Infected Waters: A Titanic Disaster Read online

  “Here is the tonic she gave us to help Mother’s stomach.” Lillian set it on the sink and turned to go.

  “Stay close, both of you. I’ll go to the kitchen and see if there is something we can have here in our cabin so that we don’t leave your mother alone while we eat.” Richard held up his hand as Samuel started to offer to go instead. “I think you both had a good long rest from your mother, and now you both can stay here. Do I make myself clear?”

  “Yes, sir,” Samuel mumbled, seeing his window of opportunity to sneak out vanishing.

  When his father returned with dinner, they ate in the other cabin so the food wouldn’t upset their mother’s stomach.

  Although they needn’t have worried, because as soon as she took the medicine she fell fast asleep again, causing them to be stuck in the next room all evening.

  Certain he would be labeled a chicken, Samuel pouted until Richard finally called it a night.

  “Lillian, angel, do you think you can handle your mother for the night, or do I need to stay over there to help?”

  “If she continues to sleep through the night I think it will be fine.” Lillian responded.

  “Well, go on over there and try to get some rest. We have all had a long day and could use the rest.” Richard kissed her gently on the forehead and waited until her door closed to begin readying himself for bed.

  Left with no chance to leave, Samuel laid down, hoping he could sneak out once his father passed out.

  When his head hit the pillow, the next thing Samuel knew it was morning.

  Chapter 5

  Thursday, April 11, 1912

  Since they had awakened too late to eat breakfast, Lillian went to walk around and see if she could find something to do.

  She discovered no one paid any attention to a young lady wandering around throughout the corridors as long as she was polite.

  When Lillian saw several of the crew heading toward their part of the ship, she followed.

  As the crew went in and out of what seemed to be their dining room, Lillian crept closer, hoping they would have some extra food since she was so hungry.

  Walking past the dining room, she peeked her head through the door. Seeing no one inside, she snuck in the door and over to the table that had bread sitting out.

  “Hey, now. What’s this?” Cook Harris caught Lillian’s elbow and turned her around to face him.

  “I’m sorry, sir. We slept past breakfast and its hours before we can eat lunch. Can I please have some bread?” Lillian pleaded.

  “Do you know what would happen if you were caught in here? I could lose my job or worse, end up in the Master-at-Arms room, under arrest.” Cook Harris questioned angrily.

  “I didn’t know. I’ll go. I don’t want you to get into trouble.” Dejectedly turning to leave, Lillian had a thought. “Do you know where I could find Gil?”

  “Gil? The baker’s helper?” At her nod, he continued. “Why he’s upstairs, little bird, but he’ll be working until after lunch. Are the two of you friends?”

  “Yes, sir. We met yesterday as the boat was leaving,” Lilian remarked nervously.

  “Well, that’s a horse of a different color, isn’t it?” Cook clapped his hands in delight. “How about I fix you up a nice snack and lunch, just to tide you over until Gil gets himself done with work?”

  “Won’t you get into trouble?” Lillian glanced around in fear for the cook’s safety.

  “Nah. Helping out friends is another matter than just a passenger.” Cook winked as he spoke, filling a bag with wrapped sandwiches, an apple, and a bottle of milk from the ice cooler.

  “Oh, thank you so much, sir.” Lillian thanked him gratefully.

  “Now, friends can’t be calling each other ‘sir’ and ‘miss.’ How about Freddie? It’s what my other friends call me,” Cook suggested as he held out the bag full of goodies to her.

  “Mmm. How about Cookie?” Lillian tilted her head to the side. “Yes, I think Cookie fits you.”

  “Hahaha. Don’t you know it, sweet girl.” Cook held his sides as Lillian grinned up at him. “Gil’s over on deck B, third quarter, I think. You might poke your head in so he knows to meet you when his shift is over.” Cookie gestured up above them.

  “I’ll explore up in that direction. Thanks, Cookie.” Lillian impulsively gave him a hug.

