Chapter 17 – New Horizons
At some stage, Sarah felt in the mood to get up and go for a little walk. Henry decided to take her outside and show her the sea, which she had never seen before.
“Are you ready?” he asked when they were standing on the deck.
“I am,” Sarah answered.
“Are you certain?”
Sarah chuckled.
“Yes, I am certain.”
Henry carefully opened the knot of the scarf with which he had blindfolded Sarah before leaving their cabin in order to make the experience a surprise for her. When he took the scarf off, Sarahʼs chuckling ebbed and her face adapted an expression of utter awe. She didnʼt speak as she was taking in the sight of the vast ocean, as she was inhaling the smell of the salty air, as she was listening to the sounds of the waves.
“I would have never thought that it would be so beautiful...” she whispered.
A happy smile on his face, Henry took her hand and squeezed it gently. He was just about to bend down and give Sarah a kiss when suddenly Oscar approached, his two new acquaintances, Deirdre and Shannon, on his arms—one lady on his left and one on his right side. The women were laughing madly at something that Oscar was telling them.
“And then the flea says to the six-legged dog, ʻHavenʼt I told you so?ʼ” Henry heard Oscar say when the threesome came closer.
“You are so hilarious, Dr. Scott!” The woman with the red curls burst out into laughter yet again.
Then Oscar took notice of Henry and Sarah standing at the rail.
“Oh, may I introduce you to Sarah, my niece, and her husband, Henry Abbott?” Oscar said to his two lady companions. Henry felt pride and joy when he heard Oscar so naturally refer to him as Sarahʼs husband.
As if it had always been like that...
“Sarah, Henry,” Oscar went on, “may I introduce you to Miss Deirdre and Miss Shannon Kavanagh—the two loveliest sisters from the whole of Ireland.”
“Oh, Dr. Scott,” the woman whom Oscar had introduced as Deirdre remarked with a lovely Irish accent, “you are such a charmer...”
The other woman, Shannon, playfully hit Oscar with her fan. Judging by their mannerisms and the way they were dressed, Henry gathered that the two ladies had a wealthy background.
“We are actually only half Irish,” Shannon explained. “Our mother was born in Northumberland in England, but our father comes from Limerick in the southwest of Ireland.”
“Very pleased to meet you,” Henry said politely and bent to kiss the ladiesʼ outstretched hands.
With at least one part of Deirdre and Shannonʼs parents coming from England, Henry didnʼt wonder anymore why the two women enjoyed Oscarʼs company so much although he was English. Henry guessed that if the their mother had not been English but Irish, just like their father, it would have been a different story. After all, century-long heavy disputes between the Irish and English had not really added to create a common ground between the two nations. Irish people who left their country and came to England, seeking work, were most likely to end up like Thelma in some rich mansion ownerʼs kitchen or worse. On the other hand, an Englishman or Englishwoman living in Ireland ran the risk of having their house torched by upset crowds of Irish folks who felt unjustly treated by rich English landowners. It seemed to be an endless struggle to come to a peaceful solution.
“Nice to meet you,” Sarah said and made a little curtsy.
“There is a captainʼs dinner tonight and a dance. Will the two of you come as well?” Deirdre asked merrily.
“A dance sounds wonderful. What do you think, my dear?” Henry asked Sarah, hoping that she would feel ready for some entertainment as he already began to envisage her dancing with him; something he had wanted to do ever since that ruined birthday waltz under Damianʼs observant eyes.
“Of course they will!” Oscar exclaimed before Sarah had a chance to answer. “They both have not been very well lately and have been stuck in their cabin all morning. A little merriment will do them good.”
Sheepishly, Sarah turned to Henry and whispered, “I do not have an evening dress...”
“Oh right,” Henry remarked and helplessly peered over to Oscar. “I completely forgot that her suitcase was stolen on the way to the pier. She has hardly got anything else to put on than what she is wearing right now.”
Liar... Henry thought, feeling slightly miserable. But he didnʼt really want to tell these two ladies the truth as he wasnʼt sure if they would understand. And somehow he was certain that Oscar had not told them anything either.
“Stolen? Oh, what a nuisance!” Shannon exclaimed, a terrified expression on her face.
“She could borrow one of my dresses,” Deirdre said.
“I am not sure...” Sarah mumbled shyly. “I do not want to cause you any inconvenience.”
“Not at all!” Shannon replied. “My sister has far too many clothes anyway, havenʼt you, Deirdre? In all seriousness, she has so many clothes that if one laid them all out next to each other, one could cover the whole world with it.”
The two sisters chuckled in unison.
“Why do you not come to our cabin later and we will see if we can find something for you?” Deirdre offered.
Henry was certain that it had to feel strange to Sarah to wear somebody elseʼs clothes. After all, she was a lady of an honorable house and—although she not often behaved like one—used to having her own wardrobe of exquisite dresses. Never had she depended on alms. Still, Sarah cast the Irish sisters a grateful smile and agreed to meet them in the afternoon.
“See you then,” Oscar said finally, taking his two ladies by the arms again. And together they continued their walk along the promenade.
“Have I already told you the one where that hunter gets lost in the forest and encounters a speaking elk?” he asked his attentive entourage.
“No, but you will surely tell us,” Deirdre said.
Then the threesome slowly disappeared in the distance.
* * *
Later that day, Sarah visited Deirdre and Shannon in their grand 1st Class suite, and borrowed a wonderful dark green satin robe from them. It proved to be slightly too big because Sarah had lost so much weight. But Shannon gave her a beautiful long shawl which Sarah could wrap around her shoulders and which would help her cover her lean features.
Back in the cabin, Henry assisted her with buttoning up the dress. And when Sarah turned around to face him, it struck him how beautiful she was despite her thin frame and the slightly exhausted expression on her face. He believed to see that sparkle in her eyes return, the one he had missed recently, the one he had seen so often in summer when he had kissed her and had told her that she was pretty.
