Chapter 97: Sins of the Family
Sybil continues to keep Susan Hockley entertained with her antics as Emma sits next to them, watching cautiously and ensuring that her sister does not get overzealous as she sometimes does with people.
She knew she had no real reason to fear this woman, especially considering she'd nearly fainted several minutes before, but she couldn't help but be wary. Caledon had to get his aggression from somewhere. Maybe it was his father but one could never be sure.
Emma knows deep down that she can't hold too much animosity towards this woman, even though she's snobby, self-important, and judgemental like a lot of first-class people. She appeared to be a nice enough woman… nice enough to Sybil that is. And despite the woman's son and all the things that he's done to her and the people she loved…
That child that she was entertaining had been abducted by her precious son on a ship that was already sinking and threatened to shoot her if they did not cooperate. Her fiancé, even after all this time still had moments where he had to limp because her successful son decided that if he couldn't have his fiancée, no one could and took it out on him. She places a hand on her shoulder. Her arm had nerve damage because of her son's burning resentment caused him to shoot her and nearly cause her death on the Titanic. She then glances down at her left hand where her engagement ring sits, but the reason there's no wedding band is that he sabotaged the wedding and also ended up abducting her best friend. In fact, the whole reason that they were meeting here at this moment was because of her son. Almost everything that had haunted them since the ship went down was because of Caledon Hockley
It seemed obvious to the casual observer that Susan knew nothing about her son's crimes, how his desire for vengeance had caused all this, how there was a restraining order in place that he managed to get around and was why her husband was in the interrogation room at this moment, making life hell for one of Jack's friends. She sat there playing with Sybil, enjoying the distraction the child was providing and completely oblivious to all the pain he had caused for the young woman sitting next to her.
"What is a precious child like you doing in the police station?" Susan asks, mostly the toddler, but also her sister sitting next to them.
Emma bites her lip and comes up with something quickly. "My future husband is a lawyer and he's meeting with a client. We're just waiting for him to finish with them before going home."
A half-truth, but believable enough. Deep down she wished that she could shock this first-class woman by saying that she was also a lawyer, but decided against it.
Susan frowns for a moment, concerned that she is currently holding a bastard child born out of wedlock. If one of those photographers got through, that would be the end of it all. However, she inhales sharply and decides to venture the question.
"Is this your sister?"
"Yes," Emma replies.
Relief fills Susan with new feelings of happiness. It was simply a sister caring for a sister.
"Where are your parents? Surely, you both could have stayed at home with them. A police station is no place for a young child like her."
"My parents have passed away," Emma admits, deciding to hit this woman with some reality. "I am her legal guardian."
"Oh…" she says, staring at the blue-eyed toddler. "I am terribly sorry for your loss."
That's progress! Emma thinks to herself sarcastically. The first thing she did was acknowledge that I exist and the second is to show sympathy to another human being.
"It is all right," the young woman replies. "I miss them dearly, but I'm doing my best to give my sister the best life possible."
Susan nods, slightly impressed by the girl's strength, especially after losing both parents.
"I had some business to attend to in town and it doesn't make sense to leave her alone at home."
"Of course not," Susan says. "You said her name was Sybil?"
"Yes, she was named after my grandmother who came to this country in 1886 from Ireland and she was the first woman ever known to sail a boat alone in the Great Lakes."
"Very interesting," is the reply. "But I assume that you call her Sybbie as a nickname?"
"Yes, my father called her that when she was born, and it has stuck since then."
"My son's full name is Caledon, but my husband and I have always called him Cal."
Emma inhales, knowing full well what his name is, but decides to feign ignorance for the time being, possibly getting some information, anything to help them find her best friends.
"Really?"
"Yes, my son… I'm sure you've read the papers of what's happening with him."
I helped produce the headlines; Emma thinks.
"Yes," she admits.
"Nathan says it's all nonsense and just done to smear the company and the Hockley name."
