Chapter Twenty-Two

The water was freezing.

It was unlike anything Penelope had ever felt before. It covered her feet, the water chilling her through her boots. She suddenly wished that she had taken those extra few minutes to search for her woollen stockings.

But not even in her wildest nightmares would she have been able to conjure this. She’d thought the ship would be fine. That they’d be delayed a little, but that they’d be told to head back to their rooms.

Now that wasn’t going to happen.

Now she wasn’t even certain there was a way through all of this.

But that was a worry for later.

For now, she just had to get to her parents’ room.

It was only a few more doors away, and although the water was steadily rising, it was still manageable. She hauled her skirts up around her calves and pushed through the water, trusting in Ruby to let her know when it got to a dangerous level.

As soon as she reached her parents’ room, Penelope grabbed the handle and thrust the door open, throwing herself into the room. “Mother! Father!”

Her eyes darted around the room—the bunks, the dark wood furniture, the magnolia walls, and the rich, floral upholstery.

It was completely empty.

Her entire body started to shake, trembling so violently that it felt as though her bones were jittering beneath her skin. Her lungs ached with every ragged breath as she turned in a slow circle, even though there was nowhere for them to hide—the room was tiny. Everything was out in the open.

“No.” The word was ripped from her throat with sharp claws. “No, no, no, no, no!”

She wanted to scream and tear her hair from her head. She wanted to destroy the room around her, to break things with her hands until she felt blood coat her skin. She wanted to collapse in a boneless heap and cry like a babe, hoping it would attract the attention of her mother.

She heaved, her breaths uneven and loud as tears fell freely down her face and her stomach roiled, causing her to wretch. She doubled over, arms wound tightly around her stomach, the pressure just enough to stop herself from bringing up bile.

Then new emotions coursed through her.

The first one she recognised was anger. Unadulterated rage at her parents for putting her through this—for even considering ignoring the warnings and remaining in their rooms until the last possible moment, even though her father had told her that if it were serious, the stewards would tell them.

Then there was worry, concern rushing through her veins, dousing the flames of anger as she realised that, at least if they had stayed in their room, she would have known where they were. She would be with them right now and would be able to shout at them, to convince them that the right thing to do was to get up onto the Boat Deck and into a lifeboat.

Now there was no way of knowing where they were. What they were doing. If they had even made it out safely, or if something had happened during their escape that had caused them harm.

“Penelope!”

And then the final emotion, the one that was causing her such difficulty breathing, was fear.

It wrapped long claws around her throat, squeezing the life from her as her mind conjured images of her mother and father lifeless, drenched, staring up at her with faces frozen in the panic that had consumed their last moments.

Her mind tried to reason—tried to tell her that she was standing in their room. The water hadn’t reached that far, which most likely meant that her parents had made it to the upper decks before the water had stopped them.

She just couldn’t shake the thought that her parents had done something utterly ridiculous, like head down to the cargo hold to try and get their luggage before the ship sank.

“PENELOPE!” The scream, so close to her ear, was enough to bring her out of her thoughts.

She bolted upright at the same time she felt a hand on her elbow, harshly pulling her towards the door.

Her senses came back to her.

The water had crept from the top of her feet to below her knees, seeping through her boots, skirts, and coat, and soaking her skin. It was colder than it had been to begin with, if such a thing were possible.

The parts of her legs that were submerged were utterly numb.

Ruby’s hand moved from her elbow to her hands, entwining their fingers even though Penelope’s struggled to bend. She was certain they were blue underneath her gloves.

“Three times!” Ruby hissed, tightening her grip as she dragged Penelope out of the room and into the corridor.

If it hadn’t been for Ruby’s hand on hers, constantly tugging her forwards, Penelope would have frozen at the sight in front of her.

The whole front of the ship was submerged, and the water was rushing in at an unbelievable pace. It had reached the staircase they had come down, and Penelope knew that, given a few more minutes, the water would be making its way up to start consuming D Deck above.

“Why ask me to stand and watch the water when you weren’t going to listen to me anyway?” Ruby said, her free hand reaching for the railing that lined the walls mid-way from the floor. She used it to haul herself towards the stairs, fighting the current, all the while dragging Penelope behind her.

It wasn’t until they had made it several feet that Penelope realised she had to help lessen the load. Her fingers ached as she forced them to wrap around the railing, and the pain only grew as she dragged herself forwards of her own accord.

“I didn’t…mean to…” she ground out between clenched teeth, the tears still falling. Her lungs continued to struggle for breath, sucking in as much air as they could, but it never seemed to be enough. “Just because…you have your…family and can relax…” The words were out before she really registered what she had said, and she winced internally when Ruby dropped her hand and rounded on her.

“Is that what you think? That I don’t care about your family? Because I have news for you, I do! But I refuse to let you kill yourself looking for them, just as I know you would refuse to let me put myself in danger if the situation were reversed. You won’t be able to find them if you’re drowning in the bottom of the ship, Penelope!” Ruby’s shoulders heaved, her breath appearing in faint puffs of steam around them. Her cheeks were a bright pink and her blue eyes burned with an anger firmly at odds with the layer of unshed tears that covered them.

Penelope swallowed.

Before she could say anything to apologise, she felt a harsh force knock at her legs, a vicious lash of water that sent her stumbling. With a startled shriek, she clutched the railing to keep herself upright.

“Why don’t we continue this argument somewhere where, as you pointed out, we don’t risk dying?” Penelope offered as she hauled herself upright, every single inch of her trembling and convulsing from fear and cold and exhaustion. She honestly wondered how she was still functioning.

Ruby huffed and turned. With her back to Penelope, she gripped her hand, and they resumed their slow and tense journey along the corridor and back to the staircase.

When they finally burst free from the water, hurling themselves onto the dry stairs, they took a long second, kneeling on the steps, to catch their breath. Their hands remained entwined, the only thing anchoring them to that moment.

The icy water, however, took no such break.

As they lay there, Penelope could feel it creeping up her legs, climbing from toes to ankles. They had to get up and get back to the Boat Deck. And then they had to get into a lifeboat, because, for all the talk of her being unsinkable, RMS Titanic was going down.