Thanks Again OUATgirl17! I plan on staying as true to Regina as I have with any other character! Just because I'm not a fan I respect that she's got a pretty big following and has grown over the seasons. I just, uh Season 4 Regina...she deserves so much better than how they've been writing her recently. Anyway, I'm trying to keep things as cannon as possible, but some things with have to change (obviously) but my plan is in no way to change the integrity of a character! So here's Chapter 46 Everyone!
Leroy was sitting at the counter of Granny's Diner when Tom Clark and his friend Walter entered the diner.
"Uh, Excuse me, Leroy," Clark began weakly. "Uh, do you mind scooting over a seat so Walter and I could sit together?"
"If I wanted to sit there, I wouldn't sat there." Leroy snapped. "You want this seat? Trying dragging your sorry asses out of bed a little earlier."
"You're a real ray of sunshine as..." Tom started to say before a sneeze erupted from his nose.
"Congrats." Leroy groaned. "I just lost my appetite. Seat's all yours." He jumped down from his seat at the counter and started to exit the diner when Mary Margaret entered.
"Excuse me," Mary Margaret said sweetly. "Can I have everyone's attention, please?" The diner grew silent and the diner's occupants turned to look at her. "I'm sorry to interrupt your morning, but I just wanted to remind everyone that a very special occasion is upon us, Miner's Day! As Always, the nuns of Storybrooke are hoping that everyone will get involved and well help sell their candles. All we need are a few energetic volunteers. So who wants to join me?" The diner's occupants pretended as if the school teacher had never spoken. Instead they returned to what they'd been doing, ignoring her completely. Leroy continued on his way out the door when Mary Margaret smiled down at him.
"Leroy, you want to volunteer?" She said hopefully.
"I want to leave sister, you're blocking the door!" He growled up at her.
"Of course," Mary Margaret mumbled, stepping aside. "Uh you know, If you wanted to help, it could really be a..."
"Oh yeah, right." Leroy snorted. "Quite a team we'd make, town harlot," He pointed at Mary Margaret before pointing at himself. "Town drunk. The only person in this town that people like less than me, is you! If you're coming to me, you're screwed." Leroy pushed passed the school teacher and exited the diner. Mary Margaret waited a few moments, but when no one would so much as look at her, she too duct out of the diner. Emma, who'd been having breakfast with Sarah and Henry, excused herself from the table and followed her friend.
"Hey, mind if I join you?" The blonde called out to her friend. Mary Margaret waited for Emma to catch up before resuming her pace. "So what the hell is Miner's Day? and why are you beating yourself up over it?"
"It's an annual holiday celebrating an old tradition." Mary Margaret explained. "The nuns used to make candles and trade them with the miners for coal."
"Coal? In Maine?" Emma repeated with disbelief. "If they were mining for Lobster I'd understand."
"Look, I don't know." Mary Margaret agreed the story didn't exactly make sense. "Now they use it as a fundraiser. It's an amazing party, everyone loves it."
"It doesn't seem like everyone loves it." Emma said, thinking back to the scene in the diner.
"It's not Miner's Day." Mary Margaret sighed. "It's me. Last week, I had ten volunteers. This week, they all dropped out."
"You think this is about what happened with David?" Emma frowned.
"Oh, I know it is! A few of them told me as much. I've never... been a home wrecker before." Emma tossed a sympathetic arm over her friend's shoulder.
"It's going to blow over. You made a mistake with David...It happens. But you don't have to do charity to try to win people's hearts back."
"I have to do something." Mary Margaret insisted. "And this is the best I can do. Love ruined my life." Emma was about to say something when her phone rang.
"Sheriff Swan..."Emma answered quickly. "Yeah, I'll be right down." She hung up the phone and took her arm off Mary Margaret's shoulder. "Well, apparently, duty calls. Hang in there. And if there's anything I can do to help, I will."
"I Know. Thank you." Mary Margaret smiled as the friends parted ways.
Emma arrived at the scene she'd been called to. With horror the Sheriff recognized the crashed vehicle as Kathryn Nolan's. She was just about to inspect the vehicle when Sidney Glass arrived.
"You mind if I take a look too?" He asked stepping out of his car, camera in hand.
"What for?" The Sheriff asked cautiously.
"Well, just because I got fired from The Mirror doesn't mean I can't do a little freelance reporting. So what do we got here?"
"Gym teacher found this thing on the side of the road abandoned." Emma swung her head in the direction of Kathryn's car. "Registered to Kathryn Nolan. She's MIA."