The young woman swallows, deciding to ask a question to probe Susan's opinion. It was a risky move because it was possible that it would shut down the conversation that they were having.
"What do you believe?"
Susan glances at the girl, a little surprised by this. Most don't ask her opinion, it's always Nathan as he is the man of the house and makes the money.
"I don't believe that Caledon would do all those horrible things that the papers claim. He's been nothing but a wonderful son and he was raised to be as such. B-But…"
Emma wants to prompt the woman more but doesn't want to overstep and ruin it.
The mother's lip trembles slightly, and she inhales to try and remain composed.
"But Caledon has been through a lot. The engagement to his fiancée, then losing so much in the sinking, then Rose's disappearance, the breaking of his engagement, and now this…"
She reaches down into her purse set next to her and grabs a handkerchief to dab her eyes. She felt utterly foolish to start crying in front of a total stranger, but she couldn't help herself. Sybil sees the handbag and reaches for it.
It's then that Emma removes Sybil from Susan's lap for the time being, to give the woman some time to cry. She knew that this was a lot for Cal's family to go through, but they were not responsible for his actions. He was a 30-year-old man and had made all of these decisions on his own.
"I am terribly sorry…" she sniffles, dabbing her eyes. "How much of a mess I must look to you."
"It's all right," Emma says, bouncing Sybil on her lap. "I understand that it must be hard for you."
"The last thing Caledon would do is harm the woman he loved or anyone else, even if they made him mad. But here they are saying that he's armed and dangerous and that he's kidnapped all these people and is 'on the lam.' Now I know Rose had broken off the engagement, but he would never wish to bring harm to her..."
Try telling that to her when he held a knife to her stomach and threatened her with a gun, Emma grumbles in her mind. She definitely wants to hit this lady with the truth, but it may be too much for her to handle, especially at this moment when she's on the verge of tears.
"Or that man. I told Caledon that if she did not want to marry you, then he should have tried to find another wife. It would be so simple. We might even have a grandchild on the way." She gazes at Sybil, thinking that she'd never get to be a grandmother. "And our name would be in the society papers for a good reason and not…"
The thought of being the centre of gossip was the tipping point and Susan began to sob uncontrollably, burying her face in her handkerchief and making various noises. One could tell that she tried to cry silently, but was unsuccessful and nearby individuals could hear her sobs. Some police officers who are walking through the station glance over for a moment before continuing with their duties. Emma sits there extremely uncomfortable but still having sympathy for this mother. To realize that your son is not who you thought he was would be a big shock and she did speak the truth, Cal could have taken the high road and married someone else, but his ego wouldn't allow it and he didn't and here they were. He should be in this police station not his parents, that was for certain.
Sybil is confused and a little frightened by Susan's sudden sobs and looks at her sister and then back at the woman. Emma immediately stands up and walks only a short distance away to keep her little sister from crying as well. She gently presses Sybil against her shoulder, away from Susan to keep the little one calm. She begins rocking her back and forth, rubbing her back as well.
"Shh, shh…" Emma whispers soothingly. "It's okay…"
Several whimpers still escape the toddler's mouth, and her big blue eyes are filling with tears. The toddler also sniffles.
Emma knows she can't have two people crying at the same time, that might ruin the possibility of getting information from Susan.
Thinking quickly, she begins singing the first song that comes to her head.
Come Josephine in my flying machine
Going up she goes, up she goes…
Balance yourself like a bird on a beam
In the air she goes, there she goes…
Up, up a little bit higher
Oh, my, the moon is on fire,
Come Josephine in my flying machine
Going up all on, goodbye
Sybil grabs onto her big sister's dress and lays her head on her shoulder, enjoying the singing. She's still making some semi-sobbing noises but the singing and the rhythmic rocking are making her feel safe.
Oh, say, let us fly girl
Where dear? To the sky girl
Oh you flying machine
Jump in, Miss Josephine
Come Josephine in my flying machine,
Going up all on, goodbye
Emma does her best to hold back her tears and a lump in her throat, thinking about Jack and Rose. This was one of their favourite songs, one they often sang together. It killed her not knowing where her best friends… no, her family was. If they were safe, what Cal was doing to them, and where he had taken them.
