So. I've been away for 5 days! Miss me? *cheeky eyebrow wiggle* Haha, here's the next chapter! I didn't really know how to make the sinking "THAT" tragic so I'm sorry if it was a little too 'light' for you guys! Hope you all enjoy this chapter and I'll see you guys at the bottom of the chapter!
Just a friendly reminder, it is 15 April 1912! ( Well, technically it is, since it's in the morning of 15 April )
- Harry -
1.08 am
He checked his wrist watch. It was long after the twenty minutes that Clara was supposed to come back and he was getting very worried. By then, he had helped to launch two lifeboats. "I'll be right back Will." He told the first officer before rushing off to the port side of the ship to find Jim and ask about Clara.
- Jim -
1.10 am
Jim was helping to load the lifeboats when Harry tapped him on the shoulder. "Good timing, Harry. Where is Liz and Clary?" Jim asked the fifth officer casually. Harry's eyes widened. "Aren't...aren't they here with you? They said they were going to find you!" He started to panic. "We have to find them." Jim said. As he was about to walk off, Harry pulled him back by the collar. "Jim, you're the only one in charge of launching this lifeboat. I'll find them instead." Harry explained. Jim opened his mouth to protest but realised that Harry had a good point. "...all right then." Jim gave up as he turned to continue loading the boat, anxiety in his mind.
- Harry -
1.11 am
He was walking back into the ship rather quickly when he was stopped by Thomas. "Mr. Lowe, where is Clara and my daughter?" Harry looked down at his feet. "I'm not very sure myself, Mr. Andrews, I-" He was cut off by a somewhat cheery voice. "Do you mean...Miss Elizabeth Andrews?" Harold Bride, the Marconi operator asked them from the side. "Yes." they both said, turning to him.
"I saw her go back into the ship with two other ladies. I think- Oh wait! There's one of those ladies now!" He pointed to a first-class lady who walked around, quite wary of her surroundings. A sharp eye could tell she was anxious about something.
"That's her aunt, Augustine." Thomas walked towards her after thanking Harold, Harry right behind him. "Augustine. Augustine!" The shipbuilder called out. The dark-haired woman turned her head sharply to the side to see her brother-in-law walk briskly towards her. She felt her heart rate quicken. "Have you seen Liz?" He asked her seriously. "No, I...I don't think I have seen the girl. Wonder where she's run off to again." She replied, laughing slowly and her eyes widening as her gaze shifted to anywhere but him.
He knew immediately from that and her fidgeting with her gloved fingers that she was lying through her teeth. "Don't lie to me, Augustine." Thomas said, his voice now stern. "I...I just told you! I don't know!" She cried, a little too loudly. "Augustine, tell me now, and I'll forgive you." He suspected that she did something bad, telling by the obvious signs. "Tell. Me. Now." He gripped her shoulders firmly, but not tightly.
"I already told you, I don't know where she is, now if you will excuse me." Augustine shook his hands off and tried to walk away but Harry stopped her with an outstretched arm. "W...What is going on here?" She asked, looking Harry up and down. "I'm not beyond threatening the information out of you. I would even throw you over this ship if I had to." Thomas said, staring at her straight in the eyes, enough of all her bullshit. "I...I'm not telling you no matter what you do. Come on, throw me off the ship, see if I care." She crossed her arms over her chest, as if challenging him.
"Mr. Lowe, you heard her." Thomas stepped closer to Augustine, not looking at Harry. "What...What do you think you're doing?" Harry took a few steps closer to the lady as Thomas put his hands around her knees. There was a little frenzy on deck so no one took much notice of what he was doing. He was so strong that he lifted her right off the ground. "Stop! Put me down!" She put her hands on his shoulders, trying to push him away but failing miserably.
Thomas, in fact, did not put her down. Instead, he walked closer to the edge of the deck wall. "Wait! Stop! I'll...I'll tell you where she is." The shipbuilder put her down, glaring at her coldly for an answer. "She and...the maid...are in my stateroom." She looked away, now full of guilt. "Why?" Harry asked from beside him.
"I...might've...locked them in." She looked down at her fingers, playing with them. "You what?!" Harry almost yelled at her. "Well...Where's the key?" Thomas asked. "I...might've thrown it into the ocean." Harry took off running. Thomas shook his head at his sister-in-law before following the fifth officer.
