Love Throughout Time

Chapter 14

*Millie*

I needed that cry. Ever since I realized I am on the real Titanic, the one that’s going to sink, fear and sadness are my constant companions. I guess that’s a normal response to ending up on a doomed ship when you know exactly what’s about to happen. But being in Will’s arms has calmed me down. Now, I feel like I need to get to know some of these people. For some reason, two people in particular come to mind.

“Where can I go to send a telegram?” I ask him, brushing the tears from my cheeks.

Will c***s his head a little, giving me a light chuckle before answering. “Well, I’m fairly sure you cannot send a telegram one hundred thirteen years into the future.”

That makes me laugh, and all the tears seem to be gone for now.

“I’ll escort you to the radio room.” He holds out his elbow again, something I’m really starting to like, and leads me up the stairs to the boat deck, so I stop looking down at the place that triggered such awful thoughts.

We’re barely around the corner when we’re stopped by a line of people standing in the hallway in front of the radio room area.

“Excuse me, sir,” Will asks the man at the end of the line. “Is this the queue for the telegraph office?”

“It is,” the man confirms. “Though I must say, it’s quite a wait.”

Will looks at me questioningly. “I’d like to stay,” I tell him.

“Then we shall.”

I can’t help but wonder how many people in this line will actually survive. Will this be their last communication to their loved ones? I wish I could tell them to say as much as they can to them. But I doubt the ship would let a woman run around first-class telling people the ship is about to sink. With my luck, they’d arrest me and lock me up below deck like they did Leo’s character in the movie.

No matter what I do, I have to avoid being placed in the brig.

So, I refocus and concentrate on the wireless operators, trying to remember how things went for them. They were amazing, staying there and sending out messages until water actually flooded the room. I wonder whether I could be that brave.

Finally, we reach the counter. “May I help you?” The man behind the counter looks harried as he rushes us along. He’s young, probably about my age, and I’m guessing this is the junior operator.

Will looks at me. I guess I haven’t told him my plan, which is that I don't have a plan. I just felt like I needed to talk to these people. “Hello. What’s your name?” I ask the operator, trying to sound pleasant.

His eyebrows nearly touch as he stares at me before finally saying, “Harold Bride.” So, he is the junior operator. At least he will survive. “Is there a problem, Miss?”

“Is Jack here?” He’s the one who doesn’t make it. I have no clue what I’ll say to him if he’s here, but I feel like I have to say something to him.

Harold shakes his head. “No, he’s on a break right now. How do you know Jack?”

“It’s a long story.” It definitely is. I can hardly tell Harold that I’ll learn about Jack in about a hundred years only because he died on this very ship.

“Miss, would you like to send a message or not?” Harold asks, but not in a rude way. “I do have a long line of people waiting.”

I look behind me, and he’s right. “No, thank you. I’ll come back to see Jack later.”

Harold gives a nod and talks to the man behind me, and Will and I step away. His eyes are wide, but he says nothing until we’re clear of the crowd, and then it’s a whisper. “You really do know their names. How is that possible?”

“They’re pretty famous now,” I tell him.

“In the future.”

I nod. “Yes.”

“I just can’t—”

I can tell he’s trying to believe me, but I admit the whole thing is insane, so I don’t blame him. “They risk their lives staying behind sending as many messages as they can,” I explain. “It’s because of them that the Carpathia comes. Harold is the junior operator. Jack keeps sending messages while Harold gets his life jacket on and gets ready to leave. Then some guy comes in and tries to get Jack’s life jacket, and he punches him out. They both try to get out but get separated. Harold helps launch one of the last lifeboats, but he gets washed off the deck, and the boat overturns. About thirty men end up standing on it or clinging to it until a couple of other lifeboats come to rescue them a couple of hours later..”

“You’re so certain when you speak of this.”

I shrug. “Because that’s what happened. Harold lived to tell everyone about it.”

“Amazing.” We exit back to the promenade, noticing a change in the ship as it slows down. “We’re nearing port.”

“In Queenstown, Ireland.”

Will looks at me. “That’s correct.”

I have the sudden urge to drag Will off the minute it docks. But would that be the right thing to do?

“If you’re concerned about the ship, perhaps it’s best for you to disembark,” he says.

“I won’t go without you,” I insist.

“I doubt I could convince my brother and sister.”

