Page 3 of The Finder

“I-I can’t fill this out. I really want this job, but I just can’t. If you can’t hire me because of that, I totally understand,” Emma said in a soft voice.

Helen eyed her. Emma saw the wisdom in her gaze. She felt herself getting assessed and knew Helen saw more than Emma wanted her to see. “Are you in trouble, Emma?” Helen asked not unkindly. Emma paused. She wasn’t sure how to answer that.

“I haven’t done anything illegal,” Emma said quietly. Emma didn’t count the money she had stolen. It was a down payment of all the money she was owed from her father’s passing that she had never seen a penny of.

Helen stared at her a moment longer. “Okay,” she said. Emma wasn’t sure what that meant. Helen didn’t leave her wondering. “Be here tomorrow at five. We open at five thirty and close at five. My daughter comes in at two each day, so you can finish at two. You will get a one-hour break when it’s not busy. I can’t afford to pay you much. It’s just minimum wage,” Helen apologized.

Emma found her voice and recovered from her surprise. “That’s perfect. Thank you so much.” The door opened and a couple came inside.

“Welcome to Sip and Drip,” Helen called out cheerily. Turning to Emma, she said, “I’ll see you tomorrow morning at five sharp.”

Emma nodded. “Yes, ma’am.” She turned away with a smile and made her way to the front door. Stepping back out into the chill, she crossed her arms over her chest and smiled. A feeling of lightness came over her.I got a job,she thought to herself and smiled. It felt good, really good. Now she just needed to find a place to sleep, some clothes, and some food... and maybe a toothbrush, soap, shampoo, a pillow... Emma sighed. She pushed away those overwhelming thoughts before they became debilitating. She just had to deal with one problem at a time. She wondered for a moment if she should go back inside and ask Helen if she knew of a homeless shelter nearby, but she didn’t want to do anything to jeopardize her new position. She wasn’t sure if Helen would want to employ her if she knew she was homeless. No, she would just have to figure it out on her own.

She walked down the street a little way, admiring the shops. Her steps started to slow, weariness dragging her down. She was starting to feel every minute of the last three days of traveling. She needed to find a place to crash. Becoming desperate, she approached two ladies who were walking towards her on the sidewalk. “Uh, excuse me,” Emma said quietly. Her face grew warm as she asked, “Do you know if there is a homeless shelter somewhere nearby?” she rushed through her question.

Thankfully, the ladies didn’t turn away in disgust. “I’m sure there is, sweetie, but I just don’t know,” the one lady said as she looked apologetically at Emma and then at her friend. Her friend shook her head. Emma thanked them both and moved away from them. She walked a little further, trying to figure out what to do when she spied a library. She breathed out a breath of thanks and walked that way. Somebody there would surely point her in the right direction.

Ten minutes later, Emma exited the library with a sense of hope. She looked down at the flier in her hand.Housing for women and children. Showers, meals, and clothing provided.She looked up to make sure she was heading in the right direction before stopping to look down again.We understand that all of us come on hard times. Hope House exists to be a soft place to land until you can get your feet under you again. All services are free.Emma looked up from the paper. She only hoped this place was as good as it sounded. She'd never been to a homeless shelter before. She had no idea what to expect.

Twenty minutes later, she stood in front of a large brick building. She saw the sign—Hope House. Suddenly, she was terrified. She wasn’t sure if she could go in there. Then she remembered she had a job to be at tomorrow morning at five am. She knew Helen was taking a chance on hiring her. She wasn’t going to let her down.Come on, Emersy—Emma,she corrected herself.You can do this.Pushing her shoulders back and standing tall, she made her way to the front door. Her smile faded when she tried the door and found it was locked. Fighting tears, she pulled back out the flier and scanned. On the back, there was a number to call. She dropped her shoulders in frustration. She had no phone. She had no idea what she was supposed to do now.

She turned away from the shelter and just stood there for a moment. She was so tired and hungry and frustrated. What was she supposed to do now?

