Chapter 12

Oh! Darling

"Oh Clara!"

Clara looked up from where she had been bending over Benjamin in the hallway, she saw Hope and Naomi coming towards her with amused expressions on their faces, "I do hope you are not buying into all of this silliness," Naomi laughed as she pulled a black glove onto her hand.

"I am taking it seriously, I talked to the Captain and if he says we should be on the deck and taking this seriously, then I shall," Clara sighed, "I suggest you do the same and get into a boat."

Hope was about to respond but Naomi cut her off with her laughter, "Oh dear, we are going to be fine. Nothing is wrong with the ship."

"Perhaps they are right," David began to say, "I should speak to the men about this."

Clara turned around to see David moving to find his friends, "David we do not have time for this!"

He looked back at his wife, his lips were set in a thin line and he was clearly conflicted with whether he should listen to himself or to Clara, who whether he liked it or not, was still his wife. The two stared at each other, for the first time since before the trip, without the sense of confusion, anger, or even hatred. David Moore may not have loved his wife but being married to her had taught him a bit about how Clara operated. She was never shaken up like this, nothing scared her, except for perhaps whenever she tried to have a baby, but this side of Clara was a new one; absolute terror mixed with worry; and it honestly worried him.

Before he could say another word Clara quickly moved past him to someone walking up the hallway, "Mr. Andrews!" she called.

The older man, who always had a warm smile on his face, now was set into worry and he was shaking slightly when Clara took his hand, "Please Mr. Andrews, is it as serious as the Captain says?"

Thomas stared at the girl and gave a nod, "Please get your lifebelts on and get to the deck. I know Titanic better than anyone and I know what she can withstand and," his voice broke, "Mrs. Moore, this ship can not withstand what she has endured earlier tonight. You have to go, now."

Clara turned around to see David, who had been listening to the entire conversation, and David merely nodded at Mr. Andrews.

Everything seemed to be going by so fast and Clara could hardly believe that David was actually listening to reason, let alone listening to her. She gave a nod to Mr. Andrews, "Thank you sir, for everything you have done."

"Of course, good luck to you."

Before either of the Moore's could say another word, Mr. Andrews had moved off down the crowded hallway.

"We should get on the deck," Clara began, "Officer Pitman himself told me that there were not nearly enough boats in case something were to happen."

David's mouth had resumed it's tight and pinched line at the mention of Pitman but all he said was, "Let us go."

Clara nodded and she looked back to Hope and Naomi, "Girls, you need to get your husbands and hurry along. Please."

Hope stepped towards Clara, "Do you really think it will be that serious?" Her voice was low and nervous, not anything like Naomi's condescending tone.

Clara nodded slowly at her friend, Hope was the youngest of the three and Clara knew her the best, "Yes my darling friend. I want you and your husband on the deck and in a boat."

Hope stared at Clara and then turned to Naomi, "We should go. I think it is the best thing we could do."

Naomi shook her head, "Oh very well. We need to get the men however."

"Very well," Clara sighed as Naomi and Hope went into their separate rooms.

"Herbert!"

Pitman turned around to see Murdoch approaching him, "I want you to take charge of boat five, alright?"

"Very well," Herbert sighed and quickly looked around; quickly checking to see if Clara was back yet.

"Pitman?"

He looked back at Murdoch, "Yes sir?"

"If she does not get back before your boat leaves, I will make sure she and her son get in a boat."

"Oh I know," Pitman shrugged, "I do not doubt it sir, I am just concerned."

"How come?"

"Her husband found out tonight."

"Well I did warn you that it was bound to happen."

Herbert sighed, "I know and we planned to tell him, just not until we docked," he scoffed, "I suppose that is not happening now."

"Well we shall see what happens," Murdoch offered the officer his hand, "Good luck."

Pitman took the hand and shook it, but he was in a bit of a daze when he did so, "Yeah, you too."

Before another word could be spoken between the two, Murdoch was gone, headed back to the next lifeboat. He sighed and climbed off of the Titanic and stepped into the boat in order to assist passengers who were being funneled through by Lowe.

"Please sir, we are newlyweds, will you allow us to board together?"

Pitman eyed the young couple and he could not help but nod at the two, despite the order to only allow women and children. Another few couples followed suit and sat together in the far corner of the boat.

"I say Goldenberg, you will regret it!" John Jacob Astor laughed from beside Lowe, "When you are all floating out on the Atlantic and freezing in a rickety boat, I will hold a glass of brandy up in toast to you and your rule following ways!"

"Okay we shall see," Mr. Goldenberg laughed as he wrapped a protective arm around his wife, "We will be laughing in the morning, either way."

It was a slow and hard push to get up to the decks of the Titanic. Passengers had been pulled from their rooms and they now crowded the hallways, the dining saloons, and were clustered around the Grand Staircase. Clara observed some of the people she had dined with at the beginning of the trip, drinking champagne and brandy, as if it was just another party to be continued. Some of the ladies were even in their finest dress and no signs of coats or lifebelts were to be seen.

"Oh Clara, there ya are!"

