by Jina Bacarr
Quiet, except for the buzzing sound of the wireless machine. The Marconi operator tapped out messages that could travel as much as fifteen hundred miles at night. Other times the range was short and signals often hard to catch.
Buck had to get his message to New York.
Without delay, he handed the young man gaping at him a sheet of paper.
To E.F. Perkins, Perkins, Smith and Young, Attorneys at Law.
The Park Row Building, New York, New York.
Need to retain your services at once. Personal matter. Will explain when I arrive in New York. Signed – Captain Lord James ‘Buck’ Blackthorn.
‘Send this wireless right away,’ Buck demanded, then handed the operator a pound note.
‘Passengers aren’t supposed to be in here, sir,’ said the young man, handing the message back to him. ‘Leave it at the purser’s enquiry desk.’ He turned his back and picked up his headset.
‘It’s urgent, please!’ Buck said, his voice cracking under the strain. My God, was that him? He slammed the paper down on the desk next to a tall pile of messages. ‘A girl’s life is at stake.’
The operator’s face didn’t soften, as if he’d heard that excuse before. The intense look on Buck’s face told him he wouldn’t take no for an answer.
‘Hold on, Mr…’ He picked up the message and looked at the signature. He snapped to attention. ‘All right, your lordship, I’ll get to it straightaway.’
‘Please, and hurry!’
No more time to waste here. He intended to search every inch of this ship until he found Ava.
He was aware his message to Trey’s solicitors wouldn’t reach their business offices in New York for several hours.
‘I never thought I’d see the day you hired a lawyer to keep a woman in your life, Buck,’ Trey had said, then added in a serious tone, ‘Ava is worth fighting for. She’s a hell of a woman.’
He’d recognized the deep concern and humility in Trey’s voice as that of a man not trying to hide his emotions. A reckoning of sorts that his friend wasn’t as easygoing about his feelings towards the Irish girl as he pretended. That the caddish young man he knew had reformed. Because of Ava. That set his thinking on a different course, making Trey a rival for her affections. But he couldn’t sort that out. Not now.
With those words ringing in his ears, Buck forged ahead, planning his next move. He prayed he’d have an answer to his wireless before they arrived in New York Tuesday night. He needed it as a bargaining chip with the captain if he didn’t find Ava before then. Using legal maneuvers was the only way out for her. Perkins was a crafty, smooth-talking lawyer. He’d come up with some legal scheme to get her off this ship.
Buck saw a familiar ship’s officer making his rounds. Mr Lightoller. He increased his pace and caught up with the ship’s second officer.
‘Bracing cold tonight, isn’t it, Mr Lightoller?’ Buck said casually. He pulled the collar on his overcoat tighter around his neck to emphasize his aversion to the chill.
Merely a ploy not to reveal what was really on his mind.
Ava.
And where in the hell she was being held on this liner.
‘Yes, indeed, your lordship. The temperature’s dropped to near freezing.’ Mr Lightoller seemed in good spirits in spite of the drastic change in weather. He was a likeable chap with a keen interest in the seafaring life.
‘Any icebergs about?’ Buck asked, continuing the conversation.
‘Mr Murdoch and I were just discussing that possibility,’ Mr Lightoller said, referring to the ship’s first officer. Then with good-natured humor, he added, ‘We may encounter a small berg or two within the hour, but I wouldn’t miss a good hand of poker waiting to see it.’
Buck laughed. ‘Spoken like a true sailor, Mr Lightoller.’ He paused. This was the opportunity he’d been waiting for. ‘The smoke room was all abuzz this evening with the rumor they found the Irish girl,’ he said, keeping his voice steady, his interest noncommittal. He was simply a curious gentleman making small talk. ‘Is that true?’
Fortunately for Buck, the ship’s second officer understood the importance of not letting ship gossip get out of hand.
‘The official word from the captain, sir, is that it’s just a rumor.’ He hesitated. ‘However…’
He gave Buck a quick glance, along with an honest but wary smile that said he shouldn’t admit to anything.
