I don't understand Jack sometimes, he insisted we go up to the upper decks to wave goodbye to everyone as we went out of port. We don't know anyone down there, so why are we waving? When I ask him this he looks at me and chuckles "I didn't get to wave last time I was on Titanic, so I want to now!" he tells me. He turns back to the huge crowd of people below, most of them snapping pictures of us as we begin to pull away from the dock "GOODBYE EVERYBODY! I'LL NEVER FORGET YOU! I'LL MISS YOU!" Phillips calls excitedly. Oh what the hell? "FAREWELL EVERYBODY!" I call down to them, everyone down below is cheering excitedly.
Now we're on our way! People on the deck begin dispersing, heading to their cabins to unpack their things or going to explore the ship before dinner. Jack and I decide to stay on the deck, and we find two empty deck chairs to settle into. Jack smiles "I'd like to see how they advanced the Marconi equipment. I bet they have telephones to call land now! And you don't have to type out Morse code anymore" he tells me. I still find it interesting that he isn't fazed by the fact that the only thing he ever knew on this ship is gone.
As we talk Jack tells me how excited he is to reach New York and meet the delinquent's parents. Honestly, I'm curious to meet them as well. What parents could be responsible for the ruffian I've come to know and love? Jack smiles "I want to marry her as soon as I can" he says "I wish I could show her how much I love her, but any ways I knew how don't work anymore! What should I do?". That's an interesting question, how do you court a girl in the future?
Suddenly the girl in question comes strolling by, and my jaw drops at the sight of her. She's dressed like one of the stewardesses from the original voyage! Apron and all! Jack raises an eyebrow "Gabby?" he asks, she stops and smiles at us "Hey guys! Enjoying the voyage so far?" she asks. Her fiance stands and walks around her, examining her outfit "They are making you wear that?" he asks her questioningly. Honestly, I'd think they would have updated the uniforms a little bit, after seeing her in modern clothes, I can't believe I'm saying this, but she looks dated. She looks almost out of place amongst everyone else on the ship!
She laughs "Yea well I only have to wear it for a little while. I actually don't have to work that long! I mean, 6 hours a day on this ship? That's not so bad! And when I'm not working they said I'm allowed to go anywhere on the ship I want as long as I'm not wearing my uniform! That means we can hang out together!" she tells us cheerfully. I believe Jack is more excited over this news than I am, but I still smile at her. "You boys go exploring the ship yet?" she asks us, Jack shakes his head and she laughs "Well then what are you waiting for? Go on! Go on!" she says, practically shoving us into the ship.
She pushes us into the gym, I turn around to try and tell her we don't really want to see the ship but she's gone! Great, just great! Jack begins examining the gym equipment "Check out this stuff Mr. Andrews" he says, looking at a strange looking machine. How does this even work? I sit down at it and find a sticker with the directions on it, it says to grab these two handles and pull the strings down, and to just keep doing that, then that's the workout. Well that's easy! I pull on the handles and almost fall backwards by how easily they go. Jack laughs "Well?" he asks, I frown, this isn't a workout at all! Suddenly I spot the weights, I'm only pulling 15 pounds! Jack spots it too "Oh, here I'll make it heavier!" he says.
After a moment he tells me to try again and I do, but I can't even get the handles to budge. What did he set it to? I don't care though, I need to lift this! I haven't gone soft in my old age have I? No, never! I pull and pull and actually manage to get it down, Jack stares at me wide eyed with his mouth gaping open. I feel great, I did it! Suddenly though I hear a crack, and I don't believe it was the equipment. My shoulder feels as though it's been hit by a truck and I let go of the two handles, letting the weights crash back down. Jack looks startled as I clutch my shoulder "Shit! Are you ok Mr. Andrews?" he asks. I cringe and rub my shoulder, it hurts terribly but I assure the Marconi operator that I'll be alright. He laughs "I didn't think you'd be able to lift that! I set it to the heaviest setting! As a joke!" he tells me. I have to hold back tears due to the pain in my shoulder "Oh? And how heavy was that?" I ask him. He grins "Um, I think it was around 250 pounds".
