by Tonie Chacon
Megan led the way and soon they arrived at the photographer’s studio only to find a note tacked on the door. “Moved to Squash Court Number One, Located on G deck.”
“Just in case you were wondering, yes, I do know where that is,” Megan proudly said.
“Of course you do. I never had a doubt. Lead the way, fair lady.”
“Do you mind going outside for a walk before we go back in? I am in need of some fresh air,” Megan asked as she led them to the doorway leading outside.
“No, not at all. Please, lead the way,” Alice replied softly.
Out on the short open air deck, gazing up at the stars, Megan shivered slightly. “’Tis a cold one tonight. We’d best bundle ourselves up tomorrow. It’s a clear night too. Just look at the stars.” They stood gazing up at the sky, hardly noticing some crew members passing by also talking about clear nights and how the icebergs about would be tough to see, with no growlers and such.
“Are you ready to go down into the bowels of Titanic again?” Megan asked evilly.
“Whatever do you mean by that?”
“I mean that the squash court is in the bottom of the ship just across from the post office. I stopped by there earlier on in the trip. That’s when I met up with all the fellows. I talked to them about trying to get work in the Americas and all with them, seeing as I have experience with ticket dealings and such.”
“I see. I’m sorry, but I didn’t even think that you might have plans after the voyage. How naïve of me. Of course, that is a splendid idea. Perhaps I, too, can obtain employment. Let’s stop by in the morning and gain more knowledge about the how and wherefores and so-forths. It is good to keep the lines of communication open at all times. Fletcher at least taught me that much in my time watching him deal with the estate.”
Soon they stood in front of Squash Court Number One. It had a closed sign on it, the hours saying, “Nine to Nine.”
Alice heaved a huge sigh. “I didn’t even think about it being closed.” She was alone in hoping for a miracle, but she tried the door handle anyway. “Oh, darn, it’s locked too.” Turning to Megan, she said, “Well, I didn’t think about this being locked, did you?”
“Yes I did. There is a lot of equipment inside and it should be locked. But I’ve come prepared.” Pride sounded in Megan’s voice. She took a long straight pin from her hair, and slipped it into the little hole in the lock. “My brothers used to lock me out of their rooms every day. But what they didn’t know was that I figured out how to pick the locks on their doors, after lots and lots of practice. I saw this guy once, Houdini, I think was his name. Anyway, he picked all these locks he had chained himself up in with a small hat pin he had concealed in his hair. So that got me to thinking I could do the same thing with my brothers. You see, the trick is in the feel. When you feel a slight bump against metal, then a slot in which you insert the head of the pin, then you turn your wrist ever so slightly. You hear a pop and the door opens. Voilà.”
“I didn’t know you knew French. Is that how you talk with Alexandria?” Alice asked smiling at Megan’s antics.
“No, is that French? I heard Houdini say it, so I said it. So let’s see if I can do some magic here on this door. Watch out for people coming.” Megan crouched down to the lock. She inserted the pin into the hole. She turned her wrist just so and voilà. It clicked. She reached out with her other hand to grasp the handle, and the door swung open. They slipped quickly inside and closed and relocked the door. “Just in case,” Megan said.
“My Lord, my heart is beating so fast. Yes, I agree. Now would not be the time to get caught.” Alice scanned the room, found a wall sconce, and turned it on. It was a tall, square, empty room with straight lines painted on the floor and high walls, one dotted with little black marks all over it. Three high windows showed lights from the upper decks. She saw a door on the far side of the court. She walked toward it, past the racquets hanging on the wall reminding her they were in a court of some physical activity. She had no idea what squash was.
“Oh, damn it, this one is locked too,” Alice said with a pout.
“Here, perhaps this will help.” Megan tossed her a key. “I found it here in this cabinet. It will probably open that.”
