BRITANNIC

By Baltofriend Werewolf

On the night of November 12th 1916 a small boat went through the mist of the Southampton Harbor the water was illuminated up by lights of boats and houses, the boat that they were on was carry passengers to the Britannic. On Board were Balto and his mate a beautiful red and white husky named Jenna and their daughter Aleu as well as Dusty but also aboard was Balto’s best friend Brigham Werewolf. They all watched from the small windows infront of the small boat as a huge behemoth of a ship came out of the mist. The ship was called the Britannic it was the sister ship to the RMS Titanic. The lights of this behemoth lit the water all around it, it looked like a floating city.

Balto: “It looks like a city floating on the water lucky I was able to get a position as a trimmer” he turned and looked at his mate Jenna and could see the Britannic reflecting in her brown eyes. He turned and looked at his daughter Aleu sitting down on a bench reading completely oblivious to the ship now drawing ever closer to their little boat. He noticed she was reading a book called “The Titan” which was about a ship that sinks and has not enough lifeboats for everyone on board, this made Balto feel uneasy because he had lost his brother on the Titanic which had been in the same situation. He says “Aleu you best not take any of that to heart and think that will happen to us.” Aleu who had been reading raised her head at the sound of her name and she looked at her father and said “I will not papa don’t worry I will not take it to heart I swear” she raised her right paw.

Balto turned from her and looked at his best friend Brigham Werewolf who was a tall muscular fellow with bright yellow eyes and blue pupils. He had grey fur and a black underbelly with black ears with white tips, He looked up at Balto and said ”I wish that boy of yours Kodi could be here he is a strong lad” just then he saw sadness stir in Balto’s yellow eyes and said” don’t worry that boy of yours can take care of himself.” Balto turned from him and looked as the Britannic came ever closer then he remember back to a distant time. It was spring of 1914 the flowers were in blossom and as usual Balto was working in his blacksmith shop in Belfast Ireland. It was a job that he wasn’t peculiarly fond of but it paid the rent for their house and kept his family fed and a roof over their heads. Just then Kodi walked in Balto turned to his son and said “what do I owe this surprise to.” Kodi looked like he was upset and had something to say, Balto said “what is it” Kodi stopped infront of his father and said “you know there is a war going on now” he looked at his father and he replied “yes I do but I try not to take notice of it” then Kodi said “I am signing up” Balto was completely taken aback by this reply and said “I knew it would come to this I could see it in your eyes,” Kodi said “so I came here to tell you and to have your blessing on this.” Balto approached his son and says “you have my blessing and god be with you” with that Kodi walked out of his father’s shop and went to war. Months passed before Balto and his wife Jenna received a letter from him it read

Dear Mom and Dad,

I am having loads of fun in the army, life here is so exciting we are said that we would be shipped out to France to fight the Germans. I do hope everything is well at home. Don’t worry I can take care of myself I won’t let a German get their signs on me.

Love,

Kodi

Months passed and not another letter would be received by Balto or Jenna. They always read the newspaper reports as to where their son might be and listened to radio broadcast that said the casualty report, luckily Kodis name never was heard. Sometime later he was able to get a job on broad The Britannic and was also able to get Jenna and Aleu and Dusty jobs as nurses.

Balto looked at the Britannic it’s lights reflected in his eyes, the boat stopped next to the Britannic and Balto, Jenna, Aleu, Dusty, and Brigham Werewolf boarded the Britannic through a gangway. They entered into a room with whitewashed walls and dimly lit lights. They could feel the vibration of the ships engine somewhere below their feet. A crewman said “welcome to the HMS Britannic would all nurses follow me and all stokers follow the gentlemen to your right” Balto turned and saw a man who’s face was weathered and stained black. He turned back to Jenna, Aleu and Dusty and said “follow him and try not to get into trouble” he looked at Jenna who’s large brown eyes looked as though they were about to cry he said “don’t cry Jenna I am not leaving you I am just going to a different part of the ship” She looked at him and said “you will not be far away” Balto shook his head no and said “not far away at all” He watched as Jenna, Aleu, and Dusty turned and followed the crewman down a hall and they all disappeared from view.

