The Lady and the Bronze Mask: Part Four

The mask attracted much less attention on board the ship.  There were far too many people, including some who also had a lot on their minds and a long way to go, for that to be a problem.  A chipper young steward guided us down the long corridors to our staterooms, accepted our modest tip with good grace and left us alone.

Millie immediately jumped onto the settee and looked out the porthole, [An exterior view cabin!  How very nice!  I’ve been on ships before, even first class, but nothing like this!]  She stepped down, sat properly and smoothed out her dress before signing again.  [When do we eat?  Nothing like being on display to make one peckish.]

“If I remember rightly, they’ll be opening a buffet for the passengers in about ninety minutes.  I arranged for food to be brought to us, by the way.”

[Good, I remember.  After all, we wouldn’t want to disturb the other passengers with all my grinding and slurping.  Aside from that, I do believe I enjoy chewing with my hands,] she pantomimed turning a crank, [quite as much as I do speaking with them.]

I nodded and smiled agreeably.

Millie groaned, closed her eyes and leaned back in the settee for a few minutes.  She then patted the cushion next to her.  [I’ve been working up a mood.  I’ll stop it now.  Please sit with me?]

“Certainly.  I thought you’d never ask.”


We remained side by side until we were awakened by a knock at the door.

“Goodness!”  I yawned.  “We must have been more tired than I thought.”

[Sleeping together already, my how scandalous!  By the way, I’d appreciate it if you tried not to yawn in my presence.  You can’t imagine what it’s like!]

I tried not to smile as I stood to find out who wanted in.  I cautiously opened the door and was relieved to recognize the same steward, this time bearing a large covered tray.  He entered with a greeting, set the tray on the bed, spread a cloth on a small table which he moved to a convenient spot near the settee.  Then he placed the tray on the table, all with a quick efficiency that was marvelous to watch.  I thanked him and accompanied him to the door.  He paused at the threshold.  “When you’re done with the tray, just set it outside the door here, I’ll pick it up,” In a very low voice he added, “If the young lady here has any special needs, just let me know.  I’ll do what I can.”  He glanced over his shoulder.  “My older brother has had special needs, ever since Messine Ridge, if you know what I mean.  Oh, don’t worry about a tip.”

I thanked him again, sincerely, and shook his hand as he left.

[What was that all about?]  Asked Millie after setting the hand grinder on the table.  [You were chatting like old chums.]

“You’re not far off.”

She looked at me with curiosity in her eyes.

“I’ll tell you about it later.  Let me try my hand at cranking that machine of yours.  Thanks, now, what would you like to try first?”


Not long after we finished eating, the great ship was loosed from its moorings, towed for a short distance, then released to the mastery of her own engines.  Millie jumped up on the settee again to watch the whole process.  

Once underway, she sat back down, [Too dark now to see much, but still fun.]

We sat quietly for a long time, listening to the sounds the ship made.  Finally Millie began signing.  [Well, where’s the door to your quarters?]

“Yes, well, it’s just over there, I suppose I should…”  I rose and picked up my bag.

“Hmn umn!”  [No! ]  She stopped, wrung her hands a moment, then continued.  [Yes, actually I do need to change and freshen up.  You’ll be back?]

“Of course, just knock.”

[I hate being alone in strange surroundings ever since...I didn’t think It would bother me so, not after this long.  Please keep your door open, just a bit.]

“Yes, certainly.”

I arranged things in my quarters so the door would remain ajar, even if the ship rolled a bit later on (with apologies to a couple of old books).  I then dressed for sleep and turned in.  I slept quite well for a few hours, until I was awakened by a horrific shriek.

I leapt out of bed.  It was pitch black except for some diffused moonlight coming through the door from the porthole of Millie’s room.  I burst in and flicked on the light, she wasn’t there.  At the same instant, the shriek was repeated.  It was coming from the corridor.  I hadn’t thought of grabbing a weapon, and had no time to hunt for one in any case.  I simply charged out the door.

Just then it occurred to me, Millie can’t shriek.  There, in the middle of the hallway, was a middle aged woman running for all she could straight for me.  “Horrible!” She gasped as she tried to climb me.

