Love...Maybe: The Must-Have Eshort Collection

Jack sprinted across the deck so he was right below and shouted up: ‘Stay calm! Don’t startle them.’

Ignoring him, the woman grabbed the boy’s arm and began to yank him over the rail. ‘What have I said to you about running off and leading your sister into trouble? I’ll box your ears, so I will.’

At that moment, the girl’s grip loosened. She fell backwards without a sound, her skirts billowing. Jack caught her, staggered under the impact then fell onto the deck. The girl was uninjured, her fall cushioned, but she burst into tears of shock.

Gerda hurried to help her to her feet. ‘Are you all right?’ she asked Jack and he nodded, brushing himself down and rising gingerly. She soothed the girl: ‘There, there; you’re fine. We’ll take you back to your mother.’

‘She’s not my mother,’ the girl cried. ‘She’s my governess and I hate her.’

‘That’s as may be, little lass, but she knows what’s best for you. You listen to her next time instead of following your naughty brother.’ Jack spoke kindly, with a twinkle that made the girl stop crying. ‘Here’ – he fumbled in his pocket and pulled out a couple of toffees wrapped in paper – ‘one for you and one for your brother. Try to be a good girl now.’

He lifted her across the barrier on the stairs between second and third class, into the arms of the governess who instantly began to scold her and didn’t so much as thank Jack for catching her.

‘How rude!’ Gerda exclaimed when they were out of hearing. ‘You saved that girl from a broken leg at least, possibly worse.’

‘We’re in third class,’ Jack said, ‘not worthy of her notice. I often find the staff are bigger snobs than the masters.’

‘You were good with the girl, though. Do you like children? Do you plan to have some of your own one day?’ The questions slipped out before she had time to censor herself. It was exactly the kind of query Charlotte had warned her against, and she could have kicked herself.

‘I’d love to,’ Jack said with conviction. ‘I love children.’ Then he paused and asked ‘How about yourself?’

‘Yes, I’d like it very much,’ she answered, honestly, turning her face away so he couldn’t see her blushes. His bravery in saving the girl had made her heart swell and now she knew for sure she was falling for him. It was important not to do anything stupid; she must be careful not to scare him off.

*

They whiled away the days playing quoits or shuffleboard on deck, or gin rummy in the dining saloon, and soon became relaxed enough to tease each other.

‘You are so competitive!’ Gerda remarked after he won yet another hand of cards. ‘It’s only a game, not life or death.’

‘Now you tell me!’ He rolled his eyes. ‘I thought you were going to make me walk the plank.’

Sometimes she teased him for using big words like ‘acoustics’ or ‘devaluation’ and even pretended to yawn when he got too technical in talking about his work.

He called her Snow Maiden and teased her for the way she was always impeccably dressed – ‘We’re in a ship, not a royal palace, pet’ – but there was affection behind it. She knew he liked her looks because there had been lots of compliments: he liked the way she did her hair, he liked her smile, he thought she had particularly dainty ankles and feet …

Mrs Hook nudged her one evening at dinner and whispered, ‘You’ve got a good ’un there.’

‘He’s not … we’re just friends,’ Gerda stammered.

‘My eye! Look at the way he goes all goggle-eyed and melty when you’re around; and you’re not fooling anyone with that Scandinavian coolness. It’s lovely to watch you both together. Makes me feel young again.’

Her words made Gerda’s insides twist with nerves. Their courtship was so public that everyone would witness it when he threw her over, when he realised she wasn’t good enough for him, as he surely would. Just as Alan had, and all the others in between.

The romance was intensified by them spending all their time together. Already, within five days, she’d spent more time with him than she might in five months with a beau on shore. To lose him now would be agony. What was he thinking? If only she could find out, have some forewarning of what would happen next.

