“Oh,” Clisty grabbed Jake’s arm as
her legs wilted under her.
“Are you alright?” Jake asked, as he put his arm
around her before leaving Ralph and Roma’s house. He leaned over and kissed the
top of her head.
“I’m okay, I guess. But, I feel like I’m rattling
inside.” She felt safe in Jake’s arms. All of the fear and adrenalin rush had
reached its peak inside her mind and body, and hadn’t yet slipped down anywhere
near a normal range. She didn’t want him to leave.
“You’ve experienced a traumatic event, Honey. Not
many people have a Glock’s laser beam zeroed in on their forehead, especially
not in a town where the only target is within the goal zone at the Coliseum. You’re
going to be rattled for a while, shaken but not broken.” While still holding
her in his arms, he rubbed her back and breathed with her, gradually slowing
his pace, which steadied her panic-breathing.
While Jake comforted Clisty, Roma and Ralph reached
out to Faith and Pooky. Becca directed Clint to film the moment.
“I’ve gotta go,” Jake whispered. “I need to start the
interrogation and begin the paper work. Have dinner with me at seven?”
“Absolutely,” Clisty reached up and kissed him. It
felt good to be open about the feelings she had hidden from herself and others.
She felt released from the love-phobia, as she called it in her quiet moments
alone, released from the need to control everything and everyone close to her.
Would it last? Would control dictate her new position with the network, or
would love finally win?
“Absolutely,” he winked and it sent a warm ripple
down Clisty’s body. She knew his response had nothing to do with supper.
Becca placed Clint to the side of the group where he
could get an angle shot on everyone. “Is everyone okay?” she asked. “As the
producer, I’d like to film the deprogramming we need to do now. But,” she
turned to Faith, “it is all up to you, Faith. I will not push you in any way.”
“I think we’re all okay,” Roma answered. “Faith, if
you want to tell everyone what happened today, yesterday and all the yesterdays
we lost, that is up to you. Talking about it might help you release some demons
that continue to hold you captive. I will support anything you choose. And,
yes, my dear, you do have choices.”
“Choices ... wow. I have choices. I can’t remember
having a choice in anything. Not since Clisty and I tried to decide which bike
path to take to the park. It feels like I can stand up a little taller. Or,
ride a little farther,” Faith exhaled heavily, slowly and smiled at Clisty. She
sat on one of the side chairs and pulled Pooky onto her lap.
“You were both very brave today,” Roma said as she
went to them and kissed their cheeks.
“Okay, Clint,” Becca directed, “you can film. As much
as you can, Faith, just ignore the camera ... you too, Pooky.”
Clisty sat on the couch and leaned on her knees. “Faith,
when you first came back to Fort Wayne, you were nearly empty, helpless,
hopeless, and weak. Today, you were on the attack. How did all that change so
fast?”
“I could feel the difference. When I was in that
other house, in that other town ... what did you call it?”
Clisty looked at Roma and Ralph. Baffled by so many
inconsistencies, she struggled to understand Faith’s word-gaps. “Naperville,
Faith. You lived in Naperville for eighteen years.” She shook her head as she
tried to understand.
“I was never in Naperville, though,” Faith reminded
her. “I was never out of my upstairs room, then two rooms with my husband, Steven,
except an occasional meal downstairs. When I left the black house, I was
completely confused, disoriented, lost, both emotionally and physically. I had
just lost Steven.”
“How did you know what direction to go when you got
to the end of the sidewalk outside your front door?” Clisty asked.
“I didn’t. Steven had driven Pooky to school for two
weeks, and he had gone the same way each time. She remembered how to get to the
highway. I like to think her Daddy was showing her the way out.”
Clisty was proud of Pooky. “You helped save yourself
and your mom, Pooky. You remind me of your mother when she was your age. Full
of adventure, ready to take on the world.”
“I do?” Pooky asked with wide, smiling eyes.
“You sure do.” Clisty thought for a moment and
directed a question to her. “Pooky, your grandma and I haven’t been with your
mom for a long time. Have you ever seen her act with such courage before?”