She continues to sing the song over and over again, in a very soothing to her baby sister, holding her close. Eventually, Sybil's breathing is more relaxed and Emma checks to see that she has nodded off, which suits both of them just fine.
The young woman glances over to see Susan Hockley drying her eyes and staring at the two sisters. Emma did feel a little bad at not staying to comfort the distraught woman, but her sister's needs always came first.
Sitting down on the bench, Emma continues to rub Sybil's back to keep the little one calm and asleep.
"I'm sorry, I just didn't want her to start crying as well, adding to your pain."
"It's all right, the last thing I want to see is a child like this in pain or sad," Susan replies, glad that she's managed to gather her emotions. It was utterly humiliating to cry in front of a stranger and a public place, but she did feel a tiny bit better after letting her feelings out. She hadn't cried at all since all of this started and it was a relief to no longer have that bottled up inside. "You also have a wonderful singing voice."
"Thank you," Emma says, surprised by the compliment. "My mother used to sing to me when I was little and having trouble falling asleep."
"Mine too…" Susan sighs, a far-off look enters her eyes. She hadn't thought about that in years. Her mother had a wonderful voice and had even sung opera on stage.
"I know I must look a state to you, crying like this."
"No, it's okay," the young woman reassures her. "I understand why you felt the need to cry."
"I just wish that Caledon had not run off and told the truth. He could have just stayed in New York and cleared everything up. He could be anywhere now… the papers suspect that he's in Canada."
Emma swallows before asking another question. She feels some guilt using this to get information out of Susan, but if it meant saving those she cared about, she'd do it.
"Do you think he went to Canada?"
The woman shakes her head. "No. He despises the cold; he would never go there."
That stung a little since she was born in Canada, but Emma held her tongue.
"Where do you think he might be?"
Susan shrugs. "Perhaps back to Philadelphia… but why would he do such a thing if he is a man of high society there? We have several summer homes; the closest is up in Maine, but again this time of year it might be too cold. There's a small little apartment in Virginia and another house in Illinois. We also have another summer home in California… he might have gone there."
Emma's heart skips a beat. She cannot believe the information she's just been given! Knowing Cal, he wouldn't try to hide in a place like a hotel or a place where he could be seen. He'd also want to stay in luxury while on the LAM. He might just be foolish enough to go to one of these summer houses, to still be comfortable while he had his prisoners! She wants so desperately to stand up and find Officer Anderson to give him the information, but cannot draw suspicion or make Susan believe that the only reason that Emma had even approached her was for said information.
While it had started out that way, the young woman now had much more sympathy for at least Cal's mother. He had no idea what he was putting his family through with his decisions and it made her sick how selfish he was. Some of her reasons for not wanting publicity were shallow and had to do with status, she clearly loved her son in spite of everything he'd done.
At that moment, an angry voice screams down the hallway.
"Absolute nonsense!" he yells.
Emma winces and feels Sybil stir on her shoulder.
"Mr. Hockley, we're not done with this…" another voice calls out.
An angry man in a business suit storms through to the chief of police's office and glances inside.
"Where's my wife?!" he shouts at the poor officer, who Emma knew was Joel Anderson.
Emma bites her lip, a little worried that Nathan Hockley might recognize her and expose everything. She
"Sir please…"
"SUSAN!" Nathan barks, his voice carrying all over the station.
The loud voice spooks Sybil and causes her to wake up. She begins to cry, giving away the two women's positions. His head turns towards the noise and sees his wife with a stranger by the door and without her hat.
"There you are…" he bellows.
"Nathan, please keep your voice down," Susan says meekly. "You just woke the child."
"I could care less about a whining brat. Why did you leave the office?! What if the press had seen you?"
"I'm sorry Nathan, I just needed some air…" she tries to say.