Sarah took the bundle that she had brought with her and which carried the few possessions she got. She took out a little velvety etui and opened it. And in it lay, as Henry could see, the necklace he had given her as a gift for her birthday.
“Could you please help me with this?” Sarah asked and handed Henry the piece of jewelry.
“I will most gladly do so,” Henry answered with a wide smile on his face.
Just like before when he had buttoned up Sarahʼs dress, it proved a little bit difficult for him to put the necklace on as his left arm was still in the sling. Sarah needed to sit down on the bed so that he could reach her neck with both his hands. It took him a little while until he managed to close the clasp, which made her giggle because the touch of his fingertips tickled her skin. But when she was finally standing in front of him in all her beauty, he felt his breast swell with pride at the thought of being the one to be at her side when they would shortly enter the banquet hall.
“Do I look somewhat presentable?” Sarah asked him uncertainly, tugging at her dress.
“You look absolutely amazing, Sarah...” Henry breathed.
“So do you…”
Henry grinned at her. He himself wore a black tuxedo and a jacket. The latter he had merely flung around his shoulders as he could not put it on with his arm bandaged to the chest.
He offered Sarah his free arm and then led her out of the room and along the corridors towards the dinner hall where the banquet was held. When they arrived at the hall, Henry pulled the door open and they were welcomed by the brilliant, warm light of a dozen chandeliers and candles. Henry counted about a thousand people in exquisite clothes who were dining and dancing to the music of a little orchestra which was playing a lively and merry tune.
Henry spotted Oscar waving over to him from one of the tables at the other end of the room, gesturing him to come and sit beside him. Next to him were Deirdre and Shannon.
Henry led Sarah across the room, a stupid grin on his face, because her presence filled him with so much happiness and pride. And when they approached Oscarʼs table, he could gather from the broad smile on his best friendʼs face that he was thinking exactly the same as Henry and everybody else in the hall; namely that Henry and Sarah were a perfect match.
“Oh Mrs. Abbott, you look really marvelous in my sisterʼs dress! Does she not, Deirdre?” Shannon exclaimed when she caught sight of Sarah.
“She really does,” Deirdre remarked, casting Sarah a benevolent glance.
“Thank you again for lending it to me,” Sarah answered when Henry pulled the chair out for her to sit down.
“You are welcome,” Deirdre replied. “You may keep it if you like.”
“Oh, I... I... am not sure I can accept such a generous offer...” Sarah stammered.
“Of course, you can,” Deirdre answered. “I have another one which is quite similar.”
Henry noticed how Sarah appeared rather embarrassed, especially when Deirdre said she would lend her even more clothes. But ultimately Sarah accepted the offer, as she knew that she could hardly get by with the few garments she had brought in her bundle. After all, that journey would last almost two weeks.
“So, what made you decide go to America?” Henry asked the ladies when he had taken a seat at the table.
“We are following our dear father,” Shannon replied. “He went there about seven years ago.”
“You must know that our father is a businessman,” Deirdre added. “Twenty years ago he started as a small entrepreneur in Limerick, selling Irish handicraft; sheepʼs wool pullovers and handmade jewelry. At some stage, he decided to try his luck in the States, hoping to find someone to help him market his products there. And well, he succeeded. With that massive amount of Irish emigrants coming into the country, he soon came up with the idea to extend his range of goods from pullovers to all sorts of things of which he believed would be well received by his fellow countrymen and women who had come to live in America. It all began when the people who bought the pullovers asked him if he could possibly import typical Irish products which they missed. Not that they lacked anything in America, but for most of them Irish products provided some kind of memory of home, something familiar amidst a place that was so new and foreign to them.”
“Not everybody can afford these goods, though,” Shannon threw in. “Our father tries to keep the price as low as possible so that the not so well-off people can buy them as well. But that is easier said than done. The goods are pretty expensive because of the transport costs. But the costs are getting less and less with the shipping becoming much easier and faster nowadays. Some of the goods are actually part of the cargo on this vessel. They are somewhere at the bottom of the ship, next to the steerage compartments.”
“I actually feel quite sorry for the steerage class passengers,” Henry remarked. “From what Oscar told me the conditions down there must be terrible.”
“They are indeed...” Shannon said with a frown. “These people are so unfortunate. Practically all of them will end up working in factories or on the docks, or they will help build railroads, houses, and sewage systems. But well, at least they will get to America. Isnʼt that worth all the hassle? Cheerio!”
Shannon laughed merrily and raised her glass.
Henry grew certain that the two women had not noticed so far that he himself was in fact not well bred at all as they seemed to believe, but that he had a working class background and that he too would be traveling steerage class if Oscar had not bought him a ticket. Somehow he felt like a mere fake who had ended up on the shipʼs sunny upper deck out of a pure stroke of luck.
Yet again he wondered what his fate would be as soon as he set foot on American ground. With hardly any money and no noble family history, he was positive that he wouldnʼt be in a position to place great demands in terms of work. But he needed to find a proper work as soon as possible. Remembering that he had promised Sarah that she would not lack anything in her new life, he decided to do whatever he could to keep this promise; even if it meant that he too would have to work in a factory, although that wasnʼt exactly what he considered himself destined to do. But to reach his goal and keep his promise, he wouldnʼt even refrain from begging if it was at all necessary. If only they somehow made it.
The waiter arrived and handed them the menu. Out of the corner of his eye, Henry could see Sarah uncomfortably shifting in her chair as she was quickly skimming through the extensive list of delicacies, feigning interest.
Henry guessed that she dreaded the thought of having to eat something because of her disorder.
“At least try, Sarah,” he whispered into her ear.
Sarah nodded quietly and when the waiter arrived she ordered fresh salmon while Henry decided on roast duck with gravy and potatoes.