- Clara -
1.18 am
She slumped down, leaning against the wall next to the door with her head in her hands, sobbing quietly. Elizabeth was in front of her, pacing up and down while wondering how to get out of the room with the ship fast sinking. "I'm so sorry Liz..." Clara kept muttering, annoying Elizabeth more every minute.
"Clary!" They heard a muffled yell and both their heads snapped up. "Clary!" That same voice yelled again, now banging hard on the wooden door. "Harry!" The blonde recognised the voice and stood up to press her ear against the door to make sure she wasn't imagining things. "Thank God." She heard him say on the other side.
All was silent for a while until a force struck the door so hard that Clara pulled her the side of her face back to caress it. "You know, you could have warned us!" Elizabeth said loudly, annoyed as she wrapped her arms around her friend's head. "Sorry, sweetheart." The voice was different now, and she recognised it to be her father. "Daddy?" She called out. "Yes, it's me. You two might want to step aside, we're going to bust the door down." He replied.
- Harry -
The shipbuilder and the officer took turns to try and break the door down. It wasn't until the last time Thomas did it that the door slammed down onto the floor, revealing Elizabeth and Clara, looking at them in shock and awe. "Clary!" Harry cried before walking over to the maid, engulfing her in an embrace, which she returned lovingly.
"Daddy..." Elizabeth said softly, close to tears as he walked towards her, giving her a huge bear hug, making her feel safe in his arms. "Mr. Lowe, get back onto the boat deck and load the boats. I'll take care of Liz and Clary." Thomas instructed, knowing that the officer had a duty to do. Harry nodded at the naval architect before looking back down at Clara. "I won't be too long, I'll see you soon. Be safe." He smiled at her before giving her a quick peck on the cheek and running out of the stateroom.
- Thomas -
"All right girls, we need to get you two lifebelts." Thomas said seriously. The girls did not complain as they saw the man walk into the closet and come out with two lifebelts on his hands. "Put these on." He instructed them. He shifted between the two ladies, helping them to secure the white flotation device over their heads and around their waists. "What about you?" Clara asked. "I'll pick one up on the way. Now, quickly, we need to get you girls on a lifeboat right away." He was about to walk out when Elizabeth spoke.
"Not you too...Daddy, we will get into a lifeboat, just...not now." She said awkwardly. "Let's just get up on deck first, shall we?" He said, not wanting to believe what she just said. The girls followed him up to deck, not saying a word.
- Thomas -
1.22 am
"Sweetheart, I need to settle some pressing matters first. Get on a lifeboat and I'll see you in New York, all right?" He stroked his daughter's cheek. She nodded up at him before giving him a hug. He hugged her back, pain on his face as he struggled not to cry. He also managed to slip a note into her coat pocket without her knowing.
"I'll see you soon, then." Elizabeth beamed at him before she held Clara's hand, running off down the deck. As Thomas watched her run, he smiled to himself, letting a solitary tear fall from his eye.
- Jim -
Jim had been filling up boats and launched one no less than two minutes ago when Harry got to work on lifeboat 14 next to him. When he asked about Elizabeth and Clara, Harry told him that the girls were with Thomas Andrews so that put the sixth officer at much ease.
He had been standing around for a second when he heard his name being called out. "Jim!" He turned sharply and saw Elizabeth running towards him, her hands holding up the ends of her dress so that she would not fall. Like before, no one noticed Elizabeth doing the most unladylike actions because there was frenzy and panic on the deck.
Jim opened his arms wide and Elizabeth practically jumped on him, almost making him fall. "Are you all right? I'm so sorry...I should've been there..." He looked away, but his arms were still wrapped around her. "It doesn't matter. All that matters is that you're here now." Elizabeth put her hand on his cold cheek and turned his face so that he was now looking back at her.
- Harry -
Harry was once again reunited with Clara, a brief hug was shared. "Clary, you and Liz should get on this boat." He told her. "I'm only getting on if you are." She said back. Charles was nearby getting the passengers to stay back and heard the exchange of words. "Mr. Lowe, man this boat." He said, sneaking a small smile at the couple while he was reloading his pistol. Harry nodded at him in thanks before telling Clara to go and get Elizabeth, although he was fairly sure she would not leave without Jim. As the blonde walked, she could hear Harry reassuring the people in the boat.
