ALMOST TOO LATE
Chapter Seven
Rose spent the rest of Sunday looking for
Jack. It was hopeless. She had never met any of his friends, except Jolie. And
Rose didn’t think that Jolie would help her find where Jack was hiding. Because
it seemed to Rose that Jack was hiding. She gave up around eleven o’clock PM
and went to her room to go to sleep. Rose was lying in bed, trying to read a
book, when she heard a most peculiar noise. It sounded as if the Titanic had
run over a thousand marbles…
*****
Jack spent the rest of Sunday playing a friendly
game of poker with some of his roommates. At 10:30 they called it quits. Jack
had won almost thirty dollars and was happy. He decided to go out on deck. It
was very cold, and he pulled his jacket close. Just when he had decided that it
was too cold to stay out any longer, he felt the ship vibrate, and ran over to
the starboard side. He leaned over the rail and saw a huge iceberg coming down
the side of the ship. He backed away just in time for it to pass him…
*****
Rose jumped up and put on a robe. She walked
out of her cabin and looked for a steward. "Excuse me, sir, but I thought
I heard a noise. Can you tell me what is wrong?"
"Nothing to worry about, I’m sure. Just
go back to bed, and I’m sure everything will be fine in the morning."
But Rose noticed that she wasn’t the only one
that the steward had to stop and reassure. Something was definitely wrong. Rose
went back to her room and got dressed. She put on the simplest dress in her
wardrobe, a pretty pink, blue, purple, and white dress. Crossing through the
suites, Rose knocked on Trudy’s door. "Trudy, wake up. Something is
wrong."
"Yes, Miss."
"I’ll need you to help Mother get
dressed."
Closing Trudy’s door, Rose proceeded to her
mother’s room. Taking a deep breath, Rose opened the door and awoke her mother.
"Mother, something is wrong, I can feel
it. Please trust me. You need to get up and get dressed. Trudy will be
in." And then Rose left.
I have worried Mother. But I can feel that
something is wrong.
When Rose saw Trudy, she stopped her. "I
am going out to find out what is going on. You and Mother wait here for
me."
"Yes, Miss."
Rose went out and saw Mr. Andrews hurrying
somewhere, and she ran to keep up. Seeing that he was in a hurry, she decided
to follow him…
*****
Jack went back down towards his cabin. In the
hallway, he ran into Fabrizio. After a quick hello, Fabrizio told Jack about
the water in his cabin. Tommy Ryan soon joined them. "This ship is
sinking. We have to find a way off of it."
"Right," they both said.
"Okay. Let’s try this way," Jack
said, heading down a hallway. They ran up some stairs and around a corner. Then
they came to one of the gates between third class and second. A man was
standing there, arguing with some passengers. Jack pushed his way to the front
and started yelling and pulling on the gates. He had lost control. All he knew
was that he didn’t want to be trapped down there when the ship sank…
*****
Rose waited close to the stairway that Mr.
Andrews had gone down with the captain. From what she had overheard, the
Titanic was taking on water, and they were trying to see if the ship was going
to sink or not. She was standing there when they came back. She saw them head
into the officers’ quarters, and waited outside. Several minutes later, Mr.
Andrews came out. Rose walked in front of him, stopping him.
"What’s wrong, Mr. Andrews?"
"Oh, Rose. You shouldn’t be here."
"I heard an awful noise, and I see
something in your eyes. Please tell me what’s wrong."
Mr. Andrews took Rose’s shoulders and pulled
her into a corner. "This ship is going to sink. An hour or two is all
that’s left. You need to get into a lifeboat."
"Thank you. I will." Rose started
to run back to her cabin. She had to get her mother and Trudy into a lifeboat.
Suddenly, another thought hit her. Will I ever get to see Jack again?