“What!?”  I barely managed to keep from being bowled over.

“In there!”  She pointed at the common bathroom.  “A ghost!  Dead passenger…Titanic!”  The bathroom door opened.  “Heavens!”  She said and immediately became an unconscious bundle.

Out of the door stepped Millie holding a chamber pot.  She stared as I gently lowered my matronly burden to the deck, then shrugged her shoulders.

“In your stateroom, quick!”  I whispered hoarsely.

She disappeared as other stateroom doors began to rattle, then open.

It took a while to settle things down in the corridor.  Fortunately, one of the first to arrive on the scene was the steward.  I quickly explained the situation and he just as quickly had matters well in hand.  The passengers were soon back in their beds, except for the moaning woman, who was sent to the ship’s doctor.

Eventually, I regained our stateroom and locked the door behind me.  Millie was sitting in her nightgown on the settee with her arms crossed in front of her.

“Now, what was that all about?”  I asked.

She pointed at the chamber pot under the bed.

“Those are supposed to be emptied by the maids or stewards.  You don’t have to do that!”

She sat up straight, growled then began furiously signing.  [You think I don’t know that!  I had to…]  She searched her memory for the sign for the next word, but gave up and created her own.  [Throw water.  There was no pot in here!  I was too embarrassed to knock and ask for yours.  What was I to do?  How was I to know Screaming Idiot Lady was going to walk in on me?  It’s past three!]

“There was no chamber pot in here?”

[No, I found this one behind a stack of towels when I washed my hands.  I assumed it belonged in here.]

I frowned.  “That’s odd.”

[She scared the life out of me.]

“You returned the favor in spades.”

[Oh right, I forgot.  I’m the one with the terrifying mask!]  She seized the cushion next to her and covered her face and its burden.  Her shoulders began shaking.

“I’m sorry, I wasn’t thinking.”  I sat next to her.

She leaned back, dropped the cushion and made the tittering sound in her throat that meant laughter.  Seeing my confusion, she signed.  [I did get her good didn’t I?  That’ll teach her not to wander the lady’s rooms late at night!]

“I thought you were…”

[Upset?  I was, briefly.  If I let myself go, I’d be nothing but upset.]  She turned to face me directly.  [Seriously, if I lose my equilibrium, if I’m always either laughing of crying, it’ll be time to put me away.]

“That day will never come, I’ll see to that.”

She put her arms around me and leaned into my chest, even allowing the mask to touch me.  I returned the embrace and rested my head on hers.

A few minutes later she raised up and signed again briefly, [Here’s to consistent inconsistency.  May I waiver forever.]

“’Til the mask is gone.”

She nodded.  [Until the cursed mask is gone.]  Laid her head on me and was fast asleep again.


I also slept and surprisingly well at that.  I woke up shortly after daybreak as the Olympic made its stop at Cherbourg on the coast of Normandy.  I gently led Millie back to her bed, she hardly awakened, then I retired to my own stateroom, again careful to keep the door ajar.  I left a note outside for the staff requesting that we be allowed to skip breakfast and sleep late.  By the time we got up, Cherbourg was far behind us.  If Millie was disappointed at not seeing that city, she didn’t let on.  We already knew Queenstown would be a bust since it would be well after dark when we stopped there.

This time I decided to go to the galley myself to place our order for lunch.  I wanted to stretch my legs and take in some sea air.  I asked Millie if she would like to walk with me.  She declined but thought she might do so after dark.  As I stepped out of the stateroom and heard her lock the door, I thought to myself, once more, this is just until the cursed thing is gone.

We passed what remained of the daylight hours with me learning more sign and teaching her to play some American card games.  I have to admit that her poker face was flawless.

I had forgotten how lively a trans-Atlantic luxury liner tended to be, even after dark.  It was midnight before things had slowed down enough for Millie to feel comfortable leaving our staterooms just for fun.  I would have preferred a little bit of crowd and activity.