“You know, New York is actually overflowing with emigrants doing all these awful, dirty jobs,” Deirdre said as she let the waiter pour some red wine into her glass. “These people do not even come further than the docks because they do not have any money for going anywhere else. But when it comes to positions which require highly educated people, there seems to be an enormous lack according to our father.”
“That is true,” Shannon added. “Mr. Sandler, the co-owner of our fatherʼs company has been searching for a private tutor to his two little sons for weeks, hasnʼt he?”
“Indeed,” Deirdre agreed. “But you know, Shannon, I am actually quite sure it does not have anything to do with a lack of tutors but rather because simply nobody wants to do it.”
“Oh, I think you are quite right there!” Shannon remarked, turning to Henry, Sarah, and Oscar again. “These two boys must be an awful bunch of brats. Allegedly, they once attacked our dear father with cow dung when he came for a family visit. Just imagine that! I doubt that Mr. Sandler will ever find anyone to voluntarily venture into that lionʼs den!”
“Henry can do it, he is a marvelous tutor!” Sarah suddenly threw in. Henry blushed; he felt far from being a good tutor, and he definitely wouldnʼt have claimed to be marvelous.
“Oh, is he?” Deirdre said, appearing rather interested.
“He is indeed,” Sarah added excitedly. “He has the most magnificent way of dealing with... well, difficult people and situations.”
Henry felt his face going red again and sheepishly lowered his gaze.
“Well, I wouldnʼt go as far as saying that my approach of dealing with certain situations is magnificent...” he mumbled.
“Oh, that is splendid, Mr. Abbott!” Shannon called out, ignoring Henryʼs remark. “You should really go and apply there. It would be good, however, if you could provide some kind of written reference.”
“I can provide the reference,” Oscar quickly said. “I am related to the family he worked for and have become witness to his abilities.”
“Oh, that is perfect then!” Deirdre said. “Shannon, we must write down Mr. Sandlerʼs address for him before we go off board.”
“Oh yes, we definitely must do that! Do remind me of it or else I will surely forget.”
“I will remind you; after all I know that you have a memory like a sieve.”
The two women laughed
Henry could hardly believe his luck that there already seemed to be a work offer looming on the horizon although he hadnʼt even arrived at his destination. He hoped that he wouldnʼt have to go begging after all.
The waiter came and served the food. While Henry fell upon his duck with a ravenous hunger, Sarah was staring at her plate for a while, then she hesitantly took her fork, began to pick tiny bits of her indeed splendid-looking fish, and nibbled at them. By doing so, she managed to eat half of the portion during the course of the dinner, but Henry knew that she only did so because she felt observed by everyone else and was afraid of any questions.
But Deirdre and Shannon werenʼt interested in Sarahʼs eating habits at all. Instead, they were engaged into a conversation with Oscar about different European culinary delights. They barely noticed when, a little bit later, Sarah suddenly jumped up from her chair—a hardly audible ʻPlease, excuse meʼ on her lips—and rushed past Henry in an obvious attempt to walk out of the room and, as Henry guessed, to the bathroom.
But she didnʼt come very far as Henry immediately reacted, threw his napkin onto the table, grabbed Sarah by the arm and shoved her over to the dance floor.
“Henry, what are you doing!?” Sarah hissed angrily. “Let me go, please, or else I will throw up on the floor.”
Henry ignored her, flung his free arm around her waist and, a mischievous smile on his lips, began to slowly spin her to the music.
“You owe me,” he whispered in her ear.
“What?” Sarah answered, still sounding slightly annoyed.
“A proper birthday dance.”
Sarah sighed.
“Can that not wait until later?” she said, pulling a tortured grimace.
“No.”
Henry kept whirling her around until she couldnʼt help but laugh a little. He felt how she gradually relaxed and at some stage she even took his hand which peered out of the sling and granted him his dance, and then another, and yet another, because he wouldnʼt let her go. Eventually, when the orchestra played a particularly slow song, Henry bent down and rubbed his nose at hers.
“Henry,” Sarah mumbled, embarrassedly, “not here... it is not appropriate...”
“I donʼt care, Sarah, if it is appropriate or not,” Henry whispered. “I do not want to hide anymore. I want everyone to see...”
And then he sealed her lips with a gentle kiss. She hesitated at first but then eagerly returned his kiss, and from the way she sucked at him, he could feel that she demanded for more. At some stage, her breathing became quite shallow and fast, and when he let go of her, she smiled sheepishly at him and blushed.
“Henry, would you mind if we left and went back to our cabin in a short while?” she asked to his surprise. “I mean... before Oscar returns...”
Henry grinned at her, happy that once again his seductive diversionary tactic seemed to have done the trick in making her stay away from the bathroom. It had not actually been his intention to make her think about making love to him. But now that she had brought it up, he would most definitely not turn her down. After all, he couldnʼt get enough of her.
He quickly grabbed her hand and dragged her out of the room, giving Oscar a sign on the way to which the latter immediately responded with a nod and a roguish grin.
Then Henry led Sarah back to their cabin.
* * *
Something happened to Sarah overnight.
She got hungry.
It all started with a pancake during breakfast the morning after the dance.
“Would the young lady prefer chocolate sauce or maple syrup with her pancake?” the waiter politely asked her.
Sarah pensively stared at the two sauce boats in his hands. Then she uttered a firm, “Both.”
And with rather greedy eyes she watched the waiter carefully pour delicious golden maple sirup on one half of her pancake, and irresistibly smelling, scrumptious chocolate sauce on the other half. She only put tiny forkfuls into her mouth, but during the course of the breakfast she managed to eat the whole pancake and even ordered an additional one—this time with cherry jam filling.
Oscar and Henry were just staring at her in wonder and exchanged secretive smiles.
“Did you enjoy your breakfast?” Oscar carefully asked when they were all going for a lengthy walk along the promenade. Sarah quietly nodded her head. Henry noticed that she appeared a little fidgety and that her eyes kept going in search of a bathroom door. But whenever one came in sight, she just cast a quick look at it and then walked past it determinedly.
