Henry & Sarah

by Kadrak, Suzanne

  “Pain… ribs…” Henry croaked.

  “We will have it checked as soon as we are all on board.”

  “We all?” Henry asked, wondering what Oscar had meant by this comment. But Oscar didnʼt answer and instead turned to Sarah who lay feebly next to Henry, gradually gaining consciousness again.

  “Sarah, Sarah, wake up.” Oscar gently slapped her face.

  Sarah stirred slightly and let out a faint moan.

  “It will be alright, Sarah. Everything will be alright now,” Oscar tried to comfort her.

  Henry looked at her. She looked fragile and helpless, just like a little bird that had fallen out of its nest. He carefully put his arm around her and pulled her close.

  Then he buried his head at her shoulder and began to weep.

  * * *

  After a twenty minute zigzag ride through town at speed of light, the coach came to a halt at the pier.

  It was ten minutes to two.

  With a grunt the coach driver went in search of his whisky bottle and finished it in one gulp. Then he let out a burp.

  The ride had given Henry a good shaking, which had not really added to his well-being, but he was grateful that they all had arrived more or less in time.

  Sarah was in a daze. She staggered when she climbed out of the coach. Henry and Oscar grabbed her by the arms and supported her so that she wouldnʼt fall.

  “You go ahead with her, Henry,” Oscar said. “I will get your luggage out of the coach and follow you then. You can hardly carry your suitcase with that pain in your chest.”

  Henry nodded, knowing that Oscar was right. The pain in his chest had become almost unbearable and he needed to force himself to walk upright. Still, he let Sarah take his arm, and together they hurried over to the landing stage.

  It was then that Henry saw it for the first time.

  The ship.

  He felt his heart sink into his boots.

  It wasnʼt that he had never seen a ship before. There were loads of drawings of them in the newspapers, and he recalled having seen a miniature one once, a clipper, on the desk of the headmaster, Mr. Lambert, back in elementary school. But Mr. Lambertʼs little toy was nothing compared to what he saw himself confronted with now.

  No, this was a completely different league altogether: The Princess of the Seas, the steamship which would bring them to America; a massive monstrosity of several thousand tons of steel and iron, about five hundred feet long and sixty feet tall, with two huge funnels and two masts for extra canvas sails. Ready to leave it was standing majestically out against the nightly sky, letting its horn sound twice to announce its soon departure.

  This was the biggest ship Henry had ever seen in his whole life. The biggest ship he had ever set foot on; apart from the fact that he had never set foot on any ship at all.

  “Oh, my God...” he heard Sarah whisper next to him. “I am scared, Henry.”

  So am I...

  “Donʼt be, Sarah, it will all be alright,” Henry quickly answered. His voice slightly quavered. He told himself that it was because of the cold November air and not because of his own fear.

  They were the last ones to approach the landing stage, apart from a very old hunchbacked woman of rather feeble appearance, who was wearing a torn coat and underneath it an old-fashioned dark green dress with a pattern of yellow flowers on it. She had come all on her own, carrying a big bundle over her shoulders which almost seemed to weigh her down.

  A giant of a man with a matted full beard and a devious mug blocked their way. Henry immediately guessed that this had to be the dreaded health inspector Oscar had told him about. Hairy and grumpy-looking as the man was, he reminded Henry slightly of a gorilla. He even had a companion, a young officer, who looked like a gnome in the gorillaʼs presence and who curtly asked the old woman to show him her ticket. Henry saw how she handed the officer a green slip for steerage class.

  “Whatʼs her berth number?” the gorilla barked at the officer.

  “548,” the officer replied, a bored expression on his face. Then, to Henryʼs utter astonishment, the gorilla told the old woman to open her mouth, peered inside, and then began to examine her from all sides like cattle on a market.

  “Alright, compartment five,” he muttered when he had finished his inspection. “Go this way and then follow the steward. Heʼll bring you downstairs.”

  The old woman nodded obsequiously and did as she had been told to. Henry watched her stagger up the landing stage and over to a door which led inside the body of the ship.

  “Why did you let her pass?” Henry heard the young officer ask the gorilla when the old woman was hardly out of earshot. “Didnʼt you see that she is half-blind? She will surely be rejected over there.”

  “She wonʼt make it anyway. Why not let her have some enjoyment,” the gorilla replied with a smug grin on his face. The officer sniggered. Henry couldnʼt get rid of the feeling that the two inspectors rather enjoyed their superior and powerful status of being the ones to decide over other peopleʼs fate.

  “Next!” the gorilla shouted at the top of his voice although Henry and Sarah were already standing right in front of him. Henry quickly handed him the tickets, hoping that the fact that they travelled 2nd Class would refrain the two men from examining them closely and turning them down, after realizing that they were both in a rather battered state and fugitives on top of it.

  The gorilla stared at the tickets, then at Henry.

  “Whatʼs wrong with you?” he growled, suspiciously eyeing Henry up and down.

