The Time-Traveling Fashionista (9 page)

“Yes, don’t you remember? Lady Duff-Gordon and Sir Cosmo are both on board. They are traveling to New York to open her first
American Lucile shop,” Anna answered patiently, as though she was speaking to a slow five-year-old.

To her surprise, the dress fit Louise perfectly. It was like it
was custom-made especially for her. “That is so cool,” she breathed, excited.

“Would you like me to warm the dress up for you?” Anna asked as she extended her arm, confused.

“No, I just meant this is really nice. This will be classic.” Louise carefully chose her words. “We should take care of this
one.” She ran her hands reverently over the delicate, sheer fabric. She had just seen a mesmerizing retrospective exhibit
of Lucile designs at the Met Costume Institute in New York City. Each dress was so uniquely and beautifully crafted and painstakingly
sewn, Louise thought she could still feel the love and emotion that went into each piece, even after all of those years.

“Yes, ma’am.” Anna nodded, giving Louise a curious look and handing her a matching purple silk shawl. “You should take a wrap
as well; the air is quite brisk.”

Louise was spritzed with some musky French perfume, powdered, and adjusted and, eventually, she was ready to go. She didn’t
have to lift a finger; it was like being sent through a car wash.

Anna and Louise stepped out into the carpeted hallway. It looked like they were staying in a fancy hotel. The ivory-colored
inlaid walls were lined with shiny brass light fixtures and sconces.

“Should we buy a ticket for the swimming pool?” Anna asked excitedly.

After experiencing exactly how unbelievably long it took for Miss Baxter to get dressed, Louise wasn’t quite as psyched about
jumping into a pool. For the first time in her life, she had turned into one of those girls who didn’t want to get her hair
wet.

“How about a stroll on the upper deck instead?” Anna suggested quickly, sensing Louise’s lack of enthusiasm.

“Perfect,” Louise piped up, relieved.

Anna led her down the hall to an old-fashioned elevator
that was operated by a mustached man in a White Star uniform. “Where to, ladies?” he asked jovially.

“The upper deck, please,” Louise replied confidently, feeling fancy and sophisticated in her new dress.

They had elevators one hundred years ago? This boat was more amazing than any modern cruise ship she had ever known! He closed
the wrought-iron gate and manually started the lift. “Going up.”

At this time of day, the ship’s decks were crowded with passengers taking leisurely walks and enjoying the sunlight. Children
in woolen knickers and newsboy caps were running races up and down the deck and spinning tops on the wooden floorboards. Uniformed
men were walking French poodles on long leashes. Women were strolling in small groups laughing and gossiping. She could get
used to a life of leisure!

Looking around, Louise noticed that everyone seemed to be wearing hats. Men wore bowler hats or fancier silk top hats. Women
wore much more elaborate hats with wide brims and long narrow plumes sticking out of them. Louise thought they looked really
cool and decided she was going to try and bring back the fashion when she returned to school.

They passed a group of children laughing and playing a ring toss game.

“It must be past noon,” Anna said as she squinted up at the direct angle the sun was shining down on them. Glancing
down at her bare wrist, Louise realized she never wore a watch because she always relied on her cell phone for the time. She
was pretty clueless without it. Since her parents were so concerned about radiation, that was about all her phone was good
for: a clock. She wondered where her cell was now—still in the pocket of her jean jacket on the hardwood floor of the vintage
sale?

“Miss Baxter, I don’t see any other maids on the A Deck. People may think it’s a little odd for us to be walking together
like this.”

“Really?” Louise asked, surprised that anyone would care. It seemed weird, since it felt like she was just hanging out with
her friend.

“Miss Baxter! How lovely to see you out and about on this fine day,” an unfamiliar female voice called to her.

Louise slowly raised her head. She had forgotten that people who she had never seen in her life would recognize her and think
she knew them. A young woman, wearing a sea foam green dress that flowed gracefully over her very pregnant belly and accessorized
with a blinding amount of diamonds and sapphires, was waving at them. She was beautiful, with hazel eyes and a perfectly dainty
nose and cherub pout. She couldn’t have been more than eighteen years old.

“Who is that woman?” Louise asked Anna under her breath.

“Madeleine Astor,” Anna whispered.

“Mrs. Astor,” Louise said in her most grown-up voice. “How do you do?”

“Just fine, thank you. This sea air does wonders for the spirit, don’t you find?” Mrs. Astor replied, without showing any
inclination that she was having a conversation with a twelve-year-old girl. Her green-and-purple-feathered hat made her look
like a proud peacock.

