Page 81 of The Girl Out of Time
“Two hours?”
“It’s how long you have before the ship goes under.”
He swallowed. Two hours of life left. Two hours of chances to do anything.
“First thing first, where are you right now? Are the rest with you?”
“In my cabin. Deck A. The boys are in the cabin across, Emmeline in the one next to them. I’ll go wake them up shortly.”
“A Deck.” Emily glanced down. “Perfect. That’s a good starting point. Okay, listen to me. They’ll start the evacuation soon. Gather everyone, put on the life vests, and go somewhere accessible—a public space, near the stairs—wherever you can to get on the boats as soon as possible. Now, this part is very important.” Emily’s green eyes pierced him. “Get on the lifeboats on the starboard side. That’s the right one if you’re facing the ship forward.”
“I know which side starboard is. Why does it matter?”
“The two senior officers, Murdoch and Lightoller, will be in charge of the evacuation, each on one side. The captain will tell them to give priority to women and children, but Lightoller will understand it the wrong way—or decide to interpret it his way, I don’t know, and I don’t think you’d care to ask him—”
“Emily …”
“Anyway, he won’t let any men on the boats at all, while Murdoch will allow them once the women and children have gone. Do you understand? You have to go on the starboard side, or you won’t be allowed on the boat.”
Will’s hands shook, and he tightened his grip on the tablet. “I understand.”
“And if you can, try to get on the boats from the boat deck. Once they’re dropped below, it’s gonna be more annoying because an entire half of A Deck promenade is enclosed—”
“I know, Emily. I’ve been there.”
“Sorry. I’ve had three weeks, and I still can’t wrap my head around the fact that you’re actually on theTitanic.”
He let out a very brief laugh; more out of hope it would relieve him rather than because he’d find their situation amusing.
“So, starboard side, boat deck,” he repeated.
“Yes. Go for boats seven or three. Those will be launched first on that side by Murdoch, and you shouldn’t have a problem getting on. Number five will also be launched in between them, but I’m not sure if the officer will allow men. Uhm, what else …” She glanced down again, probably looking at notes. “Stay away from boat number four. They weren’t keen on having older boys get in, so they might have a problem with Brendon.”
Will nodded, repeating the main points in his head to commit them to memory.
“Last thing. If you somehow don’t get on one of the regular boats—which you will, right?”
With the look she gave him, he couldn’t help but nod.
“But just in case something happens, go to the collapsibles. Collapsible C or D will do, they were—will be—both correctly launched. An absolute last resort is Collapsible B, which won’t be launched, but it’ll get swept away, and people will still be able to stand on it.”
He stared past the tablet, eyes glazing over. Swept away? It was unfathomable to imagine when they were all still here, dry and safe. Images of the inky-black ocean, rising to swallow them, rose in his mind, making him feel as if he were drowning already.
“Will? Do you hear me?”
“Yes.” He shook himself back to attention. “I can’t believe it. I can’t believe you’re telling me about how this ship will go under and which boats to take …”
“Hey, Gramps.” Emily’s voice grew gentler. “It’s all going to be fine. Haven’t I always saved our family?”
He closed his eyes. “You have.”
“So trust me one more time. And when you’re safe and sound, you’ll come over and we’ll watch the movie. Actually, scrap that; that would be awful. We’ll watch a fun movie instead. Some brainless comedy. Yeah?”
He nodded. “Emily …”
“Yup?”
“You said it would be easy for us because we’re already on the top deck and close to the boats. But the cabins go all the way into the bowels of the ship. What happens to those people?”
