Once the other officers returned from the inquest, Will explained our vague plan to them. Lights gave us his blessing, of course, and we decided to leave immediately. It pained me to leave Harry with hardly a word of thanks after he had been so kind to me, but Will insisted on haste. We managed to buy some steerage tickets to Southampton on the next ship, and as we waited on the New York docks we worked out some more details for our plan. When we arrived in Southampton, we would have to find someone we could trust who would lend us some money which would be paid back in the near future. I would then send the letter to Will's mother with another letter, explaining my absence. As soon as we had completed these tasks, we would take the next ship to New Zealand.
The crossing back to Southampton was uneventful. The accommodation was not quite as luxurious as that on Titanic, and I did not like the couple we shared our cabin with, but all in all I was just pleased that I was with Will. We spent most of our time just sitting together and talking about the future, as though nothing had ever come between us. In fact, on that journey, nothing was further from my mind than Titanic. It wasn't until the last day on board that our conversation turned to that awful journey. I cannot remember what brought the subject up, but we began to talk about Bruce Junior.
"I was lowering a lifeboat," Will said as he leant on the rail and fixed his eyes on his folded hands. "There weren't many people in there. Ismay climbed in without a comment and his son," he suddenly looked at me. "His son followed him in. So many more deserving young men – and women – could have got into that boat. I tried to stop him, but his father told me that he had to get to New York."
"Why?" I questioned, rubbing my hand on his arm to comfort him. He was still shaken by the accident.
"Because he had a fiancée waiting for him in New York. They were supposed to be married on the Thursday after we arrived."
I gaped in disbelief. If only I had known about this before! I wanted to go back to New York to tell his poor fiancée – or wife, by this point – the truth about her husband. How could someone do what he did when he had someone waiting to marry him?
We arrived in Southampton the next morning. Will and I managed to slip off the ship early on, although once we were on the docks we did not know what to do. We had our plan, but who could we trust to lend us money without letting slip that Will had survived? The dock was fairly empty, so we wandered down past the familiar public houses and offices, deep in thought. It seemed like years since the first night we arrived in Southampton. Everything had been perfect back then. Still, the uncertainty of our future was almost exciting. I kept a tight hold of Will's arm, and almost jumped out of my skin when I heard someone shout my name.
"Ada! Is that you?" I quickly turned to see a man running towards us – Davy Blair! "Ada Banks?"
"Mr Blair!" I smiled. "How lovely to see you again."
"Lovely?" He looked upset, and it took me a moment to work out why. "Good God, you must be devastated. I just want you to know that I'm here and I will do anythin' I can to help you out."
It was only then that he noticed my companion.
"Oh, hello. I see you've found another gentleman, Ada. I can't comment on that, but surely you should be keepin' Willie's memory alive?"
"I am," I smiled again. "Davy, meet my fiancé."
"Fiancé? Already?" Davy's eyebrows shot up, even more so when Will lifted his hat up to reveal his face. "Oh my Lord. Willie!"
"Sh!" Will pulled us both over to the edge of the dock.
"But...you're dead!" Davy exclaimed.
"I don't think so," Will replied. "Will Murdoch is, however. Will Muirhead, pleased to meet you!" He stuck his hand out, which Davy shook slowly.
"I don't understand."
"I had to pretend to not survive because if I had then I would have been held responsible for the accident. We're en route to New Zealand to start a new life there – and no one can know that I did survive."
Davy shook his head, almost as though he was trying to wake up. "I think this will take me a while," he muttered. "So the chief did go down, and a steerage passenger survived?"
"Steerage?" Will scoffed. "We are simply short on funds at the moment. Come to think of it, Davy, you couldn't lend us some money could you? Just enough for us to get to New Zealand and we will pay it back as soon as we arrive. Ada has money there, haven't you, lovvie?"
I nodded eagerly. "Not much, but my grandmother is holding my parents' possessions at the moment. My dowry is included in that, so we will have it soon."
"Wait. Dowry? You promised I would be at your weddin'!"
"We would love to keep that promise," Will replied sadly. "But how are we to marry here without me being noticed by someone in authority?"
Davy nodded slowly, then a sly grin crossed his face. "What about our drinks? On me, remember?"
"The others are still in New York. There's an inquest into the accident," Will cast his gaze to the ground. "Besides, Jim didn't make it."
"He didn't?" Davy demanded incredulously. "But he was only a kid!"
Luckily the conversation quickly turned again, and ended with Davy promising to get some money together for our tickets to New Zealand. We arranged to meet on the docks again that evening when the next ship would be leaving, and in the meantime I had to send the letter to Will's mother.
I felt awful as I walked into the post officer with that letter. It would kill her to have his apparent death confirmed by the arrival of his farewell letter. It would destroy his family. What else could we do? Will was quite right in saying that if they knew the truth that everyone would find out. News travels quickly in small villages, so quickly that it seems that the walls have ears.
Once the deed was done, Will and I left the post office to wander aimlessly around the town. There was something so peaceful about just walking, arm in arm, with my Will. Nothing could hurt us now, it would all be perfect soon. Just another week or so and we would be together in New Zealand starting our new life.
That evening, we made our way to the dock, where Davy was already waiting. He handed us an envelope containing banknotes, told us not to worry about paying him back immediately, then embraced each of us tightly. Once he stepped back again, he seemed embarrassed, but we had no more time to stay. I told Davy to visit us if he ever had the chance and promised to pay him back as soon as possible. Before I finished speaking, Will grabbed my hand and we set off at a run, yelling a 'goodbye' as we went. Will quickly bought the steerage tickets and we boarded the ship. Once onboard, we took one last look at Southampton, our last sight of England, and then turned to retire to our cabin. Neither of us could sleep that night. After all the awful happenings of the last few weeks, everything seemed to be going right at last.