For lunch, Sarah had four ham and cheese sandwiches. Again it took her quite a while until she had eaten them all, but everything eventually found its way down her stomach and—to Oscarʼs and Henryʼs utter relief—remained there until the evening when they headed for dinner.
“You know what I am thinking?” Oscar said to Henry when they were watching Sarah rather fanatically gulp down a big portion of fresh salmon with potatoes and parsley.
“...that for certain other people, apart from Sarah, this way of permanently stuffing oneself is rather unhealthy,” Henry replied, rubbing his stomach, which was in the process of digesting an extremely fat piece of roast boar.
“Exactly.” Oscar let out a sigh and a tiny burp. “I bet that when I get off this ship, I will suffer from Cardiomyoliposis.”
Sarah didnʼt seem to hear them. Instead, she ordered a second helping of potatoes.
On the third day, Sarah did not only manage two eat almost twice as much as on the previous day and at double speed, she also demanded some snacks in between, consisting of a slice of apple pie and a portion of plum pudding.
On the fourth day, Henry and Oscar found themselves confronted with a major problem as Sarah threatened to empty the whole buffet. The other travellers already began to exchange indignant glances at the many plates she carried away. At some stage, Oscar decided to ask Deirdre and Shannon to go and get extra helpings, pretending that it was for themselves. Then, back at the table, they were to secretly shove the plates over to Sarah.
“The salty air stimulates the appetite, doesnʼt it?” Shannon remarked in amusement.
“I am pregnant,” Sarah answered flatly as she was working her way through a crazy mixture of roast chicken, Austrian dumplings, several pieces of fruit and a chocolate blancmange.
Henry and Oscar were immensely relieved and noticed with delight that Sarah grew stronger and merrier every day. Once Oscar was washing his socks in the small wash basin of their room while Henry and Sarah went for a walk on deck. And when they returned, Oscar had neatly hung the socks on a rope which he had stretched across the room and tied to the posts of the two bunk beds. At the sight of the socks, Sarah burst out with uncontrollable laughter. She laughed so much that tears filled her eyes. Henry laughed as well although it was not only because of Oscarʼs socks but rather because he was glad to see that Sarah was so carefree and happy. He found that her joyfulness made her even more attractive, and he felt himself falling in love with her all over again.
While Oscar spent the best part of the journey lingering in the vicinity of Deirdre and Shannon, Henry and Sarah stayed in bed, cuddling up and gently making love to each other. They only ever left the cabin for meal times and occasional walks on deck when the weather was nice.
On the tenth day of their journey, the temperatures suddenly dropped, however, and it got rather cold.
“I wonder why the ship is going so slow,” Henry said as he and Oscar were trying to warm themselves up with some drinks at the bar while Sarah was in the cabin, getting dressed for the night.
Oscar shrugged his shoulders when an elderly man, who had extremely long sideburns and who wore a monocle, addressed them without being asked. Accompanied by his wife, he had been sitting next to them all evening, quietly eavesdropping on their conversation.
“Icebergs,” the man with the monocle said mysteriously.
Henry and Oscar turned their heads towards him. Monocle-man inched closer.
“We are currently passing the coasts of Newfoundland, an area which is very popular for iceberg sightings. They also call these parts the ʻIceberg Alley.ʼ Iceberg Alley is quite dangerous because here the ice enters the shipping lanes. That is why the ship has reduced its speed so that it can more rapidly stop once an iceberg comes in sight. After all, we do not want to collide with one of them, do we?”
Henry couldnʼt get rid of the impression that the man with the monocle found an inner delight in scaring everybody around him with his unsettling comments, and that he had only waited for an occasion to chat someone up. Henry took another sip of his whiskey and tried to ignored monocle-man, but the latter just kept on talking.
“They break off from the edges of glaciers in Greenland. Then the Labrador Current carries them all the way down to the eastern coasts of Newfoundland. There are thousands of them every year. Quite a spectacular sight indeed. I have seen them; I know what I am talking about.”
“Please forgive my interrupting, Sir,” Oscar threw in, “but I believe to have heard that these sightings only ever occur during the springtime.”
“That is quite right,” monocle-man answered. “The icebergs preferably come down to these parts in May and June, and normally melt away in the warm water of the Gulf Stream by August or September. Still, there are always exceptions to the rule, and it is not seldom that the odd chunk can be seen even in late autumn.”
“I doubt that such an odd chunk can be of real danger to a ship,” Henry said.
Monocle-man raised an eyebrow and came even closer, an ominous look in his eyes.
“November 11th, 1880. That is the date when the schooner ʻSchleswigʼ collided with an iceberg—right here in these waters. What makes it so dangerous is that only about one quarter of an iceberg is actually visible. The remaining three quarters and obviously much bigger parts lie below the waterʼs surface where not even the shipʼs spotlights can detect them.”
“Arthur, will you please leave these two gentlemen in peace,” monocle-manʼs wife, who had not uttered a word so far, suddenly interfered. “They already look quite pale...”
“Why should I not inform them about the possible dangers so that they are prepared?” monocle-man replied before turning to Henry and Oscar again, whispering conspiratorially. “It is always wise to check where exactly the lifeboats are located so that you are the first ones to get access to one—just in case. Did you know that there are only sixteen lifeboats on board? Isnʼt that ridiculous considering that there are about seven hundred passengers, not counting in the thousand downstairs in steerage class? They wouldnʼt stand a chance anyway if the ice rips open the length of the hull...”
“Arthur, please...” Monocle-manʼs wife moaned in anguish.
Henry nervously emptied his glass of Whiskey and got up, swaying slightly. The ground seemed to move under his feet and he couldnʼt tell if it was because of the several drinks he had already consumed or because the ship had maybe already hit an iceberg.