While I try not to cry about my shoulder he turns and begins examining another machine, stepping up on it and begins reading the instructions. After a moment he reaches forward and clips a string to his belt before pressing a button. Suddenly the floor beneath his feet begins moving and he starts walking in place "Hey look at this!" he says, oh I'm looking alright. It's a rather peculiar piece of equipment isn't it? You could walk miles on that and yet never move anywhere! Jack begins pressing the button repeatedly and the floor moves faster and faster, now he's running in place. He's going quite fast on the machine and I tell him to slow down, he glances over at me "I don't know how to slow it down!" he says, pressing the button some more. Finally the platform gets going so fast he flies off the back of it, hitting the floor and letting out a slight cry.
The platform slows and stops without him on it and he rips the clip off his belt, throwing it back at the machine. Jack rolls up his pant leg to reveal a couple of scrapes and bruises from him flying off it. After a moment he finally stands and marches towards the door "Let's go see somewhere else!" he tells me, he doesn't have to tell me twice! I stand and follow him out, although moving causes me extreme pain in my shoulder and my whole right arm, I'm never using a gym again! They're dangerous! We find ourselves at the grand staircase and Jack takes the opportunity to run up and down the stairs like a little boy, he tells me he always wanted to do that, but never got to. As we try to decide what on earth to do on this ship, I notice that it's getting close to dinner time!
Jack and I head back to our cabin and change into evening wear. Jack can't stop staring at himself in the mirror, obsessively fixing his bowtie "Are you sure we're not overdressing?" he asks nervously, I shrug, I genuinely don't know what to expect of this age's first class. And I don't care, getting my dinner jacket on was incredibly difficult because I couldn't lift my arm without it feeling like it was on fire, therefore it's staying on! As I nurse my poor shoulder Gabby suddenly comes into our cabin, still wearing her uniform. She smiles "I just got let off for the day..." she trails off as she sees me holding my shoulder.
She approaches me "So you two were the ones who broke the machine in the gym" she says, touching my shoulder. She sighs "Sit down, sit down" she tells me, I sit on one of the chairs as she takes off my dinner jacket, examining my shoulder. Jack laughs "Wait, he broke it?" he asks, she rolls her eyes "Yea, you broke it. What were you trying to do? See how much he could lift?". Actually, Jack was trying to see how much I could lift, I just wanted to see how the machine worked! She coos to me as I let out a whimper, I want her to stop messing with it! The more she bothers it the more it hurts.
"Alright Thomas, this is going to hurt, a lot. I'm sorry" she tells me. I swallow nervously, should I trust this delinquent to perform medical procedures on me? She has me let my arm hang straight down at my side before taking my elbow and bending it at a 90 degree angle. I feel tears trickle down my cheeks and I wipe them away with my free hand, I'm not going to cry over a little bit of pain. She looks up at me "It's ok to cry Tommie, I know it hurts" she tells me.
Jack hands me some tissues as she bends my arm into my chest, she takes a deep breath "This is going to hurt" she warns. Oh god! I nod and let her know I'm ready and she begins bending my arm outward. The farther she bends it outward, the more it hurts! I can't help myself as I begin to cry out in pain, dying hurt less than this! It did! After she tugs on my arm there's a sudden pop and I instantly feel a lot better! I wipe my eyes with the tissues and the ruffian bends my arm back to my chest before letting it go. "There, you dislocated your shoulder but I got it back. You don't use that arm too much ok? I'll find you some ibuprofen to help you sleep tonight. We've learned something valuable haven't we boys?" she asks, Jack snickers "Yea, I learned if I wanna see Tommie Andrews cry all I gotta do is have him pop his shoulder!". I could punch that boy!
