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

days after Emma returned home from the Olympic’s maiden voyage, she was back at the docks, signing on again for the next voyage, which was to depart less than a week later. As she came out of the White Star offices, she spotted a familiar figure on his way in.

Martin broke into a broad grin when he saw her. ‘You’ve signed on again?’

His smile was infectious. ‘I certainly have!’

He flung his arms in the air and gave a little cheer. ‘I’m so pleased. We worked well together, didn’t we? I’m looking forward to having the chance to do that again.’ He blushed a little then, as though embarrassed by his exuberance, and Emma laughed.

‘I’m looking forward to it, too. So, in you go, get yourself signed on and I’ll see you in six days. Got to get home now.’ She waved goodbye and walked home with a spring in her step.

Ma had given her blessing for Emma to return to sea, though she looked worn and worried. Lily was excited for her of course, and thankfully fully recovered, and Ruby was ambivalent, simply shrugging when Emma announced she’d signed on again and would be boarding the ship in another six days.

‘Do what you want. You always do, anyway,’ she said, and Emma had turned away.

She’d barely seen Ruby since her first day back home. Her sister went out to work every day, stayed out late and came home only to sleep. Even on her day off Ruby had left the house early in the morning and not returned until past eleven at night, when the rest of the family had long since retired for bed. Emma had heard her come in that night, slamming the front door, clattering up the stairs and into her room.

‘Why’s she so noisy?’ Lily had whispered from the other bed.

‘Shh, sleep now, she’s home safe,’ Emma had responded. Her sister was probably drunk, she’d thought, but no need to tell young Lily that. She’d heard Ma go into Ruby’s room, hold a whispered conversation, and then leave. And then she’d thought she heard stifled sobs from her mother’s room.

In some ways it broke Emma’s heart to leave Ma and her sisters again, especially when things were so difficult at home. But in other ways she couldn’t wait to be back at sea, with her friends Violet, Martin, and Mary who she knew had all signed on again. She was looking forward to the excitement of another Atlantic crossing and another visit to New York. And the prospect of spending more time with Martin, if she was honest with herself. This time, on her brief visit onshore in New York, she’d planned to walk up Fifth Avenue and gaze in the windows of the huge department stores she’d heard lined that street. And to tell the truth, she was looking forward to being away from the worry of Ruby for a while. On the Olympic there was nothing she could do to try to change Ruby’s behaviour, so there was no point worrying. Not until she was next home, anyway, in about three weeks’ time.

The day that she boarded ship, a day before the passengers embarked, was a glorious, hot summer’s day. How lovely it would be, Emma thought, to be able to sit in a deckchair all day, soaking up the sun and watching the activity on the quayside. But of course she could not do that. While there was less to do than at the start of her last voyage – no tours, no training, no days when the public were allowed on board to view the ship – there was still plenty of work to complete before she met her passengers for this voyage. Firstly, she needed to take her trunk to her cabin. She’d been assigned the same one as before, and was delighted to find she was sharing with Mary once more. ‘Oh, once they know a couple of girls get on all right, they’ll put us together every time we’re both on board,’ Mary said, after Emma arrived in the cabin and hugged her. It had only been days but felt like a lifetime since the last voyage.

She changed into her stewardess’s uniform and got started on the pre-voyage tasks, excited to be on a ship once again, though also feeling a little daunted by the anticipation of the hard work ahead. Last time she hadn’t known quite how hard she’d have to work but this time she knew exactly how arduous the job was.

‘Here we are again,’ said Martin with a smile, when they passed in a galley-way later that day. ‘Gluttons for punishment!’

‘I love this job,’ Emma replied, laughing. ‘I’ll keep signing on for as long as they’ll have me.’

‘You know the White Star Line is launching a new ship next year? A sister ship to this one, only it’s going to be even more opulently furnished? I think I might try to get on the maiden voyage again. Maiden voyages are more exciting than regular ones. Will you sign on for it too, when the time comes?’ Martin’s expression was hopeful, and it made Emma’s heart take a little leap of joy. She liked Martin. He was funny and kind, and his eyes were a deep brown, the type of eyes you wanted to dive into and swim around in.

‘I might,’ she replied. She still felt too new to the job, unsure whether White Star would take her again on another maiden voyage. Also, it wouldn’t hurt to keep Martin guessing. She didn’t want to seem too keen. ‘A sister ship to this one. What’s it going to be called, do you know?’

‘RMS Titanic, I believe. A fine name for a ship. And they’re building a third of the same design.’

Three sisters. Just like herself, Ruby, and Lily. Emma smiled at the thought. She hoped that none of the sister ships would provide as much heartache as her middle sister was causing her family.

The second voyage passed