“I think Iʼd better go and check on Sarah,” he said to Oscar. “She will surely already be wondering where we are.”
“Good idea,” Oscar exclaimed and equally jumped up from his chair. The two men excused themselves politely and then left the bar in a haste. They couldnʼt get away from Arthur quick enough.
Oscar headed to the gambling room, whereas Henry quickly returned to their cabin, noticing that he really had had one too many. He hoped that he would be able to find the right cabin door.
Sarah was sitting on the bed, dressed in her nightgown and combing her long, shiny hair; a sight that immediately caught Henryʼs attention when he entered the room.
“Henry, where have you been for so long? Donʼt you want to come now and lie in bed with me?” Sarah said, appearing a little sad.
“I will be right with you, my sweetheart,” Henry answered softly. Then he walked over to the porthole and looked outside.
Massive chunks of ice were silently gliding past the ship, their surface shimmering pale and white in the moonlight. Some of them were as tall as houses, rising up like sharp stalagmites out of the cold pitch-dark waters around them.
“This is so beautiful, isnʼt it?” Henry suddenly heard Sarah whisper next to him.
“Hm...” he mumbled absent-mindedly.
“But isnʼt it dangerous?” Sarah added.
“Well, not really,” Henry answered. He tried to sound as casual as possible and not to let his nervousness show. “The captain knows this area like the back of his hand, you know...”
He was aware that this was a more than ridiculous explanation. After all, icebergs werenʼt static at all and therefore could hardly be predicted, not even by the most experienced seamen.
An extremely big block of ice moved past them and momentarily covered the entire view out of their little porthole.
What makes it so dangerous is that only about one quarter of an iceberg is actually visible. The bigger parts lie below the waterʼs surface...
“Oh, well then…” Sarah remarked happily and added, “Would you do me a favor, Henry? Could you go and get me some more of these tiny pastries they served as a dessert today? The ones with the little cherry on top of it and the jam filling? I do not want to make love to you with an empty stomach.”
“An empty stomach?” Henry couldnʼt help but laugh as he turned to face Sarah. “As far as I remember you had fresh liver with cranberries for dinner, along with dumplings and salad. And as a dessert you had German Königsberger Meatballs, which actually isnʼt a dessert at all but just another main course.”
Sarah pouted and looked at him with puppy eyes.
Henry smiled amusedly as he took a slow step towards Sarah, hypnotizing her with luscious looks. He raised his hand and caressed her cheek. Forgotten was the icy menace which was surrounding the ship.
“I am afraid I wonʼt be able to get you another dessert, as I am unsure if I will ever find my way back to this cabin...” he said with a raspy voice.
“Henry, are you drunk?” Sarah frowned.
Henry chuckled.
“I think so, yes...”
Sarah let out a sigh.
“Well, then forget about the pastries. Just make love to me, alright?” she said matter-of-factly.
Henry nodded, took another step towards Sarah and returned the eager kisses which she was smothering him with.
“Take off my bandage, Sarah,” he breathed. “I want to fully embrace you…”
“Henry, do you really think that is a good idea?” Sarah said doubtfully.
“Yes, I absolutely think so... Take it off, quick...”
Sarah began to fumble with the gauze bandage around his arm and torso whilst Henry was impatiently sucking at her lips and neck. As soon as she had freed him from the dressing, he wrapped both his arms around her and shoved her over to the bed. He felt a slight stinging pain in his chest but decided that if he was careful, he would run no risk of straining the fracture too much. After all, it had already had some time to heal.
Soon he laid on top of her, pulled up her nightgown and thrust inside of her, relishing on the feeling of her legs wrapped around his pelvis, her abdomen pressed against his, and her body wriggling in rapture underneath him. He felt her excited breathing on his naked skin as she buried her head on his shoulder, and soon he came with a loud cry.
And all the while the ship was slowly gliding through the ice, soon leaving the coastal regions of Newfoundland behind, unscathed, and taking direct course towards America.
* * *
The last days of their journey were overshadowed by heavy storms. The sea got rough with waves as high as four feet, and most of the time the view out of the porthole of the cabin was covered all over with white sea spray.
To Henryʼs surprise, Oscar got terribly seasick and was unable to get up anymore. Medication didnʼt help him at all, and soon the little cabin was rather crowded with Deirdre and Shannon coming around for sick calls every so often, pampering him all day long with biscuits and rusk.
At this stage, Henry was sure that Oscar would get involved with either Shannon or Deirdre, preferably Deirdre, as Oscar had confided to him one day, the redhead with the heart-stopping smile. But then Henry learnt that Oscarʼs secret hopes had unexpectedly been shattered.
“You know that jewelry which her father sells?” Oscar told Henry in one of the rare moments that Deirdre and Shannon were not sitting at his bedside. “Deirdre wears one of the rings of his collection; a Claddagh ring, as she explained to me. It shows two little hands holding a heart. She said that if that heart points towards the heart of the person wearing it, it means that that person is taken. Now guess which direction the heart on her ring is facing...”
Oscar let out a sigh.
“There is somebody waiting for her in New York,” he added. “Allegedly a man whom she already spent her childhood with, back in Ireland.”
“You could fight for her,” Henry remarked.
“Fighting like you?” Oscar laughed bitterly. “No, Henry. Our little adventure with Sarah was enough to last me for a lifetime. I am not made for things like that. Apart from that, this is an entirely different story as Deirdre seems to be terribly in love with my unknown rival. I can clearly see that there is no point in driving her away from him. You know, it wasnʼt that I had deeply fallen in love with her. But still... well, it could have developed into something more I guess, at least from my part...”
“I am sorry, Oscar,” Henry remarked sympathetically, “but I am certain your day will come...”