The ruffian tells me gently that I shouldn't go to dinner, but I want to go! I got in my dinner suit, and it was so hard to get in it! She smile softly at me "You can go tomorrow, Jack and I will stay up here and have dinner with you and then we can all go together for the first time tomorrow. How does that sound?" she asks us, Jack rips his bow tie off and flings it across the room "Hallelujah!" he cheers. She tells me she's going back to her room to get me some pain medication and to change out of her uniform, then she'll be right back. Once she's gone Jack begins hastily taking off his dinner clothes and I flick on the television to watch the cupcake show. Unfortunately it's not on, so I'm stuck watching a documentary on Titanic. Jack and I usually try to avoid these because they make us angry, but I suppose I wasn't thinking due to the faint throbbing in my shoulder.
By the time the delinquent comes back me and Jack are on our feet yelling at the screen like we're watching some sort of sports game and there was a bad call. They had the nerve to say that Mr. Ismay was the coward of the century! Everyone knows that isn't true, Hitler! Now there was a man who was a bloody coward! The delinquent herself told me all about him! I don't think that's why Jack's upset though, mostly because I don't think he's been educated on history just yet. I think he's more upset that they didn't portray him accurately, but he should be grateful he's even in this documentary! Most Titanic things they completely forget about him! They just have Bride serve as the both of them! He despises the musical for this reason, it's not my fault I get 2 ballads in that musical and he isn't even in it!
When the girl returns she's dressed in her usual casual wear, jeans and a t-shirt. She quickly shuts off the television and slaps us before handing me two pills and a glass of water. After I take them I decide I'm best off just going to sleep, so I bid the delinquent and her fiance goodnight before going into my bedroom and shutting the door. It makes me a little uneasy that this room looks so much like my room back on the original Titanic, if it weren't for the medicine I probably wouldn't be able to sleep very well at all. I change out of my dinner clothes and crawl into bed, dousing the lights. As I lay there in the dark I can hear the delinquent saying goodnight to Jack before leaving.
It's not long after she leaves that I begin drifting to sleep. I close my eyes, only to reopen them and find I'm no longer on the Titanic, I'm standing in the middle of the street, in Belfast. Well this is very odd, why are there so many people around? Suddenly a uniform is pushed into my arms and a rather hard looking man says 'Welcome to the Cavalry son'. What? Why have I just joined the army? Helen walks up to me, Elba balanced on her hip. She kisses me and says 'Come home soon darling'. I kiss her back as passionately as I can, I've missed her so much! I kiss Elba on the cheek and she giggles up at me "Bye bye Daddy!" she says.
I am given a horse, and as I get in line with the other horses I notice a white stallion with a very familiar person on it. The delinquent! What on earth is she doing in my dream? I ride up alongside her as we ride out of Belfast. She doesn't notice me at first, she's too busy singing along to the military band that's trailing us "And hoorah for the scarlet and the blue! With the helmets a glitterin in the sun! And the bayonets flash like lightnin to the beatin of the military drum. And no more, will I go harvestin. Nor gatherin the golden corn. For I took the good king's shilling and I'm off tomorrow morn". Finally she notices me and stops singing, though the rest of our comrades continue which makes it kinda hard to hear.
"What are you doing here?" I ask her, she smiles "Recruiting! What are YOU doing in MY dream?". How should I know? I was hoping she'd answer that question for me! "Well what's going to happen?" I ask her, she should at least know that right? Her smile fades as she answers me "We're going off to war I guess. I've had this dream once or twice. I usually end up getting killed though" she tells me. Oh, that's pleasant! I haven't fallen into one of her dreams, I've fallen into one of her nightmares!
We arrive at a dock and the two of us get onto a ship, which is going to take us to war. I'm scared, I can't believe I've fallen into this dream! Why did I join the cavalry? I'm a good rider, sure, but to charge Germans? I've never killed anyone before, never even held a sword! Gabby nudges me playfully "Don't worry, I've done a ton of these charges! Remember Mr. Stalker? I bet you were watching!". She's right about that, I remember watching those charges and having my heart pounding in fear something might happen to her.
