Page 2 of The Finder

Marietta. She recognized that town. It was about a twenty-five-minute ride. She knew it would be a large bus stop. She would be able to find another bus there. She tried to relax but didn’t dare close her eyes. She needed to stay alert at all times.

She passed the time by looking out the window and thinking through a plan. The ride went too fast and suddenly they were stopping in Marietta. Again, Emersyn tried to still the panic pushing her towards trying to be the first one off the bus. She waited her turn, all the while scanning the bus stop for any sign of her step-brother or his friends.

She stepped off the bus and looked for the next bus about to leave. It didn’t matter what direction it was headed in. She just needed to keep moving. She saw a bus just about to take off and ran that way. She ran alongside it and slipped in just before the doors closed.

“That was close,” the friendly driver said with a smile. Emersyn just nodded at her, paid the fee, and slipped into a seat near the front as this bus was almost full. It took a few minutes before her breathing had calmed again and she could make a plan. She looked up and saw they were headed west to Jacksonville, Alabama. It was about a two-hour drive. Emersyn nodded in satisfaction. She was glad she was crossing state lines. That would help as she tried to get as far away as quickly as possible from Alec and his friends. She had never been outside of Georgia before, so it would be interesting.

All she had was less than three hundred dollars in her pocket and the clothes on her back. She needed to get as far away from Atlanta as possible. She would just keep moving, changing buses until she ran out of money. After that, she would work on finding food, a place to stay, and some necessities like clothes. She took a deep breath and pushed those thoughts aside. She couldn’t allow herself to get comfortable, not yet. Right now, she needed to stay focused on the task at hand—survival.

Finally, early in the morning on the third day, Emersyn found herself in some town in the middle of nowhere in Minnesota with only enough money for one last fare. She stood in front of a map, trying to get her exhausted mind to focus. She was so tired and hungry she was on the verge of collapsing. She had bought herself a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and a water bottle sometime yesterday from a rest stop, but it hadn’t been nearly enough. At some point, her stomach had stopped growling. She wondered if that was a bad sign.

Now as she stared at the large map on the wall, a feeling of helplessness swept over her. She didn’t have a clue where to go. Where did you settle when you were on the run? She was just about to turn away in frustration when she noticed a flyer hanging off the board at the bottom of the map. She looked at it and saw it was an advertisement for Hopewell, WI. Any place that had the wordhopein it had to be a good place. She could use some hope about now. She saw pictures of the Chequamegon National Forest and the beauty of the surrounding area. Something called to her and before she knew it, she was on a bus headed towards Hopewell.

Emersyn sat with just nine dollars and sixty-two cents in her pocket, but a feeling of rightness settled over her. Something was drawing her to this place. She had never felt that way before. She couldn’t wait to get there and experience this new place. When the bus finally pulled into Hopewell, Emersyn made herself wait patiently until everyone got off ahead of her before making her way to the front of the bus. She stepped down the steps. When her feet hit the pavement, she couldn’t hold back the tear that escaped as a feeling she never thought she would feel again washed over her—freedom.

Chapter 3

Emersyn started walking. She shivered as she felt the chill in the air. Back in Georgia, it was still warm; but not here. It was only October, but apparently it got cold early in Wisconsin. She looked around cautiously, taking everything in. Even though she had gotten away, she couldn’t shake the fear that surrounded her. She kept waiting for her step-brother to pop out somewhere and grab her.

It was around ten in the morning. She hadn’t had a shower in three days, hadn’t changed her clothes in just as long, and she was starving. She knew she needed to rectify that soon. She passed a few restaurants and the aromas wafting from them were enough to make her subconsciously move in their direction. She caught herself and refocused.

With less than ten dollars left, she needed to figure out a way to make money quickly before she spent any more. She walked along, enjoying the sights. A sign in one of the windows caught her attention.Help Wanted.She looked up and saw it was a coffee shop. She checked to see that it was open; then pushed open the door and walked inside.

A bell jingled on the door on her way in. The smell of coffee hit her hard, and her stomach rumbled. She pushed aside thoughts of her stomach and moved towards the counter.

“Hi, welcome to Sip and Drip, I’ll be with you in a moment,” a woman wiping a small table down near the back of the store called out. When she finished, she threw the towel over her shoulder and went behind the serving counter. “Now then, what can I get for you this morning?” she asked kindly.

“Oh, um, I..” Emersyn looked behind her at the window. “I saw the sign in the window...” she said as her voice trailed off.

“Oh, yes, the help wanted sign. Are you here to apply, dear?” the kind woman asked. Emersyn nodded. “Well, that just made my day. Why don’t we sit and chat for a minute before anybody else comes in?” She came around the corner and motioned to a table. Emersyn pulled out a chair and sat down across from her, painfully aware of her state of upkeep.

“All right,” the woman said. She put a piece of paper and a pen down in front of her and folded her hands. “Tell me about yourself,” she said with a smile.

Emersyn looked at her in surprise. She wasn’t sure what the lady was going to ask her, but it wasn’t that. Her mind scrambled for a moment trying to come up with what was safe to say. “Um, I’m eighteen.” She paused for a moment. “I’m looking for a job to support myself.” She faltered after that, not knowing what else to say.

The woman smiled graciously at her. “What’s your name, dear?”

“Em-Emma,” she said quickly, correcting herself. It was the first thing that came to mind. She didn’t want to use her own name. She needed to do everything she could to stay off people’s radar, so if Alec or his friends ever came looking for her, nobody would think of her. The woman wrote her name down on the form and paused, waiting. “Harris,” Emma blurted out. She cringed inwardly. She should have thought this through ahead of time. She’d had long enough on her trip here. At leastHarriswas a little better thanSmith.Now she just had to remember it.Emma Harris.

“My name is Helen,” the woman said, putting out her hand to Emersyn. Emersyn shook it. “I’m the owner of this coffee shop. Why do you want to work here?” Helen asked kindly.

Emersyn sat taller in her chair. “I love coffee, and I love early mornings. I’m a hard worker and know how to follow directions.”

Helen smiled at her. “Well, if you love coffee and early mornings, you’re hired.”

Emersyn stared at her. “Really?”

Helen laughed. “Emma, do you know how hard it is to get young people to be at the shop at five am every morning?”

Emersyn smiled, feeling herself relaxing a little. That is, until Helen continued.

“I just need a few things from you like your social security, address, contacts for reference, and a few other things.” She slid the paperwork in front of Emersyn and stood up.

Emersyn panicked. She stared at the form in front of her.Emma Harris.She stared at the name. It was now her name. From now on, she was Emma, not Emersyn. It was time to start thinking that way. Now she just had to figure out how to land this job without giving out any of her personal information. She took a deep breath and stood up.

“Uh, Helen?” she called.

Helen turned away from cleaning the counter holding several coffee machines. “Yes, dear.”

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