We had continued to row away, against the better judgement of the vast majority of passengers in our boat. Molly had suggested that we just sit there, even if we didn't make a move to rescue anyone from the water. While this suggestion had been met with agreement initially, we soon realised that it was far too cold to just sit there. We needed to do something to keep warm, and eventually Molly relented and agreed that we should start rowing. Even with this small victory over his new rival, Hichens remained miserable and pessimistic.

"We shan't be found!" He predicted dismally. "We'll float with no food or water until we all perish."

I joined in the rowing again, but I barely noticed myself warming up. It was a positively miserable experience – freezing, in a boat with the most negative human being I'd ever encountered and a nagging doubt about Will's promise to me.

As if this was not bad enough on its own, Hichens had taken it upon himself to criticise the rowers. This was rich, considering the fact that all he was currently doing was huddling into his coat and holding some sort of staring contest with Molly. Still, he was undeterred as he snapped at the other seaman again.

"You, your oar's not going in at the right angle."

"Sorry, sir..." the seaman mumbled, his spirit almost completely crushed.

Some of the other women in the boat had obviously had enough of this constant criticism.

"Why don't you take an oar yourself?" One demanded.

"Surely you are a capable oarsman, sir, if you know so much about it?" Another woman piped up from the back.

"I am in charge of this boat!" He snapped in response, repeating what seemed to be his only defence.

He then launched into another tirade about how we would be drifting aimlessly for days. I wasn't even interested in listening anymore. I felt dazed and alone – I wanted Will to be there to hold and comfort me. God, I was so pathetic – what had happened to the woman I used to be before I met Will? The days when I would have been prepared to join the suffragette movement? Now I was everything I had originally abhorred – reliant on one man. I shook my head. No, I was going to rise above that. Will wouldn't want me to be like that anyhow; I would have to try to return to how I was before.

"Excuse me, madam, can I take a drink? And would you mind if I borrowed one of your blankets?" Hichens' tone of voice had suddenly softened as he requested these off one of the other passengers.

"A drink? Certainly not!" The woman replied, clutching her flask. "That will do nothing to help us now!"

She did, however, pass a blanket forward. Hichens took it with a muttered word of thanks, and wrapped it around his shoulders. He remained silent for quite some time, until a shout came out of the darkness. We all stopped rowing and squinted into the night, until another boat emerged.

"Who's that?" Hichens demanded. Apparently he was slightly concerned that his time in charge might be up. I felt my heart leap – maybe Will was on board!

"Boat 16," came the reply.

"Who's in command?"

"Joe Bailey, sir."

Hichens visibly relaxed, and I caught a smug smile. He waved them over.

"We'll lash these boats together!" He ordered. This was quickly done, and Hichens settled back down confidently. "We shall just drift now."

This didn't work out quite as well as he had hoped. The boats immediately started to knock against eachother to such an extent that it could not be ignored. Hichens snarled and leant forward to take a look, but the Major quickly intervened.

"I say, we could put some of these dashed lifebelts between the boats. That should stop them!"

Hichens scowled at him, but relented. He obviously wasn't happy with not being the one to think of the idea. After all, he was "in command of this boat". Still, after a few minutes during which the lifebelts were placed carefully between the two boats, there was silence. Deathly silence. I felt my head droop, and didn't notice anything else for quite a long time after that.


Will stood and gazed into my eyes. His face was so close to mine and I returned the gaze, staring into his beautiful grey eyes. He smiled at me, his eyes twinkled.

"I love you, Ada. My Aid."

"I wish I was. I wish I was, Will. Will."

I suddenly jumped and woke up. God, it was so cold. Why had I woken up? I gazed around searchingly, suddenly realising that everyone's gaze was fixed on something in the distance.

"There is is again! It looks like lightning!"

"It's not bloody lightning, it's just a falling star," Hichens responded coldly.

"Looks like a rocket to me," the Major interjected.

Hichens didn't respond. He just gazed gloomily into the darkness. Still, as awful as the darkness had been, I felt a small bit of hope as the sun began to brighten the horizon. It was still dreadfully cold, but it almost didn't seem so bad anymore. Not now that the sun was slowly rising.

"Is that a ship out there?" Someone asked, squinting into the distance.

We all turned to look in the same direction, with quite a few murmurs about the beauty of the scene in front of us. The pink sky against the blue of the ocean, dotted with icebergs which changed colour every so often due to the rising sun. And there, in the distance, was a ship.

"Yes!" The seaman behind Molly exclaimed excitedly.

"Will it come to rescue us?" The stewardess beside me looked up at Hichens hopefully.

Despite the sighting of this ship, Hichens remained miserable and gloomy. There was seemingly nothing on earth which would cause him to offer us encouragement.

"No, she is not going to pick us up," he replied dismally. "She is here to pick up bodies."

That shut everyone up for a moment as we all turned back to look at him. Molly let out a deep sigh, then stood up. She had obviously had enough of the pessimistic Quartermaster. She looked around our boat, then into the next.

"Here, sonny, you look frozen half to death. Start rowin', get your blood circulating!"

He did indeed look like he was freezing. He was dressed only in a pair of pyjamas. He picked up a row, despite a furious glare from Hichens.

"No, I said we will drift!"

"Don't be so ridiculous!" Another woman spoke up. "We're all cold. We should row to keep warm!"

"Of course you're cold! Don't you see the ice? Rowing won't help anyone!"

Molly ignored him, instead asking a stoker in the other boat to join us. He obliged, then Molly ordered the boats to be cut apart. Hichens stood up in protest, and start shouting at her – almost hysterically.

"How dare you undermine my orders? I was put in command of this boat!"

"Would you kindly shut up? If you keep interfering, I'll have you thrown overboard!"

A murmur of agreement rose from the other passengers, and I felt myself smile as I watched Hichens scowl before sitting back down with his blanket. He kept muttering to himself about Molly, but we were undeterred. We started to row towards the ship which seemed so close to us now.


A/N – I would just like to apologise for misspelling Quartermaster Robert Hichens' name in the previous chapters.