Chapter 10

The waitress returned and filled up the trio's coffee cups as they settled in and began to chat.

'Emily and I were friends and roommates for five years' Katherine began 'We taught together at the school and we lived over on Moodie Drive not far from here'

'We did have the pleasure of meeting Miss Cummings in apartment 507' said Neal smiling wryly

'Ah, Miss Cummings or as we liked to call her 'Miss Mind your own business' Katherine said, smiling

'Yeah, we kind of got that vibe' added Peter 'On the plus side, she did remember an awful lot about the years you spent there with Emily. And she did help lead us to you.'

'Well, I'm not surprised. Emily had been teaching at Roosevelt for a few years when I came. I had just started teaching at the school and my marriage was breaking up and so we decided to share a place – you know, teacher's salary and all'

Neal listened intently as the woman spoke. She had a candour and openness he admired and he felt confident that she could shed some light on the ten years Emily had spent in Tucson.

'Emily and I became really close. We shared a lot about our lives and our pasts. I had a really happy childhood; I was an only child and my parents doted on me. My father passed away several years ago but I'm still really close to my mom who lives here in the city. Emily envied the closeness I'd had with my parents and she spoke about her family life with sadness and bitterness. She told me how she'd had a really difficult relationship with her parents. The only good thing about her life growing up was her relationship with her little sister'

Neal thought back to the many conversations he'd had with Sara about her childhood. Her parents had been demanding and authoritarian and her dad in particular had been emotionally distant and cold. When they had first gotten together, Sara had been standoffish and aloof herself and over time, she had explained to Neal that she had been raised that way – to be detached and remote and not to show her emotions. Where Sara had seemingly integrated those traits and continued to fight them on a daily basis, Emily had rejected them, choosing instead to run away. Sara had always credited Neal with bringing out her caring, nurturing side and she was thankful he had been able to see past her cold exterior to the compassionate person that was underneath.

'Her father, especially, was cold and domineering and Emily used to tell me how insensitive he was. She, on the other hand was a warm and loving person and she couldn't live in an environment like that. She told me how, at sixteen, she couldn't take it anymore and decided to leave without a trace so she could get away from home'

Peter interjected: 'We found out that she had a rough time when she first moved away'

'Yes' said Katherine 'She took a one way bus ticket across the country and ended up in LA without a penny. Emily wasn't very proud of her time there. She fell in with a bad crowd and worked as a dancer in a bar'

'We visited that bar' said Neal quietly 'and we met a really nice man who remembered her. He was able to tell us about her time there'

'Gus?' asked Katherine

'Yes, Gus' said Neal, surprised

'She used to talk about him. He had kept her sane while she worked at the bar. He would look out for her and make sure she was safe. Emily said he had tried to keep her from falling into drugs but the attraction was just too much for her. She needed to have an escape and she began using and dating this drug dealer – I forget his name...'

'Paul Baxter' said Peter, remembering their conversation with Gus

'That's it' continued Katherine 'And she ended up moving to San Diego with him. He abused her both physically and mentally and after a while, she got away from him with some help from the landlady of the place they lived in'

'Mrs. Moore' said Neal

'Yeah... you guys have really done your homework' added Katherine

'She's the one who pointed us in this direction' said Neal 'She told us Emily had gotten clean and had decided to go back to school'

'Well, Emily was very thankful for Mrs. Moore and her support. If it hadn't been for her, Emily used to say she would have finished up dead at thirty'

Neal nodded in agreement.

'So, Emily came here and went to Arizona State and got her teaching degree. We met up a few years later when I came to Roosevelt. She'd already been here a few years, teaching. We liked each other immediately. I was still with my husband but within a year, our marriage fell apart and Emily and I decided to take a place together'

The memories were obviously happy ones and Neal could see a smile creeping into Katherine's eyes as she spoke.

'Did she ever talk about Sara?' he asked

'All the time' responded Katherine 'She loved her sister so much and she was afraid that Sara had become cold and heartless like their parents. She tried to find out where Sara was. She even had me call the house once and talk to her mother saying I was a friend of Sara's and asking for her. Her mom told me that Sara had moved away and was living in New York. That's all we were ever able to find out. Emily would wonder if her sister was safe and if she was happy. Every year on Sara's birthday, I would sit with her and hold her hand while she cried and told me another piece of the puzzle or another happy memory she had of her time with her sister. She told me how they had gone to England the summer just before she left. They had really bonded and she wondered if she should have taken Sara with her when she ran away. But she was only twelve and Emily was in no position to take care of her little sister'

Neal nodded thinking back to an almost identical conversation he'd had with Sara concerning their trip abroad that summer. Sara idolized Emily and after bonding during that trip, she couldn't understand how her sister had left her behind. The timing of her departure had been particularly difficult for Sara who had continued to blame herself, somehow, for Emily leaving.