"Kathryn Nolan, whose husband very publicly left her?" Sidney clarified. "I mean the story writes itself. If I get a scoop like that, The Daily Mirror would have no choice but to take me back."
"Calm down tiger." Emma instructed firmly. "You don't work for Regina anymore. Kathryn got accepted to law school in Boston. Maybe after David dumped her, she decided to leave town. Car broke down, she hitched the rest of the way. That's what I would do if I was running away from my problems." Leaning into the car, Emma used a button to pop the trunk open.
"And uh, would you leave your clothes in the car?" Sidney questioned as he inspected the trunk's contents. Emma walked to the back of the trunk to see Kathryn's luggage was indeed still back there.
"Time to pull Kathryn's phone records and find out who she spoke to last."
"Yeah." Sidney agreed. "You know, if you go through the Sheriff's Department, it'll take you days to get those. I've got a contact over at the phone company who used to help me out when I was at the newspaper. I can get those in a couple hours."
"Great." Emma agreed. "Call me the minute you get your hands on them." David arrived on the scene, parking his truck just behind Kathryn's.
"There he is." Sidney pointed out suspiciously.
"Time to break the news." Emma sighed.
"You really think he doesn't know?" Sidney said curiously.
"I'm about to find out."
Mary Margaret sat in the office of the Volunteer Center reviewing some paperwork she needed for Miner's Day.
"Where can I sign up?" Leroy asked, standing in front of her. Mary Margaret didn't say anything. She'd had her feelings hurt enough for one day.
"What?" Leroy leaned on her desk. "I want to volunteer to sell candles."
"No you don't." Mary Margaret snarled. "You made that very clear this morning at Granny's."
"Well, maybe I saw the light...I mean maybe somebody showed me." He mumbled awkwardly. "What difference does it make sister? It looks like you can use all the help you can get!" Mary Margaret knew he was right.
"Okay, I need help manning the candle booth. No swearing, no drinking, and I get to call all the shots." She reluctantly handed Leroy a form to fill out. He took it and scribbled the correct information in all of the boxes. While he filled out the paperwork he overheard a conversation between Mother Superior and Sister Astrid.
"You ordered how many tanks of helium?" Mother Superior demanded.
"I-I meant to order twelve." Astrid stammered. Mother Superior checked the inventory sheet again before speaking.
"You ordered twelve dozen. Return them."
"There are no refunds." Astrid confessed.
"We needed that money! You knew that! You know how he feels about us. You fix this Sister Astrid, you fix it now!" With that, Mother Superior stormed out of the room. Leroy handed his completed form back to Mary Margaret and walked over to Astrid.
"Hey, what's the problem?" Leroy asked her.
"The problem is, I'm an idiot. We get a stipend each year for expenses and It's carefully budgeted except for the part where I spent it all. On helium. And now, we can't pay our rend."
"So you'll make it up when you get your next stipend." Leroy shrugged.
"Which isn't till next month." Astrid frowned. "The rent is due next week, and the only income we have are these candles."
"Well, so how many do you need to sell?"
"Like...a thousand." Astrid did the quick calculation in her head.
"How many did you sell last year?" He questioned.
"Forty-two." She told him.
"Ask your landlord to cut you a break." Leroy suggested.
"Mr. Gold doesn't offer much leeway."
"Mr. Gold is your landlord?" Astrid nodded.
"If we miss a payment, we're out. And then they'll reassign us, and we'll have to leave Storybrooke."
"No you won't." Leroy assured her. "You know why you only sold forty-two last year? Because you didn't have me. This year, we're going to sell all of them."
"She's just gone?" David asked Emma. The pair were still at the site of Kathryn's crashed car.
"You really don't know anything do you?" Emma had never suspected David to begin with, but it was nice to have confirmation.
"I-I don't understand. What happened?" David confessed. He looked pretty shaken up.
"I don't know. I'm trying to find out." The Sheriff said. "What can you tell me? When was the last time you spoke to Kathryn?"
"Yesterday afternoon." David answered.
"Okay look, I know there has been lies and deceit, and I'm really not judging you, but is that the truth?"
"Yes." David assured her. "I haven't spoken to her since we...I ended things. And I came home yesterday, and all her things were gone. I assumed she was going to Boston. That's what she told me. Am I a suspect or something?"
"No, I know when people are telling the truth David, and you are. She hasn't even been gone twenty four hours. She's not even technically missing. But if she is, trust me. I will find her."
