To Sheila and Willow who took the journey with me With many thanks and many hugs FW For Wolf whose story is only just beginning to unfold And to Frieda Sheila Michael and Nan WD
Day One Saturday May 1 1915 Morning The New York City Dock THE DUSTY FUMES and the fishy smells on the New York dock make me gag but I can’t stop staring at everything Shiny black cars and horse-drawn carriages drive up to Pier 54 and deposit their passengers Porters pile up trunks and suitcases like towers Some children cling to their parents Others race up and down the dock weaving between cars horses and people Their parents shout Don’t wander away The Lusitania is sailing soon Passengers speak English French and a bunch of languages I can’t name The Lusitania is called the Big Lusy The name makes the ship sound friendly even though she’s huge and elegant and will soon be full of strangers Rich strangers poor strangers and strangers in the middle like us
A man and a woman beside me hold each other and kiss Friends hug goodbye A father gathers his children close ready to board the ship I wish my father were alive and with me on the dock I wish I wasn’t sailing far from home with Hilda and Sarah They’re nurses who worked at Mother’s home for the sick and aged Mother asked them to look after me on the Lusitania but they don’t want to be with me They want Oh no No A horse’s hoof scrapes my leg No room to move No place to run I’m going to be trampled Watch out A man pulls me away I stumble against his shoulder I’m trembling but I manage to straighten up I I’m sorry I tell the man Thank you The man smiles His eyes are soft and kind You had a close call Be careful he says in a thick Scottish accent Before I can say anything he tips his tweed hat and hurries toward the gangplank of the Lusitania I turn and there’s Hilda What’s the matter with you Avis she snaps You almost got yourself killed I didn’t see the horse I was thinking