  “Nothing, I am fine,” Henry quickly answered. “Just a little tired. After all, it is two in the morning.”

  Henry forced a merry smile and tried not to appear in any way frail.

  The gorilla, not amused in the least, pulled a grimace and turned his attention to Sarah, who faintly clung to Henryʼs arm.

  “And what about her? She looks as if she had yellow fever.”

  “She is pregnant and slightly indisposed. I will take care of her,” Henry added nervously. The gorillaʼs pensive expression conveyed that he knew that something was wrong with the two people standing in front of him but that he couldnʼt figure out what it was.

  Henry was just about to risk a secret backward glance in order to see if the guards were turning up, when the gorilla grunted something unintelligible and finally signaled them to go on.

  It was in this moment that Oscar came running over to them breathlessly. To Henryʼs surprise he was carrying not only one but three suitcases in his hands and several bags over his shoulders.

  “Do you belong to these folks?” the gorilla asked and lazily nodded his head over to Henry and Sarah.

  “Yes, I do,” Oscar answered excitedly. Then he pulled a piece of paper out of his trouser pocket.

  Henry hardly trusted his eyes when he saw that it was a ticket.

  Oscarʼs ticket.

  The gorilla and the officer looked at it and then let Oscar pass with a nod. They didnʼt even bother to examine him, as there was hardly any time left with the ship leaving shortly.

  Sarah let out a little shriek of surprise and joy. She flung her arms around her uncleʼs neck and hugged him so tightly that he gasped.

  Henry just grinned at Oscar.

  “You bloody little rascal...”

  “Well,” Oscar said, “I told you I was not good at goodbyes either.”

  The two men chuckled. Then they took Sarah in their midst, and together they walked up the landing stage to the entrance which led inside the ship.

  * * *

  The reception hall looked much like the one of a splendid hotel. There was a big desk with a receptionist standing behind it, as well as various wood-panelled corridors leading to the cabins, and staircases with purple velvety carpet runners leading to the upper and lower floors. A crystal chandelier was dangling from the ceiling and a six-feet mirror with an ornately carved and gilded frame decorated the wall, making the hall appear much bigger than it actually was.

 
When Henry, Oscar, and Sarah entered the hall, the receptionist cast them a brilliant smile. Henry was relieved to see that he was much friendlier than the gorilla and the officer.

  “Madam, Sirs, may I have your names, please?” the receptionist asked politely.

  “Abbott and Scott,” Henry answered. He still could hardly believe that the man who had become his best friend during summer had so unexpectedly decided to come with him and Sarah. Henry found that this made leaving home much easier.

  The receptionist took a quick look at a list which he held in his hands and on which he was now tracing the names with his index finger.

  “Abbott... Abbott... Scott... there it is. You can leave the suitcases here. Someone will bring them to your room very shortly. As for now, please follow the steward. He will show you to your rooms.”

  Oscar immediately dumped the heavy luggage, which included a case with his doctorʼs equipment, on the floor. Then he, Henry, and Sarah followed the steward, whom the receptionist had called for by ringing a little bell on his desk, and after having passed some forty doors lining the corridor, the steward stopped in front of cabin with the number forty-one and fumbled with a set of keys.

  When the steward opened the door and finally let them in, the only thing Henry longed for was a bed to lie down. Glancing over to Sarah, he guessed that she felt the same. She looked terribly pale and exhausted, and suddenly Henry could even somewhat understand why the gorilla had believed that she might suffer from a fever..

  The cabin was a tiny room just about the size of Orionʼs horse stall, with two bunk beds, a nightstand, and a single chair cramped in it. There was also a niche with a washbasin, a jug of fresh water, and a mirror at the wall. The only window proved to be a little porthole, whose pane was covered with the frost of the night.

  “You will find the community bathroom at the end of the corridor,” the steward remarked.

  Then a man with a trolley arrived and delivered the luggage. Immediately, the little cabin was crowded with people and suitcases, and nobody could move without hitting the elbow at the walls or at the posts of the bunk beds.

  “Iʼd better go,” the steward said, aware of the space problem. Then he and the man with the trolley withdrew, softly closing the door behind them and leaving Henry, Sarah, and Oscar alone in their new, unfamiliar surroundings.

  The shipʼs horn sounded, bidding farewell to London, the city which the Princess of the Seas was soon about to leave behind.

  This is surreal... Henry thought.

  “I hope you do not mind me sharing this cabin with you,” Oscar said, tearing Henry out of his reflections.

  “Not in the least, Oscar,” Henry quickly replied. “Donʼt forget that without your help we wouldnʼt be here at all.”

  “Well, thank you, Henry, but I do not want to be a nuisance to the two of you. Be sure that I will make myself scarce every so often.”

  “Donʼt be foolish, Oscar. You are more than welcome. I am so glad that you have decided to come with us.”

  Henry gave Oscar a hug and immediately flinched when a sharp pain ran through his chest again.

