Come, Josephine

Chapter 1

   1927

   I woke up with a start; there was an almighty clutter downstairs as my mother managed to drop what sounded like every pan we owned. I reminded myself that she probably wouldn't have been struggling with too-full cupboards if I had a father. If mine were alive, I imagined that he would offer to make the extra storage and help us earn enough money for a bigger house with a nicer kitchen.
"Mamma?" I called from the landing, "is everything alright?"
I heard her cheery voice before her red hair became visible, "Jo, I'm just making breakfast!"
I smiled at her pet-name for me - it was short for Josephine, after a song she and my father used to sing. It made her smile, my name, and was one of the few reminders of my father that didn't make her crumble.
I called back a "good-morning" and prepared for the day, hurried and excited to start work. I was only fifteen and mamma insisted I stayed at school until I was sixteen, but she allowed me to work on the weekends. I was glad to receive the extra money, and like most Saturdays, I went about going to park to sell portraits. I made a good amount really - at fifteen cents a piece and ten portraits each day, I would be lucky to make three dollars. It was the money I spent on art supplies and helped pay for my mother and myself.
I threw on the more worn of my dresses and took my breakfast with me as I headed the parks of Sawtelle. It was there that I had grown up, so it made sense that I felt so at ease with walking the streets alone.
By the time I reached the nearest park the early morning sun had risen higher into the sky. It was shockingly warm for an April morning and I could already feel the sun prickling that the back of my neck. Mamma would scold me if she saw me without a hat in such weather, but I brushed it off carelessly.
The day wore on, and I found that I had sold more portraits that I usually did. I enjoyed the art of drawing, even if no one bought my work, so the money I received was only a bonus. By the time I had drawn my twentieth portrait, I was sure I had to thank the warm weather for the bounty of customers.
In the late afternoon I was almost finished with work for the day when I saw a wealthy man loitering in the far corner of the park. Knowing the value he could hold, I rushed over, eager to make more money.
The excitement took over as I approached him, trying my hardest to appear worth-while, I plastered the largest smile I could muster on my face.
"Hello, Sir," I ignored his miserable glare, "could I interest you in a portrait?"
He sized me up, and smirked, "why do you think I ought to pay you for some doodle that won't be worth what I pay?"
"Well, you're very rude!" I felt the anger bubble under my skin, "for your information, Mister, my doodles are often bought-"
"-my name is Hockley," he snapped, "goodbye, filth."
He pushed past me, and as I watched him leave I was sure it's time to head home for the day.
I marched home, where I was greeted by mamma cooking dinner.
"My word!" I exclaimed, "I can't believe this man I met today! I asked him if he would like a portrait, and he called me filth! I can't believe that outrageous ass-"
"Josephine!" She scolded, "don't use that language and don't raise your voice," Mamma paused, and I knew she's recalling how alike she was to me at my age, "just avoid him next time."
I agreed that I would and she told me that she was going into town to deliver her sewing to the local tailor.
"Anyways, look out for that Hockley guy," I muttered as she left the room.
"What?" Mamma startles, "what did you just say?"
"Watch our for that guy-" she cut me off.
"No," she looked back through the doorway, "what's his surname?"
For a moment, I felt almost angry as her sharp tone, "Hockley."
Her pallor paled, her face as bloodless as I've ever seen it. Horrified, I made my way to stand beside her.
"Mamma?" I crossed the room to hold her arm, "mother? Are you okay?"
She audibly gulped and offered a weak nod, "Josephine, what did this man look like?"
"I don't know- dark hair, eyes, and tall. He was wearing this suit and it looked well made- why?"
"He sounds like the man who caused your father..." mamma broke down, and I felt horrible. How could I have upset her?
"What did he do, mamma?" I knew
hardly anything about my father, other than his name and that he died before I was born.
A cool tear trickled down her cheek, and I was sure she was about to walk out of the room. She didn't, despite the uneasy look that crossed her face, and instead meets my eyes.
"I think it's time I tell you about your father," she choked out, "and why he's not here with us."
   Mamma came over to me and takes my hand. We sat down on the worn sofa behind us. I gave her time, glancing out of the window to the right of her.
   "It was 1912," she steadied her voice, "and I was a member of Philadelphia's society. Back then, my mother and I were once rich, but we had lost all of our money after my own father died. Now, mother was insistent she wouldn't become 'some seamstress'  so she sold me off to the highest bidder. His name was Caledon Hockley, a cruel man, and he was tall, with dark hair and eyes. He believed that the wealthy were more important than the poor."
   As mamma paused and I was sure the tale she was about to tell was painful.
   "I was engaged when I was sixteen, and I had just turned seventeen when he took mother, myself, my maid Trudy and his man-servant Lovejoy to Europe. That was when we went to Southampton, to board the RMS Titanic."
   I recognised the name instantly. The famous ship that sank over fifteen years ago, taking one thousand and five hundred people down with it. It was a painful story, yet-
   "I wasn't happy, and I was in a very dark place. I had lost my father, I wasn't allowed to further my education, my mamma saw me as something to be sold and my fiancé was abusive. I felt isolated and I was always told how fortunate I was to have a respected husband-to-be. He was a steel tycoon- old money."
