depended on it. "Kate!" He cried impatiently, but she didn't hear him. He looked to see if she was wearing her mp3 player,but the only thing he could see on her ears where her golden hoop earrings. He thought she was ignoring him for some unknown reason, so he walked right up to her as she was bending down to tie a lace on her boot and blew a whistle he wore around his neck loudly. She jumped startled by the sound of it. She looked up to see a very angry looking Michael standing above her. "What?"She asked. "Why are you ignoring me?" He asked. She was confused with what he was saying, 'cause she had no idea how much she wasn't paying attention to her surroundings, since she was hurrying to get to her break.
"Ignoring you? Why would I do that?" She asked, with confusion on her face. "Oh come on Kate, I called you twice to come down the stairs and unlock the basement door and you totally ignored me!" He explained, waving his arms in the air. Then she realized that she hadn't been paying attention. "I'm sorry Michael, I've been in a hurry to get to my break, that's all." She explained. "You've been like this all day, doing nothing but work, clean and take room calls. You haven't said a word to me, and you've been acting strange since yesterday. What's going on with you? You know you can tell me if something is wrong." He said, trying to show her how concerned he was getting. She felt bad about keeping the secret about Jack from him, but until she knew he was safe to be around, she had to keep it from him. Otherwise, he was going to freak out and tell. Especially since he had previously shown great fear of him before. "Michael, if I need help, of course I know I can go to you. My mind has just been racing about a lot of things I'm concerned about. Just give me some time to get things straight, and I promise I'll be okay... Alright?" She replied in a calmer tone. Michael still had a feeling she was hiding something from him, but decided to leave her alone." Okay, but you better tell me if there's any problem you got it girl?" He replied in a stern tone. "I promise bro," she replied. Michael looked down at his watch and smiled. "Hey! It's break time! Time to get my eat on!" He cried happily. Kate dashed out the door after hearing it was about three o clock. Michael stared as she disappeared into the crowd. "I have a feeling I'm going to find out soon what the problem, I know she's hiding from me is!" He thought to himself. After that brief thought, he picked up his jacket and left to take his break.
Kate picked up some sandwiches for her and Jack to have for their lunch, and began to search for him. She figured he was in the sport where she had found him earlier that day. As she made her way to the front of the ship, she kept looking over her shoulder making sure Michael. or anyone who worked on the ship, wasn't watching her or following her. Once she got to the front, she noticed that the whole area was completely deserted. No one was there at all, not even the smallest child. She did a walk around to see if Jack was around, but couldn't find him anywhere. "Where is he?" She wondered. She was about to leave and look in a different spot, when a young man standing farther away from here caught her eye. She headed over to see who it was.
Jack was standing at the edge of the boat thinking about what he was about to do. "I need to agree not to allow her to grow on me. This is no time to make friends." He thought to himself. That's when he smelled the roses again. He looked in the direction it was coming from and saw her approaching him. "Hi! I thought you weren't going to show up!" He said happily. "No, I always keep my word." She replied. They shook hands and sat down on a bench together. He took off his coat and shook his head waving his blonde hair in the wind. Kate couldn't help but stare at him. He caught her looking at him and she quickly looked away. "I have some food for you Jack," she said as she reached into the basket she kept the food in. Jack was surprised to hear this. "You brought me something to eat?" He replied in a surprised tone. "Well sure, it's lunch right? Besides, I'm not going to make you go steal food for us to eat." She said cracking a smile. Jack grinned and hid some cinnamon rolls he stole from a restaurant behind his back. "Yeah, don't want to do that!" He replied as he stuffed them in his back pockets. She handed him one of the foot longs and one of the bottles of water. He took the food from her and looked up at her with a confused look on his face. "Why did you do this for me?" He asked. "Why wouldn't I? I feel bad that we got off to a rough start and plus, I'm not going to make you get our lunch. This is my treat!" She replied. All his life, Jack had never been treated kindly by anyone who had more money then he had, and now, he was being fed by someone who feared him once and knew the bad that he had done. He opened up the sandwich wrapper and began to eat fast and taking very large bites. It was gross for her to watch, but she felt bad that he hadn't had a good meal to eat and that was the reason why he was eating so fast. "I hope you like turkey, that's all they had left." She said trying to start a conversation. Jack immediately stopped eating and thanked her.
"Oh, where are my manners, thank you so much for this delicious meal!" He said happily. She smiled and took a sip of her water. "It's no problem, I'm very happy to do it." She replied. She cleared her throat and began a conversation with him trying not to let him know she was still suspicious of him. "So, how did you get passed security?" She asked. "Oh ya know, what every con man has to do to get by, put on a disguise and give a fake name." He replied. "Do you have to do that all the time?" She asked. "When I'm in area's where I'm wanted but other then that, nope!" He replied. "It must take a lot out of you to have to do that all the time. "She replied. "It can, but it's better that, then locked behind bars in a jail cell. "He replied with a smile. "I'm really enjoying this sandwich you brought me, thanks a lot." She smiled happy to see she made him happy. "Your welcome Jack." She replied. The two sat and talked for about two hours. He told her all about his drawings and where he learned to draw them, while she told him about her future career in medicine. "A career in medicine sounds pretty interesting, where anybody in your family doctors?" He asked. "No, but my younger sister Sarah is a marine Biologist, and has learned many things in the veterinary field." She replied. "Awesome," He looked at his watch and saw that it was almost six, he had to get back to his room since the boat was soon going to be swarming with guards for night time. "Oh man! I need to run!" He cried as he jolted up from his seat while putting his cloak on. "Wait a minute, where are you going now?" She asked. "I have to hide from the night guards, but I had an awesome time with you." He replied shaking her hand. He held onto it for a moment and looked at her face that looked a little upset. "How about we see each other tomorrow, I'll show you some of my work. "He suggested. She immediately replied without thinking, "okay, I'll see you same time same place then." "Okay," he replied. He let go of her hand and ran off placing the hood over his head. She looked down to his seat and saw his drawing pen on the bench. she picked it up and tried to call him to tell him he left it, but he was already gone disappeared into the crowds. She looked down at it and saw he had carved his name on it by the tip. She smiled and stuck it in her pocket. "I'll hold onto this for him until tomorrow." She picked up her bag and left the deck to finish her work. As she walked back to her station, she couldn't stop thinking about the feeling of his hand on her's when they shared a brief moment locked that way. It felt unlike anything she had ever felt in her life. Almost breathtaking for something as simple as a handshake. "I don't think he's dangerous at all," she thought. "He seems so innocent inside and out, but I'll see how it goes tomorrow before I decide." After that brief thought, she smiled as she looked at the setting sun beyond the waves and took in a deep breath.