The Atlantic Ocean \u2014 April 15, 1912
\nElla could hardly breathe as the shock of icy water grabbed hold of
\nher feet and ankles. She looked down as if her eyes might convince her
\nof what seemed impossible for her mind to believe. Lifting the hem of
\nher skirts out of the water, she watched the fabric dripping and heard the
\nsound of the drips intermittently hitting the water, like the span of time
\nbetween the flash of distant lightning and the ensuing echo of thunder.
\nIt seemed to take several heartbeats for her mind to absorb the message.
\nIt was true! The Titanic really was sinking! It could no longer be denied
\nas a possibility too horrible to consider. The life belt she wore seemed
\ninconsequential in light of the temperature of the water in which she
\nstood. What point might there be to floating in such water, when its
\nicy fingers promised to strangle the warmth out of any blood flowing
\nthrough human veins? Ella gasped as a familiar hand took hold of her
\narm with an unfamiliar force, startling her back to the moment.
\u201cDon\u2019t just stand there,\u201d Irene ordered and turned Ella around on the
\nstairs. \u201cWe\u2019ve got to get out of here. Getting on one of those lifeboats is
\nour only hope of surviving this.\u201d
\u201cWhat about the children?\u201d Ella demanded, resisting Irene\u2019s firm
\ntugging. \u201cWhat about\u2014\u201d
\u201cYou mustn\u2019t think about that now,\u201d Irene said, exerting more effort
\nin moving Ella along quickly.
Ella\u2019s feet felt bitterly cold as she dragged them up the stairs, but her
\nheart froze in her chest at Irene\u2019s implication. She stopped in her tracks
\nand stubbornly resisted Irene\u2019s efforts to budge her.
\u201cWhat on earth do you mean?\u201d she asked, as if Irene might actually have a sensible response
\nto such a question.
Irene came back down two steps to face Ella directly. The chill in
\nElla\u2019s feet rushed all the way up her body and back down again as this
\nwoman she\u2019d come to call her dearest friend in all the world looked
\ninto her eyes with a gaze so intense and foreboding that Ella found it
\ndifficult to breathe. \u201cListen to me well, my friend,\u201d Irene said in a voice
\nthat matched the intensity of her eyes. \u201cI don\u2019t know how all of this will
\nend, but I know what I have to do, and I know what you have to do.\u201d
\u201cHow could you possibly know that?\u201d Ella insisted.
\n\u201cI\u2019ve explained to you more than once how such a thing is possible,
\nbut now is not the time to quibble over details.\u201d Tears appeared
\nsuddenly in Irene\u2019s eyes, tears so hot that Ella almost expected steam
\nto rise off of them. Ella wanted to know if they were tears of fear or of
\nsome kind of resolve. She suspected the latter but didn\u2019t have a chance
\nto ask before Irene headed up the stairs again, dragging Ella along. \u201cWe
\nmust hurry,\u201d was all she said.
Conversation became difficult in their earnest trek toward the
\nlifeboats that were stretched out along the massive deck of the ship. Chaos
\nand noise threatened to swallow them, but Irene pressed forward as if
\nshe were a torpedo aimed at a very specific target. By some miraculous
\nmeans that Ella could not account for while her brain was in shock and
\nher surroundings were in pandemonium, she found herself scrambling
\ninto a lifeboat, aided by the capable hand of a uniformed member of the
\ncrew. She had to squeeze herself in but still eased over as far as she could
\nto allow room for Irene, certain her friend was right behind her. She was
\nbarely seated when the lifeboat jolted into movement, and she realized it
\nwas being lowered. Sitting next to her was a young woman, crying and
\nwaving good-bye to a man near her age standing on the deck.
\u201cNo!\u201d Ella shouted and tried to stand but could not find the
\nbalance to do so. \u201cNo!\u201d she shouted louder and tried again, gripping
\nthe edge of the boat as if she might leap out of it to reunite herself with
\nher beloved Irene.
\u201cYou\u2019ve got t\u2019 sit down, miss,\u201d she heard a male voice say, and a firm
\nhand on her shoulder made it impossible to ignore the command. But
\nElla\u2019s eyes were connected to Irene\u2019s. In a matter of a few seconds, all
\nthey had shared through these months of friendship raced through Ella\u2019s mind.
\nIrene had given hope to the hopeless and life to the doomed. Ella had been both. How could they possibly be separated by whatever
\nthis terrifying disaster might entail?
Ella convinced herself in the next few seconds that Irene would get
\ninto another lifeboat and they would soon be reunited. She shouted
\ntoward her, hoping to be heard above the din. \u201cI\u2019ll see you soon. Go
\nand find yourself a seat and\u2014\u201d
\u201cWhatever happens,\u201d Irene called back, and even from the distance
\nElla could see those steamy tears once again glimmering in her eyes,
\n\u201cyou must live your life to its fullest. Promise me.\u201d
Ella hesitated, refusing to accept the implication that they might
\nnot see each other again. \u201cPromise me!\u201d Irene shouted.
\u201cI promise!\u201d Ella called back. After all that Irene had done for her,
\nhow could she refuse anything this great woman might ask of her?
\nIrene\u2019s countenance softened and she actually smiled. \u201cAll will be
\nwell,\u201d Irene called back, her voice becoming more difficult to hear,
\nand her face more difficult to see, as the lifeboat was lowered farther
\ntoward the frigid, black ocean below. \u201cI know what I have to do,\u201d Irene
\nshouted, as if she desperately needed Ella to know. \u201cWhatever happens,
\nnever forget . . . that I know what I have to do, and all will be well.\u201d
While Ella was trying to think of appropriate words to say in
\nreturn, something that could be shouted with the hope of being heard
\namidst the chaos, the lifeboat jolted as the ropes on one side slid a little
\nmore quickly than on the other. The frightened voices of the women
\nand children in the boat with Ella distracted her from her conversation.
\nWhen Ella looked up again at the deck of the mighty ship, becoming ever farther away, Irene was no longer there.
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