“Yes, it’s simply mahvelous,” Louise sang in a saccharine-sweet tone, trying to remember Anna’s lesson. She felt as though
they were both actors in a play for which she didn’t know the lines. She had a feeling that if she didn’t end this conversation
soon, she would be discovered as a phony. Her heart started racing.

“I’m sorry we can’t chat, but Anna and I must run,” Louise said. “We have an appointment with a mechanical horse, I believe.”

Anna giggled, and Louise bit her bottom lip so she wouldn’t laugh.

“Oh, I see. Do you have a session with that darling English chap, Mr. McCawley?” Mrs. Astor asked, eyeing Louise’s, or rather
Miss Baxter’s, slim figure. “Although I don’t see why you need to be exercising at all. You’ll simply disappear. I see you
are bringing your help with you?”

“I find exercising to be such a bore.” Louise forced a dra
matic yawn. “But
my friend
Anna and I do love a good horseback ride, don’t you, Mrs. Astor?”

“I suppose,” she replied, giving them both a strange look.

“Ta-ta for now,” Louise called over her shoulder as she and Anna hastily continued down the deck, hardly able to suppress
their giggles. But before they had walked more than a few feet, Louise doubled over in pain, clutching her stomach. She suddenly
felt as if someone were wringing out her intestines like a wet towel.

“I’m going to be sick,” she moaned and ran over to the side of the boat. Then she promptly threw up. Anna held her hair back
from her face and shielded her from the curious yet averted glances of the other passengers.

Sweating and weak, Louise lowered herself gingerly to the deck floor. She started crying; she couldn’t help it. Ever since
she was a little girl, she cried every time she got sick. Suddenly she felt like she was five years old again. She wanted
her mother.

Anna sat herself down on the floor next to Louise. “The first time I was on a boat I got really seasick, too. It’s just awful.”

“Yes,” Louise agreed. “That must be it. Seasickness…” But for some reason, she wasn’t completely convinced. Echoes of the
stabbing pain she had felt in her stomach seconds ago lingered on. It reminded her of the time she had gotten food
poisoning on vacation with Brooke’s family. At that moment, Louise wished that she were back in her own house curled up on
the couch watching an old black-and-white movie.

Anna took a neatly folded handkerchief out of her pocket and handed it to Louise so she could wipe her mouth. “At least it’s
not windy,” she added with a chuckle. Despite her miserable state, Louise laughed, imagining what a mess she would be in right
now if the wind had not been blowing in her favor.

They looked at each other and started laughing.

The clacking of shoes against the hard wooden planks gave the girls a start. They stifled their giggles and looked up as two
passengers strolled by, arms linked, out for a romantic stroll. A fair-haired lady carrying a parasol glanced down as she
passed, giving Louise and Anna a confused and snooty look.

The girls got up, and Anna led them toward the gymnasium. A little seasickness was not going to stop Louise from enjoying
her fabulous day as this old-fashioned, glamorous actress.

“Wow, what a cool room,” Louise said while checking out the old-fashioned exercise bikes, rowing machines, and two strange
contraptions that looked a lot like a camel and a horse. The floor was tiled white with black diamonds, and the oak wood paneling
seemed more suited for a library than a gym. A brown leather punching bag was suspended from one of the exposed wooden ceiling
beams in the center of the room.

“What on earth is this for?” Louise asked, pointing to the camel-like machine, perplexed.

“Exercise, of course.” Anna gave Louise a look like she was from Mars.

“Weird,” Louise remarked, realizing that Anna would probably have the same reaction if she came to the Fairview Sports Club
and saw an elliptical trainer or a Pilates machine for the first time.

“Good morning, ladies,” a thick Cockney accent called out from behind one of the camels.

The girls jumped, startled, having thought they were alone.

A sturdy, muscular little man emerged from behind the mechanical camel’s hind legs and walked over to Louise and Anna with
an outstretched hand.

He was wearing a white polo shirt, white cotton shorts, and white sneakers, which offset his deep tan complexion. He had a
toothbrush mustache like Charlie Chaplin, Louise’s favorite comic actor from the silent film era.

“I’m T. W. McCawley,” he said while shaking both of their hands vigorously.

“I’m Lou… I mean, I’m Miss Baxter.” Louise quickly corrected herself mid sentence. “And this is Anna, my friend.” Anna smiled
at her new title.

“Jolly-o. Are you ready for some exercise? It’s been a slow morning; lazy chaps on this ship,” T. W. said, gesturing to the
empty gymnasium. “Excuse my frankness, but it’s a shame to see this modern equipment sit idle.”

Louise and Anna nodded mutely in agreement.

“Well, you aren’t exactly dressed for exercise,” he observed, looking them over in their long dresses. “But I have yet to
meet a dame who was. I suppose the rowing machine is out. And the swimming pool.”