Chapter 11

CHAPTER 11 Unsinkable. Unsinkable. George whispered those words like a prayer, over and over in his mind. He thought of Mr. Andrews, of how sure he was of this ship. But the longer he stared at that water, that foaming green water, rising higher every second, the more certain he became: The Titanic was in trouble. "We must go up," Marco said to Aunt Daisy. "We find a way."

But she shook her head, holding up Phoebe's bright blue coat and her life jacket. "My niece, Phoebe," Aunt Daisy said. "She's down here…." George could see she was fighting back tears. George had never seen her look so sad and helpless, not even when Uncle Cliff died. "She came down here looking for me," George said. "We can't find her." Marco's amber eyes became very intent. "An idea," he said. He knelt down and spoke to Enzo in Italian. The boy smiled and nodded. Then Marco hoisted the little boy up onto his shoulders. Enzo took a huge breath and screamed, "Phoebe! "PHOEBE!" People stopped talking and stared up at the boy with the foghorn voice. "Phoebe! "PHOEBE!" As a hush fell over the crowd, George heard a faint voice.

"I'm here! I'm here!" The crowd parted, and Phoebe appeared, her spectacles crooked, her face pale. She staggered forward and threw her arms around George, burying her face in his chest. "I found you," she whispered. George didn't bother arguing over who did the finding. And anyway, his words were stuck in his throat. So he just held her tight. It took some time for Phoebe to calm down enough to tell her story: that yes, she had been looking for George and heading for the baggage hold, that she got caught in the crowd of people rushing toward the back of the ship. "It was like a stampede," she said. As Phoebe talked, Aunt Daisy helped her into her coat and life jacket. Enzo held Phoebe's hand, like they were old friends. And the strange thing was that it felt that way, like they'd known Marco and Enzo forever. Maybe that's what happened when you got trapped in a flooding ship together. George started to feel calmer with Phoebe close to him.

But then came a deep booming sound, a kind of groaning that echoed up all around them. At first George thought maybe the engines had started up again. But no, this wasn't the sound of the Titanic's mighty engines. The entire ship catapulted forward. People fell, toppling like dominoes. George was thrown into the wall. Screams and shouts echoed through the hallway. He managed to grab Enzo by the life jacket as he went sailing by him. Enzo just giggled as he fell into George's lap. To him this was a fun game. George hoped he never figured out that it wasn't. "What was that?" Phoebe gasped, digging her fingers into George's arms. Nobody answered. But they all knew. The Titanic was sinking. "We will go up," Marco said. "How?" Aunt Daisy said. Phoebe grabbed George's hand. "You, Georgie," she said. "What?" George said.

"Phoebe's right," Aunt Daisy said. "You know the ship better than anyone." She turned to Marco. "He's explored every inch." George couldn't believe it. They were counting on him? But what if he made a mistake? What if they all got lost? "You can do it," Phoebe whispered. And so George closed his eyes, picturing Mr. Andrews's blueprints in his mind. And he remembered: the escape ladders. He remembered what Mr. Andrews had told him: The ladders are in the stokers' quarters, and they run up three decks. He pointed toward the front of the ship. "This way," he said.