“Well, it is not that bad.” Oscar smiled faintly at Henry, trying to downplay the situation. “I will have much more important things to occupy my mind with once we arrive. After all, I will have to find a hotel room first, and eventually an apartment and a place to set up my doctorʼs office. There will not be much time for sitting back and taking things easy—let alone time for thinking about the birds and the bees.”
“But, Oscar,” Henry exclaimed in wonder, “you donʼt intend to separate from us immediately after our arrival, do you? I thought we would all go and meet my brother first?”
“Henry, be sensible,” Oscar replied softly. “Your brother is expecting only you. We can hardly all turn up at his doorstep, asking for lodging. Let me go my own way, Henry.”
“God, you really are a loner, arenʼt you?” Henry remarked, shaking his head in disbelief. “If you really want to have a wife one day, you must give that up and start developing some kind of sense for having a family; or else you will permanently attract the wrong people who are not interested in a serious relationship. What I mean to say is, at least drop our suitcases at my brotherʼs place, and then let us go in search of a nearby place for you to stay. You helped me so much. Why donʼt you give me a chance now to do something for you? Apart from that, I really donʼt think that it would be wise if you left Sarah the very moment we set foot on American ground. It will surely not add to her well-being if she knows that you are wandering through the streets of New York all on your own. This will be an entirely new world for us. We donʼt know anything about it at all. Not every place there might be safe. I am sure that Sarah would die with worry. And she is busy enough worrying about herself and her own future. Do it for her. Come with us first. My gut is telling me that it is the right thing to do.”
Oscar grinned at Henry.
“Alright, Henry,” he said, sounding much more optimistic. “If your gut is telling you so... And now you better hand me that bucket again...”
* * *
On the 20th November 1886, at 8.02 a.m. local time, the Princess of the Seas sailed into the harbor of New York.
Henry took Sarah by the hand, then the two went on deck and over to the rails. The air was crisp and smelt of coal, as the shipʼs funnels were relentlessly pumping black smoke and steam into the skies.
Next to Henry and Sarah stood Oscar, Deirdre and Shannon. It didnʼt take long until they were surrounded by hundreds of other people following suit and securing themselves a place at the rails so that they too could watch the Princess of the Seas peacefully and majestically gliding through the Upper Bay while announcing its arrival by letting the shipʼs horn sound.
The sky was aflame with a soft orange glow as the sun was slowly emerging behind the city skyline which was still covered in the haze of an early morning mist. A strange silence and serenity hung in the air, and fascination, bliss and relief lay on the faces of the numerous spectators who had gathered on deck to bear witness to their long-awaited arrival.
Henry wrapped his arms around Sarah, his hands lovingly stroking her belly. Close as she was to him now, he believed to feel her heart hammer excitedly in her chest until he realized that it was in fact not her heart but his own. But from the look in Sarahʼs eyes, he could see that she seemed equally taken aback, just like Oscar who was quietly and absent-mindedly staring into the distance, a little smile on his lips. Henry wondered what was going on in his friendʼs mind; after all, Oscar had only very spontaneously decided to come on this journey and was the one who had surely reckoned the least with the fact that he would be standing here now.
Even for Henry America had originally been nothing but a dream, way out of reach just like the girl that he was holding in his arms.
So, there has to be a God after all… he thought. Or else all of this wouldnʼt be happening to me right now...
“God, Deirdre, isnʼt it just like our dear father has described it to us?” Shannon breathed in awe.
“It is, Shannon, it is,” Deirdre answered. “And just look! That must be Brooklyn Bridge!”
She excitedly pointed her finger over to a very long and tall suspension bridge which dominated the scenery and was about seven times taller than the actual skyline of the city, letting everything in its vicinity appear small like a toy.
Henry felt himself becoming rather fidgety. The closer they came to the port the more he grew impatient to finally get off board and embrace his new life and his brother who, as he guessed, was already waiting for him.
“What is that?” Sarah suddenly asked. Henry turned his head to see what she was pointing at: It was the tall, cast-iron statue of a lady with a tiara, her hand triumphantly holding up a torch into the salty air. Henry immediately recognized it from the descriptions in his brotherʼs letters.
“That is the Statue of Liberty, Sarah,” he explained to Sarah. He was well aware that the statue, which had been unveiled about two weeks ago, in fact represented Americaʼs independence from British supremacy, which it had only gained about one hundred years ago after a long period of war. But despite being British himself, Henry didnʼt worry too much about politics. From his personal perspective, the statue was a symbol of freedom for him, just as it was a symbol of freedom for the Americans. It was about his freedom to live with the girl that he loved; just as he had always wanted to.
Hundreds of wooden piers and innumerable masts of many sailing ships were lining the shore along the North River. Henry noticed the Princess of the Seas slow down and steer towards pier 58, which—as he could already see from afar—was overflowing with people awaiting the arrival of the ship.
58, my bloody lucky number from today...
Finally the steamer docked, the anchor was cast, and the ship was moored, and Henry, Sarah, and Oscar were walking along the shipʼs corridors in the direction of the main exits where the crew had already begun to open the doors so that the passengers could step outside and go off board.
“We were really lucky,” Henry suddenly heard a familiar voice next to his ear. He turned around and to his horror found himself staring right into the face of Arthur, the monocle-man.
“The life boats, I mean,” Arthur said in his usual conspiratorial manner. “Got a chance to have a closer look at them...”
Monocle-man looked left and right to see if anybody was listening in on their conversation. Then he added mysteriously, “Extremely poor handiwork. If you ask me, these boats would not have lasted very long out there in the cold waters...”
“Good to know,” Henry answered politely. He cast monocle-man a weak smile and quickly turned away from him.
Henry followed Oscar who had already been approached by a practitioner, who cursorily examined the leaving 1st and 2nd Class passengers on their way out. The procedure was surprisingly short, especially when Henry claimed that he had sustained his rib injury after having slipped on one of the stairs outside on the wet deck. To Henryʼs inner amusement, the practitioner even apologized to him for this terrible inconvenience and promised that they would take better safety precautions in the future. Nobody was ever to find out that Henry had been involved in a nasty fight and that he was, as he guessed, currently sought by the English police.
