Under The Waves

Chapter 9

I closed my tired eyes to avoid looking at the people that were screaming beside me. As we got lower and lower towards the water the sound of the invading water became faint and the screams of men and few women still onboard faded away. I didn't want to watch as the deck sloped and people slowly slid off into the sea. More and more screams filled my hearing and I held my hears tight. Soon I felt the hard tip as the lifeboat hit the rough water. I opened my eyes and looked at my friend, my saviour. Rose saved me. I would have stayed in that position on the ground after my fathers death if it hadn't have been for Rose. We both looked at each other for a few moments before I rested my head on her shoulder. My face was positioned next to little lena and I just watched the precious baby sleep. I thought about my family and the Clarks. I thought about all the memories I have shared with each and every one of them onboard this doomed ship. I thought about Grace and how I couldn't save her. How I couldn't save my father. How I couldn't save Tillie. I hope my family is safe and on a lifeboat. I closed my eyes once more to attempt to sleep.

My eyes opened, after what felt like trying to sleep for only a minute, to Lena crying. I lifted my head up off Rose and watched as she tried to cradle her baby back to sleep. She tried to calm her for a few minutes until I took Lena and rocked her. Lena fell asleep very quickly and I gave the baby back to Rose.

"Your very good with babies" she said.

"I have a three month old sister."

She nodded and looked down at her baby. I looked out at the big ship, which was not far away yet and gazed at it with sorrow. I saw it slowly fall head first into the water. As I watched for many minutes, I saw the ship stand completely straight with the stern pointing directly up. When I saw the ship break in half I let out a small scream and everyone on my lifeboat turned to see the cause of my terror. My scream was the first of many as half of the ship fell deep into the water, many frightened people were brought down with it. I cried many tears in that moment as I heard not only the screams from the ship, but also from the water around me. Groans as people froze in the water was all anyone could hear. I could only think of one thing. What if one of my family members was in that icy water?

That's why I said "we need to help them!"

Everyone in the boat turned towards me and looked shocked. Then there faces seemed sad and one of the women on the boat began to cry. Rose nodded and grabbed an oar on the edge, passing me Lena. I glanced at the titanic once more to watch the other half of the ship that was previously floating, sink until the whole ship had officially vanished to the sea. I closed my eyes and rocked Lena as the others oared towards the ship. Abruptly a big pull lured us under the water as our little boat almost knocked over. Gasps filled my hearing as we swayed dangerously. My eyes shot open and I looked at Rose questioningly.

"It was the pull from the titanic going under" she said sadly.

I nodded and looked out onto the water for any sign of alive corpses.

We passed many bodies. We passed men and women and children. We even passed a baby, I immediately checked if it was Tillie. I was relieved to find that it wasn't her but still cried for the helpless baby. I made sure none of all the bodies were my family, so far I was safe. Then we came across one body resting on a piece of wood. It was a young man, maybe around my age. At first we thought he had died from hypothermia like the rest but then we saw foggy breath escape his mouth. We immediately brought him into the boat and I wrapped him in some blankets.

"Are you ok?" I said as I rubbed his back to warm him up.

He nodded and shakily said "my sister, we need to find her!"

"Of course" I said with a lot of relation as I am also in a desperate need to find my family.

The rest of the way we had found no one, we looked for at least an hour until we had searched the whole area. Other lifeboats joined in the search and had picked up the rare survivor. The lifeboats were tied together to transport some people to different lifeboats to ensure no sinking due to too many people on it. I continued to rock Lena through all this chaos and helped the new stranger that was onboard our boat. I had also asked him questions through the endless wait for help in this stranded ocean. He was 15 years old, his name was Joseph and was in search of his 11 year old sister. They had both travelled in first class onboard the titanic to see there parents in America. I didn't ask anymore questions and we both laid down and tried to sleep. Joseph fell into a sleep very quickly but I on the other hand hadn't much luck. I gave Lena to a fellow passenger on the boat and helped look for survivors. I grabbed an oar and tried to pull the boat along. My arms ached in pain as I pulled against the bumpy water and I found it hard to look through the fog around me. I actually got a glimpse of joy as I found a body still just alive.

I gave the oar to someone else and looked after the new survivor. She was a little girl, much younger then Grace and had been saved by the short lasting warmth of her mothers body. Being wrapped up in the warm arms had kept her safe but by the time she was on the boat she was absolutely freezing. I wrapped a new blanket around her and put her in my cold but better then nothing arms. I hugged her tightly, rubbing her frozen body. After a while I had managed to warm her up to a reasonable temperature and another woman next to me began to care for her. I took back Lena and rocked her as I looked out at the deadly water. Lena began crying again and I pulled her onto my chest. She didn't stop crying though and no matter how many blankets I wrapped her in to keep her warm, she never stopped. I didn't want to bother Rose through her helpful search but she came to care for her baby. I was going to take the oar but the lady with the two little girls took it instead. She asked in return for me to look after her children so I sat with them. They too were very cold so I offered more blankets. I just sat there, letting the girls rest there heads on my lap. I felt powerless against the dangerous water around me and found myself completely fixed on little Lena. I noticed feeling protective over her as I do Tillie. Which brought me to the memory of my baby sister. I hope mother shall forgive me. That's if I ever get off this horrible boat. What if no one finds us? What will we do?

The loud roar of an engine made me jump. My eyes shot to the horizon to see a big ship. I screamed loudly with what I could almost call happiness as I saw the ship slowly approaching. Everyone turned to look and also had slight joy in there eyes. It was hard to be happy with everything that had happened but it was a somewhat happy moment. I laid Lena on the seat and waved my hands up high and jumped up and down. Everyone started to do the same, even on fellow life boats. Soon the ship reached us and I got a good look at it. It seemed huge on the horizon but was no where near the size of the titanic. I read the large words written on the back.

"Carpathia" I whispered it gently with fascination.

Who was this great ship that saved us? I climbed up the dangerous looking rope that the men on board the Carpathia sent down. I helped Rose and Lena climb up with me. When we reached the top I couldn't think of anything else but warmth. I rushed to a lady handing out blankets and slipped off my uncomfortable lifejacket before grabbing a blanket. I grabbed one for Rose too and we both just wrapped up in the warm blankets with Lena in our arms. I felt so relieved in that moment. I was off that disgusting lifeboat and out of that traumatising chaos. The thought of my family crept into my mind but I rejected it. I couldn't bare to think about where they might be. If they are on board here I knew I would find them but right now I needed warmth. The thought of my father also threatened to take away the slight feeling of safety but I once again rejected it. What will mother say? It will kill her.

The warmth of the broth came down my throat and into my stomach as I sipped on the wooden bowl. Rose finally had the chance to feed Lena real food and I had the chance to relax a bit. Though every time I calmed down all the thoughts of my family crept in. I thought about Grace and father a lot but Tillie the most. She was a defenceless baby and I failed her. Now I don't know what happened! Why did that man take my beautiful Tillie? Why? I took a deep breath and looked at Rose. I saw her rubbing her stomach gently.

"Why are you rubbing your stomach? Does it hurt?" I asked concerned.

"I'm pregnant Clara" she answered.

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