  “Aw, now don’t go making a big deal, but you can come and get a lunch from me every day if you want to. That way you can stay out your parents’ sight and have some fun before we dock.” Cookie winked at her as she ran out the door.

  ~~~~~~

  With Cookie’s lunch, Lillian didn’t have to go back to the room. She could spend the afternoon out on the decks away from the room filled with illness.

  Skipping back to the main part of the ship, Lillian stopped to read the signs over the doorways so she would know which way to go.

  In no real hurry, she went past the infirmary again, hoping to see a glimpse of the patient Gil told her about.

  With no reason to go inside, Lillian walked by a few times, but the door was always shut quickly.

  “What are you doing out here?” Nurse Ryan opened the door and stood in front of Lillian as she began to walk by again.

  “Um…I was just hoping to see the sick guy,” Lillian whispered, dipping her head.

  “Do you know him?” Nora asked curiously.

  “No, Miss. I just heard about him and wondered how he was doing today?” Lillian answered, still not meeting Nora’s gaze.

  Tilting Lillian’s chin down so their eyes met, Nora stood on tiptoe forcing Lillian to meet her gaze.

  “What’s your name, sweetie?” Nora recognized her from the day before when everyone was needing medicine for sea illness.

  “Lillian.”

  “I’m Nora.” Placing a hand on her shoulder, she explained, “We don’t know what’s wrong with him, but I guess that’s why you were coming by so you could look at him?” Nora asked gently.

  “Yes, Miss. I don’t want to get in the way. I just wanted to be able to say I saw him from behind the panels,” Lillian admitted guiltily.

  “Don’t tell anyone, but you can peek behind the panels quickly.”

  Smiling brightly, Lillian tiptoed in and looked at the man tied down to the bed.

  “He doesn’t look any different than other guys. What makes him more special than other people who get sick?” Unable to discern what made this man so dangerous, she asks, “Why is he tied to the bed?”

  “It’s to keep him from hurting anyone, or himself.” Nora couldn’t help the frustration that rose at the idea of not being able to help him. “He was hurt before we could take care of him properly, so we don’t really know what’s wrong with him.” Truthfully, Nora had no instruction book for this type of problem.

  “Did he really bite someone?” Lillian whispered.

  “Yes, which is why we have to watch him to make certain he doesn’t hurt anyone else.” Nora responded as she pulled the partition back in front on him. “Lillian, this is serious. Promise me you won’t try to come in here unless you are with me.” Waiting for Lillian to respond, Nora continued, “There is no telling what this man will do, and if something were to happen to you, I just couldn’t handle it.”

  Lillian nodded when she saw the tears forming in Nora’s eyes. “Yes. I promise.”

  “Good. Now, go find something cheerful to do this afternoon, away from all this sickness.” Nora playfully shoved Lillian out the door just as Judith came down the corridor to the infirmary.

  “Remember what I said,” Nora called after her.

  “I will.” Lillian waved as she headed toward the decks and the sunshine. She was glad now that she had decided to explore the boat instead of staying in the sick room with her mother.

  She stood at the railing and watched the dolphins in the water, feeling as if she were flying with the fish jumping alongside the boat.

  Lillian managed to pass the afternoon, feeling content as she watched the ocea
n until the bell rang, announcing dinner.

  ~~~~~~

  As Judith returned for her shift, Nora decided to go and check on their crew man who had been bitten the day before.

  “I’ll be back shortly,” Nora spoke in passing to Judith.

  “Not again. Do you have a crush on the guy or something?” Judith asked sarcastically.

  “Hmm. Don’t think so since I’ve known him for less than a day. I do think his wound needs to be cleaned regularly or it will turn out the same as our mysterious patient’s over there,” Nora flung back at Judith.

  “Do as you like. I’ll be here doing my job, and yours, while you’re gone,” Judith responded as she plopped into the chair in an unladylike manner.

  Opening her mouth to speak, Nora thought better of it.

  There was no point in feeding the pigs your pearls.

