Date: Saturday, the Thirteenth Day of April, 1912
Place: Titanic – Second-Class Deck
Time: Eleven Forty-Five in the Morning

Breakfast was good today—not quite as fun as last night's supper in first class with Captain Smith, but still pleasant. The best part? We were allowed to keep the fancy dresses the captain gave us. He said they were gifts and refused to take them back. That made Anneliese and me very happy.

Papa and Mama still wouldn't let me wander off on my own. I had to promise—again—that I wouldn't leave Anneliese's side.

We walked around the deck together. There wasn't much to do, but it felt good to be outside in the fresh sea air.

As we passed by a group of women chatting, we overheard one of them mention that the barbershop sold toys. She said it was such a cute idea. Anneliese and I lit up. Toys? That sounded far more exciting than jacks—for once.

We rushed off toward the barbershop.

"Hey girls," a man said as we stepped in. "I'm Arthur White. You here for a haircut?" He had a pair of scissors in his hand. "Snip, snip!" he said, pretending to clip the air.

I stared at the scissors, wide-eyed.

"Uh—" I began, backing up a little.

"No," Anneliese laughed. "We heard you have toys!"

Arthur looked at me and smiled. "I was just teasing. I wouldn't dream of cutting such beautiful hair off two lovely young ladies."

I stopped feeling so tense.

"What kind of toys do you have?" Anneliese asked, stepping forward.

"Just look around," Arthur said. "There are toys everywhere."

We looked around—and our eyes went wide. Toys were hanging from strings, tucked onto shelves, even lined up along the walls. Why didn't we see this sooner?

There were dolls, yo-yos, cup-and-ball toys, and even familiar things like checkers, dominoes, playing cards, and crayons! I giggled when I saw a few more sets of jacks, just like ours.

I wished we could buy all of it.

"How much are the crayons?" I asked, pointing

"How much are the crayons?" I asked, pointing.

"For you?" Arthur smiled. "Just one penny."

"One penny?" I looked confused.

Anneliese leaned over to whisper, "What's a penny?"

"I don't know," I whispered back. Then I looked up at Arthur. "Can we ask our Papa?"

"Of course," he chuckled.

We hurried back to our cabin. But when we got there, Papa was asleep. That disappointed both of us. Mama was sitting nearby on the davenport, knitting something small—probably for the baby she said she hoped to have someday.

"Momma, what's a penny?" I asked.

"A penny is a coin," she said. "Similar to a pfennig back home."

"Back home?" I tilted my head. "You mean where we used to live?"

"It doesn't matter if we don't live there now," Mama said gently. "It's still our home. Always."

"Can we have a penny?" Anneliese asked quickly.

Mama looked puzzled. "Why do you need a penny?"

"To buy crayons at the barbershop," Anneliese explained.

"The barbershop?" Mama laughed.

"They sell toys there!" I added excitedly.

Mama set her knitting down and stood. "Well, why don't we all go see for ourselves?"

Anneliese and I jumped up and clapped.

Mama left a note for Papa, just in case he woke up, and we set off. Well—they walked. I skipped.

The barbershop was on B Deck, so we had to climb a few sets of stairs. Mama refused to use the lifts—she said she didn't trust new machines like elevators or those strange moving stairs called escalators.

I was fascinated by escalators. The wooden steps clicked and clacked as they moved upward. Clickity-clackity—like a machine chewing up the floor.

When we arrived, Arthur was trimming another gentleman's hair. We waited nearby, trying not to fidget—but I was so excited, I couldn't sit still. I bounced on my toes, hoping he'd finish soon.

Finally, he came over.

"Well, if it isn't the two twin girls from earlier," he grinned. "And who's this? Your older sister?"

"Hey!" Anneliese barked. "I'm the older sister!"

Mama laughed. "I'm their mother."

"Ah," Arthur chuckled, giving a playful nod. Then he looked at me again. I quickly tucked myself behind Mama.

"So," Mama said, "I hear my girls want to buy some crayons."

Arthur turned and grabbed a small box off the shelf. "Here you go—eight colors of the rainbow," he said proudly. "One penny."

"We've never had crayons before," I said softly, staring at the box.

"Is that so?" he smiled. "Well, these are special."

"That's quite a steep price," Mama teased. "But what will they draw on?"

Arthur reached under the counter. "For these sweet little girls, I'll throw in a pad of twenty-five sheets of paper—for only four cents more."

Mama handed him five pfennigs.

He paused. "German coins?"

He flipped open a little book and started checking the pages, scanning back and forth.

Anneliese looked at me. I looked back. We were both thinking the same thing: Are we ever going to get our crayons?