“Oh, I’m so glad Renee sent some help. I was wondering how I was going to carry all this.” Emma turned towards the voice and blinked. In front of her stood one of the most beautiful women she had ever seen. Emma calculated her to be just a few years older than herself. She was tall and lean with gorgeous long, dark black hair and tan skin. She was probably a model, Emma decided. She was still talking. Emma looked behind her and didn’t see anybody. She was just about to walk away when the woman turned to her and shoved a large box into her arms. Emma grunted and nearly dropped the box. The woman had swung it around like it was super light, but it was anything but. She couldn’t see anything now. The lady was still talking a mile a minute. Emma just stayed quiet, completely overwhelmed. “All right. Let’s take the first trip, shall we?” the lady prattled on. She turned and walked towards the building. Emma was just about to call out to her that she wasn’t who the woman thought she was when it dawned on her that this was her way to get into the building and hopefully get help.

She followed the woman to the door. Miraculously, it opened. She heard voices and followed the woman into the building. Emma struggled to maneuver the box so she could see around it to walk. She followed the women in front of her down a long hall and into a large kitchen area. With a huff, the woman set down her load. Emma followed her and put the box on the counter. “Thank you so much for sending help. I couldn’t do it all on my own,” the woman gushed.

“I didn’t get a chance to send anybody,” she heard a new voice say. Emma turned around and saw two sets of eyes pinned on her.

“She’s not from Hope House?” the beautiful woman asked, still looking at Emma. The other woman shook her head, looking surprised.

Emma was just about ready to speak up and explain what happened when the woman laughed. “I’m so sorry. I thought you were from Hope House. I just wrangled you into carrying stuff. I’m so sorry.”

Emma offered a small smile. “It’s okay.”

“Well, I’m so sorry I took you away from whatever you were doing,” the beautiful woman said.

Emma shook her head. “It’s fine. I was just standing outside trying to figure out what to do next,” Emma said without really thinking about it. It got quiet for a moment and Emma wanted to kick herself.

The other woman stepped around the model and approached Emma. “Do you need a place to stay?” she asked kindly.

Emma didn’t know what to do but simply nod. The woman smiled. “It just so happens we have a bed open. One of the women just left this morning. If you head to my office, we can work through the paperwork and get you settled.” She motioned for Emma to follow her, and Emma nearly cried. She would have a place to spend the night. She just needed to fill out paperwork. Just as quickly, her happiness deflated. She couldn’t put down any personal information that would lead her step-brother or step-father to her.

“Well, I am going to take off,” the beautiful woman said. Turning to Emma, she put her hand out. “I’m Madison.”

Emma put her own hand out. “Emma,” she said.

“Emma, thank you so much for helping me. I’ll look forward to seeing you around,” she said before saying goodbye to the other woman and leaving.

Emma followed the woman to her office, hoping against hope that she could figure out a way to stay here.

Chapter 4

An hour later, Emma thanked Renee and closed the door behind her. She looked around the small room. She walked over to the bed that was empty and placed everything she had been given on the bed. The bed already had clean sheets, a pillow, and a blanket. Renee had given her a bag of toiletries and had taken her to the free room where she looked through used clothes. She had been able to find a few things to wear. Renee had found a brand-new pack of underwear in her size. It was pretty basic, but Emma was incredibly thankful. She sat down and a small sigh escaped her. She couldn’t believe it. It was all surreal. She couldn’t believe she had finally escaped, and now she had a job and a place to stay. Things were definilty looking up.

Renee, the head of Hope House, told her how fortunate she was. She said usually there was a waiting list to get in, but she had come at just the right time. They had several girls leave the home last week. They were successfully working jobs and able to find housing. So, Emma was able to get in. Apparently, a wealthy donor kept this place running. Emma glanced down at the paper in her hand. She read through the rules. It was a pretty strict place but nothing she couldn’t handle. She was just happy to have a place to sleep tonight and food to eat. Speaking of food, Emma stood up. Renee told her to ask the ladies working in the kitchen if there were any sack lunches left from this morning.

Emma walked out of her room and down the hallway to where Renee had pointed out the large kitchen and dining area. She walked in a saw a few ladies working. One of them looked up as Emma approached. “Uh, hi, Renee said I could maybe get a sack lunch,” Emma said, uncertain.

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