  Oscar cast Henry a concerned look.

  “You really must lie down now. And so does she,” he said, nodding over to Sarah, who glared at the two men with hazy eyes. They quickly took off her coat and made her lie down in bed, before she could faint again and fall over the suitcases which were piling on the floor.

  Henry lay down next to her. He noticed that she trembled—with excitement or because of the cold he was unable to tell. He couldnʼt embrace her as much as he would have wanted, because his chest responded with a stinging pain to every movement of his left arm. All he could do was to lie flat on his back and let Sarah cozy up to him, which she immediately did. He covered her and himself with the blanket and buried his face in her hair, relieved about the fact that he finally got the long-desired rest.

  “Henry, I need to examine you now.”

  Oscar sat down on the edge of Henryʼs bed and let his palms expertly move over Henryʼs chest, every now and then pressing it carefully.

  Henry let out a cry. Never had he felt such physical pain in all of his life. Oscar immediately removed his hands.

  “I am terribly sorry, Henry, I did not mean to hurt you. Tell me, have you been coughing any blood?”

  “No,” Henry moaned and weakly shook his head.

  “Coughing in general?”

  “A little bit...”

  “What about the breathing? Does it hurt?”

  Henry nodded.

  “That sounds like a minor fracture of one or two of your ribs on the left side of your ribcage,” Oscar concluded, opened his doctorʼs suitcase and peered inside.

  “It is quite painful for a mere minor fracture...” Henry laughed bitterly, but not for long, as this caused him pain as well.

  “Well, I did not say mere, but painful as it might be, it can still be categorized as pretty harmless. All you need is a rest, which you will have loads of time for within the next days. And you need a bandage. I must go and organize one now as I can see that I do not have enough gauze material in my suitcase. I suppose the crew doctor on board will be able to help me out. I will be back shortly.”

  Henry watched Oscar get up and leave the room. Then he closed his eyes and listened to all the strange sounds that surrounded him as the body of the massive ship slowly began to move.

  There was a creaking, a clanking, and a booming.

  In front of his mindʼs eye, Henry could see them, the workers at the very bottom of the ship, how they were shoveling into the furnaces the tons of coal which were needed to heat up the water in the huge steel boilers, and how the water, which turned into steam, was wandering through the numerous cylinders, moving the pistons on the way, which again made the two gigantic shipʼs screws turn. And the latter were propelling the ship through the waters that were splashing against the hull as the Princess of the Seas was slowly gaining speed and ever so gently was gliding further and further away from the coast.

  Oh my God, we did it… we really did it...

  As the minutes passed, Henry wondered how far they had already moved away and whether he would have discerned anything at all except for the darkness if he had looked out of the porthole; if he would have been able to see London, slowly receding from view. But he felt far too exhausted to get up and find out.

  Suddenly, many questions began to fill his mind.

  When would he return? Would he ever return? Would he ever arrive? Would the passage be safe? Would Sarah be happy? Or would she regret her decision to have come with him? Would the child be alright or had it suffered from all the excitement? Would he heal properly? Would he find work quickly enough? What would it be like in America?

  Brooding over eventualities, Henry was gradually lulled to sleep by the steady droning of the engines.

  He was just having a pretty awful dream of bloodstained Damian chasing him down Kensington Road when Oscar returned, carrying a carafe of water as well as a package of gauze material under his arm. He was accompanied by a young girl who belonged to the staff. She was holding a hot water bottle made of steel with a brass cap in her hands. Hesitating at first, she shyly approached the bed, lifted the covers at Henryʼs feet and shoved the hot water bottle underneath it. The next moment, Henry felt pleasant warmth wandering up his legs and heating up his body. Next to him Sarah, who was still curled up in his arm, let out a little moan of delight in her sleep when she too felt the cold subsiding out of her frozen limbs.

  The girl who had brought the bottle bashfully lowered her gaze and quickly withdrew. Henry guessed that she felt rather embarrassed because of peering underneath some strangerʼs bed cover and that it surely confused her to see that Sarah shared her cabin with two men, not knowing that Oscar was just her uncle.

  When the girl had disappeared, Oscar sat down on the edge of Henryʼs bed again.

  “Will you be able to sit up for a moment?” he asked.

  “Iʼll try..
.” Henry mumbled and carefully freed himself out of Sarahʼs embrace. She was holding on to him tightly, with her arms and legs twined around his body as if she was afraid to lose him yet again.

  “Stay...” she murmured half asleep when she felt Henry let go of her.

  “He is not going away, Sarah,” Oscar said softly, stroking her hair. “He is right here...”

  Sarah mumbled something unintelligible, then she buried her head in the soft pillow again and continued dozing.

  When Henry had sat up, Oscar handed him a painkiller and one of the bottles of water he had just brought.

  “Thank you, nurse.” Henry gave Oscar a tortured smile and eagerly swallowed the medication. Then Oscar assisted Henry with taking off his shirt, then he opened the package with the dressing material.