I had also been disturbed by the previous night’s incident, but my reasons were different from Millie’s.  As silly as it seemed, I couldn’t completely dismiss the possibility that the removal of the chamber pot was intended to lure her out alone to the public restroom.  Would the Darians have done that?  Only if they knew or guessed why we had left England.  Otherwise, would they even care?  But if not them, who and why?  

Finally, for my own peace of mind, I unpacked my Colt auto, loaded it and placed it in my jacket pocket.  I generally don’t carry firearms except as a last resort in wild places and wild times.  As a next to last resort, I picked up my walking stick.

I knocked on Millie’s door.  “Ready Dear?”  She clapped twice, indicating no, but less than a minute later she opened the door.  I was impressed.  She wore a long dark, gray dress, covered by a black, hooded cloak.  The outfit was completed by an opaque, black veil that covered all except her eyes.

“Breath taking!”

[Don’t tease.]

“Wouldn’t dream of it.”

[But I’m practically the Invisible Woman.]

“Quality trumps quantity.”

Her eyes lit up and she made a pleased hum.  I offered my arm which she took and leaned on as we headed for the Promenade.  

We traveled down a couple of corridors to the second class staircase, then up three decks and out the door.  We found that the night had turned both chill and drizzly with the moon obscured.  These conditions were enough to clear even the covered Promenade of the faint of heart and thinly dressed.  Since we were neither, we continued.  We met a handful of strollers, mostly couples oblivious to the rest of the world, and only slightly intrigued by the mysterious veiled woman and her companion.  I could tell that even these small numbers were enough to cause Millie some discomfort, though she had no desire to go below yet.  Finally, I suggested we climb up to the boat deck.  It wasn’t roofed over, but the drizzle wasn’t nearly enough to discourage us.

The boat deck was crowded with just that, boats.  In fact, since the regulation changes brought on by the loss of Titanic, there was room for little else up there.  We stopped at the portside gate to first class.  It was without a lock and could have been easily stepped over had we been more venturesome.  Instead, we turned about.

[One more circuit will do.]  Millie signed.  [You didn’t light your pipe.]

“It didn’t even occur to me.”

She fixed her lively brown eyes on me.  [Am I that distracting?]

“I was too distracted to notice that I was distracted.”  I grinned.

[I rather like the scent.  I’ll try to go easier on you so you can smoke.]

“You are most kind, are there any other unhealthful habits I may continue to indulge in?”

[Since you’re allowing me to pick them, I’ll have to think about it.  Great responsibility and all that.]

“CLOSE THE CURTAIN!”  

That shout caused us both to jump.  Millie looked at me questioningly.

“Probably nothing?...”  But I didn’t believe my own words.  I turned our course back sternward to the stairway.  “I know you know how to use this.”  I slipped the pistol into her hand.  Her eyes widened in surprise, but she nodded.  “If I tell you to run, run to the second class smoke room, there’s always someone there.”  If I’d thought about it longer, I would have seen the problem with that plan.  As it was, we were given no more time.

“THE CURTAIN IS CLOSED”

It was a different voice, this time clearly behind us.  Millie sucked in her breath and began to rapidly finger- spell. [V-A-L…].  But I couldn’t watch.  There were footsteps running up from behind.

“RUN NOW!  GO!”  I turned and pulled the blade from my walking stick.  Millie took off like a shot.


Millie didn’t like the idea but ran for all she was worth anyway.  Suddenly her way was blocked and she skidded to a stop on the wet deck.

“Good evening Miss Lee, and it is a lovely evening, isn’t it?”

Without hesitation, she raised the pistol to shoot.  A whirr came from between the empty lifeboats to her right.  Something struck her wrist causing her to grunt in pain and lose her grip on the weapon.  Next, strong arms grabbed her from behind, pinning her arms.  A voice growled in her ear.  “No sharp things to poke me with this time, Miss?  The disappointment must be enough to make you want to scream.”

Valens stepped forward.  

“HMMNN HNNG!”  Amelia mustered all the hate and venom she could into her muffled cry.

“Even if you could scream, it would do no good.  We have drawn a curtain about this deck.  No one will hear, no one will come, no one will go until the spell has run its course.”  He held up the black stone.  “It would have been better had you just gotten used to it.”