Then they left the ship, stepped on the landing bridge and walked along the pier until they arrived in a tall grey stone building which represented the terminal where customs were located. There they ran into Deirdre and Shannon, who had already gone off board sooner and had been waiting for them to say goodbye.
“Well then, Oscar...” Deirdre said with a charming and yet somewhat melancholic voice.
“Well then, Deirdre,” Oscar murmured, “it was an... enormous pleasure to make your acquaintance.”
“The pleasure is entirely on my side,” Deirdre breathed.
Oscar took her extended hand and bent to kiss it. He only hesitantly let go of the hand again and was trying hard to keep his composure. Upon looking at Deirdre, Henry noticed that she too was unable to conceal a certain sadness because of seeing Oscar go; as if she was secretly saying with her glances that she would have indeed given Oscar a chance if there had not been somebody else she loved.
“All the very, very best for you, Oscar,” Deirdre said. Then her hand slowly slipped out of his grasp. And before Oscar had a chance to utter something in response, Deirdre had already turned around and walked out of the building. Oscarʼs gaze followed her as she and her sister disappeared amidst the throng of people that was waiting outside.
“Are you alright?” Henry asked Oscar softly.
“I am, Henry, I am. Thank you...” Oscar mumbled.
“Shall we go as well then?”
Oscar forced a smile and nodded.
“Letʼs go.”
Nobody held them up. Being 2nd Class passengers, they were allowed to leave the terminal straight away and go wherever they wanted, whereas the masses of steerage class passengers were still far from starting their lives in the ʻPromised Land.ʼ First of all, they were led over to ferry boats which would bring them to Castle Gardens, a small artificial island off shore where the barge office was located and where all the newly arrived 3rd Class passengers were dealt with. Oscar had explained to Henry that everyone would have to register there and would have to be inspected for any health problems yet again—a procedure which lasted for many hours. If they were lucky, the officials would then decide that they were allowed to enter the country. If they were unlucky, they would be rejected and would have to return to where they had come from. If they were extremely unlucky, they would never even get to the barge office at all as some of the passengers already died in the freezing cold on their way to Castle Garden or during the lengthy wait, before the many ferries got permission to dock. With more than a thousand people and several steamers arriving per day, carrying even more passengers, it generally took ages until the officials had dealt with all of them.
The steerage people that were filling the terminal looked worn out and battered. Henry believed to recognize one or the other person he had seen back in London, queuing with him for a ticket. But now they appeared nothing like on that day when they had still sported a decent and pleasant appearance. Instead they were filthy, exhausted, lean, and many of them obviously sick. Some were weeping with relief about finally having arrived. Some had to be carried out on stretchers because they were dead.
“Oh, my goodness...!” Sarah exclaimed. Henry turned to see what she had become so terrified about: It was because of one of the corpses. The dead body was covered with a sheet, but underneath the sheet a bit of the dead personʼs dress was peering out: It was an old-fashioned, dark green dress with a pattern of yellow flowers on it—unmistakably the garment worn by the old woman Henry and Sarah had seen when they had got on board almost two weeks ago, the woman whom the bully had said of that she wouldnʼt make it anyway.
Sarah let out a whimper and covered her face with her hands. Henry quickly took her by the arm and dragged her away from the scene.
“Come, Sarah,” he said softly, “we need to go.”
There wasnʼt a lot of time for feeling sorrow. As soon as Henry, Oscar and Sarah had left the terminal and stepped outside, they were immediately surrounded by chaos and swallowed up by crowds of jostling people. There were, of course, all the newly-arrived passengers as well as their families and friends who had been waiting to welcome them. But mingling with them were also innumerable street vendors; some of them rather eerie looking fellows who were selling hats, used shoes, and maps, or who were offering all sorts of dubious services.
“You want to change money, Sir?” a particularly obtrusive, unshaven scoundrel with a torn jacket and a strange accent yelled at Henry. “I can give you American Dollars for German Mark!”
“No, thank you. We are not German,” Henry answered quickly.
“What are you?! Russian? Irish? British?!” the toothless man kept shouting. “American Dollars for British Pounds!”
Henry desperately held on to his luggage and tried to get past the man by pushing him with his elbow. He was somewhat afraid that in reality the bargain the scoundrel offered would be ʻfake Dollars in exchange for stolen suitcase full of stuff which I might be able to sell in some run-down side street.ʼ To Henryʼs inner amusement, he noticed that the next victim the unshaven fellow had chosen to chat up was monocle-man, who was just stepping off board.
“What do you want, you pitiful, lice-ridden creature?!” Henry heard monocle-man yell.
“Arthur, please, mind your blood pressure...” monocle-manʼs wife moaned. Then she and her husband disappeared in the crowd.
Henry turned around to check if Sarah was still there and saw that she was struggling to fend off a little boy who had begun to relentlessly pull at the sleeve of her dress, begging for money.
“Henry! Watch out!” he suddenly heard Oscar call over to him. “Pickpockets abound!”
Henry whirled around and looked right into the face of yet another little boy who had appeared seemingly out of nowhere and who was just trying to secretly snatch his suitcase away from him. Henry didnʼt hesitate and gave the boy a hearty clip round the ear, then he turned to Sarah again, took her by the hand and pulled her away before more people could pester them or threaten to come between them.
He almost lost his temper when another nasty looking fellow asked him if he needed a train ticket to Boston.
“No! Get lost!” Henry barked rudely and pushed him aside.
“Henry, look…” Sarah suddenly said, incredulously staring at something in the distance.
Henry looked in the direction that her finger pointed to and suddenly spotted the beaming face of someone excitedly waving over to them.
“That is Paul! My brother!” Henry exclaimed and beamed.
