RUNAWAY ROSE
Chapter Fourteen

"Hold still, Rose. I’ve almost got this stuff worked in."

Alice put a little more of the black dye into Rose’s hair. Looking critically at her handiwork, she nodded to herself, then tossed a towel over Rose’s head.

Rose sputtered and pushed the towel out of her eyes. "This stuff smells."

"It’s turning your hair a nice, safe shade of black."

"If you say so. Can I see a mirror?"

Alice peeked under the towel. "Not yet. In about half an hour."

"How long do we have?"

"About an hour and half until we have to be at the theater."

Rose groaned. "I hope this works."

"I hope so to. Otherwise, you’re going to look really strange. You might wind up with black-streaked hair instead of black, or gray hair, or some other interesting look."

"Gray hair?"

"You’ll have it someday anyway."

Rose squeezed her eyes shut. "Old ladies look normal with gray hair. Young ones look...like they’ve had bad dye jobs."

Alice shrugged. "I don’t know about that. I’ve seen a few young people with silver hair. They actually looked quite nice."

"Silver is not gray."

"You could tell people you’ve had a great shock. That’s known to change your hair color."

"To white."

"Or you could wear a wig."

Rose shot her a baleful look. "Very funny." The wigs Alice was referring to were costume pieces, in colors and styles ranging from realistic to outrageous.

Alice fell silent for a while, checking under the towel occasionally. Finally, she was satisfied.

"Let’s rinse this out."

"I hope this turns out well. You still haven’t told me where you got the dye."

"I bought it from Frances. She tries new colors every few weeks. Charged me plenty. I hope you appreciate this."

Rose put her hand over her eyes. "I shouldn’t have asked." Robert had delightedly told her about Frances’ numerous hair-dye disasters before Alice had shooed him out of the bathroom.

Alice dumped a pan of water over Rose’s head, sending black dye down the sink’s drain. Turning on the water, she pushed Rose’s head under the faucet.

Rose winced as the water poured over her head. She hated cold water. "Can’t you warm this up?"

"Not without burning you."

"Wonderful. Are you sure you know what you’re doing?"

"Of course I do. I’m an actress. I’ve dyed my own hair."

"How did it turn out?"

Alice didn’t answer. "Wonderful," Rose complained.

"I didn’t say anything."

"Exactly."

Alice ran her fingers through Rose’s sodden hair, rinsing away the dye. "You do complain a lot."

"I have my reasons."

Alice just nodded knowingly. After a moment, she asked, "So, you were on the Titanic?"

Rose jumped, startled, banging her head on the faucet. "What makes you think that?"

"In the article, your fiancé said you had been distraught since the sinking. So, were you there, or did you just know someone who was?"

"I was there."

"How awful."

Rose was surprised by the compassion in Alice’s voice. Alice made herself out to be brash, tough, and world-weary, but she had a compassionate streak, too.

"It...wasn’t very pleasant."

"Doesn’t sound like it. All those tiny lifeboats in the middle of the ocean, the cold, people screaming for help, the ship suddenly vanishing beneath the sea..."

"It took almost three hours to sink, and it split in half before it did."

"The papers said it went down in one piece."

"The papers also said everyone was rescued."

"True. So, it really split in half?"

"I watched it." The lie rolled easily from Rose’s tongue. She couldn’t talk about Jack yet, or the ordeal that had followed the ship’s final plunge into the sea. She didn’t know if she would ever be ready.

"How terrible. Of course, you were safe in a lifeboat."

"Yes." Rose wanted the conversation to end.

"I read that almost all of the first class women got off safely, and a lot of the men, too, and even second class had a lot of survivors, but there was a horribly high death toll in steerage. Of course, that was in a socialist propaganda paper, so I don’t how true it is."

"It’s true. I’d guess that most of the passengers who wound up in the water were third class, but there were some others." Like me, she thought.

Alice started to speak again, but Rose interrupted her. "I really don’t like talking about it. It was cold, and the screams from the icy water were just horrendous. I knew some of the people who died."

"Some of the cream of society went down with that ship."

"And lots of others, too. My maid was one of those lost."

"Your maid. Poor you. I guess you found another one soon enough."

Rose jerked her head out from under the faucet, uncaring that black water spattered everywhere. "That was uncalled for. Trudy was my friend."

Alice was immediately apologetic. "I’m sorry, Rose. I didn’t mean it to sound that way. A lot of rich people think everyone else is expendable."

"I don’t."

Alice coaxed Rose to put her head back under the faucet. "You’re almost done here. And I shouldn’t have said that. If you truly thought you were better than everyone else, you wouldn’t be here."

"That ship took a lot of good people with it. But it left Cal behind."

"It’s said the good die young."

"So what does that say about me?"

"You’re still young. Maybe you’ll have your chance."

"I hope not. Or maybe I’m not good."

"I’m not answering that."

Rose glared at her, but Alice’s teasing had done its work. Her mood lightened somewhat, Rose took her head out from under the faucet. Alice rubbed a towel over Rose’s head, then handed her a mirror.

Rose looked at herself, astounded at the change. Her once red curls were a deep, inky black, framing her face and making it look much paler. She hardly recognized herself.

Alice nodded approvingly. "Black isn’t exactly your color, but I think it’ll work. With a little makeup, some plain clothes, and a hat, you’ll look like an entirely different person."

"You think I’ll be able to hide this way?"

"I’d have trouble recognizing you if I hadn’t done the work myself."

"Let’s just hope everyone else thinks the same way."

"They probably won’t notice, except the people who know you."

"How much do I owe you?"

"Owe me?"

"For the dye, and the work."

Alice waved her hand dismissively. "Nothing." She smiled, tossing back her red hair. "It isn’t every day I get to help a worthy cause...or reduce the competition."

Rose tossed the towel at her. Alice caught it deftly, laughing.

"Let’s see about finishing your new look. We have to be at work in forty-five minutes."

Chapter Fifteen
Stories