"Liz! We have to get on lifeboat 14." Clara said to Elizabeth after making her way through the crowd to find her. "I'm not leaving without you." She looked back at Jim, eyes pleading with him. "Liz, you have to go. Now." He told her, trying to control his tears. He wasn't planning on leaving the ship so this would technically be the last time he would see her. Ever. "No, I'm not leaving you!" She cried, letting a few tears roll down her cheek slowly at the thought of leaving Jim behind.
"Liz, get in the boat. Please, don't make this anymore harder than it should be." Jim frowned at her. "Jim, no!" She clung on tighter to him, burying her face in his chest. He lifted her chin up with a gloved finger. It pained him to see her cry and he now knew what he had to do. With one hand, he pushed her head against his chest and used the other to apply pressure on the pressure point at the back of her neck.
Jim braced himself as he felt her weight fall completely on him. "What did you just do?!" Clara asked, panicked. "She's unconscious now, but she'll live. Tell her...I'm sorry." Jim looked down at the brunette in his arms while talking to Clara. "Why can't you just get on a boat with us?" Clara asked, sad as well. After all, Jim was a friend.
"I have a duty to carry out. I can't abandon everyone else who needs me." He told her firmly as he picked Elizabeth up in his arms. Clara led the way back to Harry's boat. "What happened to Liz?!" Harry asked, shock painted all over his face. "Clary can tell you later, but help me get her into the boat." Jim said quickly, passing the girl he loved to his best friend who was already in the boat. The fifth officer also helped Clara in.
"Pass this to her for me." Jim took a folded piece of paper and passed it to Harry who shoved it into his coat pocket. "Thank you Harry." Jim smiled at him before walking off, disappearing into the crowd. Harry kept calling his name out, but there was no reply, save for all the screaming people. He didn't have too much time to dwell on this. The lifeboat was being lowered away.
Harry was standing on the boat, Clara seated in front of him with Elizabeth's head resting on her lap. There normally wouldn't be enough space for Elizabeth and Clara to sit like that but the people on the boat were nice enough to move a little for them. "Stay back, you lot! Just stay back!" He yelled at the people trying to jump onto the boat. One hand was holding onto the rope, the other a revolver which was pointed loosely at those who were not listening to him. Harry raised his arm and shot three bullets into the air to quieten them down.
Clara looked up at him. She knew that he had no choice but it didn't stop her from being afraid of the sound the bullets being fired made. He looked back down at her and tried to give her a comforting smile but it looked so forced that Clara just looked down at Elizabeth, in her arms.
- Clara -
1.45 am
"We're c..coming back, right?" She asked him, her teeth chattering. Harry was now seated opposite her, clasping his hands together as two men at the tillers took it upon themselves to row the boat under Harry's instructions to row at least 150 yards ( 140 m ) away from the sinking ship. "Y...Yes dear, we are c...coming back. We just have to...have to row away first. As much as I h...hate to admit it, they will s...swamp the boat." He replied, trying not to show her that he was cold.
2.18 am
Clara sat there, stroking Elizabeth's hair, hoping that her friend would wake up sometime soon. Harry was looking for lifeboats in near range to tie together so that he could go back and rescue people later so Clara did her best not to disturb him.
Suddenly, a loud snap could be heard. Slow at first, but the speed of the snaps grew faster and faster, louder and louder. Everybody in the boat, including Harry, had their eyes glued onto the Titanic, on the edge of their seats wondering what might happen next. It was this time that Elizabeth started to stir. "Wha...What?" She croaked. Elizabeth's voice was hoarse from the icy winds. She followed suit and looked at the sinking ship and sat upright, putting her hands to her mouth.
The people on Lifeboat 14 watched in shock as the Titanic snapped in half right in front of them Many women buried their faces in their warm coats and gloved hands, while others wept, thinking about their men who most likely did not survive, this was now clear to them. Clara could feel hot tears form in her eyes as Harry wrapped his arms around her, muttering words like 'hush' or 'it will all be over soon'. The side of her face leaned into his chest and his hands covered her eyes protectively.
This left Elizabeth to sit there, alone, looking at her father's masterpiece and hard work sinking right before her very eyes. It was then she realised that neither her father nor Jim was on the boat with her. She could only assume with the optimistic half of her heart that they had gotten on another boat and that she would see them again in New York, although the other half truly doubted that possibility.