Then, flicking on his flashlight, he walked toward the poop deck.
Buck followed.
‘Then it is true?’ Buck asked, looking out over the railing at the sea, still and shimmering like smooth glass. The night horizon was a wide stretch of ocean that seemed to have stopped with the Titanic gliding over it effortlessly.
The ship’s second officer considered his options before he answered, ‘Yes, we found her.’
Buck took a deep breath, then drumming his fingers along the wooden railing, he said, ‘There’s also talk the girl was taken advantage of by a seaman.’
Mr Lightoller cleared his throat and swung the light of his flashlight around in an arc as if to throw Buck off course.
‘That is not true, Captain Lord Blackthorn. I can personally assure you the Irish girl has not been harmed.’
Buck let out his breath, relieved, then it hit him. Could he be talking about another girl? Mr Lightoller believed Ava was the Countess of Marbury.
‘Then you’ve seen the girl?’ Buck asked, digging for information. He had to know.
‘No, Mr Moody is in charge of keeping her confined down in steerage. I value his word regarding the welfare of the girl.’ He grinned. ‘Though I heard he did have difficulty getting her to cooperate…’
In spite of his misery, Buck had to smile. That was Ava all right.
‘But she’s quite safe. No one but he and the crewmen have had contact with her. It must remain so for reasons which I am not at liberty to reveal.’
‘Where is she, Mr Lightoller?’ Buck said, pressing him.
‘Why all this interest in a steerage passenger, your lordship?’ Mr Lightoller asked, not understanding.
‘Merely a sporting one,’ Buck said with caution. ‘I made a wager with another gentleman you’d find the girl before the end of the voyage.’
Mr Lightoller grinned wide. ‘Go ahead and collect your winnings, your lordship. I assure you, the Irish girl is safe and sound down below.’
‘Where are you holding her, Mr Lightoller?’ Buck asked again, trying to contain himself, though he imagined a desperate fear showed on his face.
He shook his head. ‘Sorry, your lordship, the captain would have me busted down to seaman if I revealed that information to anyone.’
With that, he bid Buck good night and walked toward the officers’ quarters.
Buck stuffed his hands into his pockets. The night was perfect. Calm with stars in the sky, reminding him of that first night when he and Ava stood here and she told him she wanted to be free.
Now she wasn’t.
She could be anywhere on the lower decks.
For the next hour he covered the area along Scotland Road on E Deck. Up and down he walked. Thinking, hoping. Looking for her.
His pulse quickened when he remembered how she’d looked at him. In her plain cotton chemise, she was beautiful to him. Her deep auburn hair shimmering an unbelievable red, her mischievous green eyes and oval-shaped face with a pretty, pink mouth.
He simmered inside at the thought of kissing her soft lips. She’d pressed up against him with a surprising hunger, almost a fierceness, such was her need, as if she couldn’t wait to be loved by him. A move that touched him deeply.
Buck smiled. Ava was full of surprises, dashing about the ship in the countess’s coat, undressing in front of him before he could undo a button on her chemise, standing up to the countess when such a thing wasn’t done by a girl of her class. He imagined living with her would be like living with an impish but beautiful fairy who couldn’t settle on whether she wanted to be a human or a nymp
h.
Such a thought tantalized him.
And pushed him forward in his quest.
He trekked the long distance to the steerage section in aft ship where the single women were quartered. As he poked around looking for a locked cabin, doors opened and electric lights went on as sleepy-eyed women peeked out to see what was going on. The entire incident caused a lot of murmurings and giggling as well as sneers and complaints from the women who mistook him for a drunken passenger looking for a bit of fun.
Some waved their arms about, shooing him away.
But not all.
Two young women invited him into their cabin for a spot of tea, but Buck politely declined, telling them he was looking for an Irish girl with red hair. The door slammed in his face with epithets spewed at him he’d rarely heard falling from female lips. He knocked on the next door and asked again. The door opened slightly, then closed shut when he heard someone snoring loudly.
