I am having a little difficulty splitting up my chapters, but this chapter is a bit longer.

Not my characters, just playing. Thanks

Chapter 3

She cleared a spot on the floor in front of the French doors that lead out onto the veranda. Pulling a sleeping bag from her pack, Emma laid it out, climbed in, and gazed at the partially hidden moon. She let her thoughts go and closed her eyes.

Emma woke to the suns warm rays streaking across her face. She pulled herself out of her bag and rolled it up. Then stumbled to the bathroom and turned the faucet on. A small trickle of brown sludge gurgled out.

"Damn." She mumbled disappointingly. Emma knew the estate operated off of it's own well. She didn't think having water would have been a problem, since there was no utility company to turn it on and off. She then started thinking and panicking, "What if the well has dried up?"

"Shit!" Emma turned off the water and made her way to the kitchen. She pulled a dense cobweb from the handle of the sink and lifted the lever. A spider crawled out of the spigot and dropped into the sink. A slow gurgle of black sludge tumbled out after the spider. Emma left the lever on, hoping clear water would spill from the faucet, while she looked through a drawer for a phone book.

She pulled the ratty phone book from the drawer, plopping it onto the dusty counter. Emma flipped through looking for a local handy man. She found the number of a local man, she vaguely remembered her aunt using. She pulled out her cell, punching the number in and waited. She waited for a minute more before realizing, like everything else, her phone wasn't working.

"Damn, okay, I guess I'm going into town."

Emma changed her clothes and walked down to her car. The day did not seem as bleak as the night. The sun was shining and the temperature was in the low sixties. The strange figures that had been lurking around the corner during the night, was new budding trees and bushes.

On the way into town, Emma noticed the once gravel road that led into town from the estate was now paved. The twenty miles into town used to be open fields, that would be full of crops or horses, were now littered with little communities and housing developments. There was even a traffic light as she drove into town.

Emma was relieved that the little diner was still in operation. She pulled into a parking spot and walked in. Two elderly men sat sipping coffee, reading the paper, and of course staring at her over the top. Emma asked the waitress at the counter for a phone book. The older woman was pushing into her late seventies, took a minute taking Emma in, before replying.

"Who you looking for, Honey?" She asked concerned.

"I need to get my phone turned on and some work done on my place." Emma said assertively.

"You new to town?" She inquired.

"Got in last night. I'm staying at my Aunt's, down on Spruce street." Emma said, remembering this is a small town.

The waitresses demeanor went from cautiousness to complete surrender when she placed the woman's face as the teenager and child she once knew.

"Oh, my goodness, you are Lil' Emma Swan." She stated almost as if telling Emma who she is. She came around the counter. "Let me see you girl. All grown up, and beautiful." The waitress made her spin in place. "I'm so sorry about Ingrid."

The waitress could tell Emma was having trouble remembering and placing her name.

"I'm Eugenia Lucas, Honey."

The name triggered Emma's memory and a blast of memories flooded into Emma's body. "I remember, you're Regina's grandmother."

"Yes, I am. How are you doing dear?" She asked concerned for the young lady and her loss.

"Well, I would be better if I could get things working in the house. I need a reliable contractor who can work on a budget and fast." Emma said a little exasperated.

"You know, I think this is your lucky day. I have the number to a very reliable contractor. She took over her father's business after his heart attack last year, and you already know her. Two birds and one stone." She smiled. "I'll get you her number." Mrs. Lucas scurried behind the counter to scribble the number down.

"Here dear, and the phone is right over there." She pointed to the end of the counter.

"Thank You, Mrs. Lucas." Emma said taking the number and heading towards the phone.

"Emma, call me Granny, you may be a grown now, but I am still the old woman who helped Ingrid with you and your siblings." She winked at Emma, and picked up a coffee pot, to start making the rounds, topping off customer's cups.

Emma dialed the number and a cheerful woman answered the phone.

"Henry's Handy Service."

"Um, I need some work done on a house. It's kind of an emergency." Emma said feeling her confidence waiver.

"What's the address?" The woman asked.

"781 Storybrooke Street."

There was silence on the line.

"Who is this?" Regina asked, irritated, that someone was prank calling her.

"Emma Swan. I was put in charge of my Aunt Ingrid's estate." Any confidence was now lost as she spoke.

"Emma? Is that really you?" Regina paused and remembered this was a business. "Well, it's about time you got here to do something with that poor house. It looks like I have a full day ahead." Regina said looking at her clipboard of orders, "But I'll tell you what, if you have time, I could stop by after six?"

"I'll take whatever time you have." Emma said, feeling her face blush. "I mean anytime you can spare will be much appreciated."

Emma hung the phone up and her stomach reminded her that her last meal had been yesterday before the plane ride. Emma sat down at a booth and looked the menu over. It hadn't changed much since she was a kid.

Aunt Ingrid would bring the kids down every Sunday morning for breakfast, before going to, "church". Ingrid was a very spiritual person. She didn't believe in having your butt stuck on a bench, inside a building, no matter how beautiful it was.

She would say, "If people want to worship God, then get out and enjoy God's land and love."

When they finished there breakfast they would pile into Ingrid's van and spend the day at the small lake on Ingrid's property.

"This is worshiping God." She would say looking up at the clouds taking in the sun,"Take a deep breath and fill your lungs with God's love."

"What can I get you?" A young woman in her early twenties with red streaks in her hair asks, breaking Emma out of the memory.

"I'll have a short stack, a scrambled egg, and a cup of coffee. Thanks." Emma said handing her the menu.

Emma pulled her phone from her pocket to check the signal strength. She saw that she had four missed calls and four waiting messages. The first was from her brother, August, asking about the house and three from her office at work.

Emma took the time to return the calls to work and update her boss on her progress. Her boss was anything, but thrilled, when she informed him of her plans to take a leave of absence. Sidney Glass, the editor-in-chief, was a hard man to bargain with.

Emma worked at a small publishing house as an editor. She had a handful of clients who had a lot of promise and were due to release sequels. Sidney had made valid points as to why now was not a good time, but he finally signed off, with some conditions.

Emma agreed to work remotely from the house once she had the house put, "on grid," with the necessities of a home office. She was having half her office shipped in two weeks. Emma had a hard time leaving her laptop behind, with her assistant.

She never took vacation, if she could help it. She rarely took a sick day, and most days you could find her locked in her office, sitting in her pj's editing and emailing till late in the night. Her mantra is to keep her mind busy at all times.