For a moment, Henry almost completely forgot about Sarah and Oscar and his suitcase, and began to run towards his brother who was equally rushing over to him, pushing everyone and everything aside that blocked his way.
Finally they fell into each otherʼs arms.
“Paul!” Henry called out.
“Henry!” Paul called out. “You finally made it!”
Henry gave his brother a teasing nudge, then they hesitantly let go of each other.
“Damn, you look incredibly smart,” Paul remarked as he was eyeing Henry up and down. “But what happened to your arm?”
“Thatʼs a long story. I will tell you later about it.” Henry sighed, but soon broke out into merry laughter again. “God, you havenʼt changed a bit, Paul.”
And it was true. Henry found that Paul looked exactly the same as on that nice sunny springtime day when he had so spontaneously packed his bag, had said goodbye to his family and friends, and had hired for a position as a potato peeler on board of the next steamer heading for the land of the free.
Henry had missed him terribly back then. Despite their numerous rows, during which Henry once had almost bitten off Paulʼs ear, his brother had always been his closest confidant and his best friend; good old Paul with the tweed cap, his pet ferret Dinky, and a fag between the lips. The presence of the ferret had regularly driven their father quite mad in the past because of Dinkyʼs pungent smell. But Paul had done everything in his power to not obey his father, who had not only wanted to get rid of the pet ferret but had also wanted him to go after some decent work and keep him from dreaming of far-off lands.
But in vain. Paul had not succumbed to neither his fatherʼs nor anybody elseʼs wishes. He had never wanted to listen to anyone and had only followed his own heartʼs desires—something which Henry had always admired about him and in which he had tried to emulate his brother. Henry guessed that his own eagerness to become a teacher and step out of working class had really been fueled by the fact that Paul had gone on the warpath to fulfill his own dreams; for example, the one of going to America.
“Come on, Henry, letʼs go. There is a coach waiting for us,” Paul said merrily and already wanted to drag Henry along with him, but the latter held him back.
“Paul, there is something I need to tell you…” Henry said hesitantly. “I am actually not alone.”
When he had sent Paul the telegram, announcing his arrival, he had not yet known that Sarah would really come with him; let alone Oscar. Before he could utter any additional words of explanation, Sarah and Oscar had stepped behind him and shyly looked at Paul.
“Paul, this is my very best friend Dr. Scott,” Henry explained, pointing at Oscar. Then he turned to Sarah and proudly placed his hand on her shoulder. “And this is Sarah.”
When Paul saw Sarah, he blushed a little and mumbled a shy, “My pleasure, Miss Sarah.”
“We wonʼt be a burden to you, Paul,” Henry hastened to say. “We will just come and say hello to your family, maybe deposit our suitcases for a day and then immediately go in search of a place for us to stay.”
Paul frowned and looked at Henry in confusion.
“Donʼt be foolish, Henry, of course you will stay. I might not have expected the whole lot of you, but I always say ʻthe more the merrier.ʼ Let us go home first and then weʼll think about a place for all of you to stay. No one will have to sleep rough. Let us go now. I am sure Yasmina will already be waiting. She has been talking about you all week and is terribly excited to meet you.”
Henry really hoped that Paulʼs wife wouldnʼt be all too shocked by the fact there were far more people turning up than she had originally expected. After all they were all strangers to her; even Henry was a stranger, whom she only knew from Paulʼs tales and whom she had never seen in the flesh. Still, he was glad that there was a temporary place waiting for him so that he wouldnʼt have to wander through the streets not knowing where to go.
They took their luggage and followed Henryʼs brother over to a coach which was parked at the other end of the pier. Paul opened the door and let Sarah and Oscar climb inside, then he helped Henry and the coachman stow the luggage on top of the coach roof.
“Henry, tell me, is that her?” Paul whispered excitedly when they were out of the otherʼs earshot. “I mean, that girl of this madhouse mansion you told me about in one of your letters?”
Henry responded to his brotherʼs question with a roguish grin.
“But didnʼt you say that you had not got anywhere with her?” Paul kept on asking.
His remark left a slightly nasty taste in Henryʼs mouth. It reminded him of that terrible night on Sarahʼs birthday, of that long unpleasant time that had followed, and of all those days that he had spent drunk and in gloom. Ultimately, it reminded him of the fight he had had with Damian, and he definitely didnʼt want to think about that, as he had successfully managed to drown the memory out during the twelve days on sea which lay behind him. Damian simply didnʼt fit into Henryʼs new life which was so obviously about to begin. In fact, Damian seemed to belong to another world that had ceased to exist.
“Well, I managed to conquer her at last,” Henry answered. “But I had to get rid of her nasty husband first.”
Paulʼs eyes grew huge with shock.
“That almost sounds as if you killed him?!”
“No, we only had a major fight. That was when I got my ribcage injured.” Henry pointed his finger to the bandage on his arm.
Paul stared at Henry incredulously.
“I honestly would have never thought that you would be capable of something like that; I mean, fighting a duel with someone...”
“Trust me, I never would have thought I would be capable of something like that either.”
Paul shook his head in disbelief.
“Well, Iʼd say that calls for another nickname. Weepy definitely doesnʼt apply to you anymore... What about ʻB.B.ʼ?”
“B.B.?” Henry asked, casting Paul a suspicious glance. “Are you playing one of your nasty teasing games again?”
“Well, for a start B.B. stands for ʻBonebreaker,ʼ” Paul replied merrily. “And at the same time it means ʻBest Brotherʼ—best brother in the world...”
For a little while the two men just looked at each other, a slightly sentimental expression on their faces.
“I am so glad that I am here, Paul,” Henry said softly.
“So am I,” Paul answered and smiled. “Come now. Iʼll bring you home.”
And with these words he grabbed his brother by the arm and shoved him into the coach where the others were already waiting for them. Then the coach slowly began to move, fighting its way through the jostling and excited crowd.