A ROSE BLOWING IN THE WIND
Chapter Five
Rose sat at the window in the
sitting room, looking out the window, lost in her thoughts of Jack. Even though
it had been a full month since the sinking, she still couldn't believe he was
gone. He had come into and gone out of her life so quickly that sometimes she
thought the few days they had had together were nothing but a beautiful dream,
but the sharp pain in her heart and the strong memory of his voice told her
otherwise. Plus, her situation now was also proof. If her time with Jack had
been a dream, she would have become Mrs. Caledon Hockley today.
She couldn't help but wonder how
her mother and Cal were doing without her. Was Cal taking care of her mother?
Did he even miss Rose, or was it his precious necklace he was mourning, not his
fiancée? She had read her own obituary a couple of days after arriving at the
Singleton House.
Rose DeWitt Bukater, fiancée
of Caledon Hockley, son of famous steel tycoon Nathan Hockley, was one of the
poor souls who perished in the sinking of the luxury liner Titanic. Only her
mother, Ruth DeWitt Bukater, survives her. She will be sorely missed.
You mean sorely hated, don't
you? Rose thought to
herself. Her mother must hate her for dying just when she had been about to
have everything she had been praying for for the past two years. And Cal...she
knew he despised her for leaving him for Jack. He had even tried to kill both
her and Jack. She didn't care. She despised Cal even more. If it wasn't for him
framing Jack for taking the necklace, Jack might still be alive right now. They
could have gotten into a lifeboat together before they enforced the rule of
women and children first.
Oh, Jack, why? Why did you
have to die and leave me all alone? We were supposed to be together right now.
Maybe we'd be in Santa Monica at the pier, and you'd be teaching me how to ride
like a man. No. We'd be riding the roller coaster right now. I'd be holding
your hand tight and screaming as the car plunged down the track. Then we'd have
another spitting lesson, since Mother interrupted the first one. We'd save the
riding lesson for last, so we could ride off into the sunset together. It would
have been so beautiful, Jack.
"It would have been so
beautiful," Rose whispered, a hot tear slipping from her eye.
"Rose? Are you okay?"
Laurie entered the room to see Rose once again sitting alone in the dark,
crying.
"I'm fine." Rose
nodded. "I was just thinking."
"Oh. It must be about the
disaster. It was a horrible tragedy...all those people dead. You were so lucky
to survive. There's a rumor that the third class passengers were locked down
below until the ship was practically under water."
Rose shivered as she remembered
herself and Jack slamming up against a locked gate with water rapidly rising
around them. She was thankful that Jack had been able to get the gate
open...but then again...if he hadn’t been able to...she'd be with him right now
for all eternity.
"Rose?" Laurie looked
closely at her friend, noticing how pale she had gotten. "Did I say
something wrong?"
"No, Laurie. You didn't say
anything wrong. But that rumor...it was true. If it wasn't for some of the men
breaking down the gate with a bench they had torn from the floor...I might not
be here now. It was so horrible. It was like you had to be rich to be worthy of
survival."
"Oh, my God. That's
horrible..." Laurie raised her hand to her mouth.
"Enough about Titanic."
Rose changed the subject, wanting to get away from the wash of horrifying
memories of the sinking ship. "I saw you at the park today...talking to a
man. Who was he?"
Laurie paled. "No one. He
was no one." She quickly turned away and got up. "I’d better get to
the kitchen and start dinner. It's my turn tonight, and Mrs. Wilma is strict
about kitchen duties, especially dinner preparation."
"Laurie..."
"I'll talk to you later,
Rose." Laurie took off for the kitchen, leaving Rose staring after the
girl, totally confused about what had just happened. What had she said? Had she
offended Laurie somehow?
Rose just shook her head and
sighed as she leaned back into the sofa and sank back into her thoughts of
Jack, forgetting about what had made Laurie flee the room so fast.
*****
"Run, Rose!" Jack
pulled her through the ship, trying to escape the wall of ice cold water that
was bearing down on them.
"Jack!" Rose
screamed, clutching his already slippery hand. She could feel herself slipping
away from him. "I can't hold on, Jack! I have to let go!"
Suddenly, everything stopped
and turned into darkness. The water was gone, and so were the flickering
lights. Rose looked ahead, and then everything was bright again and she found
herself, along with Jack, standing right outside the entrance to the first
class dining saloon. Just about everyone she knew was in there. Mr.
Andrews...Cora Cartmell and her father...the orchestra...JJ Astor...Mr.
Guggenheim...and Jack's friends Fabrizio and Tommy Ryan. They were all there.
Jack grabbed her hands and held them tightly. He forced her to look at him. She
shivered as his blue eyes bore into hers intensely.
"Do not let go,
Rose." His voice was strong and determined. "Do you hear me? Never
let go. Keep your promise."
Rose looked away from him and
into the dining saloon, where people were gathering around and talking.
Fabrizio was slapping Tommy on the back and laughing. Everyone was getting
along and having a good time. She wanted to be in there more than anything. She
turned to go in, but Jack grabbed her shoulders.
"No, Rose. No. Not yet.
You can't go in there yet. It's not your time. You have too much to do."
Jack held her still.
"But why, Jack? I want to
go in. I want to be with you."
He looked at her, deep sorrow
in his eyes. "You'll always be with me, Rose. Always. Just as I'll always
be with you. You just can't go in there yet. But someday, Rose, you can. I
promise, and I'll be waiting for you."
"When?"
"Someday." Jack
smiled, letting go of her hands and backing away from her towards the saloon.
Rose became frightened. Why was he leaving her?
"Jack!"
"Someday, Rose." He
held up his hand in a wave. "I promise. Now, keep your promise to me,
Rose. Honor my memory. Remember, I love you, and I'll always be with you."
"Jack?"
He turned his back to her and
entered the saloon. She pressed against the glass and watched as he turned to
her one more time and waved. She could make out the words ‘I love you’ from his
lips. He turned again, ascended the stairs, and stood in front of the clock in
the same manner he had stood after the first class dinner...when he had asked
her if she wanted to go to a real party. That was the way he stayed. He did not
turn around to look at her once.
*****
Rose awakened on the sofa. She
rubbed the fresh tears out of her eyes. What a strange dream. But then
again, it was just like the other dreams she'd had since the sinking, all of
them either about Jack or Titanic or both. But this one...it had seemed so
vivid...like she really was with Jack.
"Rose, I see you're
awake." Mrs. Wilma entered the room. "Come. Dinner's ready."
"Yes, ma’am." Rose
nodded, getting off the sofa and heading into the dining room. She looked one
more time at the couch she had been sleeping on and once again sighed
forlornly. "I miss you, Jack."
Then she disappeared into the
dining room, ready to force herself to eat and share in conversation with the
other girls in the house.