Jenna, Aleu and Dusty were lead into a spacious room that was well lit and the floor was covered in beds with a red cross on the sheets. Around them were other nurses who were huddled into small groups talking to one another. In front of them was a stage that overlooked the beds on it were men in blue uniforms sitting and in front of them was a bearded man with brass buttons Jenna guessed he was the captain. The man cleared his throat and everyone immediately stopped talking and stood next to their bed in a neat row. The man opened his mouth and said “I am Captain Barrett and these gentlemen behind me are my officers, on this ship we will be taking care of wounded soldiers who have fought for England. On this ship I expect that everyone will do his or her duty as best as they can. I will impose a strict military order on this vessel so that nothing goes wrong.” After his speech everyone was showed their cabins Jenna’s and Aleu”s were on D Deck while Dusty’s was on C Deck. Their cabins were the same they were covered in ornate woodworking and luxurious beds.

Far below on G Deck Balto and Brigham were shown their cabins which had whitewashed walls and metal bunk beds Balto says” I call the top”he hopped onto the top bunk while Brigham climbed into the bottom one. Balto looked around the room and saw that there was a porcelain wash basin and one porthole which was in the wall which was basically the hull of the ship and behind him was a wardrobe dresser that had two white bulky lifejackets on top of it. Balto says” comfortable but not luxurious” he could already feel that the ship was on the move and could also hear the sound of Brigham’s snoring below him Balto closed his eyes and went to sleep.

The next day they awoke and got dressed into a flannel T-shirt with brown pants with suspenders on them. Balto and Brigham were led to the firemans mess and received their breakfast after they were done they went down a spiral metal staircase that led to the ships boilers. When they got there they immediately started to sweat the room was stuffy and other men were already at work their faces covered in coal and sweat, Balto and Brigham were lead to a place were they were given shovels and they were place side by side in front of these huge boilers that they must shovel coal into to make the ship work.

Far Above them Jenna and Aleu were lead back into the spacious room were they sat most of the day but Jenna decided to take a walk along the promenade deck. The sea breeze blew threw her fur causing it to whip in the breeze her bandanna did the same she stopped and looked out at the sea. A long time past before it was time for dinner after she and Aleu ate they went to look for Balto and Brigham. Balto and Brigham had be working in the hot stuffy boiler rooms and when their shift was over they climbed the spiral staircase to the firemens mess Balto went over to the water fountain and took a drink. After he was done he walked over to a porthole and saw his reflection his fur was black with coal dust he could barely recognize himself he turned from the porthole and sat down to eat. After he was finished he walked out of the mess and was confronted by Jenna and Aleu. They looked at him and both started to laugh he said “do I honestly look that funny” Jenna tried to suppress her laughter and said “yes you do” Balto looked at Aleu who was starting to cry because she was laughing to hard. Balto turned and saw Brigham who had just finished eating he said “to him we probably should go shower off and show Jenna and Aleu our cabins Brigham nodded and said” I am as black as night covered in this coal dust” Balto chuckled at this remark he turned back to Jenna and Aleu and said “when we are done showering we will show you our cabin” Jenna and Aleu both nodded. Balto and Brigham went and showered while Jenna and Aleu waited for them, Balto and Brigham came out of the showers and said” That’s much better” Brigham nodded they lead Jenna and Aleu to their cabin. When they entered Jenna remarked “Is this it you would figure that they would give you a better room then this” Aleu walked around in the room and said “It’s rather small” she and Jenna both looked at Balto and he said “yeah I don’t mind it much it’s comfortable and not that bad” he looked at Brigham and said “what do you think,” Brigham replied “I don’t mind it either it’s a lot better than where I used to live.”

Days passed and nothing happened Balto and Brigham working in the Boiler Rooms while Jenna, Aleu and Dusty kept track of