Jack Dawson's Sister

~10~

Jack holds my  hand as they and Fabrizio stand at the bow gripping the curved railing. We spotted some dolphins. They were jumping clear out of the water and then disappearing under the waves. Jack jumped on the rails,Fabrizio put me on Jack's shoulders. He held onto me with security and I felt a sense of safety by holding onto him.

You could see the bright and beautiful sun glistening down on the beautiful but dangerous ocean. Fabrizio"I can see the Statue of Liberty already. Very small,of course" Jack shoots his arms in the air"I'm the King of the World!" Me:"I'm the Queen of the World!" Jack"Yes,you are. My darling Jacqueline"

Jack sat drawing an immigrant from Manchester named Cartmell and his five year old daughter,Cora. Because we are the same age,we became friends right away. Fabrizio talked to another third class man"The ship is nice,yeah?" Man"Yeah. It's an Irish ship" Fabrizio"Is English,no?" Man"No,it was built in Ireland. 15,000 Irishmen built this ship. Solid as a rock. Big Irish hands" I awed at the dogs that passed by. The man noticed them too"That's typical. First class dogs come down here to take a shite" Jack"Let's us know where we rank in the scheme of things" Man"Like we could forget?" He stuck his cigarette in his mouth and shook our hands"I'm Tommy Ryan" "Jack Dawson and my sister,Jacqueline" "Fabrizio" Tommy"Oi! You make any money with your drawings?" He asked my brother.

My brother grew distracted as he noticed a woman on deck. Tommy"Oh,forget it,boyo. You'd as like have angels fly out of your arse as get next to the likes of her" she and my brother made eye contact. She had fair porcelain white skin with beautiful red hair and she wore a green dress with white lace sleeves. It's so obvious that she is in first class. A man appeared next to her with brown hair,brown eyes and in a suit and he was angry with her. She walked away and he follows her.

She used to tell me"I saw my whole life as if I'd already lived it. An endless parade of parties and cotillions,yachts and polo matches. Always the same narrow people,the same mindless chatter. I felt like I was standing at a great precipice. With no one to pull me back. No one who cared. Or even noticed"

I cuddled up with my brother,he blew a cigarette and we watched the stars in the dark night sky above us. We saw the lady from earlier run right past us,we sat up and watched her. We followed her to the back part of the ship to see that she was already hanging off the railing,ready to jump into the ice cold water below.

Jack"Don't do it" she turned to face us"Stand back. Don't come any closer" Jack"Come on. Just give me your hand. I'll pull you back over" Woman"No! Stay where you are! I mean it! I'll let go!" My brother threw his finished cigarette into the ocean.

Me:"No, you won't" Woman"What do you mean,no I won't? Don't presume to tell me what I will and not do. You don't know me" Me:"Well you would've done it already" Woman"You're distracting me. Go away" Jack"I can't. I'm involved now. You let go and I'm going to have to jump in there after you"

He took off his jacket. Woman"Don't be absurd. You'll be killed" he took off his shoes"I'm a good swimmer" Woman"The fall alone will kill you" Jack"It would hurt. I'm not saying it wouldn't. To be honest,I'm a lot more concerned about that water being so cold"

Woman"How cold?" Jack"Freezing. Maybe a couple degrees over. Have you ever been to Wisconsin?" Woman"What?" Jack"Well,they have some of the coldest winters around. Me and Jackie grew up there near Chippewa Falls. I remember when we were kids,me,her and our father,we went ice fishing out on Lake Wissota. Ice fishing is where you..." the woman grew stern and angrily"I know what ice fishing is!" Jack"Sorry. You just seem more like an indoor girl. Anyway,I fell through some thin ice. And I'm telling you,water that cold,like right down there-it hits you like a thousand knives stabbing you all over your body. You can't breathe. You can't think. Least not about anything but the pain"

Jack"Which is why I'm not looking forward to jumping in there after you but like I said: I don't have a choice. I guess I'm kind of hoping you'll come back over the rail and get me off the hook here" Woman"You're crazy" Jack"That may be,but miss with all due respect. I'm not the one hanging off the back of the ship here" he got her to turn around.

She now faces us. Jack"I'm Jack Dawson and this is my little sister,Jacqueline Dawson,we call her,'Jackie' Woman"Rose Dewitt Bukater" Jack"I'm going to have to get you to write that one down" he tried to help her back onto the ship but she slipped and he caught her just in time.

He helped pull her up and he was able to get her back into the ship. People who assist on the ship arrived at the scene"What is all this?" The man saw Rose's ripped dress and he pointed at my brother"You stand back! And don't move an inch! Fetch the Master of Arms!"

Rich people came up along with the man from earlier. I sat with Rose and she comforted me as I watched my brother was being arrested. Man"This is completely unacceptable. What made you think that you could put your hands on my fiancée?!" Jack looked at me and Rose. The man became angry with him"Look at me! You filth! What do you think you were doing?!"

Rose"Cal! Cal! Stop! It was an accident!" Cal"An accident?" Rose"It was. Stupid,really. I was leaning over and I slipped. I was leaning far over to see the..uh,uh,uh...propellers and I slipped and I would've gone overboard but Mr. Dawson here saved me and almost went over himself" Cal"She wanted to see the propellers" Man"Like I said. Women and machinery do not mix" Master of Arms"Was that the way of it?" Me and Rose looked at my brother,hoping that he would catch on to Rose's obvious lie Jack"Yeah. That was pretty much it"

Man"Well,the boys a hero,then,good for you,son. Well done. So all's well and back to our brandy,eh?" They removed the handcuffs from Jack. Cal looked at Rose"You must be freezing. Let's get you inside" the man looked at Cal"Perhaps a little something for the boy and the little girl beside him?" Cal"Of course. Love joy,I think a $20 should do it"

Rose"Is that the going rate for saving the woman you love?" Cal"Hmm. Rose is displeased. What to do? I know" Cal walked over to Jack and I"Perhaps you and your young one can join us for dinner tomorrow night. To regal our group with your heroic tale" Jack looked at me"What do you think,honey?" I nodded"Sure,count us in" Cal"Good" everyone walked away,Lovejoy and Jack shared a conversation that I didn't pay much mind to.

"To illuminate the greatness that was Caledon Hockley. It was a cold stone...a heart made of ice."