  In the crew quarters, Nora heard loud laughing coming from the crew’s kitchen. Peeking through the swinging door, Nora located her second patient playing cards at the table with all the off duty ladies hanging on his every groan.

  “Patrick, how are you doing today?” Nora asked as she gently placed a hand on his injured arm.

  Receiving a shout of pain from Patrick, Nora smiled at his audience.

  “I’m afraid Patrick is out of service for the rest of the day,” she announced sweetly, dismissing all the adoring women surrounding him.

  “Seriously? Why can’t you just let me have a little fun, after all I did to help you out in the first place with the sick patient?” Patrick yelled angrily at Nora.

  “Since you are determined to be up and about, even though we have no idea how infected your bite will become, let me at least clean it for you.” Nora emphasized her point by putting pressure on his arm directly above the bite.

  “Ow! Bloody hell, woman. Are you trying to kill me?”

  “No, I’m trying to keep you alive, silly man.” Nora opened her bag and began to take things out.

  “Stop! Don’t!” He looked around at the small group of people still watching them. “There is a room you can use next to the kitchen so no one can see.” Standing up, Patrick began to lead the way.

  Nora threw the bandages back in her bag and followed him to a small room with only a table and chairs inside.

  “This will work perfectly. Shirt off, please.” Nora requested, professionally.

  “Really?” Patrick trailed off as she moved to poke his sore arm again. “I’m taking it off. Don’t.”

  Peeling the other bandage off, the smell hit Nora’s nose immediately, almost causing her to vomit.

  Trying to hide from the smell by holding her arm in front of her, Nora couldn’t believe the amount of puss and blood running down his arm.

  “Here, hold this towel so that it doesn’t get everywhere,” Nora cautioned, not wanting others to become infected. “This is going to hurt,” she warned as she poured the disinfectant over the festering bite wound.

  “Son of a—” Patrick stopped short. “Sorry, Miss.”

  “Don’t worry about it. Now, take these pills and let’s wrap it back up.” Trying to keep all the items that had touched his wound together in the wastebasket, Nora hoped she didn’t become infected by helping him.

  “All done. I suggest going back to your bunk to rest. I know you can handle it, but you will get well faster if your body has a chance to fight the infection.” In reality, Nora didn’t want him around others, not wanting to take a chance of it spreading throughout the ship.

  Rinsing her hands with the disinfectant, Nora took out a fresh towel to dry her hands and then wiped down the table just in case anything happened to get on it.

  “Thank you, Nurse Ryan. I will go lie down for a bit. I’m feeling a bit woozy.” Patrick tried to put his shirt back on, but decided to carry it instead.

  Gathering everything up, Nora took the waste can to the rubbish fires herself so that it didn’t end up somewhere forgotten.

  Throwing the basket into the fire as well for good measure, Nora could only hope that they contained whatever had infected the people on the ship.

  Chapter 6

  Gil finally found Lillian standing at the railing on the second class deck, mesmerized by the ocean creatures.

  “Oh, my. I was supposed to let you know I had a sack lunch from Cookie. I got distracted and didn’t realize what time it had gotten to be.”

  “Cookie? You mean Freddie?” Gil asked, perplexed.

  “Yes, I renamed him. Cook plus Freddie equals Cookie,” Lillian explained.

  “So, have you gotten to explore the whole ship yet?” Seeing her shake her head no, Gil realized he had a special place in mind.

  “Great. Come with me. There is somewhere no one goes.” Gil grabbed her hand, pulling her toward the back stairs.

  “If no one goes there, won’t we get in trouble?” Lillian didn’t mind a little bit of fun, but she didn’t want Gil to be punished either.

  “It’s not really a place most of society would call appropriate for their appearances. There aren’t any rules prohibiting it that I know of.”

  “Well, lead on then, good sir.” Lillian was ready to have some fun.

  Several turns later, Lillian began to wonder where they were headed as they went deeper into the untraveled parts of the ship.

  Gil opened a door. “Here it is.”

  Tentatively approaching the doorway, Lillian’s eyes widened at the amount of things in the one room.

