Chapter Two

Penelope still didn’t want to move while the ship set sail. Even after Ruby had left to find her family, she had stayed on the deck.

She found it difficult to believe that it would be the last time she would ever see Britain—at least for a while.

It was only when the sea stretched on before her and a cool wind started to chill her bones that Penelope wrapped her arms around her midriff and made her way back below deck.

She remembered the deck—E Deck—but navigating there proved a touch more difficult, especially since every room seemed to be a cabin and she’d been so anxious when boarding that she hadn’t made a note of their room number.

Penelope pursed her lips, glancing around to find something familiar to ground herself.

Her pace was slow, taking in every little detail as she walked. She could tell from all the doors that she passed that E Deck was largely cabins for all classes. She passed door numbers as high as E-200, and it made her head swim, wondering how many rooms there were in total and how many people such a mighty ship could hold.

When she turned a corner, she was thankful to see Ruby leaving a nearby room. She was pretty certain it wasn’t their room, however, and so she called out, “Miss Cole!”

Her roommate drew to a halt, turning to face her with wide eyes and raised eyebrows. “Oh! Miss Fletcher, please, call me Ruby!” She smiled. “What can I do for you?”

“I’m…afraid I’m a little lost? I’m trying to find our room so that I can find my parents’ room to see what we’re doing for luncheon.”

The teasing nature of Ruby’s smile only served to make Penelope’s face redden further. Her hands fisted the folds in her skirt that cascaded from the pleats at her waist.

“You weren’t too far away. At the very least, you’ll remember now that our room number is E-56.”

Penelope didn’t want to admit that, despite now knowing the room number, she would probably still get lost. It was such a huge ship, and she was painfully aware that there were so many different directions and so many corridors. It made her wonder how she was going to cope in Massachusetts with all its bustle.

Ruby stepped forwards, winding her arm through Penelope’s.

As soon as her fingers settled in the crook of Ruby’s elbow, all she could focus on—and look at—was the way they nestled so perfectly against her as she led her down the corridor, thankfully in the same direction she had been heading.

There were so many layers between them—Penelope’s coat and dress, Ruby’s gloves—but that didn’t seem to matter. As Penelope stared at where they touched, she was pretty positive she could feel Ruby’s skin against her own…feel her breath against her lips…feel her moan in her ear.

Surprised at the direction of her thoughts, Penelope cleared her throat and tried to remember what Ruby had been saying. “Then…my parents must be in Room E-62…” Penelope declared, distracting herself.

When they stopped in front of the door, she was all too aware that Ruby was still there, watching her with that damnable smile on her pink lips. “Will you knock to see if you are correct? Or just stand there, hoping it’ll magically open before you?” Her Irish accent was so strong, her tease rolling off her tongue so quickly, it seemed to be one long word. And even though it was completely different from Penelope’s, it made her feel a bit less homesick.

Catching herself as she bit her lower lip, Penelope rapped her knuckles against the door. Ruby smiled before moving down towards their shared bedroom.

Please let this be the right room. I shall die of embarrassment if an unfamiliar face answers, she thought as she heard the door handle click. Her breath left her in a gush as her father’s clean-shaven, sharp face greeted her, his chestnut brown hair combed to one side.

From the corner of her eye, she saw Ruby grin before she stepped into their room.

Penelope turned her attention back towards her father, offering him a small smile. “I just wanted to see whether we had plans for luncheon. If a table had been booked or…” She trailed off as her father stepped aside to let her enter.

“We have a table booked in the dining room. It is rather soon, so we’re getting ready to go. We had planned to see if you wished to join us,” her mother answered as her father shut the door and headed to the sofa. Her parents’ room was pretty much the exact same as her own, even down to the bunks, the bottom of which held her mother’s nightgown.

“Of course. I didn’t even realise that was the time.” Penelope knew it had been around noon when the ship had finally left Southampton. They weren’t crossing the Atlantic yet but heading to a place in France to pick up and drop off more passengers. “Let me go and freshen up.”

Before either of them could say a word, she turned and left their room.

