The Young Savior

Chapter 3

When Emma awoke the next day, it took her a couple seconds to remember where she was. Taking in her surroundings, she realized she was in the back of a car, her blanket strewn haphazardly across her. Slowly, her vision came into focus as well as the events from her previous day. Memories of the bus pulling away, walking for hours before finally finding the small town, and a brunette runaway had led her to her precarious situation. She needed to get in touch with August. Pulling out her phone, she also realized that she needed to charge it before that was going to happen. Judging by the rumbling in her stomach, food was going to have to come sooner rather than later as well.

Gathering up her things, Emma wormed her way to the front seat of the car. Looking at the windshield she could see bits of frost starting to melt. With her phone dead she wasn't quite sure what time it was but could tell it was, more than likely, still morning. She took a moment to make sure she had all her things, took a look around to make sure no one was walking by, and then opened the door. Climbing out of the bug, she pulled down her sweatshirt that had bunched up and made her way down the street. The little town was much busier than the night before. People were bustling around, starting their mornings and heading to work. It seemed her stomach was taking lead as she followed a wonderful smell all the way to a small little diner further up the street. It seemed like a cozy place, nothing too special to an outsider, but more than likely everyone in town's favorite.

When she walked in, she noticed people scattered about, some sitting at tables with other, some by themselves, and others at the counter bar. A young woman in some rather revealing clothes was arguing with an older woman, probably Granny if she had to bet on it, by the register. Not wanting to be noticed, Emma made her way to the corner booth to her left. She sat down and took out her cell phone and charger and began looking for an outlet. Lucky for her, there was one on the wall by the window. Plugging it into the wall, she sat back in her seat and started scanning through the menu. Knowing she didn't have much money to work with, she looked for the cheapest option she could find. After a few minutes, the scantily clad waitress made her way over to her. She had a nice smile but reasons Emma couldn't explain, she didn't seem happy.

"What can I get you sweetheart?", the waitress named Ruby asked her.

"Um...can I have Froot Loops...and a water please", Emma answered.

"Is that all? Would you like a donut or maybe a bagel with that?", Ruby asked. Obviously, most people didn't come to the diner to order something they could have at home.

"No thank you ma'am", Emma replied shyly.

"Ma'am", Ruby giggled, "The names Ruby." She took a second, seemingly looking Emma over, "I don't think I've seen you in here before, what's your name?"

Emma wasn't very sure she should answer, the last thing she wanted was attention on her. However, she figured not answering would draw even more than letting the seemingly harmless waitress know her name and made up story. "I'm Emma, my dad had to go into work early and forgot to go to the grocery, so he gave me some money for breakfast."

"Well Emma, it's very nice to meet you. I'll have your sugary start to the day out in a jiff", Ruby smiled and winked before heading back to the kitchen.

With the waitress gone, Emma took a second to breathe. Sitting back in the booth, she turned over her placemat and grabbed a crayon from the cup sitting on her table. She started thinking about all the things that had happened in the past few days. August had been so sure of their plan, "fail safe", he had said. Emma wasn't sure that he had taken into consideration what to do if she had missed her bus. The sound of the bell on the front door signaling another customer pulled her from her thoughts. Looking up, she noticed a woman with short black hair wiping her feet off on the mat. She had a bag on her shoulder, wore knee high boots, and had a beige coat with a scarf wrapped around her neck. She looked a little flustered walking up to the counter. Ruby approached her with a smile, obviously she was friends with this woman. They exchanged words but Emma couldn't hear what they were saying, she just assumed she was putting in her order.

Eventually, Ruby walked away and the woman took a seat at the counter. She seemed to finally take a breath and looked around the diner, her eyes eventually landing on Emma. Not wanting to seem like she was staring, Emma quickly looked back down at her drawing. Hoping that the dark-haired woman's eyes had passed her by, she chanced a peek, only to be met by a pair of green eyes. Eyes that seemed to be inspecting Emma. Before Emma could look away again, the woman gave her a kind smile. Not wanting to be rude, Emma gave her a small smile back. Luckily, about that time, Ruby came back to her table with her cereal.

"Here we are, one bowl of Froot Loops, a water, and a bear claw on the house", Ruby smiled placing the food in front of Emma.

"A bear claw?", Emma questioned.

"Ya! Froot Loops aren't nearly enough to get you to lunch. You seemed like a bear claw kind of girl", the waitress quipped with her hand on her hips.

"Thank you, ma'am, I mean...Ruby", Emma smiled shyly. Very rarely did she ever receive this kind of kindness in her life.

"No problem", Ruby winked at her for a second time that morning as she walked away.

Looking back over to the counter, Emma noticed the woman was gone now. Perhaps having taken her food to go. It was odd, normally Emma wouldn't think much about a passing stranger, but there was something about the woman that made her curious. Who was she? Why did her stare, something that would usually set her on edge, suddenly bring a sense of calm over her? Whoever she was, she was gone now but it didn't stop her curiosity.

After finishing her breakfast, she wrapped up the reaming half of the bear claw she had saved and put it in the front pocket of her bookbag for later. She didn't have much money so she figured it might be a good snack to tide her over until she could find some dinner. She left a five-dollar bill on the table, threw her backpack over her shoulder, grabbed her phone that was not fully charged but at least not dead, and headed out the door. Now, she just needed to figure out what to do for the rest of the day and try to get a hold of August, and soon. The longer she spent in the town alone, the more likely it was that she would be caught.