Alice inserted the key into the lock. Indeed, it did fit. Inside was a windowless office. She walked over to a table with a small lamp on it and turned it on. It cast a shadow and light filtered through strips of film, which hung in rows from wall to wall on string. Upon closer investigation, Alice gasped when she realized that all those strips were filled with photographs. Little tiny images on strange, see-through film. So that is what a negative looked like. “Fascinating. Megan, I’ve found them. In here.”
Megan entered and walked past a desk and a wall of chemicals in glass jars, each labeled for contents. On the other wall was a nice setup for taking photographs, a red settee and a beautiful throw rug.
“Wow, so many.” The strips of film dangled and curled but did not touch one another.
“I think we should go about this systematically,” Alice said. “One row at a time, starting at the back working forward. I’ll stay up and work front to back.”
“What you are really saying is that you would like for me to start in the back and work my way forward. You certainly have a strange way of asking someone to do something for you,” Megan said bluntly.
“I’m sorry. You are neither my maid nor my house staff. I do not know how to tell you to do something.” Alice held her hands up in despair. “I will try to just ask for help, all right?”
“Yes, love, I can do that.” Megan leaned over to kiss her. “Yell out if you find them before I do. I will also.” As she scurried around the back, Megan cried out, “It’s bloody dark back here. Care to fetch me a torch? I saw one on the desk.”
Alice found the torch and took it back to Megan.
Alice said, “I know we’ll find them. Thank you for helping me with my bizarre idea of wanting to be in charge of these pictures. I’d rather be the keeper than the other.” Alice kissed Megan and turned to go to the front. “Good luck to us.” She gestured with crossed fingers and arms. She turned back to begin the task of finding those pictures. She just had to.
Picture after picture Alice searched. Many people like them were posed in various positions, standing, sitting, lying across the lounge, looking very scrumptious. Oh, wait, she was not supposed to be enjoying herself. Keep searching. Alice started a little mantra in her head. Search, search, look, look, no, no, no, where are they?
“Any luck back there?” Alice spoke aloud.
“No, not yet. You?”
“No, not yet for me either. Well, come on then, let’s keep searching. I’ve got to find them and destroy them, or at least steal them,” Alice said in desperation.
Picture after picture they searched. Strip after strip of all these people, a lot of crew members and captain shots amongst them. Sunrises or maybe sunsets. They were beautiful, but it was hard to tell the difference in a tiny strip of film.
Oh, it had been a glorious voyage. These last few days with Megan would be even better. Alice was thoughtful as she searched the strips for those of the four of them, Megan, Alice, Frances, and Emily. Only the pairings have changed, she smirked to herself.
The whole voyage had been quite the adventure. First, Alice was stuck down in Second Class, not that there was anything wrong with her accommodations, especially now with the circumstances and all. It was just a whirlwind. It would slow down now that she had been banished from the First Class areas by Emily. Oh where were those pictures? She had to find them. She also wished to climb back into bed with Megan. She could still be with her for another few hours until Alexandria came back. Wait, what’s this?
“Here they are. I’ve found them. Come see,” Alice yelled out. Alice unclipped the strips from their lofty positions. She was beside herself with joy.
Suddenly she was tackled from behind and landed on the settee with a bounce. “Ah ha, I’ve got you righ
t where I want you,” Megan said in a dastardly voice. “Let me have my way with you, my pretty one.” Megan rolled Alice until she was lying beneath her. Alice felt Megan boldly place her hand inside the bodice of Alice’s dress. Megan’s hand grasped her left breast and Alice felt herself grow hard in Megan’s fingers. Megan gasped. Alice went to kiss Megan when a huge jolt suddenly landed both of them onto the floor.
“What was that?” Alice exclaimed as they were righting themselves.
“Probably something shifted in the cargo hold. We are far in the depths of the ship. Nothing to worry about. It probably happens all the time. We should get up and keep gathering all these photographs, for safekeeping and all. You aren’t hurt anywhere, are you?”
“No, I’m fine. Here are the ones I’ve been searching for. Will you hand me those scissors there?” Moments later the only sound that could be heard was that of the shears cutting the film into little pieces. The photos were all undistinguishable as far as Alice was concerned, except for one. This one she would keep close to her heart. She tucked the negative of herself, Megan and Franny into her bodice.
