BooksBarbecue
Back Luck of the Titanic Save as PDF

Luck of the Titanic

Stacey Lee
Chapters (55)
  1. Also by Stacey Lee
  2. Dedication
  3. Epigraph
  4. List of Characters Aboard the Titanic
  5. INSIDE THE RMS TITANIC
  6. Valor and Virtue
  7. Valor and Virtue
  8. 1
  9. 2
  10. 3
  11. 4
  12. 5
  13. 6
  14. 7
  15. 8
  16. 9
  17. 10
  18. 11
  19. 12
  20. 13
  21. 14
  22. 15
  23. 16
  24. 17
  25. 18
  26. 19
  27. 20
  28. 21
  29. 22
  30. 23
  31. 24
  32. 25
  33. 26
  34. 27
  35. 28
  36. 29
  37. 30
  38. 31
  39. 32
  40. 33
  41. 34
  42. 35
  43. 36
  44. 37
  45. 38
  46. 39
  47. 40
  48. 41
  49. 42
  50. EPILOGUE
  51. Author’s Note
  52. Author’s Further Note
  53. Acknowledgments
  54. About the Author
  55. What’s next onyour reading list?

Also by Stacey Lee

The Downstairs Girl

Outrun the Moon

Under a Painted Sky

Dedication

To my number one son, Bennett.
There are no cowboys in this one, but there are a few sailors.

Epigraph

Of the eight Chinese passengers aboard the Titanic, six survived.

List of Characters Aboard the Titanic

Third-Class Passengers

  • Valora Luck
  • James Luck
  • Chow “Bo” Wah
  • Wink
  • Olly
  • Drummer
  • Ming Lai
  • Fong
  • Tao
  • Heath Bledig
  • Dina Domenic & Mr. and Mrs. Domenic

First-Class Passengers

  • Amberly Sloane
  • April Hart & Mrs. Hart
  • Charlotte Fine & Mrs. Fine
  • Albert Ankeny Stewart & valet “Croggy” Crawford
  • J. Bruce Ismay, chairman of White Star Line
  • Lady Lucy Duff-Gordon & Sir Cosmo Duff-Gordon
  • Bertha Chambers

Crew

  • Captain Edward Smith
  • Andy Latimer, first-class steward
  • “Skeleton,” third-class steward
  • Officer Merry
  • “QM,” quartermaster
  • “Master-of-Big-Arms,” master-at-arms
  • Brandish, lead fireman
  • Baxter, first-class porter

INSIDE THE RMS TITANIC

  1. Stern
  2. Docking Bridge
  3. Poop Deck
  4. Aft Third-Class General Room
  5. Third-Class Smoking Room
  6. Aft Well Deck
  7. Second-Class Library
  8. À la Carte Restaurant
  9. Second-Class Barbershop
  10. Café Parisien
  11. First-Class (“Tidal Wave”) Aft Staircase
  12. First-Class Promenade
  13. Third-Class Dining Saloon
  14. First-Class (“Tidal Wave”) Forward Staircase
  15. Elevators
  16. Officers’ Quarters
  17. Collapsibles
  18. Lifeboats
  19. First-Class Special Staterooms (“Cabbage Patch”)
  20. Bridge
  21. Boiler Room 6
  22. Third-Class Cabins
  23. Storage Closet
  24. Squash Courts
  25. Forward Well Deck
  26. Foremast & Crow’s Nest
  27. Cargo Shaft
  28. Forward Third-Class General Room
  29. Cargo Hold
  30. Forecastle Deck
  31. Anchor
  32. Bow

MIDSHIP CROSS SECTION

E-DECK

Illustrations copyright © 2021 by Wenhan Shao

Valor and Virtue

Valor and Virtue

The captain paced his weathered deck,

A-talkin’ to his boots.

They were his pride and joy, you see,

Anchored him like roots.

The right one he named Valor;

It always steered his course.

The left one he called Virtue;

’Twas steady as a horse.

Together, they had saved him from

Many a tottery fall.

Gripped the wood like tentacles,

In tempest, twirl, or squall.

He never took them off, did he,

Not even when he bathed.

Which wasn’t very oft, ’tis true,

The same as when he shaved.

But even boots outwear their seams;

Their leather cracks and splits.

And one day Valor sprang a leak,

And Virtue’s heel went quits.

When the captain surveyed, at the end of his legs,

The boots, like ragged jerky,

He cried, “Woe is me,” threw them to sea,

Then pitched himself into the murky.

1

April 10, 1912

When my twin, Jamie, left, he vowed it wouldn’t be forever. Only a week before Halley’s Comet brushed the London skies, he kissed my cheek and set off. One comet in, one comet out. But two years away is more than enough time to clear his head, even in the coal-thickened air at the bottom of a steamship. Since he hasn’t come home, it is time to chase down the comet’s tail.