Titanic 2020

Mrs Stanford laughed. 'Do you really think your father would allow all these people on board if there was any danger involved? It's like any illness, dear, it affects the old first, and those who are already unwell, but if you're fit and well you can shrug it off. I'm not the slightest bit worried about it.'

'Mum, I've read the news reports. That's not what's happening.'

Mrs Stanford sighed. She lifted a wide-rimmed cocktail glass and happily sucked her drink up through a straw. 'No, Claire, the answer is no. No, no, no, no, no.'

'Then I'm going to tell Daddy about Uncle Winston.'

Mrs Stanford almost choked. She set the glass down so suddenly that the blue liquid within splashed up and over the edge. 'Excuse me?'

'Five years ago I saw you kissing Uncle Winston. Tongues and all.'

'Claire! I did not—'

'I saw you!'

'You were mistaken. Uncle Winston is a very good friend of your father's and . . .'

'You were having an affair.'

'We were not having—'

'Fine, then it won't matter if I tell Daddy . . .'

Claire stood up and began to walk away. 'Come on, Jimmy,' she said.

They'd gone about twenty metres when Mrs Stanford shouted after them. 'Claire — come back here.'

Claire stopped. She winked at Jimmy, then crossed back to her mother and raised an enquiring eyebrow.

'This . . . nonsense about Uncle Winston, that's exactly what it is. Nonsense. But we are very good friends, and up to a certain point I can understand how it might look to a very young child. While I have nothing to hide, your father is under a lot of pressure at the moment and he really doesn't need some dreadful domestic hoo-haa right in the middle of it. And although I'm sure this . . . sickness . . . will fade just as quickly as it started, the boy is in our custody and I see now that it wouldn't be right to just set him on shore and expose him to . . . well, you know what I mean. So if you want me to put a word in with your father . . .'

Claire nodded.

'Just give me another hour or two in this wonderful sun and then I'll. . .'

'No, mother, it has to be now.'

'Now? But I've only just—'

'Now.'

Mrs Stanford gave her daughter a despairing look, then sighed and reached for her robe. She glanced sadly up at the sun, slipped into her sandals, then indicated for Claire and Jimmy to follow her. As she passed Claire she hissed: 'This is blackmail, you know.'

'I know,' said Claire.

***

However, their hopes were quickly dashed. Although Claire and Jimmy waited outside Mr Stanford's office, they were able to listen through an open window. They strained at first to pick up the words but very soon they had no trouble hearing at all.

'And I'm telling you absolutely no way, Catherine!'

'But it's not safe out there, George!'

'Don't you think I've enough to worry about? Dear God, Catherine, I'm missing nearly a thousand passengers, sick or dead or stuck in some godforsaken airport trying to get here! And they'll sue me if I leave without them! And I've fifteen hundred passengers coming on board, and Lord knows how many of them are infected! And they'll sue me if this ship doesn't sail on time! A third of my crew hasn't shown up, food and supplies are arriving in dribs and drabs and even Frankie Savoy, who I am personally paying one hundred thousand dollars to entertain the guests on this maiden voyage is missing four members of his band and is refusing to perform unless I double his salary and find him a trumpet player! Do you think I have time to worry about this damned stowaway of yours?'

'Exactly darling — you shouldn't have to worry. So let him stay on board and forget about him!'

'I can't! There's a court order demanding his immediate return! There are two Port of Miami police waiting to take him into custody! If I let him sail I'll be charged with taking a minor across international borders and I'll be thrown in prison! The answer is no. No! No! No! No!'

Mrs Stanford emerged a couple of minutes later. 'He's thinking about it,' she said.

Claire folded her arms. 'Mother — we heard.'

'Well — if there's a chance of him losing money, your father's first instinct is always to say no. If you heard, then you'll know I've done my best. And if you still choose to tell him about Uncle Winston, well that's your choice, but quite frankly, Claire, if you told him right now that I'd had an affair with every single member of the Vienna Male Voice Choir, I don't think he'd bat an eyelid. He's just got too much on his mind. So if you don't mind I'm going right back to my sunbathing.' She nodded once at Jimmy and sashayed away towards a set of sliding doors. As she passed through them, First Officer Jeffers stepped out. He did not look happy.

Jimmy turned to Claire. 'What'll we do now?'

'Run!'

16 The Stowaway

Claire reported in shortly before lunch. 'There's a massive row going on down there. The cops are telling my dad he can't sail without handing you over and my dad's saying they've already delayed sailing by an hour and he'll have a mutiny on his hands if he doesn't get underway. They're telling him they have a court order and he's telling them he will sue the Port Authority for twenty million dollars if they don't release the ship. Jonas Jones came down and threatened to punch one of them because we're burning up fuel and going nowhere. The only thing everyone agrees on is that they hate you.'

'Even you?'

'Especially me.'

'Why would you hate me?'

'Because you're upsetting my dad.' Jimmy looked at her. Then they both burst into laughter. 'Do you get on with yours?'

Jimmy shrugged. 'I suppose. He's just kind of there. I suppose he—'

His words were suddenly drowned out by an ear- splitting blast of noise from the funnel behind them. A moment later the whole ship began to vibrate.

Claire punched him on the arm. 'We're moving!'

Jimmy punched her back.

***

So they were off. He was a stowaway again, but this time it was deliberate. It also felt quite different. Even though a third of the passengers and crew hadn't turned up, there were still people everywhere. The cabins that weren't occupied already were kept firmly locked. Crew members patrolled constantly. It no longer felt like it was his ship. The Titanic had been a big, empty shell with a barely adequate skeleton crew. Now passengers filled the hallways and corridors, children screamed happily as they dived into the pool and old folks piled their plates high in the self-service restaurants. It was a living, breathing entity, ploughing through the waters of the Caribbean like a mighty behemoth.

He pointed this out to Claire. 'It's like a mighty behemoth.'

'A mighty what?'

'Behemoth. It's a—'

'You're mental,' said Claire. 'Now try these on.'

It was no longer safe for Jimmy to traverse the ship in his stolen overalls. He needed to blend in more. So she'd raided one of the family cabins and stolen a suitcase full of clothes. From this she'd selected half a dozen T-shirts and three pairs of shorts. She looked away while he struggled out of his overalls.

'Was there nothing . . . better?'

'Beggars can't be choosers.'

'OK, you can look now.'

She gave a sarcastic wolf whistle.

'Ha-ha,' he said.

***

They messed around the upper decks for a couple of hours. They ate in the buffet restaurant, stuffing themselves until they could hardly move. Jimmy had a New York Yankees baseball cap which he kept on at all times. No one paid any attention to them. The passengers were too busy enjoying themselves, and the crew were too busy looking after the passengers. There were a hundred and one things for Jimmy and Claire to do on the Titanic but somehow, after a while, they found themselves to be extremely bored.