Harry thought his friend was pulling his leg, being partial to a practical joke as he was. ‘Ah, bugger off Billy. You’re ‘avin me on. Get lost will ya, I’ve a proper job to do.’
‘I’m not kiddin’. Honestly. They want you to come up now and get your First Class uniform on.’
After a little more cajoling, Harry was convinced and left what he was doing to go with Billy up the staircase to D Deck where the First Class dining saloon was located. He quite liked the idea of the all-white First Class steward’s uniform.
‘Oh, and I forgot to tell ya,’ Billy added as they ran up the stairs two at a time, ‘there’s some fancy woman fussin’ about ‘er dog upstairs. She needs someone to take it for a walk and I thought you might be able to help ‘er out.’
Harry stopped. ‘You absolute bastard, Billy. So, that’s what you really got me up here for?’
‘Ah stop moanin’ will ya. I thought you might like a snoop around up here and the ladies aren’t bad lookin’ either y’ know. Thought you might like to check out some new girlfriend material seeing as how you’ve tried just about every lass in Southampton and scared her off with your rubbish chat up lines and your interfering mother.’
Harry laughed, despite his vague annoyance that Billy had tricked him. He actually did quite fancy having a look around the First Class decks and if it meant taking someone’s dog for a walk to do it, then what the hell.
*
Vivienne Walker-Brown reclined on a deck chair, enjoying the warmth of the late afternoon sun on her petite face and the gentle sea-breeze in her smooth, dark hair. She was glad she had tied it up loosely, having noticed how quickly the dampness and salt in the air can wreak havoc with a hairstyle. Edmund, her Pekinese dog, sat quietly under the chair enjoying the same warmth on his face and the same sea-breeze in his dark fur. Robert, her fiancée, had gone below decks to fetch her fur stole, her neck being a little too chilly and threatening to give her a nasty cold. He returned quickly and handed her the garment.
‘Now darling, you can sit here as long as you like without worrying about catching a chill,="3" he announced, ignoring the dog which had curled its lip slightly at him. Robert Isaacs didn’t care for the animal at all. He would have quite liked to give it a sharp kick with the toe of his shoe but resisted and sat down in the seat next to Vivienne’s. ‘Anyway, it will be time for dinner soon. I think the bugler calls at seven pm sharp.’
Vivienne wrapped the stole around her neck, snuggling into the instant warmth it provided. ‘Well I have to wait for our dog-walker to arrive first,’ she said curtly, ‘bugler or not. They’ve gone to see if it might be possible to hire a lad from the steerage crew. I doubt they’ll miss one steward at dinner. They probably have to make the meals for themselves down there anyway!’ She laughed at her own joke. ‘Ah, this must be him now,’ she exclaimed, relieved to see the First Class steward she had spoken to about her predicament walking towards her with another young man. He introduced him as Harry Walsh, a reliable lad from the steerage crew who would attend to the needs of her dog and anything else she might need assistance with.
‘Wonderful,’ she enthused, standing up to shake the man’s hand. ‘Edmund needs his daily constitutional you know, just the same as we do, don’t you sweetheart.’ The dog raised its head and patted its tail enthusiastically on the deck. ‘And since my aide is suffering with the seasickness, we had to find an alternative arrangement, didn’t we Edmund? Yes we did, didn’t we?’
Robert winced at the ridiculous affectations Vivienne added to her voice whenever she addressed the dog, as if it was a small child who may one day talk back to her. The raised eyebrows between the two stewards didn’t go unnoticed by him.
‘Well, I’ll leave you to it then,’ the First Class steward said, turning to leave. ‘I must go and start preparing for evening dinner service. It wouldn’t do to keep the First Class passengers waiting now, would it! Good day to you.’
Vivienne laughed at the joke. ‘Oh, yes. Very good.’ She turned to the other steward. ‘Right then, Mr….’
‘Walsh,’ Harry prompted, already taking a dislike to the woman and her dog. ‘Harry Walsh.’
‘Yes, indeed. Well, Mr Harry Walsh, Edmund would be very happy if you could take him twice around the ship,’ she continued, passing the dog’s lead to Harry. ‘The exercise is good for his legs you know. I would take him myself but we shall be called to dinner soon and I have some business to attend to with my ladies. Come along then Robert, I think I’ll die of thirst if I don’t have a gin and tonic before dinner.’