One single tear escaped James’s eye, and he wiped his cheek with his sleeve.
He and Cassian sat in silence for a little longer, and James spent the time wondering what they were to do. Obviously, James still wanted to make it out of this alive. He knew that Cassian did as well. But James couldn’t even imagine how such a thing would be possible. Neither could he fully comprehend what he knew must be the potential horrors ahead, even as his mind worked furiously to come up with a plan to still reach New York’s harbor without being forced to nab a lifeboat spot that was meant for someone more vulnerable than either himself or his companion.
Mr. Jacob Calbot’s voice cut through James’s thoughts.
“Cassian! Mr. Morrow!” He ran over in a huff. “Oh, I can’t even believe my eyes.”
“Jacob!” Cassian exclaimed, standing.
He and Mr. Calbot hugged. After they parted, Mr. Calbot heaved a heavy sounding sigh.
“Ingrid and Istillhave not found a lifeboat,” he said. “It looks as though you haven’t either. And I cannot convince Ingrid to board one without me. But I have to. Cassian, Ihave to. She is carrying our child.”
“Yes, we must convince her,” Cassian agreed. “Where is she now?”
“Just outside the Smoking Room, near the staircase. I suggested that we come inside because of the chaos and the cold.”
“James and I had precisely the same idea.”
“But now we must find a boat for her. I need to save my child. But Ingrid, she is reluctant to leave me. She’s frightened of the little boats, too. Afraid that they will overturn in the water.”
“James and I will help convince her,” Cassian said. He looked over his shoulder at James. “Are you... ready to return to the boat deck? Do you have your wits about you?”
James nodded. Cassian gestured for James to follow him and then started out of the room with Mr. Calbot. James managed to push himself to his feet, though his legs shook as he walked.
At the head of the staircase, they met Mr. Calbot’s wife, who was clutching tight to a fur stole she had wrapped around her shoulders over her lifebelt.
“Ingrid, love, look who I found,” Mr. Calbot said.
“Cassian,” she said, with a small, uncertain smile. “Where’s Ethel?”
“Ethel and Mr. Quinn have both left in a lifeboat,” Cassian said. “We must find one for you as well.”
“Not without Jacob,” she insisted. “Oh, Cassian, not without my Jacob. I cannot leave without him. And the boats—we must be sixty or seventy feet above the water. I’m too frightened.”
“Think of your child, Ingrid,” Cassian pleaded. “Your child needs you to be brave right now. I will find a boat for the rest of us later. Jacob, James, and I—we’ll manage. Three strong, capable men? We’ll make it through. But you are in a delicate condition. Don’t be so foolish as to think that things will become easier the more time passes. Already, there is more fighting, more unrest, than before.”
“Ingrid, please,” Mr. Calbot implored. “Let us find you a boat.”
Cassian and Mr. Calbot’s pleas rang in the silence that hung between them all. After some time, Mrs. Calbot closed her eyes and nodded. Immediately, Cassian started for the exit. Everyone followed. Mr. Calbot kept his wife close, rubbing her shoulder as they walked, while James trailed behind, praying that there were enough lifeboats left for Mrs. Calbot to board one.
On the boat deck, there were still many people remaining, mostly men as far as James was able to see in their immediate area. Closest to the stern on the port side of the ship, one boat remained, and over the sound of the music still playing, James could hear an officer calling for women and children.
“Over there!” he shouted, pointing. “Look!”
“Good eye, James,” Cassian commended him.
All four of them rushed over.
“Women and children only, please,” the officer remarked the moment they reached the lifeboat.
“Of course, of course,” Mr. Calbot said. He took his wife’s hands in his and looked into her wide, worry-filled eyes with an intensity of fondness that pulled on James’s heart so fiercely he had to look away. James was still staring at his shoes as the man said farewell to his pregnant wife. “I’ll find a boat, love. I’ll find a way back to you. But, in the meantime, whenever you feel frightened while out on the sea, think of the health of our child. Be brave for our little one.”
“I will,” the woman replied softly. And then, after a pause, she said, “Or, perhaps I... perhaps I should stay. I—”
“Into the boat, madam,” one of the officers clipped.
Mrs. Calbot cried out, “No, wait!”