Disappointed, Buck headed back down the corridor toward second class until the sound of footsteps came echoing down the linoleum-tiled floor behind him. A girl wearing a long nightdress with a frayed shawl wrapped around her appeared. He looked at her, curious. It wasn’t her sweet Irish face that made him hesitate, but what she said that got his attention.
‘Looking for an Irish girl with red hair, are you, sir?’ she asked, glancing at him quickly to see if he was an honest sort.
‘Have you seen her?’ Buck asked, urging her toward the stairway where they could talk unobserved.
‘Yes. They locked her up on the deck below us in the forward part of the ship.’ She looked over her shoulder and, satisfied no one was about, she leaned over and whispered in his ear, ‘The single men are berthed there.’ She put her hand over her mouth to stifle a giggle.
He asked her name.
‘Peggy, sir,’ she said, lowering her eyes and rubbing her palms on her nightdress.
‘Can you show me where she is?’ Buck asked in a calm manner, but it still betrayed the desperation in his voice.
‘No, sir.’ She looked away quickly, but not quickly enough. Buck guessed she was familiar with that part of the ship.
‘Why not, Peggy?’ he asked, trying to cajole her.
Her eyes went wide. ‘If Hannah finds out I’m missing, she’ll box my ears something awful.’
‘Hannah?’ he asked.
‘My older sister. She’s jealous of the lass with the pretty face.’
‘Please, Peggy,’ Buck said, ‘you must help me. This girl’s life is at stake.’
‘Oh…’ Peggy said, blessing herself. ‘Are you Captain Lord Blackthorn?’
Buck was astonished. ‘You know me?’
She nodded. ‘The girl you’re looking for asked Hannah to get a message to you.’ She lifted her nose in an uppity manner and danced around. ‘But my sister is too devout for her own good, spouting holy verses and telling me not to talk to the handsome lads.’
‘Where is your sister now?’ he asked gently.
A big smile came over her face, her eyes lighting up. ‘She’s asleep, snoring like a bear and keeping me awake. I heard you asking about the girl, but I was afraid she’d wake up if I opened the door.’ Peggy hesitated. ‘Promise me you won’t say a word to my sister, your lordship, and I’ll show you where to find your pretty lassie.’
Buck nodded. ‘I promise.’
Smiling, she grabbed his hand and showed him how she and her friends sneaked through the broad working alleyway from the aft part of the liner to second class, then down the stairs to the lower deck.
Within minutes, Buck found himself in the forward part of the ship near the linen room. Something tightened in his throat at the idea of Ava being kept here where the single men were berthed. His eyes burned and he swallowed hard. If anyone had touched her, he swore he’d toss the bloody bastard overboard.
‘Where is she, Peggy?’ he asked, not doing a good job of holding back his impatience. His words sounded harsher than he intended.
Peggy looked back at him, curious-like. She was smaller than he’d originally thought, leaning against the steel-walled corridor. She was shivering. Was she afraid of him?
He couldn’t be certain. There was a cold clamminess in the passageway in spite of the close quarters.
Carefully, he put an arm around the girl’s shoulders to lend not only reassurance, but to bring down the rising fear he saw on her young face.
Finally, she said, ‘She’s locked in a small cabin with a padlock on the door.’ She pointed to the starboard side of the ship. ‘Over there, your lordship, near the observation deck for them ball courts.’
Without waiting for the girl to follow him, he broke into a run, skirting down the narrow hallway past closed cabins where he could hear men talking, snoring, someone playing an Irish pipe. His heart pumped madly as he checked each cabin. No padlock on that door. He tried the next one… then the next…
Keep going. Don’t stop. The girl had no reason to lie. Ava is here somewhere, I know she is.
Clenching his teeth, struggling to push back an overwhelming sense of alarm, Buck turned down a narrow passageway, his chest tightening with anxiety when—
A sudden lurch threw him off balance, a heavy grinding jar and creaking crash that slammed him into the steel-walled bulkhead.