After a moment, Arthur sighed. "Afraid we don't take pfennigs—not on this ship. Do you have anything else?"

Mama dug into her purse again. "Just the change we got in France."

"Oh, Francs? We accept those!" Arthur nodded. She handed him the coins, and he gave her back a little change.

"Is this American money?" Mama asked, studying it.

"It sure is," Arthur said, holding up a coin. "This here's an American penny—see that man on the front? That's Abraham Lincoln, the sixteenth president of the United States."

"This says 1909," I read.

"Yep," Arthur said. "That was the first year they put Lincoln on the penny. Before that, they had what were called Indian Head pennies."

"Indian?" I blinked. "You mean from India?"

"No," he laughed. "Amerindians."

"Ameri-what?" I tilted my head again.

"Never mind," he chuckled. "You'll learn about them someday."

"Are you from America?" Anneliese asked.

"Nope," he said. "I'm from England. But I love history books." A customer walked in behind us. "Ah—duty calls! Enjoy your crayons, girls."

As we stepped back into the hallway, I couldn't stop staring at the crayons in my hands. They were so bright—even the paper wrappers looked pretty, like little coats for each color. I held them up to the light as we walked.

"Don't drop them," Anneliese warned, laughing.

"I won't," I promised—then immediately fumbled one.

It rolled under a bench outside the reading and writing room. I dropped to my knees to grab it, when a voice from nearby said, "Is that lavender? That's my favorite color."

I looked up and saw a young girl, maybe just a little older than me, sitting on the bench with a book in her lap. She had a red ribbon in her hair and a charming smile.

"My name's Ruth Becker," she said, brushing off her dress and kneeling to help me pick up the crayon.

"I'm Josephine," I said shyly. "And this is my sister, Anneliese."

Ruth grinned. "Nice to meet you. I've got two little brothers running wild around here somewhere. It's peaceful here for once."

She looked at our crayons. "Did you just come from the barbershop?"

"Yes," I beamed. "Arthur let us buy these with French coins."

"I should tell Mama," Ruth said. "She didn't know they sold things like that." She looked thoughtful for a moment, then brightened. "Do you like drawing?"

"I've never done it before," I admitted.

"Then you'll have to show me when you start," she said. "Oh—and if you see a boy named Lawrence Beesley, tell him to stop reading so much and come talk to real people."

"I think we walked past him in the library," Anneliese said.

"Exactly where I left him," Ruth giggled.

Just then, a small, sandy-haired boy ran by, squealing with laughter, followed by a second boy who couldn't have been more than three years old.

"Gretchen! Where's my boat?" the little one cried as he passed.

"That's Gretchen Longley's brother," Ruth said with a sigh. "The second-class kids all seem to know each other by now."

We all giggled.

"I think the whole ship will know us by the end of the trip," Anneliese said.

Ruth smiled and looked toward the staircase. "I hope so. It's nice to know who you're sailing with. Especially on a ship this big."

Date:Saturday, the Thirteenth Day of April, 1912
Place: Titanic – Library

Time: Twelve Thirty-Eight in the Afternoon

We didn't want to disturb Papa while he slept, so we headed to the library.

Anneliese and I sat down at a table and began coloring. Since the crayons and paper had cost Mama a few coins, we didn't want to waste a single sheet. If we made a mistake, we simply turned it into part of the picture.

On my paper, I drew a dolphin jumping out of the water. I wasn't very good at coloring, but I tried my best. Anneliese was coloring a house with flowers and a girl standing next to it.

Mama sat near the library door, talking to a man and a woman. We kept coloring while she chatted. I saw Anneliese draw a sun, and I smiled—I had just drawn one too. I hoped it didn't look like I was copying her.

Looking over my drawing, I realized something was missing. I remembered the dolphins we saw a few days ago, and how they had followed the ship. That gave me an idea.

I decided to draw the Titanic in the background.

I made it long and carefully added three smokestacks rising above it. When I was done, I felt proud and showed it to Anneliese.

"Nice ship," she said.

"It's the Titanic," I told her.

"That's not the Titanic," she giggled. "You're missing one smokestack."

"Wait," I frowned and looked down at my picture. "There's four?"

"Come on, I'll show you," Anneliese said, tugging me by the hand.

"Hold on," I said, hurrying over to Mama. "Can you watch these?"

"Of course," she smiled. "Where are you going?"

"Anneliese is going to show me something real quick."

"Alright," Mama nodded. "Oh—before you go, I'd like to introduce you to someone. Josephine, Anneliese, this is Thomas and Patricia Otto. They're newlyweds, on their honeymoon."

"Hello," we both said in unison.

I tilted my head. "Newly what?"

"Newlyweds," Mama repeated. "They're on their honeymoon. Isn't that romantic?"

