The Lost Sister by Kathleen McGurl (i can read book club .TXT) 📕

was time to get everyone into them. She’d do her duties, and keep an eye out for Ruby, who surely had to turn up sooner or later. Passing along the galley-way she knocked on doors and called out to the passengers. ‘Everyone, please get dressed in warm clothing, put on your life jackets and go up to the boat deck. This is just a precaution, but please do it now.’

‘What? But my children have just gone off to sleep,’ protested one woman.

‘You must wake them and dress them. I’ll come back and help you in a minute.’

‘This is nonsense,’ said a man. ‘The ship can’t sink. If it’s only a drill I’m not doing it.’

‘Sir, it’s not a drill.’ Emma put as much authority into her voice as she could. ‘It’s Captain’s orders. You must comply.’

‘But you said it was just precautionary. So there’s no real need to do as you say.’ The man shut his cabin door in her face, and she heard a click as he locked it. She banged on it and shouted her message once again – but there were plenty of other cabins she needed to reach, lots more people she needed to help. She continued down the corridor, helping people dress their children, assisting them putting their life jackets on, telling them that no, they shouldn’t bring their luggage up but by all means put their valuables into pockets and lock their cabins as they left.

‘We’ll be back in our cabins soon, won’t we?’ one woman asked, her eyes filled with fear.

‘If or when the Captain says we can return,’ Emma replied, not wanting to lie but not wanting to worry the woman further. ‘And meanwhile the life jackets will help keep you warm on deck.’

At last she’d sent all her passengers upstairs, except for the few who’d refused to go. And all the while she’d been thinking about Ruby – where was she? Did she know the seriousness of the situation? For a brief moment she let herself wonder about the hours ahead. It was hard to imagine that this great ship would sink. Perhaps it wouldn’t, after all. Perhaps it would stay afloat, even though it was holed, and they could all stay aboard. They’d be laughing about it in a couple of days when they limped into New York, no doubt. But then she recalled the seriousness of the officer’s expression, and his certainty that they were indeed sinking, and she found she did not want to imagine what lay ahead. It was better to focus on what she needed to do now. Deal with the passengers, and find Ruby.

As soon as she’d cleared her corridor, Emma rushed back to her cabin, hoping that Ruby might be there. She banged open the door, shouting Ruby’s name, but the cabin was empty. She grabbed her coat and hat, noticing that Ruby’s were still there. Should she take those too, find her sister and give them to her, or would Ruby come back here herself at some point? As she crossed the cabin floor to Ruby’s wardrobe she tripped – something was wrong with the floor. And the photograph of her sisters was sliding across the top of the bedside cabinet. She stopped and looked around – there was a definite tilt. The ship was dipping down towards the bow. ‘That’s not good,’ she said to herself, and hurried out of the cabin, leaving Ruby’s coat where it hung. She needed to find her sister, and fast.

She ran to the row of second-class cabins that Ruby and Martin were assigned to. He was still there, remonstrating with a passenger who was refusing to leave his substantial amount of luggage in his cabin. Eventually Martin physically pulled the man out and locked the cabin door. ‘I’ll unlock it when the emergency is over and not before. Now go up to the boat deck.’ The man took a step forward as though to fight Martin but Martin held his ground and the man backed off, muttering curses.

‘God, this is hard,’ Martin said to Emma. ‘Half of them don’t want to go, the other half want to do their packing first, as though we’re docking in New York, not adrift in the mid-Atlantic.’

‘I know. Have you seen Ruby?’

He shook his head sadly. ‘Maybe she’s already up on the boat deck? I’ll see you up there.’

‘All right.’ She ran off to search the open decks. Out there, everything was chaotic. The lifeboats were being filled – she peered over the side and saw a couple already in the water. They did not look full, which confused her. Officers were supervising the loading of them, and there was a crush of people by each.

‘Women and children only!’ came the cry, over and over. She recognised Second Officer Lightoller and First Officer Murdoch – they were pushing back men who were surging forward and trying to pull the women through the crowds, some of whom were holding small children. She watched as the millionaire J.J. Astor helped his wife into a lifeboat and then stepped back.

‘Miss, go through, get on the boat,’ a man said, pushing her through the crowd. It was Thomas Andrews, the White Star Line’s chief engineer. He looked fraught, and was rushing from boat to boat, urging people to get on them quickly. There couldn’t be much time left, Emma realised. Of all people, Andrews would know how long the ship could last in this state.

‘No, no, I must find my sister first,’ she said to him. She could not get on a lifeboat without Ruby! She’d promised Ma. She turned away, and crossed to the other side of the ship, standing on lockers and coils of rope and anything that allowed her to look over the heads of the people, scanning for Ruby. She spotted Mary and asked her, but no, Mary had not seen Ruby.

‘There are a lot of people downstairs still – in steerage,’ Mary said. ‘Maybe she’s helping down there?’

Emma nodded