The Girl Who Came Home(97)
‘Shall we go for that cup of tea then? The wind’s getting a bit chilly. Come on.’
As Maggie turned to leave, Grace was sure she heard her say, ‘Yes, I will.’ She looked around to see who she was talking to, but seeing nobody about assumed she must have been mistaken and linked Maggie’s arm through hers to support her as they made their way back to the car.
‘By the way,’ she asked when they were settled back into the warmth of the car. ‘Did you name your children after the people you travelled with?’
‘Yes love, I did. Kathleen after my aunt, Peggy after my friend and Harry after the steward. It seemed like a nice way to remember them.’
‘Did you keep in touch with Peggy? After the event?’
‘I did, for a while. We’d exchanged our onward addresses at the hospital. I wouldn’t have known where I was heading to at all if I hadn’t kept that small black case. Kathleen had written a forwarding address label and attached it to the case you see, so the nurses knew where I needed to get to. We didn’t write immediately – both of us needed a bit of time to recover properly you see. But after a few months I wrote to her, and she wrote back and we continued to exchange letters for a couple of years.’
She paused then.
‘And..?’
‘Well, then the war happened and everyone got displaced and we lost touch.’
‘Oh, that’s such a shame. That’s very sad.’
‘Yes, it was. She was the only living person I knew of who had shared that terrible experience with me. I often wonder whether she’s still living now.’
‘And you named your son Harry after the steward because he saved your life, I guess? Mr Lockey mentioned that Harry had helped you to send the Marconi telegram message from the Titanic.’
Maggie smiled ruefully. ‘Ah yes. Harry was friendly with one of the Marconi operators, and said he could get a message sent off the ship for me for free. I could never have afforded the price of a telegram you see. You’d never believe it though - that blessed message was only half sent. Wasn’t the radio operator right in the middle of tapping out my little message when Titanic hit the iceberg? So the message got sent through to Ireland alright, but with some of the words missing. Quite an impact that half-delivered message had.’
‘Oh?’
‘It all got sorted out in the end though.’
There was a silence then and Maggie’s gaze drifted out of the window as Grace drove steadily along; the blossom trees giving way to bare stone walls and fences, the sound of the car engine droning in the background, a million memories whirling around the old woman’s mind.
PART VI
‘Geo E Foster Acting Premier Ottawa Ont. Isadore Strauss and wife not on board only Maid. Charles M Hays also not on board only wife. Captain'.
Marconigram message sent from the Captain of The Carpathia to George E Foster, acting Premier, Ottawa, Ontario, 18 April 1912
CHAPTER 36 - Chicago, 1982
They’d arranged to meet by the shores of the Lake. It had always been a favourite hang-out of theirs during spring break or whenever he’d come to visit her at home and seemed like the perfect location – not too public and not too isolated either as there were always plenty of people playing Frisbee, fathers pitching baseballs to their sons or keen water sports enthusiasts falling off their jet-skis. There would be enough distraction to mask their discomfort if the meeting didn’t work out as Grace was hoping it would, and enough space for her to wipe away the tears in private.
Their conversation over the phone had been brief and awkward; punctuated with uncomfortable pauses and hesitant exchanges, talking over each other inadvertently, causing the conversation to stop and start as they each apologised and insisted the other one carry on. It was nothing like the easy, relaxed chats they’d had for hours over the phone when they’d first got together and were at their respective homes for Thanksgiving or during the summer break. The use of the phone to call Jimmy had been the only real source of arguments between Grace and her father who frequently insisted she’d spoken for long enough. When she argued with him, he insisted that she would be paying the bill if she didn’t hang up right away.
Grace played her brief conversation with Jimmy through in her mind all over again as she pulled into the parking bay. He’d told her he’d been keeping well and had been amazed when he’d read her article in the paper. His voice had been receptive and not at all hostile – which had been her worst fear – and he hadn’t allowed her to apologise, insisting that it would be better to meet in person and talk face-to-face. She hadn’t been able to ask him outright if he had a girlfriend but she guessed that if he was happy to meet up with her, he probably didn’t. She hoped he didn’t, but had prepared herself for the possibility.