"Um, yes," I said awkwardly. I wasn't sure what a honeymoon was—and I didn't really want to ask. "Can I go now?"

"Yes, but come right back when you're done. And don't go too far."

Anneliese pulled me all the way out to the deck.

"Jeez, Anneliese, pull my arm off, why don't you?"

"See?" She pointed up at the ship's towering funnels.

I looked. "Why are only three of them smoking?"

"Hmm," Anneliese scratched her head. "Maybe the other one's plugged up."

We walked back into the library. Mama was still talking with the Ottos. I saw Tom look up and smile as I reached for the crayons and our pictures.

"I really liked the Titanic you drew," he said kindly.

"Thanks," I mumbled.

"You know there are four smokestacks, don't you?" he added with a wink.

"I do now," I groaned.

I walked back to the table, a little embarrassed. I carefully added a fourth funnel to my picture—this one without any smoke. Then I drew some extra waves around the bottom of the ship to hide where I'd changed it. It wasn't perfect, but I was proud of it all the same.

Date:Saturday, the Thirteenth Day of April, 1912

Place: Titanic – Second-Class Promenade
Time: Eighteen Minutes Past Two in the Afternoon

We didn't go back to our cabin after dinner—just long enough to drop off our pictures. Papa was still sleeping, so Momma, Anneliese, and I headed out to the deck. Anneliese and I played a game of shuffleboard while Momma sat nearby on a bench, knitting and watching us.

I finally convinced Anneliese to play shuffleboard—even though yesterday she said it gave her the creeps. I guess she changed her mind.

I played better this time than when I played with Peter. At least now I could get the disk to the other end of the board. I still wasn't very good, but neither was Anneliese, so it didn't matter. While we played, I thought about Peter—Francis. Where was he now? Where did they take him?

Eventually, I stopped playing. I lost, and Anneliese was gloating.

"I did better than you!" she sang.

I sat on the bench and watched Momma take my place while Anneliese kept playing. I liked shuffleboard—but not when I lost.

As I sighed and looked around, I saw two girls playing nearby. They weren't the same kids from earlier. These were both girls. One was taller—probably my age—and the other was small, maybe two or three.

"Momma, can I go say hi to those girls?" I asked.

"Stay where I can see you," she told me.

I walked over.

"Hi," I greeted them.

"Hello," said the taller girl. She looked over her shoulder toward her mother, then back at me. "I'm Winnifred."

"Hi, Winnifred. I'm Josephine." I looked down at the little one. "Is this your sister?"

"Yes," she said, smiling. "Her name's Phyllis."

"Hi, Phyllis," I said sweetly, bending down.

Their mother walked over and surprised me. I jumped up. "Hi!" I blurted out.

"Hello," she said gently. "Just checking up on my girls."

"I'm sorry!" I panicked. "My Momma was—"

"There's nothing to be sorry for," she laughed kindly.

Just then Momma came over, with Anneliese right behind her.

"Hello," Momma smiled.

"Hello," the woman replied. "I'm Jane Quick."

They started chatting, and we kids ran around nearby. It didn't take long before Winnifred called out:

"Let's play hide and seek! I'll be it!"

"Okay!" Anneliese and I said together.

We asked little Phyllis to sit with her mom. She was too small to keep up, and we didn't want her getting lost.

Winnifred counted to twenty while I scrambled off to hide. I didn't know where Anneliese went. I found a space just in time—inside one of the lifeboats.

Eventually, Winnifred found Anneliese behind some barrels. Then they came looking for me.

"There you are!" Winnifred said, just as two crewmen walked by.

"Hey now," one of them scolded, "you girls can't be climbing into the lifeboats."

"They weren't doing anything wrong," the other one said. "Besides... when would we ever need to use these?"

"You've got a point," the first one chuckled. "Still—be careful."

They walked away.

"I thought we were in trouble," Anneliese shivered.

We were going to keep playing, but the deck was starting to fill with more people.

"Come on," Winnifred said. "Let's get back to our parents."

Jane and Momma were still talking. Phyllis was napping on the bench beside them.

"Momma," I whined. "It's getting crowded out here."

She looked around. "Alright. Let's go back to our cabin."

She turned to Jane. "It was nice meeting you. I hope you and your girls enjoy the rest of the voyage—and have a safe trip home to Detroit."

"You too," Jane said. "I hope your husband and girls find a lovely home in America."

We returned to our cabin. Papa was just getting up when we walked in.

"What have you three been up to?" he asked, stretching.

"Nothing much—just playing on the deck," Momma said.

"And I won every game," Anneliese grinned.

"Not every game," I argued. "I won hide and seek."

We both laughed.