Elizabeth watched as the RMS Titanic sank down into the ocean. She didn't realise as Harry gathered a few other boats together.
"Now, bring in your oars over there." Harry instructed to a few crew members and passengers, now standing up in the boat again with a torchlight in his hand. "And tie these two boats together as well."
"Now, make sure that's tied up nice and tight." He looked down at Clara who gave him a small smile. Harry smiled back before turning back to the others.
"Right, listen to me, men. We have to go back. I want to transfer all the women from this boat into that boat right now. As quick as you can, please. Let's create some space over there. Move forward and out." As his instructions were being carried out, he squatted down to Elizabeth and Clara's level. "I don't suppose you two would like to come with my boat?" He asked, already knowing the answer. Elizabeth's eyes were blank and as he spoke, she slowly turned to look at him, almost ghastly.
"I have to go. Jim and my daddy might be there." She whispered. "If she's going, I'm not leaving her side." Clara smiled up at Harry who nodded in response. All together, there were nine people in lifeboat 14 going back to rescue other passengers, including Harry, Clara and Elizabeth.
The girls sat on either side of the boat and looked around for anyone alive, but keeping an eye peeled especially for Thomas and any other officers. "Oars! Do you see any moving?" He asked aloud. "No sir, none moving, sir." One of the crew replied as Harry continued to shine his torchlight. "Check them!" The fifth officer replied.
"Bring that oar up here." One of them said. "Check them, make sure." He told them carefully. "These are all dead, sir." A man replied after bringing up one frozen lady to double-check that she was no longer...with them. "Now give way, ahead easy." Harry instructed. Elizabeth and Clara kept their eyes peeled but no one was moving at all. They didn't see any movement in the water except for ripples made as the boat was being rowed.
"Careful with your oars. Don't hit them." Harry said. "Is there anyone alive out here?" He yelled out. "Can anyone hear me?" He frowned as there was no reply. "Is there anyone alive out here?" Harry continued to yell until he saw an infant frozen in its mother's arms. That struck him. "We waited too long." There was tears welling up in his eyes but he tried not to let them fall out. "Well, keep checking them! Keep looking!" He cried out to his crew. "Is there anyone alive out here?" "Can anyone hear me?" He continued to yell out, hoping that he could rescue at least a few passengers.
"Clary, there's...there's...they're not here..." Elizabeth let a few tears run down her rosy cheeks. "Not to worry Liz, I'm sure that they're both all right..." Clara tried to reassure her friend, although she herself wasn't so sure of the authenticity of her words.
"Hello! Can anyone hear me?" Harry cried out, not giving up. "There's nothing there sir." One of the crew told him.
There was total silence, until it was broken by the faint sound of a whistle. Elizabeth's head immediately turned and she was about to tell Harry when she realised he had also caught onto the sound. "Come about!" He yelled, turning around to face the source of the whistle. The boat started to row to where the noise was coming from when they saw them.
"Rose! Jack!" Elizabeth tried to scream, but it only came out as a hoarse whisper. The cold was getting to her already. Rose was grabbing on a deck chair, blowing the whistle while Jack was floating his own little piece of debris. She didn't get in the way of the crew members who helped to hoist the couple up onto the lifeboat, one by one. They gave each of them a warm blanket. Eventually they laid down at the side of the boat.
"Henry..." Harry said from beside them. Elizabeth moved over to where he was and saw. Her hands went up to her mouth. She didn't know the chief officer personally but it was still a pity to see him, frozen as he lay on a deck chair. "We can't just leave him here." Harry shook his head. They all tried to pull his on board, but he was too heavy and they suspected his legs were clutched and tangled somewhere in the folded deck chair underwater. After Harry had a moment of silence for one of his fellow officers, he continued to move on in search of more survivors to rescue.
Elizabeth couldn't say she was happy about Henry's death, more that seeing Rose and Jack get saved gave her a glimmer of hope, even though slim, that she might just find her father and her beloved Jim.
-5.45 am -
Elizabeth's hands were in her pockets and as she took them out to rub them together, hopefully generating some warmth, a folded piece of yellow paper fell out of the left pocket, falling onto the ground next to her. She picked it up and opened it, inside a note from her father.
