Titanic 2020

When he finally reached the deck, having taken his time, he was grabbed, held in a tight arm-lock and quickly marched away. As he moved along the deck Claire Stanford stepped out of the shadows. 'Who's the sucker now?' she hissed. Then, following on behind the prisoner and his escort she added, 'As a matter of fact I don't have a pony. I have three.'

8 Captain Smith

He wasn't on trial, but it felt like it.

Jimmy was hauled into Captain Smith's quarters on Deck Twelve and ordered to stand in the middle of the floor while the Captain and First Officer Simon Jeffers sat looking at him from behind a desk. After a few moments Mr Stanford — designer of the ship and owner of the cruise company — also joined them. Claire Stanford sat behind him. Each time Jimmy scowled at her an annoying smirk appeared on her face.

'Well?' the Captain asked.

'Well as can be expected,' said Jimmy

The Captain's eyes flashed angrily. 'I mean, well, what have you got to say for yourself?'

Jimmy shrugged.

'Have you any idea of the trouble you have caused?'

'Sort of, yeah.'

'And?'

'And what?'

'Have you anything to say?'

Jimmy thought about it for a moment. 'Nice ship.'

Mr Stanford jumped to his feet. 'How dare you!' he shouted. 'Do you think this is funny?'

Jimmy shrugged.

'Have you any idea of the worry you have caused at home? The man-hours we have had to devote to finding you? The expense we will incur if we have to return to port? Have you?'

'Sort of.'

'Again, what have you got to say for yourself?'

Jimmy looked across at the three men. Two were in uniform, one was in a grey suit. They all looked extremely angry.

Jimmy shrugged.

Mr Stanford's fist hit the table. 'I've a good mind to toss him overboard!' He sighed loudly, then sat down again.

First Officer Jeffers leaned towards the ship's owner and spoke in a quiet, controlled voice. 'Actually, Mr Stanford, we haven't yet reported to Belfast that he's been found. We could throw him overboard, and no one would be any the wiser.'

Captain Smith nodded as he lit his pipe. 'Good point,' he said. 'We are the only witnesses. Apart from Claire, of course. What do you say, Claire? Chuck him overboard?'

'Absolutely,' said Claire.

Jimmy swallowed. He knew they wouldn't throw him overboard. Or he thought he knew. But he'd also heard that strange things happened at sea. He also still had his lucky penny in his pocket, which was like a kiss of death. Still . . . still . . . even though he knew there was only an infinitesimal possibility of him being thrown into the sea, he thought a little backtracking might be in order. A little fake humility.

'Sorry,' Jimmy mumbled.

'What was that?' asked the Captain.

'Sorry.'

'For what?'

'For whatever I've done wrong.'

'Do you know what you've done wrong?'

'Yes.'

'Why don't you tell us, then?' asked Mr Stanford.

Jimmy shook his head.

'So you don't know?'

Jimmy took a deep breath. Now he was trying to hold on to his temper. Stanford was just like McCartney. He always had to keep pushing. Jimmy had never really apologized for anything in his life, but now that he'd made the effort apparently it wasn't good enough — Stanford was intent on making him spell out every last detail of his supposed indiscretions. 'Look,' he said, 'I'm sorry, all right? I sneaked on to the boat and I shouldn't have. I fell asleep. I didn't mean to stow away or whatever you call it. I don't want to be here . . .'

'Then why didn't you give yourself up as soon as you realized?'

'Well would you?' Jimmy snapped.

First Officer Jeffers almost laughed at that. A vague hint of a smile appeared on Smith's face. But Stanford's eyes blazed.

The Captain puffed on his pipe. 'Well,' he said, 'there's nothing can be done now. And much as we would like to throw you to the sharks we would only end up getting ourselves in trouble, and we can't have that. Now, thanks to the astonishing speed at which we are travelling — and you can thank Mr Stanford for that, she really is an amazing ship — we will very shortly reach the halfway point in our voyage to Miami, which I'm afraid makes it impractical for us to turn back to Belfast. So you will have to continue with us until we reach port. There you will be handed over to the authorities and they will do with you as they see fit. However, Master Armstrong, that doesn't mean you get free passage. You will be put to work.'

'What sort of work?' Jimmy asked.

'Whatever we decide!' Mr Stanford exploded.

Captain Smith raised a calming hand, then nodded across the cabin. 'Claire, if you could ask Scoop to step— roll into the room?'

Claire slipped out. A few moments later Scoop, who'd obviously been waiting outside, appeared in the doorway. He didn't look at Jimmy as he manoeuvred through the opening and pulled up beside him.

'Captain,' he said. 'Mr Stanford.' He nodded at Jeffers.

'Scoop — you've asked to have the boy work for you on the paper.'

'Yes, Captain. I gather he's supposed to be at school. Well I've a hundred and one things I could have him doing. I'll work him into the ground.'

Captain Smith nodded at Jimmy. 'Well? Can I trust you to work on the paper and not get into any more bother?'

Jimmy sighed. Then he nodded.

'Very well. And Claire?' Claire had retaken her seat, but now the Captain waved her forward. She stood on Scoop's other side. 'We should thank you for leading us to our young stowaway.' Claire beamed widely. 'However, you may not be aware that your encounter with young Mr Armstrong in the amusement arcade was actually caught on camera.'

The smile faltered. 'What do you mean— ?'

'Be quiet, Claire, and listen,' her father snapped.

'Daddy, don't speak to—'

'Claire!'

She fell silent.

The Captain nodded at Mr Stanford before continuing. 'Yes, Claire. Obviously with an amusement arcade it's important for us to monitor what goes on there. Parents like to know that their children aren't getting up to any mischief or that they're not being bullied. First Officer Jeffers here happened to spot your little altercation with Jimmy, didn't you, Jeffers?'

'Yes, sir. Just caught the end of it.' He smiled at Claire. 'The judo lessons seem to be paying off.'

Claire couldn't manage a smile this time.

'In fact,' said the Captain, 'once alerted to the situation, we all came and watched. We all listened. Yes, Claire, it's a state-of-the-art system and we could hear every word. So you will understand that we were a little distressed to hear you promise to let the lad go if he beat you at air hockey, and then immediately renege on the deal by following him to the climbing wall and informing us.'

'Because he kicked me!' Claire exploded.

'And that's not to be condoned; but nevertheless, a deal is a deal. It's a terrible thing not to be able to trust someone.'

Claire looked hopefully to her father. 'Daddy . . .'

'The Captain's right, Claire. I was very disappointed. And more than that, your mother and I have both been very upset by your behaviour recently.'

'What?

'You've been bad tempered, disobedient, you never have a pleasant word . . .'

'Daddy please, not in front of— !'

'. . . for anyone, you sulk all day and you do nothing . . .'

'Daddy!'

'No, Claire, we've had quite enough of your behaviour. The reason we bring it up now is that the Captain has a solution.'