COLORS OF THE WIND
Chapter Five
Atlantic Ocean
Spring, 1607
Rose shifted uneasily in her bunk as the
normally brisk, steady wind on the sea became faster and gusty, raising waves
and tossing the ship. Thunder cracked overhead, and a burst of lightning lit
the night, visible through the small portholes.
She sat up, almost hitting her head on the
low ceiling. Gripping the rail, she held on as the ship moved abruptly, almost
throwing her from her bed. In the bunk below, she a thud as her mother was
thrown against the wall, rousing her from sleep.
"Rose?" Ruth sat up, rubbing her
back. "Rose, are you all right?"
"I’m fine, Mother," Rose replied,
but at that moment the ship shifted again, breaking Rose’s grip on the rail and
almost toppling her to the floor.
Clinging to the ladder, she climbed down,
refusing to stay in her unsteady bunk another moment. Another flash of
lightning lit the room as her trunk broke loose and slid toward her. Thumps
could be heard from the other cabins, and shouts and crashes came from the deck
above.
"This is quite a storm," Ruth
remarked, as Rose perched precariously on the ladder, trying to avoid the
sliding trunks. "Not unlike some I remember at the estate at Cornwall when
I was a girl."
Rose held tightly to the ladder, looking out
the portholes whenever a flash of lightning lit the sky enough for her to see.
She didn’t dare light a candle in this storm—if it fell over, it would set the
ship afire.
"Mother, this isn’t Cornwall. This is a
ship. What if we sink?"
"I don’t think we’ll sink, Rose. This
ship is quite well broken in."
"But, Mother…"
"Rose, don’t worry about things you
can’t control. If the ship sinks, it sinks. There’s nothing we can do about
it."
Rose stepped down to the floor and made her
way across the lurching room to a porthole. It was almost too black to see
outside, and her mother’s words didn’t calm her at all. She jumped as another
crack of thunder sounded right overhead, then turned as a sound came from her
mother. Apparently the storm had gotten the better of even Ruth’s strong
stomach.
Rose didn’t feel sick, just frightened. The
ship tossed again, sending her to the floor, and suddenly a vision of what
would happen if the ship did sink went through her mind. She and her mother
would be trapped in the tiny cabin as the water rose around them, choking the
life out of them. She remembered the sight of her mouse and its babies
struggling in the much calmer waters a few weeks earlier, and crawled over to
the bunks, pulling herself to her feet and clinging to the piece of furniture
as the ship continued to toss.
Staggering along the unsteady floor, Rose
reached the door and flung it open as another flash of lightning lit the room.
Ruth stared at her, her face pale and drawn.
"Rose! What are you doing? Come back
here!"
Rose didn’t listen. From the black hallway
came the skittering of tiny feet and a high-pitched yipping and whining. She
shrieked as the soft, furry form brushed past her into the cabin. Governor
Ratcliffe’s dog, Percy, was as terrified of the storm as she was.
Ruth staggered out into the hall as Rose
lurched across it and began feeling her way towards the staircase to the deck.
"Rose! Where are you?"
Another flash of lightning lit the sky as the
wind blew the doors to the deck open, sending in a wave that soaked the steps
and dribbled down into the hallway below.
Ruth saw her. "Rose! Rose, come back
here! Don’t go up there!"
More panicked than ever from the wave, Rose
ignored her mother and began to climb the stairs, clinging to the banister and
slipping in her bare feet. The storm tossed the ship again, almost sending her
tumbling to the bottom of the stairs, but she held on, gritting her teeth and
pulling herself upward.
Ruth tumbled to the floor in the pitching
ship. "Rose! Rose!"
*****
Rose plastered herself against the wall as
she came out on deck. It was nearly as dark as inside, but the flashes of
lightning lit the ship enough to show her what was going on.
The deck was in chaos, men running and
shouting, slipping and tumbling on the wet, tossing deck. Several barrels had
broken loose, one of them splitting open and spilling its liquid contents
across the deck. A strong smell of wine was in the air before another wave
washed over the deck.
There were shouts and commotion from the
bows, cries of "Man overboard!" carrying on the gusty wind.
Startled, Rose looked in the direction of the
bow, still clinging to the wall. As another flash of lightning lit the sky, she
could see a man swing out over the railing and disappear below, clinging to a
sturdy rope. Her eyes widened as she recognized him—John Smith, adventurer and
story-teller extraordinaire, who had often been invited to dine at Governor
Ratcliffe’s table.
She watched, straining to see when the
lightning lit the sky. It seemed like forever, but was actually only a few
minutes before several other men pulled the rope up and Smith reappeared,
carrying the limp form of the young man who had been carried overboard by a
wave.
She stared, wondering if he was dead, as
Smith laid him on the pitching deck and knelt over him. A few minutes later, a
flash of lightning revealed the young man sitting up, holding his head and
coughing.
Surprised, Rose inched forward, forgetting
for the moment why she had come out on deck—and the danger of being on deck in
a storm.