Dearest Elizabeth,
Please do not resent me for what I am about to say. I sincerely apologize, for I have lied to you. I truly doubt that you'll see me in New York. You see, I initially planned to go down with the ship, the moment the news of its sinking reached me. It pained me to see you run off, but I trust that you'll be in good hands after I'm gone. James is a good man. He will take care of you, I'm sure. My dear girl, don't be sad that I did not make it. Know that I love you dearly and I am watching over you, wherever you are. Both your mother and I. Good luck, my beautiful princess, with everything.
Yours Lovingly,
Thomas Andrews
12.57am
Elizabeth was speechless. She had no idea how to react. Her beloved daddy didn't make it. He didn't even try. He's gone. For good. She didn't have high hopes of finding Jim either. And with Clara and Harry that much in love, soon, the whole world would move on but leave her behind. Sure they would offer to put her up and support her for a while, but she couldn't rely on them forever. For the very first time in her life, she felt alone. There wasn't anyone she could turn to for help anymore. Elizabeth started to cry again as she brought her knees up to her chest, burying her head in her knees as she sobbed silently, all by herself.
- 7.13 am -
Clara was in Harry's warm embrace as the boat drifted about, to nowhere in particular. Over the night, they managed to save five other people, but they did not see Jim or Thomas at all. Elizabeth had given up all hope she once had and all the tears she could possibly shed had already been wept as she sat there in silence, staring out into the open sea. Clara and Harry both tried to comfort her, but she showed no response whatsoever.
She shoved her hands into her right pocket, since it was freezing and poked something hard. The notebook! She took it out and opened up the first page and saw a message penned neatly on it, in her father's beautiful, cursive handwriting. By then, she really did not want to read it, seeing how depressing his last note to her was but she told herself 'Why not? It might make you feel better!'. She was so wrong. Elizabeth started to read :
Dearest Elizabeth,
Happy 20th birthday! I hope you've had a blast on the RMS Titanic so far. I truly do hope that you like this little present I've given you. It's no diamond necklace but I know you love to write and draw so I thought this would be a suitable gift. Now you can have your own 'little black notebook'. I really hope you don't mind the lack of grandeur in my gift. I know sometimes you may feel lonely as I travel quite a fair bit, but I want you to know that I will always be there for you. You have grown to be a fine young lady and I'm sure your mother up in heaven is very proud of you. Here's to wishing you a very pleasant birthday and that I would be able to accompany you on your birthday for many years to come. I love you very much, my dear Elizabeth.
Signed with all my love,
Thomas Andrews
13 April. 7.39am
The corner of the page was wet, smudging the time which she could barely make out. Elizabeth realised that she had caused that. After reading the note over and over again, she was lost for words for the second time that day. What hurt her the most was the second last line. 'Here's to wishing you a very pleasant birthday and that I would be able to accompany you on your birthday for many years to come.'
This was cruel. This was fate mocking her. This was her crying again even after she promised herself she would stop. From beside her, Clara crawled out of her officer's grasp and went forward to try and hug her friend, but as she was about to wrap her arms around Elizabeth's sad form, Elizabeth flinched and moved off to another corner of the lifeboat, leaving Clara both confused and hurt.
Harry placed a comforting hand on Clara's arm and that was when he caught sight of the nearing vessel. He took out some green flares and stood up on the boat, waving it about while calling out for help. Clara, seated at the side of the boat, fiddled with her fingers as she was unsure of what to do or say to her friend.
- 7.16 am -
By then, there was a ladder hanging down from the RMS Carpathia to help the passengers of Lifeboat 14 up onto the ship. Harry had Jack and Rose and the others they rescued in the night to board the ship first since Clara and Elizabeth did not mind waiting.
Elizabeth went up the ladder next. She didn't require as much help from any of the officers or crew members to climb aboard so as soon as she got up, she waited in a corner for Clara and Harry to get up. Clara smiled at Harry as he got down on one knee to prop her up with his hands so that she could better climb up the ladder. Soon, it was Clara and Elizabeth sitting side by side on the deck floor to wait for Harry.
"May I take you ladies to a stateroom to rest?" A steward asked them from above. "Just take her, I'm waiting for someone." Clara told him as she gave Elizabeth a small smile that was not returned. The friendly steward gave Elizabeth a smile as he offered a hand to help her up, which she took.