*

On Thursday evening, as they got within a couple of hundred miles of the west coast of Ireland, the talk at dinner was all about the threat from U-boats. That morning, the lifeboats had been swung clear of the railings and were dangling by the ship’s sides. Notices had circulated, warning passengers that all portholes must be closed and outside lights extinguished after dark; men were even forbidden from smoking on deck. Everyone assumed that if there were to be a U-boat attack it would come that night and some ladies announced they were too nervous to stay in their cabins but would sleep in the public rooms.

‘Don’t be surprised if you wake in the night to feel the ship zig-zagging,’ Mr Hook warned. ‘That’s what captains are instructed to do if there’s any German activity in the area. It stops U-boats fixing their sights on you.’

‘Surely the Royal Navy will send us an armed escort? I was positively assured they would,’ Mrs Williams said.

‘I still refuse to believe they will target a civilian ship,’ Mrs Hook averred firmly. ‘Now stop it, dear. You’re upsetting Miss Nielsen.’

Gerda smiled to show she didn’t mind; what was churning her up was the thought that they would dock in Liverpool the following night, to disembark on Saturday morning, and she had no idea if she would ever see Jack again. Might he simply say ‘Goodbye, nice to have met you’ and leave without so much as exchanging addresses?

The same thing seemed to be on Jack’s mind too, because as they strolled on the blacked-out deck that evening, he asked, ‘Do you think you will stay long in South Shields?’

‘I don’t know.’

‘It’s just … there’s something I have to tell you. I didn’t like to mention it earlier in the voyage lest it made you fret, but German Zeppelins dropped bombs on South Shields back in April. The town’s bound to be a target because of the shipyards and I couldn’t bear you to get hurt.’

‘In April?’ Gerda cried. ‘Might my sister have been hit?’

‘The news report said a woman and child in Wallsend were injured but no one was killed. They don’t live in Wallsend, do they?’

‘No, thank God.’

‘But I don’t like to think of you going there, because the Zeppelins are sure to return.’

‘Where else could I go? I have no other family.’ She turned to him and noticed a strange expression on his face. Even in the dim glow of the stars, she could see he was biting his lip, fidgeting with his fingers.

‘That’s just the thing … If you would permit it, I’d like to be your family. What I’m trying to say is that I have fallen for you, Gerda. I’d be honoured if you would consider accepting my hand in marriage.’

Her mouth opened but she couldn’t speak, overcome with emotion.

Taking her silence for hesitation, he continued: ‘Granted, we haven’t known each other for long, but we get on well, you know we do. If it’s money you’re worried about, I have several thousand dollars saved from my work in America, enough for a nice house and a bit put aside as savings. I’ve got a good job and after the war there’s bound to be work in telephones. I would make sure you had every comfort.’

‘Yes,’ she whispered. ‘Yes, I would like to marry you.’ Tears flooded her eyes, spilled down her cheeks, and he took her in his arms and pressed her against him as she cried. For so long, she had wanted a husband, someone to whom she could belong, and now it was offered all she could do was sob.

‘I’m sorry, Snow Maiden. I didn’t mean to upset you,’ he chuckled, hugging her tight.

*

Jack and Gerda told the Hooks and Annie Williams of their engagement next morning at breakfast, and no one seemed remotely surprised.

‘Look at you two, you’re made for each other,’ Mrs Hook beamed. ‘I’m only surprised it’s taken you six days to pop the question!’

‘It’s so romantic,’ Annie cried. ‘Oh, isn’t that lovely!’

The delight at their announcement mingled with a general sense of euphoria that the Germans hadn’t attacked the night before. Now it was daylight, all they had to do was sail round the southern tip of Ireland and up the Irish Sea to Liverpool.

‘Where will you get married?’ Mrs Hook asked, and they caught eyes and smiled: they hadn’t got round to discussing such details yet.

Suddenly a deep, mournful sound reverberated round the dining hall and everyone jumped, spilling cups of tea and dropping egg-laden forks to the floor.

‘It’s the ship’s foghorn,’ Jack assured Gerda. ‘It’s a foggy morning.’