“Plus, you only half believe me.” I wouldn’t believe me, either. They have their whole lives on this ship, what’s left after their parents’ death. I can’t expect them to change their plans entirely based on the words of some crazy woman from the future.

“I am trying to,” he says softly.

“I know.” We lean against the railings and watch the ship sail into port. It really is surreal, being on the Titanic in 1912, watching all the excited faces as the huge ship pulls in. I shake my head. “It wouldn’t be the right thing, anyway. If Harold and Jack can stay to send messages, I can stay too.”

Will puts his hand over mine on the railing, squeezing gently. “You are quite brave.”

I don’t know if that’s true, but I must be here for a reason. Running away now won’t help anyone.

Once the ship is secured, and the gangway lowered, people begin to embark and disembark, and some cargo is carried off. I see the Royal Mail clerks pulling along a large cart full of bags of mail, and I wish the clerks could just stay there in Ireland, but I know they won’t.

What really bothers me is the happy faces of all the people getting onboard. “Most of these people aren’t first-class passengers,” I tell Will quietly. “Most of them are already on. There are a few second-class passengers who may have a chance of survival, but most of the hundred and twenty-three people getting on now are in third class, doomed to be locked down below while others escape.” It feels hard to breathe. “I just want to scream for them all to turn around and get off.”

Will nods. “As do I.”

I turn to look at him. “You believe me?”

“Sometimes I do, and other times, it just seems so impossible,” he admits. “Yet, if there’s a chance at saving lives, I can understand why it would be worth it to try to warn them.”

I watch a couple walk up the gangway. They’re both laughing and so obviously happy. “America was a dream for these people, a promise of a new life.” I look up at Will. “I suppose it’s the same for you, Edward, and Agatha.”

He nods. “Indeed. Yet life is much more difficult for these people of lesser means. My siblings and I have a secure future not dissimilar to the promises we had in Southampton. I’m quite sure these people expect to work hard and reverse their fortunes in America.”

“Probably,” I agree. I’m so grateful to see a few people walking down the gangway, though I know it’s not nearly enough. “Only seven people get off here.”

Will watches the gangway and nods. “I would expect such a low number. Most on this ship are overseas passengers.”

“Right.” I catch a glimpse of one disembarking passenger who stands out from the others. “Oh, see over there, the priest getting off? He has all that camera equipment.”

“I do,” he says. “Perhaps his covenant with God has protected him.”

“That’s what they say because of the message he received,” I explain.

“How so?”

“That’s Father Francis Brown,” I explain. “He’s a really good photographer. He’s so good, a first-class passenger offered him a job in America.”

“Yet he’s disembarking?”

“Yes,” I say. “He messaged his superior asking if he could go. He got a telegram back saying, ‘Get off that ship-provincial!’ in all caps. So, there he goes.” I watch as Father Brown steps safely onto the Irish dock, and I can’t help exhaling with relief. There’s one life saved at least. “He already took several pictures of life on the Titanic. Those pictures will be very famous.”

“I’d imagine so.”

“One of his pictures is the last one of Captain Smith alive.” It’s so hard to think of all the people who will die here.

“How do you know for sure that it’s him?” Will asks me.

But just then, a man leaning on the railing not far from us calls out, “Goodbye, Father Brown!”

I hear Will hitch a breath next to me. “Astonishing.”

Turning to him, I see his eyes wide. Maybe he’s finally convinced. I lower my voice since so many people are nearby, watching the people board. “It’s because it’s true. The Titanic is one of the most famous ships to ever sink. It’s real, Will.”

I shiver, even though it’s warm out, and he wraps his arm around my shoulders.

Another smiling couple walks up the gangway, the man carrying their luggage. It isn’t much for the long trip, but I can tell by their clothes it’s all they have. Still, they look so happy. “Will, I need to help these people,” I tell him. “I know what’s going to happen, so that’s on me. Maybe that’s why I’m here in the first place. I know it all sounds completely insane.”

“I must admit it does, but I’m willing to help you in any way I can,” he offers. “If that means helping others, then I’ll do just that.”

“Thank you.” I want to cry again as the people keep coming aboard, all of them smiling and happy about the promise of a new future that’s actually going to be pulled out from under them.

I have no idea how I’m going to do it, but I need to figure out a way to help all these people.