  From the top of the ceiling to the floor were trunks, crates, boxes, and many other objects hidden from the passenger’s sight.

  “This is perfect, and we shouldn’t be discovered since very few of the crew come in here.” Gil was proud of the fact he’d found a treasure trove to explore.

  “It should take most of the voyage for us to find out what’s going to America,” Lillian giggled.

  “First, let’s eat lunch and then we can look around.”

  “We can’t sit by the door just in case, but maybe there’s a box we can use as a table.”

  Both began to look through the aisles for a table type object.

  “Up here,” Gil shouted.

  Lillian ran toward the voice, but couldn’t find him. “Where are you?”

  “Look up.” Gil waved from the top of two large crates stacked on top of each other.

  “How on earth did you get up there?” Lillian yelled as he disappeared.

  “By way of the box ladder,” Gil whispered at her elbow.

  “Aaaah!” Lillian screamed. “Don’t do that. It’s not funny.” She punched his arm playfully.

  “Come on.” Gil disappeared again with Lillian on his heels.

  Around the back side of the crates was a perfectly stacked ladder of boxes and trunks up to the top.

  Gil was taller and easily climbed the larger boxes. Reaching down, he gave Lillian a hand to help her navigate them. They arrived at the top, breathless.

  Oh, dear.” Lillian frowned as she looked down from the top.

  “What?” Gil questioned, seeing nothing wrong from his viewpoint.

  “If we sit down our clothes will get dirty, and I can’t afford for mother to be mad at me.”

  “I have just the thing. Wait here.” Gil nimbly hopped down the ladder and scurried off.

  Lillian could follow most of his movements, but lost him when he bent down between several cars parked together.

  A tap on her shoulder startled her.

  “Really? You’re going to frighten me to death if you keep this up.”

  “Nah. I think your heart’s stronger than that.”

  Gil spread out the blanket he’d stolen from the back seat of one of the cars.

  “Now, your table is ready, milady.”

  Taking his hand, Lillian sat down and began to lay out the food they had available.

  “So, when your family gets to America, what will you do?”

  “Mother wants us to go straight to see her family in Virginia, but Papa wants us to see his family in
Boston. What will you do since you didn’t know you were going to America?” Lillian asked curiously.

  “I guess I’ll go to New York and see if I can find my uncle’s family. They came over about 20 years ago when he was just a lad as work was so scarce. They’ve written to each other, but he was so much older than my ma. I’ve no idea if he’s still around New York.”

  “If you thought this ship was large, just wait. New York City is huge. It takes forever to get anywhere. I mostly remember thinking we had been driving forever and still hadn’t got to the ship.” Lillian’s expression grew thoughtful.

  “You were just a little kid then. Everything looked bigger,” Gil wisely commented, trying to bring the smile back to her face.

  “True, but you could have put two of our first ships inside of this one. The Titanic is humongous compared to that one. I guess that’s why mother isn’t as sick this time.”

  “She’s still in her room though?” Gil questioned.

  “Yes. She finally stopped throwing up, but last time she did it for the entire seven days. So at least she is getting a chance to rest.” Lillian felt a little guilty she had left her father tending her mother all day.

  “Come on. That’s enough gloominess. Let’s try to guess what’s in each box and then read the shipping labels.”

  “I think I’ll need to get down first.” Lillian tried to be delicate as she didn’t want Gil looking up her skirt.

  “Why don’t you sit down on the edge and then hop to the next level? I’ll catch you if it’s too far for you.” Gil offered, trying to be a gentleman.

  Climbing down first, he caught Lillian as she dropped into his arms.

  “Oh, sorry. I didn’t hurt you, did I?” Lillian asked as she backed up a step.

  “No. Let’s get the rest of the way down.” Gil tried not to blush at the close proximity of Lillian’s body near his.

  He hadn’t been around many girls, and none like Lillian before.

  Navigating the boxes, they settled into a rhythm as they reached the floor and started their search for treasure.

  The faint sounds of the trumpet calling the ship to dinner ended their afternoon.