'Emily tried to be happy and she did manage to some degree but there was always this sadness about her that never seemed to go away. Even when things were going well for her, there was always sorrow and despair in her eyes – a hole in her heart. She used to tell me that hole was Sara'

'Why didn't she try harder to find her?' Neal asked

'It was a push, pull thing, you know... She would make a few attempts to find out where she was but then she would worry that Sara would be disappointed in her or angry at her for leaving and that she wouldn't welcome her back. She knew Sara was distraught when she left and she was frankly embarrassed by what she had done since she'd left home. She just kept hoping that Sara was happy and safe somewhere. Is she?' she asked as she looked at Neal

'She is. Sara is an amazing woman. When I met her, more than twenty years ago, she was aloof and cold. She was working 70 hours a week at trying to forget her past and it took me a long time to break through and find the real woman inside. But it was worth it. She's still strong and determined but she's also funny, loving and caring and she's become a wonderful wife and mother'

'Mother?' echoed Katherine

'Yes, we have two children' Neal said proudly, reaching into his pocket to pull out some photographs 'Our daughter, Hope, is sixteen and she's an amazing artist and our son, Liam, is an accomplished athlete. He's eleven.'

Neal was beaming as he spoke 'And Sara works for an insurance company in art recovery. I'm very proud of her. She's the best thing that ever happened to me and we're very happy. We live in White Plains, in New York and we both work there and our kids go to school there'

Peter looked over at his friend 'Let's just say, Sara and Neal complement each other very well' he added, touching Neal gently on the shoulder

'So, what happened? Why did she leave Tucson?' asked Neal

'Ah, now that's the fairy tale part of the story' said Katherine 'A little girl came to Emily's class a few years back. Her name was Sophie. She was a lovely little girl who was being raised by her single dad. Over time, Emily and Mike began seeing each other and within a year, he asked her to move away with him. He was an engineer for the Canadian government and he had been working on a project here for ten years. The project ended and he had to return to Ottawa where he had been based. Emily packed up and followed him and they were married the following year.'

Neal smiled at the thought of Emily having a happy ending. Or was it an ending, he wondered. He thought back to one of Mozzie's favorite Orson Wells quotes: 'If you want a happy ending that depends, of course, on where you stop the story' and he knew that the story didn't end there.

'Did you keep in touch?' he asked, hopeful

'We did, for about five years. I visited her a couple of times in Ottawa. They had a beautiful home and she was very happy. Mike was a wonderful, loving husband and Emily helped raise Sophie who would be in her twenties by now'

'What can you tell us about this Mike?' asked Peter

'Mike Foster. He's Canadian – born and raised. He worked as a civil engineer for the Canadian government and travelled quite a bit. Actually, his ten years in Tucson was the longest he ever stayed anywhere. He was a little older that Emily and his wife had died when Sophie was five years old. By the time he met Emily, he was coming out of his grief and ready for a new relationship. Sparks flew almost immediately between them and Emily felt she was the luckiest woman in the world'

'I was at their wedding twelve years ago, in Ottawa. Emily was so happy. She enjoyed living there, liked the pace. She rediscovered the arts and began painting in her spare time. She didn't get a job though, not while I was in touch with her'

Neal smiled at the thought that Emily shared a love of the arts, like her sister, and her niece.

'When was the last time you heard from her?' asked Peter

'Hum... maybe seven, eight years ago. Then, a couple of years back, I got nostalgic and tried to contact her again at the number I had but they had moved away. Mike had been sent to Europe somewhere but I have no idea where so I let it go.'

Katherine's eyes filled with tears at the memory of her friend.

'You know, I hadn't thought of Emily in a couple of years. I would love to get in touch with her. Will you let me know if you find her?'

'Of course' said Neal, taking out a piece of paper and pen for Katherine to write on

'Thank you, Ms. Baker' said Peter finally, you've helped a lot. 'We're going to continue looking and hopefully, we'll find her and bring her home to her sister'

Neal stood to say goodbye and instinctively reached out and hugged Katherine gently as she responded in kind.

'Good luck' she said, before leaving 'I really hope you find her'

TBC