Chapter Six

They hadn’t been able to find the fabled hopscotch, so instead they returned to the Boat Deck at the top, where Liam and Julia played tag with the other children.

One young girl, Miss Bertha, heard Penelope’s voice and rushed over, overjoyed to hear an accent like her own, although hers was a little thicker, a little more guttural, due to being from Aberdeen. She joined in with Julia and Liam’s games—and the three didn’t allow Ruby and Penelope to remain idle.

It had been years since she had run around like that. Penelope shrieked like a child and desperately tried to catch Ruby—she only felt it fair that she focus mainly on the other adult. At least, that was what she told herself.

It had nothing to do with the way Ruby’s eyes lit up whenever she spotted Penelope coming closer, or the way she laughed when she nearly caught her. Nor how her entire body jolted as if electrocuted whenever her fingers were able to caress her waist, or her arm, or even brush her shoulder.

It was almost a disappointment when Victoria and Frank reappeared and pointed out that the ship had been still the whole time they had been playing.

Penelope hadn’t even realised that they had docked and were preparing to weigh anchor. She was a little disappointed, for she had wanted to look upon Queenstown and see the last of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland one final time.

“Can we play tomorrow, Penelope?” Julia asked. She took her mother’s hand, but dug her heels in to prevent herself from being hauled away just yet. Her mother started to berate her for the familiarity until Penelope informed her that she had given the children permission to address her by her first name.

Ruby’s brother Liam stood by Frank’s elbow. He was such a cute little boy, tall and lanky, with the same sandy blond hair as his sisters. He seemed a little shy, a little hesitant, but he had been as much a part of the game as the others. “Please,” he added for his niece.

Penelope’s eyes flickered between Julia and Liam before she nodded once. “If you’d like.” Her smile was warm, genuine. And she couldn’t help herself as she turned to Ruby to see what her reaction was.

Her blue eyes weren’t focused on Penelope, however, but on her sister, the two of them having some sort of silent conversation. She was a little bit jealous of such a thing. She didn’t think there was anyone who knew her that well…not even Caroline nor Millicent or Deborah.

Suddenly feeling as though she were intruding, Penelope cleared her throat and dusted down her skirt.

“Forgive me, but I really must take my leave,” she announced with a gentle smile on her face, watching as Frank tugged on the rim of his hat and Ruby and Victoria snapped their attention away from each other and back to her.

“Truly?” Ruby asked.

She ignored the way her heart leapt at that. “Look at me. If I show up to luncheon like this, my parents will never forgive me.” She saw Ruby’s mouth open as if she were going to say something, before she clamped it firmly shut.

That made it just that little bit more difficult to leave her. Penelope wanted to stay and ask what had been about to leave her lips. She was pretty certain that, had the others not been there, she would have… But they were there, and Penelope couldn’t stand going through the pain of another crush going horribly wrong.

So she turned away and headed back to her room.

It was a rather quiet affair, as most of their meals usually were, and she was quick to part ways with her parents. She had considered wandering the ship aimlessly to process her thoughts, but every time she spotted something interesting, her first thought was to make a note of it to ask Ruby about later. Her roommate certainly seemed to know an awful lot about boats and Titanic.

So, instead, she retreated to her room, thankful when Ruby wasn’t inside. She pulled her hoop free, careful of the long train of excess fabric. She had always enjoyed needlework, finding the repetition allowed her to settle her mind.

With a sigh, Penelope settled onto the sofa, the small wooden box that she kept all her threads and needles in open beside her. She had decided, after she had given in to the idea of moving to America and leaving Granny behind, that she would do something to send home to her. It had taken her a while to settle on a threadpainting of her grandmother’s old dog, Poppy. She had been a Scottie and her gran’s first—and only—dog, and she had loved her more than anything.

It seemed only fitting to create a portrait of the dog to send home, so that her grandmother could look at it and remember both her only grandchild and her dog whenever she felt lonely.

Penelope worked on the outline with a pencil, letting her mind still as she lost herself to the movements of her hand against the strong canvas fabric.

She was so lost in the process—having moved from the initial sketch to outlining it with long stitches—that she didn’t hear the door open and close. She was only aware of her company when Ruby said, “I don’t have the patience for needlework.”

Penelope gave a startled yelp, letting go of her hoop. It fell into her lap as she placed her hands over her rapidly beating heart.

Ruby grinned down at her. “I didn’t mean to startle you.”

Waving her hand, Penelope picked up her hoop to ensure that nothing had been damaged in its hasty drop. She then carefully wound the fabric around it and set it aside.

“I never used to have the patience either,” Penelope said. “But it was the only acceptable hobby that I did enjoy, so it grew on me. When I started at five, I couldn’t do more than a few stitches before I grew bored. Now I could miss my meals, I’m so involved.”

“That much is obvious,” Ruby said, that familiar twinkle in her eyes as she moved to the wardrobe. “Because I saw your parents retreat to their cabin, no doubt to get ready for their dinner.” Ruby removed the same beautiful dress she had worn yesterday, turning back to Penelope with a frown. “Have you been here since luncheon?”

Penelope flushed as she nodded. “I told you, it enraptures me.” Her fingers reached to stroke the fabric, to distract herself from saying that the real reason she had started was to avoid thinking about Ruby. “It helped that it’s a piece for Granny, to send back to her. It’s of her old dog, Poppy. She loved her. And I have so many happy memories with that dog as well. Granny got her on my eighth birthday, so I always felt like she was mine.” Penelope moved as she spoke, slipping into something a touch more fancy for dinner. It had a simple underdress with an A-line skirt made from lavender silk. The skirts of the overdress were gathered up to the knee and secured with lavender silk flowers, showing a small triangle of the underdress.

“We stayed close by, so I was always there, seeing how she was doing and accompanying Granny on walks,” she continued. “And when I was old enough, I started taking her myself to the nearby loch because she loved to swim. Goodness, I remember once, Caroline and I weren’t watching her, and she started chasing some swans. Next thing I know, there’s this loud commotion as she tried to scramble back to land while the swan started chasing her back. I rushed into the loch up to my calves in an attempt to scare the swan so that Poppy could get to safety, and all the while Caroline was on the bank, crying tears of laughter.”

She stopped talking just as she finished getting dressed, and she turned to face Ruby, surprised that she hadn’t said anything.

Just as she was about to prompt Ruby, there was a soft knock at the door. Penelope’s mother stood on the threshold, a smile on her face. “Oh, good, you’re ready. I was a little worried since I hadn’t heard hide nor hair of you since luncheon.” Her eyes landed on Ruby, giving her a courteous nod, before turning to Penelope once more. “Shall we go?”

Knowing better than to ask for some extra time when she already looked presentable, Penelope nodded and followed her mother from the cabin, stopping only to give Ruby a confused glance before the door shut.