Clara turned to see Molly Brown approaching her, "Oh hello Molly," she held her sons hand even tighter out of fear that she might lose him in the crowd, "How are you?"

"I am just fine and pleased to see you are alright!" Molly laughed, "You had stopped dining with everyone else, we were beginning to think that Mr. Moore here was keeping you chained up in your room and only just allowed you out this morning for church."

"I just have been dining in my room," Clara shrugged, "I am sorry to be rude but we must go, I have a spot being held in a boat up on the deck."

"Do you know what is even going on?" Molly asked, "No one is talking to us. The Stewards seem to know more than they are letting on but they just keep repeating that it is just a drill," she shrugged, "Seems hardly worth the effort."

"Oh Mrs. Brown, I do hope you get into a boat and please do not listen to the idle chatter of the ignorant masses," Clara used her free hand to take Molly's, "We asked Mr. Andrews, it is a much more serious matter than just a routine drill."

Molly frowned and her eyes searched Clara's and then shrugged, "Well who am I to argue with the Master Shipbuilder?" she finished off her drink and smiled, "You run along. I have to get something from my room and I suspect I will see you in the morning."

"Please do be careful," Clara squeezed Molly's hand.

"Of course little one," she beamed, "Goodnight."

Clara watched Molly take off back down the hallway that they had just come from. She sighed and continued to push through the crowds and finally they made it up to the decks. "We are on the starboard side," she sighed, "The boat is on the other side."

"Clara," David's voice was tight and he was looking around wildly, "Where is Benjamin?"

Clara frowned and looked down to see that Benjamin was no longer holding her hand, "Oh God," she ran out into the throng of officers, crew, and the few passengers, "Benjamin?!" she called up and down the deck; but there was no sign of their little boy. "Oh sweet God," her voice was shaking, "David, where is he?" she grabbed him by the front of his coat, which was the first physical contact the couple had even shared in months, "I just had him in my hand."

"Clara just calm down," David cupped her face with his hand, "He can not have gotten far. You, Hope, and Naomi head down this side of the ship. Robert," David turned to his friend, "Will you two check the portside? See if he went out the entrance on that side?"

"Yes of course," Robert nodded at David and he watched as his two friends took off.

David looked back to Clara who was shaking terribly, "I will go back inside and see if he is in there. We will find him. I promise."

Clara looked at David Moore, the man she had married and promised to always be faithful to, and she felt a wash of shame come over her as he looked at her in he most honest way he had done in years. For the first time since the birth of their son, David had real concern and care on his face for the woman before him, and she had no idea if it had to do with their missing son or the impending disaster, but he finally seemed to actually care about Clara Moore.

"Okay," she finally said, "I trust that we will find him."

David pressed his lips to Clara's forehead and took off back inside. Clara watched him go and then turned to Esther, Hope, and Naomi, and they began to scour the starboard side for the little boy.

–

"Excuse me?"

Lowe whipped around at a tugging on his wool coat and his eyes fell on a small child before him. This little boy was clearly a first class child by the way he was dressed and based off the expensive looking teddy bear in his arms. "I was looking for my mummy, I lost my mummy and daddy."

Harold lost the train of thought he'd had about getting a few more passengers into lifeboat number five as he bent down to the child's height, "Where did you last see them?" The last thing Harold wanted was for this little boy to be seperated from his parents in the middle of a catastrophe.

"We were inside by the big clock!" Benjamin began to explain, "Mummy was trying to get through a ton of people and I lost her hand."

"And what about-"

"Benjamin?"

The little boy turned to see Officer Pitman standing up in the lifeboat, one foot poised on the edge of the ship, ready to jump back on. "Officer Pitman!" Benjamin squealed.

"Benji, what are you doing up here? Where is your mother?" Herbert jumped back onto the ship and approached the little boy.

"I lost my mummy inside!" he said with big sad eyes, "I dunno where she went."

"Bert, we have to lower this boat away," Lowe whispered.

Herbert swore under his breath and in a quick movement he swooped the child up into his arms, "Tell you what. How about you come into the boat with me and then Officer Lowe here is going to promise to find your mummy, okay?"

Benjamin turned around in Pitman's arms to stare at Lowe, who nodded eagerly, "You go along with Pitman and your mummy is going to get into another boat. It will be like a game, okay?"

Benjamin's eyes lit up at the mention of a game with the officers, "Okay!"

Pitman said "Thank you" with his eyes to the fellow officer and he carefully climbed into the boat. He knew taking Benjamin without getting him back to his mother was going to cause Clara more stress than needed, but he had been given direct orders to man this boat and he could not risk Benjmin not getting back to his mother and getting left behind. He knew Clara was strong, smart, and resourceful, and so he knew that she would find her way onto a boat. He had hoped anyway, that the level of severity had been made clear to the woman, but judging by how well Benjamin had been bundled up, she understood.

Pitman carefully settled into the boat with the child and after one more person loaded in, they were deemed ready to take off. It was 12:40 when they began to descend from the ship; exactly one hour since collision and all Pitman could think about was Clara and keeping her little boy safe for her.

Xxx

A/N- so yeah, review and all that jazz. :D :D :D Thanks for reading!