“Thank you, but the farther I am from the scene of the crime, the better.”
“Hmm.” Her mouth swishes to one side. “So your brother’s not going with you?”
I shake my head and take another sip of the gasoline, which seems a good alternative to airing my emotions in front of her.
“The sooner you let people be who they want to be, the better for all.” She tucks a strand of dark hair behind her ear. “When I told Mother I had no interest in men, she was angry for a good year. Every time we saw a child, she’d give me a dirty look.”
She raises an eyebrow at me, and I shut my mouth, which has begun to gape. Well, that certainly explains her remark about Jamie not being her “type.”
Overlooking my rudeness, she continues, “But one day, out of the blue, she said, ‘I guess that’s that, then.’ And we’ve been fine ever since.”
I nod. “I just thought I knew him.” I focus on a stunner of a dress spread over a bed, which looks sunrise yellow from one angle and sky blue from the other. It’s much cleverer than Marigold Fantasy. “Why did you send that Lucile for me to wear?”
“I didn’t get a chance to tell you. I was trying to throw Lucy off the scent by having you wear that dress. She thought House of July had planted you to upstage her. Which is true, but I didn’t want her to accuse you of being a phony.”
Someone knocks.
“Who could that be at this hour?” April smoothly crosses to the door, still holding her glass. “Yes? Who is it?”
“It’s your steward, ma’am. Please don’t be alarmed, but it seems we’ve run into a bit of a snag, and we’re calling all passengers to the Boat Deck.”
Casting me a disbelieving gaze, April cracks open the door. “You can’t be serious. It’s the middle of the night.”
“Yes, ma’am, and I do apologize for the inconvenience. I’m sure everything will be okay. But please put on your life belts.”
She closes the door. “Life belts? Can you imagine?”
“It must have been the swell. You don’t think we hit something, do you?” Perhaps it’s just a precaution, but a clanging begins in my head, like the ash-collectors banging their drums.
“A big boat like theTitanic? You’d think everything would get out of her way.” She sets down her glass and opens the armoire. Reaching up, she pulls down two life belts. “We’d better go find Mother.”
“I have to go back to E-Deck,” I tell her.
“No. If we did hit something, it’s better to be closer to the lifeboats, wouldn’t you say? Your brother will find you. Stay with me.”
“It’s not just him I’m worried about.”
“Valora, wait—”
But I’m already out the door.
34
I hurry down the tidal-wave staircase, this time not slowed by the tan pumps. Most people have retired for the night, but the few late birds throw disapproving glances my way. A steward passes, suggesting that folks return to their rooms. Another directs them to the Boat Deck. No one seems to know much beyond the fact that something is happening.
The hackle feather floats into my mind.Something’s going to happen.
My stomach clenches like a fist.
When I finally reach the first-class corridor on E-Deck, I’m surprised to see Charlotte and Jamie hurrying to her room. “Jamie!” I call after them.
“Valora!” Charlotte waves. The hem of her evening dress peeks out from under her wool coat. Her tiara has gone crooked, and her hair hangs in messy curls, the kind of curls that look played in. From the way she’s blushing, and the way Jamie pulls at his ear, I can’t help wondering what they’ve been up to in the time since he left me.
“Jamie, what’s happening?”
“Not sure yet.”
The cabin door opens and Strudel emerges, followed by awoman in a blue-grey duster who must be Charlotte’s mother, holding a life belt as if it were a soiled baby’s nappy. More clanging goes off in my head.
