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

Icebergs, when they drifted past them, were no longer things of beauty but objects of terror. Sinister hulks, looming over them as they passed, the crewmen taking care to steer a wide berth.

The sea was no longer as calm as it had been. Small waves lapped at the lifeboat, making it rock a little. The crewmen tried to keep the little boat pointing head on to the swell to lessen the effect, but they were tired and cold and Emma could see it was increasingly too much effort to do anything. The man who’d been in only a vest was now wearing a woman’s coat across his shoulders. Someone from first class had been wearing two when she boarded the lifeboat, and had insisted he take one.

Emma welcomed the rougher sea. The movement, the sounds of the water splashing on the side of the boat – all were a reminder that they were still alive, that for their little party on board Lifeboat Sixteen, there was still hope. They could no longer see any other lifeboats, but they were out there, somewhere. Was Ruby on one of them? Please God that she was!

A memory surfaced – of the day Emma and her sisters had posed for their photograph. Smiling and happy, before she’d gone on her first voyage on the Olympic. Before Ruby had been caught up with Harry Paine. That lovely photograph, of the three of them. It would be at the bottom of the sea now. As would Ruby’s copy. Just two copies remained of that photo – Lily’s and Ma’s. It was this thought, of all the thoughts and images that had run through her mind, that finally made the tears come. Emma covered her eyes with her hand and allowed herself a few moments to quietly sob. No one attempted to comfort her, and she understood – everyone was dealing with their own shock and grief and had no comfort to spare for anyone else.

‘Look, a flare,’ a woman said, without enthusiasm.

Emma looked where she was pointing, and spotted a green flare, a hundred feet above the water. Had it come from a ship? Or another lifeboat? Did they need help? As the lifeboat bobbed up and down in the waves she scanned the horizon to see where the flare had come from. At last she spotted the lights of a ship. Definitely a ship. Was it the one she thought she’d seen from the Titanic’s deck, or another? As she watched she realised it was coming closer. It really was – every minute brought it closer. ‘A ship,’ someone said, and all eyes raised to look at it, although the mood in the lifeboat was unchanged. Everyone was too tired, too shocked to respond, Emma thought. And Violet’s attention was still on the tiny baby she held.

‘It’s Titanic,’ one woman said. ‘It didn’t sink, after all. We’ll soon be back on board, with our men.’

No one answered her. No one wanted to tell her the men were dead.

Now Emma could see other lifeboats, rowing towards the ship. ‘We should row too,’ she said to the crewman who sat huddled in his woman’s coat. ‘That ship won’t be able to come too close. Look at all the ice around us.’

The seaman roused himself and nodded. He and the other seaman wearily began to row towards the ship. Emma could see that it had now stopped, more or less, and was waiting for the lifeboats to reach it. There were three, four ahead, that had almost reached the ship. Too far away to see who was on board, even though the sky was gradually lightening. One of the collapsibles was being towed by a wooden lifeboat. They were being rescued. They were all being rescued, but would Ruby and Martin be among them?

Even after the long cold wait of the night, these minutes as dawn broke and they rowed agonisingly slowly towards the rescue ship seemed to last even longer. Inch by inch the ship came closer as the day became gradually lighter. Sounds from the ship began to reach them, shouts from the other lifeboats. Emma kept up a mumbled prayer under her breath, that her loved ones might turn out to be among those on the other lifeboats. She’d find out soon, once she was on board. All she could do now was hope and pray.

Chapter 17

Harriet

The morning after giving her blood sample, Harriet had a call from Sheila.

‘Been thinking about your grandmother. I know she worked on the Olympic – I wonder if you’d like to find out more about that ship and what life was like on board? It was sister to the Titanic, and there’s a new exhibition on, in Southampton, about the Titanic. Fancy going?’

‘Oh! Yes, that sounds wonderful! When shall we go?’

‘Tomorrow? Or even today – I’ve nothing on. I’ll drive. Or we could take the train again, if you like.’

‘Let’s go today. Why not? But I’d prefer to go by car, if you don’t mind. We could then stop for a meal in a nice country pub somewhere on the way home.’

‘Great idea! Pick you up in twenty minutes?’

‘Perfect!’

And so Harriet bustled around the house, drinking coffee, putting on some lipstick, deciding which jacket and shoes to wear, and texting Sally to let her know she’d be out for the day. Just in case. She was ready at the door when Sheila pulled up outside, beeping her horn.

‘A day out – what a treat!’ she said, as she climbed into the passenger seat. ‘Lovely idea.’

‘Well, I’ve always been fascinated by what happened to the Titanic,’ Sheila said. ‘And now that we’ve been on a cruise ship ourselves, I thought it’d be fun to compare the pictures of the Titanic with our own experiences. Plus – your grandmother. It’ll take us less than an hour to drive there. You ready?’

‘Absolutely!’

The journey passed quickly – they took the scenic