In the usual way of dreams, we make it to France in what seems like a few minutes. We unload the horses just as quickly and mount them, riding down a dirt road in two lines. The ruffian and Sparks are right next to me, which makes things a little bit better. But I'm still afraid! And now suddenly I'm wearing the uniform that man gave me earlier, but I have no memory of ever changing into it. Dreams are such bizarre things sometimes!
While we ride I try to remember that War Horse movie I watched before with Jack. How did that work, I just hold my sword straight forward and the horse does the rest? You know what? I'm not even going to think about it! The ruffian runs her fingers through Sparks' mane "You know, I wish Sparks could have come to the future too. I loved riding him. He was a dream, my pony at home can't do half the things I've done with Sparks" she admits to me. She looks quite upset over the confession, I know she loves that little pony more than anything even though he can't do a whole lot.
"Are you excited to see your pony again?" I ask her curiously. She nods, though she keeps her eyes down "I miss him, I would have given anything to bring him to London with me. I just couldn't afford it. And I don't even know how he is now, since I haven't talked to my parents or anything". Oh shoot, can't have her upset before the charge! I try to lift her spirits "You know, I bet Jack's never ridden a horse before. When we get to New York, you should take him riding on that pony of yours" I tell her. She giggles and I sigh slightly in relief "Yea, I bet he'd fall off pretty quick. And Rocky doesn't even move that fast!".
Suddenly our peaceful conversation is broken by someone yelling to get into formation because we were going to charge. What do I do? My horse prances under me and the delinquent leans over, grabbing my reins and leading us into position. She looks over at me, smiling cheekily "Alright Thomas, don't let any of the German's touch you. When you hear guns, get down low on your horse. That's your best chance!" she tells me. I'm going to do exactly as she says, I'm not risking my neck! I trust her after doing this so many times!
Sparks tosses his head and we begin trotting forward. I can feel my heart race, I'm not sure whether it's from the excitement of it all or from fear. Suddenly the delinquent pulls out her sword, points it forward and yells "TALLY HO!". I copy her example and urge my horse forward, I can't afford to be afraid now. Why should I be anyway? I was once known as the most fearless rider in county downs! The ruffian and Sparks are ahead of me now, I'm not going to let them get ahead! I'll treat it like a race, the faster I get to the other side the faster it'll all be over anyway.
We charge through the camp, but the girl doesn't slow her horse in order to kill the enemy. She keeps going, urging her horse forward towards the treeline. I kick my horse, trying to get every ounce of speed out of him that I can. Guns go off around me as I get closer and closer to her, this is so exhilarating! The ruffian glances over at me as I come alongside her and she kisses to Sparks "Come on Sparks, I know you've got it boy come on!" she calls to him. The white stallion responds to her instantly, getting ahead of my horse and I. I'm not letting her go that easily!
Neck and neck we charge, we're well past the camp now, and almost to the treeline. None of the Germans have made it here yet, I think I see the girl's plan! We're going to secure the guns hiding in the treeline so that nobody gets shot! But we have to jump over the guns first! I prepare myself for the jump, I wonder if my horse will make it! Almost there, just a few more feet! Just when I'm about to jump an alarm goes off, snapping me out of my dream.
I'm back in my room on the Titanic, the clock next to me reading that it's 9 in the morning. I smash my fist down on the bed in frustration! Damn it! I wanted to win! We were so close! I wanted to know the outcome of that! Oh well, I know one thing's for certain. I'm never taking mystery pills from the delinquent right before bed ever again!
Writers block has reared it's ugly head! GAH! I've got a couple ideas, but honestly I can't have them happen until they reach NY! So, anybody got any ideas for stuff they can do on Titanic 2? Don't worry, I've got first class dinner on the list, but is there anyone there you think they should meet? James Cameron perhaps?
So yea, That's your motivation to review. The gift shop is closed due to a horrible writers block monster sitting in front of the shop. So yea, IDEAS PEOPLE! I need IDEAS! And um, yea, so that's the reason this chapter took so long and why it's so, bizarre. I just couldn't think of anything. Crazy I know, but true!
Thanks for Reading anyway, REVIEW!