“I’ve found the printed set of photographs,” Megan said from the desk.
Alice joined her and looked at the sample photos the photographer had printed. All sorts of pictures were there. Photos of the crew, working men in the boiler room, the ship’s musicians, “minus Colin,” Megan said.
There they were. Alice could hardly believe they looked like that. She glanced at Megan, smiled, kissed her, and stared again at the pictures. Serene and beautiful images of women gazed back at her. One made her gasp. It was the one where the photographer had tricked them into plumping up their breasts. Alice said, “Goodness, even Frances’s breasts look large there.”
Megan laughed.
The next photo showed Emily and Alice gazing into each other’s eyes.
“Give me that one,” Alice said. She snipped it with the scissors until it was in pieces.
“I’ll not let you have this one,” Megan said, holding the photograph of Megan, Alice and Frances.
“No, I like that one,” Alice said. “We can keep it. I think that’s all. I am ready to leave. Let’s go back to our room so I can show you how much I have missed you.”
Megan smiled, “But you have been with me this whole time.”
“Yes, this is true. But not where I want you now.”Alice reached out to pull Megan close. Her arms went around her waist when a loud knock was heard from the door. A voice followed.
“Help, is there anyone in there? I see light coming from the windows above. We need help. Hello, any one, any one at all?” The man sounded desperate.
They turned out the office light, closed the door, and crossed back over the squash court. Megan tucked the photograph into the sleeve of her dress, opened the door, and peered out.
“Smitty, is that you?”
“Yes, yes it is. Do I know you? Well, it doesn’t matter. We need your help. You too, miss. The water is rushing in fast. We need to save as many mail bags as possible. We need to get them up out of the hold before the water beats us to them. Come on then. Hurry up and follow me. Time is of the essence.”
“Water? From where?” Megan asked.
“We’ve struck an iceberg. It sliced right through the hull. She’s filling up fast. The watertight doors are sealing. We haven’t much time, miss.”
“Water, from the ocean? Inside the ship? It must be freezing cold water if that be. Come on, we’ve got to help,” Megan said over her shoulder to Alice. They followed Smitty down the hallway to the Sea Post Officers entrance. Once inside, it seemed all hell had broken loose. Water was coming up through the hatches from the storerooms below. The stored items they weren’t supposed to need until they reached New York were covered with water. Megan’s trunk was down there somewhere.
“Good Smitty, you found someone to help,” said Bill, the head registry clerk. “You there?” He pointed at Megan. “Come over here and start stuffing these sacks full of anything you can grab that’s mail oriented. And you there, go with Smitty and he’ll find you something to do. Oh, but for the sake of God, put on these life vests.” He grabbed two thick white life vests from the top of a cabinet.
“You too, Smitty.” He threw Smitty a vest as well. “Put them on for your own safety. I’ll be back with some more help.” He turned and ran out the door.
Smitty turned to approach the water bubbling out of the hatch from the hold below. The water was already over their shoes and threatened their hemlines. The same hatch that just yesterday, Megan and Alice had gone in, frolicking throughout the deep storage area with not a care in the world but each other, was all underwater. Alice felt a shiver run through her as the water kept rising, high enough to start her hemline getting soaked. Her boots had already been sloshing around on her feet for a bit now. She could hardly feel her toes, they were so cold.
“Help me here, would you both? Start grabbing any sack you see and put it on top of the hatch. Maybe we can prevent some more water coming in. These sacks are oil skinned, so they might withstand a bit of water.” Smitty demonstrated what he wanted. Following suit they started stacking sack after sack upon the hatch. When the load grew heavy with enough pressure to keep the hatch door down for the moment, Smitty turned his attention to the cage. “My Lord, how have we forgotten about the Registered Mail? It’s locked and Bill has the only key. That’s the mail we should have been working on getting out of here before we sink. It is the most important.”
“Surely we are not in danger of sinking?” Alice asked.
