Sunday, April 14, 1912, 6:00 p.m.

The sun warmed Jack’s face as he gazed over the railing

at the calm, blue Atlantic. His mother and Mrs Widener

sat in deck chairs beside him, their legs wrapped in

green blankets.

After four days, Jack felt that he had finally explored

the whole ship. He had been in the pool every day and

had even tried out the Turkish bath. He had played squash.

He had eaten two desserts at every meal.

Mrs Thayer tucked her blanket around her knees.

“Brrr. It’s getting very cold.” Jack saw that Mr Ismay, the

president of the White Star Line, the company which

owned the Titanic, had joined them.

“As a matter of fact, the captain handed me a telegram

earlier,” Mr Ismay said. “We’re near ice.” He took a piece

of paper out of his pocket and waved it at the ladies.

“We should reach it this evening.”

“Ice in April?” Jack asked. “Does this mean we won’t

arrive in New York on schedule?”

“Not at all,” Mr Ismay said. “We’re making excellent

time. A record run yesterday. We’re going to start up

some new boilers this evening. In fact, I expect we’ll

reach New York early and surprise everyone.”