It was strange how they were the people to whom she owed her life, and yet, spending more time with her parents than necessary just made her uncomfortable. There was always a suffocating silence that made her feel unwelcome. It almost made her wish she were married, so she didn’t have to constantly be around them.

When she entered her room, she found Ruby on the floor by her luggage, sorting through the clothes.

She had removed her hat and taken her blonde hair down, letting it cascade down her back in soft ringlets. It seemed so intimate, so improper, to see her in such a carefree, undone state, but Penelope would have to get used to it—they would be sharing a room for a week, and that meant that certain boundaries had to be lowered.

“I do hope that you got the right room.” Ruby stopped her organising and turned to face Penelope, lips tugged into a smirk that made Penelope want to trace it with her tongue.

“I did, yes. I just came back to get ready for luncheon…”

Penelope hovered slightly, glancing down at Ruby for a moment. Then she stepped around her luggage to get to her own and quickly sorted through her belongings until she found a lavender cardigan and pulled a brooch out of her small jewellery box.

Once she had everything she needed, she removed her coat—a beautiful navy wool decorated with buttons and a capelet draped over the shoulders. Then she pulled the cardigan on and secured it just at the top edge of her corset with the brooch.

She had no doubt that her father wouldn’t be too pleased, but she wasn’t going to sit through the meal in her coat, regardless of if she was surrounded by strangers or not.

“It’s a bit of a shame we’re not on the other side of the ship,” Ruby announced. She still sat on the floor, sorting through her belongings. Penelope watched as she removed a large, leather-bound book from her case and carefully set it on the floor.

Penelope’s gaze was focused on the book as she asked, “How so?”

“The crew have taken to calling the corridor on that side Scotland Road.” Ruby’s plump lips curved into a wry grin. “It seemed fitting for you.”

Penelope finally turned away from the book. “Why would they call it that?” Her father had told her that the ship had been built in Ireland, was registered in Liverpool and set sail from Southampton. What did it have to do with Scotland?

Ruby cocked her head to side. “The street in Liverpool? A lot of the crew hail from there…you’ve never heard of it?”

Penelope felt her cheeks beginning to redden. “No. I’ve never been out of Scotland before now.”

Ruby hmmed, saying nothing more for a long moment. Penelope worried that perhaps she had proven herself an utter fool now, and Ruby would want nothing more to do with her, when she spoke again. “It’s my stamp collection.” Ruby reached for the book and flipped it open, revealing countless stamps placed on thick paper, with small notes written underneath.

Ruby turned it around and allowed Penelope a better look, finding that the notes contained information about where and when Ruby had gotten the stamp, as well as some small comments. “Mammy started it with me.” Ruby turned the book back around and gently brushed her fingers over the pages. “Every time I go over, the family has some new ones for me.”

Penelope didn’t know what to say. She had known that stamp collecting was a thing that people did; she had just never met anyone who did it. Or been inclined herself.

Ruby closed her book over and set it aside, behind herself, almost as if to protect it from Penelope’s gaze. She smiled at Penelope. “I must suggest you try the scalloped veal when you get to the dining room. I’ve heard it is rather delicious on the White Star Line ships.”

“Oh!” She tried to hide her surprise at the sudden change in conversation. She swallowed and offered Ruby a smile. “Thank you. I shall give it a try.”

Not wanting to linger awkwardly, Penelope hurried off to head to luncheon with her parents.

It seemed that they both had a better sense of direction than she did, for they found it without any sort of trouble. She wished that it had rubbed off on her.

On Ruby’s recommendation, she ordered the scalloped veal, along with a lemon tart. She wasn’t really surprised that Ruby had been right about the meat being utterly delicious, she just hadn’t expected to enjoy it as much as she had.

Once they had finished their luncheon, she joined her mother and father on a walk around the Bridge Deck.

On more than one occasion, Penelope felt her gaze flicker to the Promenade Deck above them. It was mostly concealed from view thanks to the low walls, but each end of the ship was open to allow the First Class passengers some variety in their walking area. It also meant that, if the weather was bad, they would still be able to walk and enjoy the view without getting wet, thanks to most of it being covered by the Boat Deck.

