Mollie yanks me through a door and down a hall. We take so many twists and turns that I’m not clear where we are. Although I’m pretty sure we’re a couple of decks down. I suck in air. She pushes through another door into a small staircase.
I pull her to a stop. “We need—”
“I remember Denis Lennon.” Her eyes are fierce and her breath is heavy.
“When did you remember him? When exactly?”
“While ya were talkin’ in the lounge. It came slowly. Yer words felt right. I began ta agree with ’em. And then suddenly I saw Denis in me mind. I remembered. I’m dead, miss.” She glances nervously at the door. “And I remember the Jessups. I remember the young’un puttin’ a spell on me and Denis. And how we both flickered and disappeared.”
Mollie remembered, the ship is sinking, and yet we’re all still trapped here? How is the spell still holding? Oh no!
“I might have made a mistake.” I press the heel of my hand into my forehead. Matt said that if I didn’t stop talking about the sinking, I would go headfirst into the ocean. What if he meant this, that I wouldn’t break the spell at all, just disrupt it enough to sink the ship and everyone on it? “We need to go to steerage, Mollie. We need help.”
Her eyes widen. “The ship is goin’ down. Steerage will only trap us. We’ll wind up underwater in that metal cage again.”
“Do you remember that little girl Ada? She’s managed to blink off this ship a few times recently. She’s the only one I know of who has. Well, the only one who would help us, anyway.”
Mollie hesitates for a second, fear in her eyes. She looks at the door. “Nora will know which cabin is hers. We need ta hurry.” And we’re moving again. Fast.
My whole body strains forward, charged with adrenaline. Mollie winds us in and out of hallways and tiny passageways. We keep our heads down and our mouths shut. Crewmen are everywhere we go, handing out life jackets and knocking on doors. With each turn I scan every face, expecting to find one of the Jessups.
Mollie lifts a hatch, and we climb down a ladder into the ship’s belly, emerging into a part of steerage I’ve never seen.
It’s too quiet. The halls are practically empty.
“They’re still sleepin’.” Mollie’s voice rings. “No one woke ’em!” She picks up her dress and runs down the hall.
There are no hordes of stewards handing out life vests here. These people weren’t given a chance in life, and they’re not being given a chance in death.
Mollie pounds on Nora’s door, and I pound with her.
The door opens, and a squinting Nora stands on the other side. “What’s all yer drummin’ about? I was dreamin’ of…” Her eyes focus on us and she frowns. “Sweet Jaysus. Ya two look like ya seen the devil.”
“The ship’s flounderin’,” Mollie says.
Nora takes a step backward, like we physically hit her. “How long?”
Mollie exhales. “Soon.”
“Nora, I need Ada,” I say. “Do you know where her cabin is?”
“Aye. Down that way. Take yer first left, ’bout three doors farther on yer right.”
And just like that, the girls in Nora’s cabin are all moving at once.
I turn to Mollie. “Don’t wait for me.”
“But—”
“Get as many people as you can above deck!” I say as I run into the hallway. Groggy confused passengers are starting to wander out of their rooms.
“The ship is going down!” I yell as I pass the waking people. I’m met with surprised eyes.
One, two, three doors. I pound. No answer. I pound more.
A sleepy middle-aged man with a mustache and neatly parted hair opens the door and blinks at me.
Ada’s father? “Is Ada here?”
He frowns. “Yes, miss. But it is the middle of the night.”
“You need to get your family up and dressed. We struck an iceberg.”
“Papa?” I hear from inside.
I walk past him. Ada slips out of the bed she shares with her sister. Her hair is in disheveled braids over her shoulders, and she rubs her eyes.
I steady my voice. “Ada, how did you get to me in that other place? You said when you took a nap, right? Through your dreams?”
She nods.
Ada’s mother sits up. “Miss, we already checked, and the man at the gate said the noise was nothing. That there was no need to be concerned.”
“He did say just that,” Ada’s father confirms.
“He was wrong,” I say. “I’m telling you. You need to get your family dressed and above deck. The Titanic is going down.” I would never forgive myself if I not only sank this ship a second time, but sank it with Ada locked in steerage underwater for who knows how long.
I kneel down so that I’m at eye level with Ada. “How did you get to that other place, the one where you visited me, Ada?”
She frowns. “I do not know. It just happened.”
“Do you think you could do it again? If you thought about that place, could you go there?”
Ada shakes her head. “I don’t know.”
“Ada, please…”
“They would have told us if there was a possibility of floundering,” Ada’s father says to me.
“They didn’t. And there aren’t enough lifeboats.” My tone is forceful. “If you stay down here, you’ll be flooded.”
Ada’s mother stands up and looks at her children. “Coats. Now!” They jump into motion at her words.
I hear Mollie’s voice from the hallway, screaming for the passengers at the gate to break it down.
I grab Ada’s shoulders. “Listen, Ada. This is important. Do you remember the guy you saw in my bedroom the last time you visited?”
She nods.
“His name is Elijah. No matter what happens, no matter how scary everything is, Elijah can help. The second you can figure out how to go to that other place, I need you to go to him. And I need you to tell him that the Collector is Matt Wilder. He’ll understand.”
Ada’s mother slips a coat onto her.
Mollie appears in the doorway with wild eyes. “He’s here. The oldest Jessup. I caught sight a him through the gate. He told the guard ta unlock it. He’s comin’ through.”
“Go, Mollie! Take the ladder. Get to the boat deck. I’ll be right behind you.”
“Samantha—”
“Go!” And she does.
“Did you hear me, Ada?” My voice is fast.
“The Collector is…”
“Matt Wilder,” I say.
“Matt Wilder,” she repeats.
“Don’t forget. Please, Ada, please don’t forget.”
I run out of the room. At the end of the hallway is Alexander I. And he’s not alone. The drowned man is with him. They look right at me, and I sprint toward the ladder.