Megan answered, “Bill’s only been gone a few minutes. He’ll be back. But I can open the locks on the doors with my hairpin. Perhaps you would like me to try? A lock is a lock, isn’t it?” Megan pulled out her hairpin again. She leaned down to insert it into the lock on the cage.
“What is the meaning of this?” Bill was back. “You’re tampering with a United States-Royal Sea Post Mail Registered Lock. How dare you?” He rushed as fast as he could through the sloshing water.
Sacks of mail floated about getting in his way as he came over to the door of the cage. He inserted his key, and the lock popped open, but he struggled with opening the door wide enough to get in. “Help me with this confounded door.” The four of them together got the door to open. Bill ran to the first fifteen sacks he saw and grabbed them. Handing three to each woman, he took the other nine and started out the door.
“Please follow me. We are going up top to the lifeboats with these.” Sloshing through the water with soaked hemlines was difficult, but pulling three bags with heavy locks on them was even more difficult. Alice struggled to keep up. She concentrated on Megan’s back. Following. As long as she was with Megan, she felt safe, even though the ship had water in it and was probably sinking. She had finally found the one. She wasn’t going to let anything get in their way, not even a sinking ship. Alice knew that Megan was as cold as she was, but all she saw from Megan was her drive to do the job they were given. She admired that about her. Alice would try to not complain too much or be a burden. If her feet were frozen, then Megan’s were too.
Once they had climbed out of the water onto the staircase, the going became much easier. They finally encountered a steward named Albert who was put into service immediately.
“Here, you are now entrusted to important items under lock and key, take them up top to the lifeboats,” Bill said.
“Lifeboats? My word, why? Ladies?” He looked down at his arms that were now full of mail bags and then back at them, a little flustered. “I’m sorry, sir, but why are you all wet?”
“I must get back. Carry on and good luck.” Bill turned to go back down into the water that continued to fill the compartments below.
“Bill, give me your hat so I can look more official,” Megan yelled at him. The hat came sailing down the hallway and landed at her feet. “Thanks, and good luck to you too.”
“Okay then, Albert is it?” Alice asked politely. “Yes, what is th
e quickest way to get to the stern from here? W-we are in danger of sinking, apparently. Now if you would kindly lead us in the proper direction?”
Megan said, “I know the answer. It’s Scotland Yard.”
“Yes, ma’am, you are correct. This way please.” Albert puffed up with authority as he led his new protégés toward Scotland Yard. “Could you kindly tell me what the actual problem is?” Albert questioned.
“The ship has struck an iceberg and the hull is filling up down there with water,” Megan said. “We are entrusted with this important Registered Mail and must get it up top to a lifeboat and safely off the ship.”
“And what is Scotland Yard?” Alice asked. “I seem to be the only one in the dark. I have heard of the one in England. I think it’s a police headquarters?”
“It is a long hallway that runs along the entire ship that the crew uses to deliver goods,” Megan said. “My brother told me about it that very first day of our voyage. Now, I have a question for you, Alice. Why the stern?”
“Well, we were in the bow downstairs when it was starting to flood,” Alice said, “so I would naturally go the opposite way. Thus, the stern. But that’s odd. I don’t hear anything. No propellers are turning. They must have shut them off, or we didn’t notice because we were a little overwhelmed.”
“Yes, you are so smart.” Megan looked over at Alice. “Who knows? Our efforts to save the mail might be in our favor when it comes to landing a job in New York. You are doing great. Let’s just do this one thing, and then our duty is done and we will all be in a lifeboat soon. But we have to get going, all right?” They hurried again to follow Albert.
“My arms are getting tired,” Alice moaned. “How much farther until we reach the top deck?”
“Oh, here miss, let me take a couple more from you, and you too, miss. It’s the locks that are the heavy things. The things inside are feather weight.” Albert reached for two sacks from each of them. “Up we go then.” He motioned to the stairs.
“Isn’t the elevator working?” Megan asked. “I can’t see all of us trudging up four more flights of stairs.”
