The Lost Sister, Kathleen McGurl [best desktop ebook reader txt] 📗

to stay up and see its arrival – after all her home was only a few minutes’ walk away so once the ship had docked she would be able to go home and catch some sleep. To her surprise she was far from being the only person waiting at the dockside. She estimated there must have been a few thousand people thronging the roads and quayside, all waiting for that first glimpse of the famous new liner. For Emma, of course, there was the additional thrill of seeing for the first time the ship that was to be her home, for a few weeks at least, possibly for years if she decided to sign on for further voyages – and of course if the White Star Line wanted to keep her on. She knew she was tremendously lucky getting a place on this maiden voyage. ‘Usually they only take experienced people for first voyages,’ Violet Jessop had told her, ‘but I know they are short, as this ship is so large and needs so many staff and crew. And you have the right experience from your hotel work.’

Emma found a spot to stand on the new dock that had been built specifically to accommodate the enormous new liner. It had not quite been completed yet but was to be used for the Olympic’s berth anyway. She watched as the huge ship made its way slowly up Southampton Water, accompanied by five tugboats. Even in the dark, what a tremendous sight it was – the long, sleek hull of the ship, the several decks of the superstructure lit up from within, all topped by four backwards-leaning funnels.

‘Magnificent,’ she whispered to herself, as inch by inch the tugs manoeuvred the ship into position alongside the dock. Now it was towering over her, and she had to crane her neck to see the top decks. How on earth were people to get on board, she wondered. As the ship berthed a huge cheer went up from the waiting crowd.

‘That was worth staying up for,’ said a woman standing alongside Emma. ‘Something to tell the grandchildren about in years to come. Marvellous, isn’t it, that they can build ships as big as this, sail them all the way across the ocean and back. They say nothing can sink this ship, or its sisters that are still being built. My, how I’d like to see what it’s like on board!’

Emma smiled to herself. In two days’ time, when the crew and staff were due to board, she would see for herself the grandeur of the ship. How lucky was she? All those years ago, when she’d been a child living in Sandown on the Isle of Wight, she’d so often watched the great liners as they made their way around the island at the start of their long journeys to exotic places all over the world. She’d stood on the beach there so many times, waving and jumping up and down, even though she knew the ships were too far off for anyone on board to see her. Still, she’d tell herself, maybe someone on board had binoculars and would spot her and wonder who she was.

And now, it would be Emma herself rounding the island on board a great ship. She resolved to wave in case a child was watching from the beach. Maybe they too might then grow up to a career at sea, just as she had.

The farewells to Ma, Lily and Ruby had been an odd mixture of joyful yet tearful, with the expected touch of resentment from Ruby that Emma had forced herself to ignore. Lily had coughed a little as she hugged her goodbye, and Emma had prayed her little sister wasn’t about to have another relapse while she was away. But as she strode along the street towards the docks, carrying a bag that contained her personal items, she found herself looking only forward, to her great adventure. Once on board ship she’d be reunited with her trunk and would be issued with her stewardess’s uniform. Her stomach flipped with excitement as she imagined herself getting settled in a cabin, putting on her uniform, reporting for duty.

As she neared the great ship, which managed to look even more magnificent in the daylight, she wondered how on earth she’d ever learn her way around it. Hopefully there’d be a comprehensive tour for the crew, and maybe she’d be issued with a map. She hoped too, that she would quickly manage to meet up with Violet Jessop again. It felt good to know there was a friend on board.

A clerk from the White Star Line was standing by one of the gantries that provided access to the ship for passengers and crew. He was ticking off names from a list as people approached. Emma followed a couple of men, hoping they were crew like her and she wasn’t about to make a huge mistake and try to board by a passenger entrance.

‘Name?’ asked the clerk as she came alongside him.

‘E-Emma Higgins,’ she stuttered, and the clerk scanned through his list of names, before making a tick beside one.

‘Stewardess, second class. Inside, turn left, report to the chief steward Mr Latimer. Next!’ and with that, the clerk turned to a man behind her, who gave his name and occupation as stoker and was directed down to the boiler rooms.

Emma walked across the gantry, not daring to look down into the cold dark depths of the harbour. To think, the next dry land she trod on might well be in New York! That is, if she didn’t leave the ship again before it sailed. She followed the clerk’s instructions and found herself in a large room where many men and some women were standing, waiting. There was a hubbub of conversation going on, and an air of excitement at being on board the largest, newest liner in the world. Emma cast about looking for Violet, or failing that, any friendly looking face.