Ice & Iron (Titanic)

Chapter 10

Saturday, 13th  April 1912

Two strange things happened today.

Number one, the day was going by slowly. It was like the Titanic had been bought brought down to its lowest speed, or it was dragging its heavy anchor along the bottom of the sea floor. But that wasn't the case, Titanic was cruising at twenty-two knots. It was just the time going slowly through the day.

Number two, no Joe. That was strange in itself. From the moment I had stepped out of the suite at breakfast to now, just after midday, I hadn't seen him once. Part of me was glad that I wasn't being bothered by him. He did have a tendency to show up when I wanted to be myself, or at the wrong time. And part of me was suspicious. Had be seen something last night and was out investigating?

I had actually had both breakfast and lunch with Mother, keeping my promise from the night before to spend time with her today. And after breakfast, I had gone up to the bridge. But Fifth Officer Lowe had informed that my stepfather was with the Captain, making rounds around the ship. After, I said I would come back during a later time of the day.

As I approached the bridge for the second time that day, I saw two officers standing at the top of the stairs talking to a young man. Taking a few steps closer, I could distinguish that the officers were the Third and Fifth officers. Then I took a step back in shock. The young man was Joe. It was the first time I have seen him today. But why was he talking to the officers?

Still being careful and stealthy, I crept closer, risking exposure. Luckily, neither of the three men had spotted me and I managed to hear snippets of the conversation.

"Thank you for showing concern, Mr Davis," Pitman said. "We've definitely upgraded the structure of the ship since last September. Something that happened to the Olympic will not happen to the Titanic. The White Star Line and the designer, Mr Andrews, have designed this ship to be unsinkable."

"There's not going to be another incident with First Officer Murdoch at his guard position?" asked Joe. "I heard he was at the stern of the Olympic when she hit the Hawke. And the Hawke hit Olympic's stern."

"If Mr Murdoch is on guard at any time, it's on the bow," Lowe said. "Our guard posts are just up on the bridge. It's a good view and whoever is on will ensure that nothing will happen to the ship."

"Okay, thank you," said Joe. "It's good to know that." He paused in his conversation. "Are passengers allowed up on the bridge?"

"No," replied Lowe. "We don't allow passengers up on the bridge as it will distract us from doing our jobs."

"I thought I have seen a young lady come up there," Joe queried. I sucked in a breath, hoping that this wouldn't be the way Joe found out.

"That's a private arrangement," said Pitman. "I'm sorry, but we can't disclose details."

"All good," Joe said. "Thank you for answering my questions."

Letting out a sigh of relief, I was grateful that Pitman said that he couldn't tell Joe any details about the arrangement. I quickly backed away and ducked into the nearest room, a veranda café. I stayed hidden until I was sure Joe had walked past. After counting to fifty in my mind, I wandered outside and walked up to the bridge.

Pitman was no longer there and I cut through the wheelhouse. The only people around was the guy on the steering wheel, Chief Officer Wilde and Lowe. So I walked back through to the other side, ready to go down the stairs if I needed to leave again.

"Hello Mr Wilde and Mr Lowe," I said to them.

"Hello again, Miss Stacey," said Wilde. "I'll go find him for you. He is around somewhere." He walked off towards the officer's quarters.