"It doesn't matter what you needed, you should've been out of sight!" he cuts her off "And what if the press had seen you talking to this common criminal."
Emma's face flushes red. She's overwhelmed trying to calm her baby sister and this man outright insulted her. She grinds her teeth before biting her tongue so hard it might start bleeding. If Sybil wasn't already creating such noise, she'd have yelled back at him.
"She is not a common criminal," Susan fires back, though with no passion or power in her voice. Emma could now understand the dynamic in the Hockley household, and it was clear that women had no power or a voice. "She was simply here waiting for her fiancé to finish with a client and keeping her sister happy, which you have just…"
"She is a criminal!" Nathan shouts, pointing a finger at Emma. "Anyone who is in a police station who does not work here is a felon and deserves to be locked up. Now pick up your hat, we are leaving."
"Mr. Hockley, we were not finished with our…" Joel tries to say.
"YES, WE ARE!" he yells. "I WILL NOT TOLERATE ANYMORE OF THIS NONSENSE. MY SON DID NOTHING THAT YOU CLAIM AND IF YOU DON'T ALLOW US TO USE OUR HOME AGAIN, I WILL SUE YOU!"
Apple doesn't fall far from the tree, Emma thinks to herself. All of Susan's genes might be recessive.
Red in the face, Nathan turns to his wife.
"Let's go, Susan!"
"But…"
Nathan doesn't give her any more time to respond. He grabs her wrist and the woman frantically reaches forward, grabbing her hat before being dragged by her husband towards the back door of the station. Emma and Susan can only glance at each other briefly before the heavy door slams behind them.
The others who had been waiting for Joel to return had heard the commotion and come to investigate.
"Lordy lord," Molly says. "Man should really go into politics. Loves to yell and full of hot air."
Holly and Carl snicker, while Peter goes over to embrace Emma who's finally got Sybil calmed down again.
"Are you all right?" he asks her. "Did he hurt you? Is Sybil all right?"
"We're fine and No…" Emma replies. "But I did see what Rose's life might've been like if she'd married into that family."
Joel removes his hat and wipes his brow. "He's a piece of work that's for sure. I didn't get anything out of him at all."
The officer sits down, kicking himself for failing so badly.
"All he did was complain about how this was unconstitutional, it violated his rights, how he was going to sue the police department."
Molly goes over and offers him a handkerchief and he graciously uses it to wipe his brow further.
"Don't be too hard on yourself Sonny," Molly Brown. "Man is as stubborn and thick-headed as a mule. Of course, he thinks Cal didn't do anything, nothin' can ruin their perfect family image. Big man of big steel"
Ruth stands back from the crowd, a little shocked herself that Nathan could be so awful and uncivilized. She understood why Cal was the way he was and deeply regretted ever getting Rose involved with them. She'd been so blinded by the need to keep their family name and money that she'd betrothed her daughter to a monster.
"I'm just not looking forward to telling the chief that I got nothing," Joel mutters.
"Maybe not nothing…" Emma says.
A/N: It's been too long since I've returned to this story. Please follow and review.
This chapter is in honour of the 112th anniversary of the sinking. Dedicated to all the souls lost on that tragic night. May you forever rest in peace
All rights for the lyrics of Come Josephine My Flying Machine go to Fred Fisher and lyrics by Alfred Bryan.
Response to reviews:
ColonelBeanbags: LOL more than a year later to respond. Yes, it's great that Jack is finally awake.
Sirrah K: Titanic can be hard to watch as it depicts the tragedy in a way that reminds us that it is a human story and all those lives lost. While our characters are fictional in the movie, real people lost so much that night.
I am really glad that you love my story so much. It means the world to me that you enjoy it. Yes, Emma has had to overcome a lot and she was always told to fight for what she believes him. Jack and Rose have defied all odds to be together and are stronger because of it. Cal is a frustrating character and I already have how they are going to stop him mostly planned out. Molly Brown is a great character to write for as well. I hope you enjoy this new chapter.