The women she saw up there wore the most stunning dresses, paired with large hats that were decorated with fruit or flowers or birds.

Every time she caught herself staring, she would quickly avert her gaze and try to focus on what her father was saying as he explained the ship’s engineering and design elements that Penelope didn’t particularly care about.

Penelope clasped her hands in front of her body as she looked up. From where she stood, she could see not only the Promenade Deck, but the Boat Deck at the very top, those huge funnels giving off a light-grey smoke as the coal-powered engines pushed the ship through the waves.

“There…seems to be very few lifeboats up there,” she said, raising her finger to briefly point. Her father followed her gaze with his brows furrowed. “Are there more on the other side or somewhere else?”

Her father was silent for a second before he let out a low laugh as he shook his head. “Oh, my dear Penelope. This ship is unsinkable. The lifeboats are purely a precaution.” He reached out and pinched her cheek with more force than he probably realised, and she flinched away from the touch. “You are a woman, Penelope, you shouldn’t worry your pretty head about such a thing. This ship was built by some of the finest men.”

Penelope gritted her teeth, taking a deep breath in through her nose. Before she could say something she’d regret, she made her excuses and quickly retreated to her cabin.

Thankfully, this time she didn’t get lost.

Still, she was relieved when she entered and found Ruby stretched out across the sofa, reading a small book—The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame, Penelope saw—for she could use the distraction.

Ruby’s hair was braided down her back. Penelope could only assume that she had pinned it up when she had left for luncheon and had then promptly taken it down when she’d returned.

At Penelope’s sudden entrance, Ruby looked up from her book before folding it over, keeping her place with her fingers still trapped between the pages. “Goodness, you look riled up about something.”

“I…” She shook her head and leaned heavily against the door, pressing her hand against her stomach and feeling the stiffness of her corset underneath. “What is it with men believing that, just because we’re women, we know nothing? That we can form no opinions of our own?”

She promptly regretted her words when she realised that Ruby might really be a traditionalist. She didn’t know her. And maybe she’d just made things awkward with the woman she’d be sharing a room with for an entire week.

Ruby raised her brows high. “That is because men are birdbrained fools,” she said flippantly, and returned to her reading.

It seemed to take her a long moment before she realised that Penelope was still just standing there, leaning heavily against the door and staring at her, eyes wide with wonder.

When she did, she cocked her head to the side and grinned. “I do hope I didn’t shock you.” Her blue gaze was teasing, and she spoke quickly, which made the Hs in certain words disappear completely. “But I meant what I said. There was this one lad back home who refused to believe me when I said I wasn’t interested in him. It took me being on the arm of another man for the message to finally sink in.” Ruby finished with a loud sigh and a roll of her eyes. When Penelope didn’t say a word in reply, she asked, “Everything all right over there?”

Penelope pushed away from the door with a shake of her head. She swallowed, trying to hide her disappointment. Of course, it seemed only plausible that Ruby would be interested in men—hadn’t Caroline always said that what Penelope felt wasn’t common?

“It is. Thank you for understanding.” She ducked down to sit on the edge of her bed.

“Not a problem.” Ruby turned her wrist, glancing at her watch. She tucked a small bookmark between the pages of her book and set it aside on a rather large pile of books that hadn’t been there earlier. It contained many familiar titles that Penelope had read at a young age. “I must go, I’m afraid. If I don’t see you at dinner, I’ll see you before bed.”

She was gone before Penelope could reply or even enquire about the children’s novels Ruby had brought aboard. Her hands covered her burning cheeks, and she allowed herself to fall backwards, lying down on her bed with a groan.

She did not mean it like that, Penelope hissed at herself, closing her eyes with a sigh. She readjusted herself to get a bit more comfortable, keeping her feet dangling over the edge. She didn’t want to let her boots touch the clean linens.

Penelope forced her mind to quiet, trying to ignore the thoughts of Ruby, of Caroline, of her parents. She focused on nothing more than her breathing until, without really meaning to, she drifted off to sleep.