They were about to walk off when she suddenly felt like her legs turned to jelly. Elizabeth was about to fall when the steward caught her in his arms before she touched the wooden floor. "Miss, are you all right?" He asked concerned. "Yes, I guess my legs are just...a little numb. Nothing to be worried about, thank you." With his help, she got back up on her feet, although he still had an arm around her to make sure that she didn't fall. She didn't complain.
"What's your name?" She asked him politely. "Jasper Bennett. May I ask you for yours, miss?" He asked in return, flashing her a boyishly adorable smile. "Elizabeth Andrews, but please call me Liz." She replied, returning his smile. "A first-class couple gave up their stateroom, which is the one you will be staying in until the ship docks. Please do enjoy your time here on the RMS Carpathia and you can find me should you require any assistance." They stopped outside a room.
"You sure are formal, Jasper." Elizabeth said to him. "Does it bother you? I'm sorry, I'm just so used to talking this formally." He laughed awkwardly. "Oh yes, if you see my friend again, or Fifth Officer Lowe of the Titanic, please tell them to come find me in this room." She told him, her smile not leaving her face. "Definitely, Miss-Elizabeth." He corrected himself. She gave his hand, which she previously held onto, a little squeeze before he left her.
Elizabeth went into the stateroom. It was pretty nice. Its size was nowhere near comparable to her suite on the Titanic but at the point in time, she would have been happy even if she was given a bench on the deck to sleep on. She walked over to the bed and sat on it, sighing to herself. Taking out her clutch bag, she opened it to take out the stack of photographs she had developed on the Titanic.
She went through them, smiling sadly as she remembered those happy times she had spent on the Titanic. There was a photograph of Charles carrying her princess style, another of Harry kissing Clara's cheek, Will and Charles with their hands draped over each others' shoulders and last but not least, the first picture she took with the camera. Jim's arm was wrapped around her waist and hers was around his shoulder. They were both smiling brightly.
Elizabeth started to shed tears again. She missed Jim so much it hurt. But she could not bring herself to wonder what might be if he was...dead. She knew for sure that her father was dead but did not know about Jim. What scared her the most was the possibility that Jim did not make it and that she would truly be left alone, forever. Elizabeth looked at the end table next to the bed and saw an empty photo frame sitting on it. It was brown with gold trimmings at the edges. She took it and slotted in the photograph of her and Jim before smiling at it.
She then laid down on the bed, staring at the photo frame as she cried herself to sleep.
Aww :( Sadness. Sadness everywhere. Did that make you guys sad? Haha, I know in many other stories, Thomas Andrews gave his daughter his notebook or something along those lines but I swear that I came up with that idea even before reading those stories .
Also, something to share. In the James Cameron movie, if you look closely at the group that went back with Fifth Officer Harold Lowe, you'll notice that one of the men ( the one on the bottom left side ) is actually wearing a short-sleeved shirt. Weird much? 1. It's freezing outside so I don't know who in their right mind would wear something like that 2. Do they even wear short sleeved shirts in 1912? I don't think so.
Now to thank those who left reviews! Thank you to May, Vanessa Taylor, alexandriakailynxx and rebeccajoleneaumanwilson for your reviews!
May : Thank you for reading and enjoying this story :) I really wanted to emphasize how good Elizabeth and Clara's friendship was so I'm glad you liked that! Again, I'd like to share with all of you why Augustine doesn't really love Elizabeth, even though she is her niece, as the story progresses if I have the opportunity. ( psst. It's mostly Thomas' fault ) All in all, thank you for reviewing!
Vanessa Taylor : Thank you for reviewing and that beautiful compliment to this story! It's so cool that you actually met one of the survivors! I would have loved to but...yeah. It was nice of you to not forget the people who actually passed on that night. RIP to all those people.
alexandriakailynxx : Thank you for your love and review! Thank you for your feedback on the timings as well! :D
rebeccajoleneaumanwilson : Thank you for loving this story and for your review as well! Merry Christmas to you and your family too!
To everyone else, I hope you all are enjoying the story as well! Have a nice day and review if you liked the chapter! :D
rebeccajoleneaumanwilson's review reminded me to wish you all a Merry Christmas!~