   She stares down at her hands, "Josie, it was the night after the last dock in Cherbourg, Ireland, when I finally broke. I don't know what it was- I saw my life as if I'd already lived it. I broke down, crying, and ran from my rooms. I ran the length of the ship, but eventually I saw the end. Of my pain, of the ship- I don't know. That's when I climb the rail, and found myself hanging from the back of the ship. I was about to let go..."
   Her mouth twitched.
   "And he appeared. Your father, he managed to talk me out of it, and as I climbed back over the railing, I slipped. He had hold my my hand, and I was screaming, but he managed to pull me back over. He told me he wouldn't let go, and he didn't. Of course, someone heard my screams and he was accused of unsavoury things, so he almost got arrested. Cal was furious, until I lied and said I had merely slipped trying to spot the propellers. The lie worked and no one but Jack knew of my attempt, and he managed to earn twenty dollars and an invite to dinner with us the following night for his heroic act."
   I never knew my mother could ever be that afraid, and yet-
   "So, the next day I sought him out to thank him. I finally felt like the sun was shining, I managed to spend the day with him. He showed me his drawings and they had such life to them. He told me a bit about himself and how his parents died in a fire when he was your age, so he went about travelling the world."
   Mamma's eyes lightened at the mention of his art, which was something I never knew about him- what style had he used? Had they been similar to my own?
   "For dinner that night, Margaret Brown let him borrow her son's suit so he could join us - he passed easily as one of us, and made a grand impression. Everyone enjoyed his company as much as I did. Well, apart from mother and Cal. That night, Jack took me to a real party. We went dancing in steerage, and got drunk on cheap alcohol. I loved every moment- he then walked me back to my rooms.
   "The next day, Cal revealed that he had Lovejoy follow me. He flipped a table, almost throttled me. I was terrified, really. Later that day, Jack came to tell me to leave Cal and mother and go with him, but I was so scared I didn't know what to do. I told him to leave me alone, and left. Hours passed, and as I began socialising with my 'equals' I realised I didn't want that life.
   "So I found him on the railing of the ship at sunset, by the bow. I told him that I'd changed my mind, and we stood up on the railing, him behind me, with are arms spread as if we were flying. We kissed, and went back to my rooms so he could draw me wearing The Heart of the Ocean. After we were finished Lovejoy came looking for us, so we ran. We found ourselves downstairs, and ran through the engine room and to the luggage hold. There was a Renault, and..."
   Her voice trailed off and I could see the blush rising in her cheeks. I, despite my own hesitation, knew what she meant.
   "Anyways, after that, we went up on the deck, and saw the iceberg hit. That's when we ran to tell mother and Cal, but instead they framed him for stealing The Heart of the Ocean - he ended up chained to a pipe after the Master at Arms arrested him. That was when Cal tried to get me into a lifeboat with Margaret and mother. He made a joke about how the drawing would be worth more by morning - he had found it - and that's when I knew.
   "So before he could drag me into a boat, I spat in his face and ran. I found Thomas Andrews, the designer of the ship, and he told me where Jack might be. He was a kind man, and I can't help but feel he was another innocent life taken- he was the one who wanted more lifeboats- enough for all on board.
   "So I found Jack, but it was already flooding in the room he was in. That's when I tried to find help- he was chained to a pipe- but by the time I found an axe to free him, the water was so very deep. We had swim out of there, and there was a point when I thought we might drown. All of the steerage gates were locked, so jack and his friends, Tommy and Fabrizio, managed to ram one down with a bench. As we did so, we ran past the steward, Tommy punched him- even now I look back and remember the rage on their faces. We managed to get back onto deck though, and he found a lifeboat, but they wouldn't let the men on.
   "Cal found us, and he put his coat around me, and tried pushing me out of Jack's grip. They got me into the boat and Cal promised he and Jack had an arrangement to get off. Right as we were half way down, being lowered into the water, I saw Jack and Cal, watching me from above. That's when I knew Cal had lied, and Jack had lied too so I could get off the ship. So as we passed the open deck, I jumped back onto the ship, and I ran back to Jack.
   "I ran into him on the grand staircase, and as he held me, I told him I couldn't leave him. That's when Cal saw us, and he had a gun. He shot at us and we ran deeper into the ship. We lost him, but by the time we had escaped the way we came in was already flooded. We got swept away, and got trapped behind several locked gates. A man, at the last one right as we were about to drown, managed to hand us his keys. We got out just in time, and ran to the back of the ship to where we had first met.
   "The ship sank, and by the time we surfaced, Jack found a board that could only hold me. He stayed with me, and made me promise to live, and have a family one day. He wanted me to hold onto my promise.
   "Only one lifeboat returned. One. Six people survived over the fifteen-hundred that sank into the sea that night. Fifteen-hundred. He... he died in the water before the lifeboat came back."
    She stopped and broke down into tears. With big, curdling sobs, mamma met my eyes, "Jo, Cal is so dangerous and we need to leave right now. Maybe if he hadn't done those things, your father would still be with us now."
   A second passed and she spoke again, "we need to leave, Josie, we can't stay here."