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

each room with basic supplies. The crew sang as they went about their work, and the nurses completed training courses. The weather was mild and sunny. Emma found herself enjoying being at sea once more. It was in her blood, she thought. She was glad that Lily’s ambition and her own promise to Ma had brought her back to life on board a ship. It felt good, it felt right.

‘I have dressed so many pretend wounds,’ Lily told Emma, as they prepared for bed one evening in late November. ‘I will be very pleased to be dressing real wounds – making an actual difference and really helping people. It sounds awful, I suppose – those poor soldiers. But I am looking forward to having them on board and them knowing they are on their way home.’

Emma slipped her nightgown over her head. ‘I know what you mean. I’m looking forward to it too. This is so different to when I’ve worked on ships before.’

Lily crossed the cabin and hugged her. ‘Ems, are you still happy you came? It was a lot to get over, after Titanic. Violet told me she’d considered giving up sailing too.’

Emma smiled. ‘Yes, still happy I came. It feels good to be helping. And Violet can’t have considered giving up for long – she told me she was back on Olympic only a few weeks after Titanic sank. She’s a braver woman than I am.’

‘Oh! Gosh, if it was me, I’d have stayed home for the rest of that year at least.’

‘I suppose she needed to earn money, like the rest of us. Well, come on now, Lily, we need to get to bed. Tomorrow’s a big day.’

The following morning dawned sunny and warm, and the girls were at breakfast, piling their plates high with eggs and bacon and toast from a buffet in what should have been the first-class dining room. They were about halfway through eating, when Emma spotted Violet enter the room.

‘She’s late for breakfast,’ Lily said, waving at their friend.

‘She’ll have been at Mass. She’s Catholic, and it’s some sort of feast day today, so …’ Emma broke off speaking, as there was a deafening roar, a shudder that seemed to pass all the way through the ship sending their breakfast plates crashing to the floor and Violet staggering against a pillar.

‘What was that?’ Lily said, her eyes wide and frightened.

‘Bloody hell. I think we’ve hit something.’ Emma got to her feet and clutched at her sister. How could this have happened again? There were no icebergs … but the sound had been different, more like an explosion.

Violet staggered over to them. ‘We’ve been hit, I’d say. Torpedoed or something. Or a mine. We need to get to the lifeboats.’

‘Hit? Oh God, no!’ Lily’s hand shot to her mouth. ‘And the lifeboats … are there …’

Violet took hold of Lily’s shoulders and held her. ‘There are plenty of lifeboats. After Titanic, they have made sure there are enough lifeboats for everyone on board, and the ship is far from full. Thank goodness we don’t yet have the servicemen on board – that would have made things a lot more difficult. Look, I’m just popping back to my cabin for my coat. You two, get yourselves on a lifeboat and I’ll see you later.’ She hurried away from them.

All around, everyone was on their feet, talking quietly, moving towards their stations, getting on with what needed to be done to evacuate the ship. It was so different to the Titanic disaster – this time there was a definite sense of urgency, of knowing what needed to be done and done quickly, and just getting on with it right now. Perhaps because there were no passengers on board, perhaps because the explosion and that shudder had left no doubt whatsoever that the ship was in grave danger. Emma took Lily’s hand. There was no way she was letting her sister out of her sight, not this time, until they were safely on board another ship or on land. ‘Come on, we need to go.’

‘How long have we got?’

‘I don’t know, maybe an hour or so, we don’t seem to be listing yet.’ Emma pulled her sister towards the stairs.

‘I’m in my slippers, I need a coat,’ Lily said, and Emma considered. They’d have time to fetch things from their cabin. Violet was doing so too. It would be all right. Inside she felt strangely calm. She’d been through this before, and she’d survived. And this time, there would be no frantic searching for her sister. She had Lily’s hand in her own, and she would not let go. She would never let go.

They hurried through the galley-ways to their cabin, where they put on their life jackets. The years since 1912 felt as though they’d never happened – here she was, putting on a life jacket in her cabin, trying not to think about what the next few hours would bring. Emma helped Lily on with her jacket, and then passed her her coat.

‘Coat over the top. In case you need to take it off – it’s easier if the coat’s on top.’

‘Why would I need to take it off?’

In case you end up in the water, where the coat will drag you down … but Emma did not want to worry Lily with that thought. ‘Well, it just fits better with the life jacket underneath. Come on. Leave that alone. We need to go.’ Lily had begun tidying up – and Emma remembered how she’d done exactly the same, back on the Titanic. She caught Lily’s hand again but her sister pulled back.

‘Just need to put my shoes on.’ With that done, at last they began making their way up to the boat deck. The ship had begun to list a little to starboard, but there was no sign of water on board yet. They met Violet heading up the stairs too, and the three joined forces. Violet had her apron folded up