She was reminded as the ship pitched
sideways, a large wave washing over the deck. Rose tried to scramble out of the
way, but it was too late. She screamed as the wave picked her up and dragged
her to the edge of the deck, sending her tumbling over the railing.
*****
Jack turned, startled, as a high-pitched
scream came from halfway up the deck. He had been securing some ropes alongside
Fabrizio and Tommy while a still-dazed Thomas clung to some netting, still
catching his breath after his near-drowning.
Another terrified scream sounded through the
wind, along with high-pitched pleas for help. Jack turned and, leaving the
ropes to the others, slipped and slid over to the railing, pulling himself
along as the ship pitched again.
"Help me! Please, help me!"
A flash of lightning lit the scene, allowing
Jack to see a figure clinging precariously to the outside of the railing. It
sounded like one of the women.
Forgetting his own safety, Jack moved towards
her.
*****
Rose clung to the rail she had managed to
grip as the wave washed her overboard. The ship tossed again, almost tearing
her hands from their precarious hold. She tried to find some purchase on the
side of the ship, but to no avail.
"Help me! Please, someone help me!"
Another wave washed over her, causing one of
her hands to slip from the railing.
"Help! Please!"
She had been terrified of being trapped in a
sinking ship, but this was worse by far. If she lost her grip, she would slip
unnoticed into the dark, churning waters, never to be seen again. She had never
learned to swim, and the churning waters would make swimming impossible in any
case.
She heard Cal’s voice as he struggled up on
deck, not daring to go near the rail in the storm.
"For God’s sake! Someone do
something!"
"Help me!" Rose screamed, her eyes
imploring Cal to pull her back over. She managed to get her toes into a small
crack in the wood, but another wave washed them loose. As she felt her hands
slipping from the rail, someone grabbed them.
"I’ve got you. I won’t let go."
With a surge of adrenaline, Rose got her feet
against the side of the ship and pushed herself upwards, almost getting her
shoulders over the rail before she lost momentum and fell back, nearly dragging
her rescuer overboard.
She screamed again, panic overcoming her as
he lost his grip on one of her hands. Terrified, she grabbed for anything she
could get her hands on, and heard him curse as she got a handful of his hair.
Grabbing her hand again, he pulled up and
back, dragging her back over the railing as the ship tossed in the opposite
direction, flinging her on top of him as a flash of lightning lit the scene,
allowing her to see her rescuer.
By this time a crowd had gathered. Someone
pulled Rose off of Jack, helping them both to their feet. Cal came forward,
wrapping his arms around Rose’s sodden body and pulling her toward the
stairway.
Rose looked back at her rescuer. "Thank
you." She burst into tears, realizing how close she had come to drowning.
Cal herded her down the stairs, followed by
Jack and by John Smith. Ruth stood at the bottom of the stairs, watching
anxiously. Ratcliffe came slowly down the hall, followed by his servant, who
carried a blanket.
Rose fell to her knees as Smith took the
blanket and wrapped it around her. Shivering, she leaned against the wall,
continuing to cry, until Ruth knelt down before her.
"Rose, whatever possessed you to go up
there? You knew it wasn’t safe."
"I was afraid that the ship would sink,
and I would be trapped."
Cal shook his head, turning to the other men
in the light of the candle that Ratcliffe’s servant had brought. There was no
danger of fire now—the whole hallway was soaked.
"She was afraid the ship would
sink." He turned back to Rose. "Sweetpea, it wouldn’t have made any
difference. You know you can’t swim. If your mother hadn’t come for me when she
did…"
"You had nothing to do with rescuing
me!" Rose snapped. "You stood back and watched. If I had fallen into
the sea, you wouldn’t have even looked for me. He was the one who rescued
me!" She pointed to Jack. "Tell me, sir, what is your name?"
"Jack Dawson, Miss."
"I’m Rose DeWitt Bukater. Thank you for
pulling me back."
"You’re welcome."
Cal interrupted, not liking the way that Rose
was looking at Jack. "Come, Sweetpea. Let’s get you back to your cabin.
You must be freezing."
Smith stopped him. "Perhaps a little
something for the boy?"
Cal turned, eyeing Jack disdainfully,
wondering what this commoner might want. Finally, he reached into his pocket
and pulled out a gold piece. "This should be sufficient."
Rose gaped at him. "Is that the going
rate for saving the woman you love?"
Cal looked at her, a patronizing smile
spreading across his face. "Rose is displeased. What to do?" He
thought for a moment. "I know." He turned to Jack. "Perhaps you
could join us for dinner tomorrow evening, to regale our group with your heroic
tale."
Jack looked at him for a moment, wondering if
he was serious, then shrugged. "Sure. Count me in."
"Good. It’s settled, then." Cal
pushed Rose towards her cabin once more.
Rose looked back as she reached the door, her
eyes meeting Jack’s. She smiled, tentatively, before Cal pushed her inside.