young women making their way on the stage, they couldn’t be friends. That thought was so depressing, Katie added quickly, “I’ve always liked the little ones.” There, she hadn’t actually said she was intending to become a governess, so it wasn’t a true lie. But it would keep Eileen from asking how she planned to earn a living in America.
It did. Eileen nodded and said, “Aye, you have a way with them.”
Katie let out a small sigh of relief. The voyage would be much more fun with a companion, especially with Brian and Paddy so far away in the bow.
The brothers were, as she had hoped, already mixing with other third-class passengers in the large, pleasant room filled with lively conversation in a variety of languages. The smell of fresh paint hung in the air. Blue sky showed through the portholes in the whitewashed walls, and the feet of playing children clattered noisily across the bare floor.
Brian’s dark head towered over the crowd, and Katie heard Patrick’s deep, melodious laughter before she actually spied him. He was surrounded by a small cluster of young women, which didn’t surprise Katie at all. Back in Cork, Paddy had a reputation as a ladies’ man. Brian had once said laughingly of his handsome younger brother, “Slippery as the fish in the cold waters of the Atlantic, that one. The lass who catches him had best hold on for dear life.”
Katie had sniffed in disdain. As far as she was concerned, any man who saw himself as a great “catch” should be cast back into the sea immediately. She knew Paddy had broken more than one young heart in Cork, including the hearts of some of Katie’s best friends.
She hadn’t been very sympathetic, she remembered now with chagrin. To Mary Frances Molloy, weeping in Katie’s bedroom, Katie had said tartly, “Didja think you were so special that he wouldn’t be faithless to you like he was with Siobhan and Fiona and Sheila, then?”
“Aye,” Mary Frances had sobbed, “I thought he hadn’t loved them the way he loved me.”
“More the fool you, then.” But Katie had gone downstairs to fetch a plate of soda bread and a glass of fresh, cold milk to comfort the distraught girl.
She vowed, not for the first time since she’d met Patrick Thomas Kelleher, to never be taken in, like the other girls, by his dark, snapping eyes and that broad, arrogant grin and thick, dark, curly hair. She hadn’t had the chance, as it turned out, because Paddy treated her more like a sister than an available young woman. He was courteous and considerate. He had never once said or done anything flirtatious. When he talked to her, as he often did, it was usually about his brother.
It puzzled Katie sometimes that Paddy expected her to know what was going on in Brian’s head. Why would she? Brian didn’t confide in her. She suspected that was because she was a girl. It didn’t rile her. She had no need to know Brian’s every thought. She also suspected that his thoughts were not nearly so deep as Paddy’s. Brian was a bright but uncomplicated fellow. Paddy should know that, being his brother.
Telling herself she felt sorry for the unsuspecting young ladies hanging on Paddy’s every word, Katie turned away, intent on meeting some of her fellow travelers.
She was sitting on one of the shiny wooden benches talking with Eileen and a young mother of three small children when there was a slight stir behind them, at the foot of the staircase.
Katie turned to find a small group of elegantly dressed people accompanied by a uniformed steward, gathered on the wide, lower steps. They were gazing around with interest, like visitors touring a museum.
“Why, this is quite nice!” a tall, gray-haired woman with a fur stole draped around her shoulders declared. “Plain, to be sure, but quite comfortable, considering.”
“Oh, much better than the usual third class,” the steward admitted, adding proudly, “but this is the Titanic. Everything on it is grand.”
A hush
It did. Eileen nodded and said, “Aye, you have a way with them.”
Katie let out a small sigh of relief. The voyage would be much more fun with a companion, especially with Brian and Paddy so far away in the bow.
The brothers were, as she had hoped, already mixing with other third-class passengers in the large, pleasant room filled with lively conversation in a variety of languages. The smell of fresh paint hung in the air. Blue sky showed through the portholes in the whitewashed walls, and the feet of playing children clattered noisily across the bare floor.
Brian’s dark head towered over the crowd, and Katie heard Patrick’s deep, melodious laughter before she actually spied him. He was surrounded by a small cluster of young women, which didn’t surprise Katie at all. Back in Cork, Paddy had a reputation as a ladies’ man. Brian had once said laughingly of his handsome younger brother, “Slippery as the fish in the cold waters of the Atlantic, that one. The lass who catches him had best hold on for dear life.”
Katie had sniffed in disdain. As far as she was concerned, any man who saw himself as a great “catch” should be cast back into the sea immediately. She knew Paddy had broken more than one young heart in Cork, including the hearts of some of Katie’s best friends.
She hadn’t been very sympathetic, she remembered now with chagrin. To Mary Frances Molloy, weeping in Katie’s bedroom, Katie had said tartly, “Didja think you were so special that he wouldn’t be faithless to you like he was with Siobhan and Fiona and Sheila, then?”
“Aye,” Mary Frances had sobbed, “I thought he hadn’t loved them the way he loved me.”
“More the fool you, then.” But Katie had gone downstairs to fetch a plate of soda bread and a glass of fresh, cold milk to comfort the distraught girl.
She vowed, not for the first time since she’d met Patrick Thomas Kelleher, to never be taken in, like the other girls, by his dark, snapping eyes and that broad, arrogant grin and thick, dark, curly hair. She hadn’t had the chance, as it turned out, because Paddy treated her more like a sister than an available young woman. He was courteous and considerate. He had never once said or done anything flirtatious. When he talked to her, as he often did, it was usually about his brother.
It puzzled Katie sometimes that Paddy expected her to know what was going on in Brian’s head. Why would she? Brian didn’t confide in her. She suspected that was because she was a girl. It didn’t rile her. She had no need to know Brian’s every thought. She also suspected that his thoughts were not nearly so deep as Paddy’s. Brian was a bright but uncomplicated fellow. Paddy should know that, being his brother.
Telling herself she felt sorry for the unsuspecting young ladies hanging on Paddy’s every word, Katie turned away, intent on meeting some of her fellow travelers.
She was sitting on one of the shiny wooden benches talking with Eileen and a young mother of three small children when there was a slight stir behind them, at the foot of the staircase.
Katie turned to find a small group of elegantly dressed people accompanied by a uniformed steward, gathered on the wide, lower steps. They were gazing around with interest, like visitors touring a museum.
“Why, this is quite nice!” a tall, gray-haired woman with a fur stole draped around her shoulders declared. “Plain, to be sure, but quite comfortable, considering.”
“Oh, much better than the usual third class,” the steward admitted, adding proudly, “but this is the Titanic. Everything on it is grand.”
A hush
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