Heart pumping, Buck got to his knees, every sense in his body on alert. It was almost as if the ship seemed to shiver, the vibration passing under his feet, then stop.
Wait, was he crazy? Or had the ship keeled over to the port side?
What was it? He’d heard a long, ripping sound like the ship had grazed something along its starboard side.
Had the Titanic thrown a propeller?
Or—
No. He refused to believe it. They couldn’t have struck an…
Iceberg.
Could they?
The painful brunt of the blow had crunched his bones together with such force he swore he must have broken something.
Shocked, dizzy, Buck got to his feet, steadied himself, then kept searching for Ava. Nothing mattered to him as much as finding her. He had to keep going, an urgency about him that pushed aside any thought of danger.
Then he realized the ship’s engines had stopped.
22
Ava couldn’t stop shivering with fright. What in heaven’s name just happened?
She had been thrown out of her bunk with a wrenching force and knocked her on her back. Hard. Pain shot through her, but she had no time to check for bruises.
The air in her cabin was damp and cold. So was her heart.
A feeling of dread haunted her that something awful had happened. It made her afraid to think about it, but she must cling to hope.
Ava pulled herself up, then looked down. She gasped. A steady stream of water along the floor lapped around her feet.
Seeping in from under her cabin door.
She froze.
Blessed Virgin, is the ship sinking?
She tried to convince herself nothing was wrong.
A loo overflowed, she decided, or the swimming bath. Something, anything.
It wasn’t seawater lapping around her feet.
Was it?
Her mind reeled as she realized the water was coming in faster and showed no signs of stopping. Frantically she pulled her skirts tight around her legs then banged on the door.
Calling out for help.
She stopped, listened. Nothing. What was to become of her? It was late, no one outside to hear her or come to her aid.
She forced herself not to panic, hoping the water would stop flowing in from under her door. Instead it came closer and closer, stealing the warmth from her cabin and making her chilled.
She clenched her jaw at the rising sensation of helplessness overtaking her, then she heard—
Footsteps splashing through the water in the narrow corridor.
Ava swallowed and tried to keep her legs from shaking. Who was it? The ship’s officer? A seaman come to rescue her?
<
br /> They wouldn’t let her drown, would they?
Use your brain, girl, why would they come to save you?
To them she was a petty thief and a nuisance. The whole ship would be quarantined if anyone found out she had no inspection card.
Let her drown like a rat, they would. And be done with her.
Who would know? Who would care?
No one.
No… no… no. Ava exploded into a scream, pounding on the door with her fists.
‘Help me, please! Someone help me!’
‘Ava, are you in there…? Ava!’
She put her hand to her mouth, not believing it was him she heard.
‘Buck…?’
‘Ava, oh, thank God I found you,’ she heard him say.
‘Please… get me out of here!’ she cried out.
‘I can’t. There’s a padlock on the door. No key.’
Ava leaned against the door, her spirits sinking. She’d forgotten the steward had taken the key and her freedom with it.
‘Stand back, Ava—’
‘What are you going to do?’ she asked, her ear to the door, her heart racing.
‘I’ll shoot the lock off,’ Buck said with urgency. She heard the sound of a hammer being cocked. ‘Get as far away from the door as you can.’
Ava waded through the rising water to the back of the cabin and hunched down low in the berth, her fingers in her ears.
‘Ready!’ she called out.
‘Hold steady, Ava.’
She jumped back when the shot rang out, then another, and the door burst open.
Her heart pounded. She couldn’t believe her eyes. He looked like a wild avenger in black, breathing heavily and holding a pistol, his eyes blazing. Doing anything to free her and damn the consequences.
Buck.
Lord, she never thought she’d see his handsome face again.
She looked at him boldly. He returned her look. Never had she seen anyone look at her like that. The dark pools of his eyes brought to Ava’s mind St Michael himself. He, too, carried a weapon and kept the heavens safe for all who tread there.
He was here now, strong and passionate. A man, not an angel, the very image of hope eternal lighting up her soul.