“Sure. She was always talking back to The Guardian—to
Grandpa. He used to hit her for not minding him or for sassing him, but she
never cried. It scared me, though.” Pooky started to cover her face, and then
she grabbed her mother’s arm and squeezed it as those memories still seemed to
have the power to frighten her.
“Why do you think she sassed him?” Clisty asked while
Clint adjusted the lens for a close up.
“Daddy was so sick and The Guardian wouldn’t call the
doctor. Daddy kept holding his chest. He wrinkled up his face and it looked
like he hurt. I cried, but Mama screamed at Grandpa.” Pooky’s eyes filled with
tears.
“Did your daddy get well?” Clisty asked, while
Pooky’s grandparents showed their own sorrow.
“No. Grandpa said to pray for him. He said if Mama
didn’t pray hard enough, Daddy would die and it would be her fault.” Pooky
collapsed in Faith’s arms. “Daddy died,” she sobbed.
“You both know it wasn’t your mother’s fault, don’t
you?” Clisty asked with an edge of anger to her voice. She could not understand
how anyone could put so much guilt on someone else, especially a child.
“I know,” Pooky looked up. “It was Guardian’s fault!”
“Do you accept that, Faith? Do you know it wasn’t
your fault?”
“I know it wasn’t my fault,” Faith said as she
smiled. “Mama Roma taught me to pray and prayed with me since I was a baby,”
she smiled at her mother. “I know how to pray. God must have had other plans
for Steven, other than mine.”
“Why didn’t you go to his funeral, Faith?” Clisty
continued her interview.
“I was never allowed to leave the house. The funeral
was just one more place I couldn’t go to, as far as The Guardian was concerned.
But, it would have meant a lot to Pooky and me if we could have said our
goodbyes.”
Clisty knew she had to ask the hard question. “Faith,
for the ride back to Indiana, how did you happen to accept a ride from Melvin
Dean Fargo, of all people?”
“Because, of all the people, his was the only face I
recognized. In the whole world outside the stone house, there was only one face
that looked familiar to me. It was Melvin Dean Fargo’s face. Pooky and I had
walked up to the main road and saw a filling station. There was a man inside a
pickup truck, and I recognized him. I didn’t know how I knew him. He just
seemed familiar. I asked him if he was going to Indiana and if we could ride.
He said okay, but first he’d have to make a phone call. He called from a small
phone in his hand but he said no one was home,” Faith recalled, as if she saw
the pictures in her head.
“He may have been calling Stratton, but his cell
phone would have been off due to the funeral,” Clisty said as she began to put
some of the threads together.
“He tried to call several more times.” Then she
remembered he had talked to her a little. “‘Do you have any money?’ he asked. I
said no, we have nothing. He said, ‘Then, I’ll have to go to the bank again in
a few days?’”
“Again?” Clisty asked. “Are you sure he said,
‘again’?”
“I heard him too,” Pooky assured her. “I know he
said, again.”
“Do you remember having seen Fargo before?” Clisty hoped
to pull another piece of the case out of the back of Faith’s memory. Each clue
seemed to reach like centipede legs back to the original kidnapping, so long
ago.
“No, I just knew he looked familiar,” she said with growing
confidence.
“Faith, Emily Stratton, the woman you called Lady,
would like to see you and Pooky. The important thing is, are you ready to see
her?” Clisty looked from Faith to Roma. She hoped she had not alienated Roma, a
solid supporter for the Heartland story. The full telling of the tale expanded
far beyond the bank robbery. “Roma, what do you think?”
“Faith ...” she started slowly, “this morning, I’ve
seen how strong you have become. It sounds like you always were—standing up to
Stratton.” She took Ralph’s hand. “Here in our home, your home, you are free to
go anywhere you want to go. And ... if you want to see Emily and if you want us
to meet her, your dad and I can go with you.”
Faith took a deep breath and words tumbled out. “Yes,
oh please yes. That would be wonderful.” She stopped and rubbed her hand
together. “Mama, I have to make you believe that I always called that woman, Lady.
You were, and always be, my only mother, my mama. I thought about you and Daddy
every day of my life.”
• • • • •
“Thank you for arranging our meeting with Emily
Stratton, Detective Davis,” Clisty spoke into the camera in a conference room
at the police station. “As we have reported over the last few evenings, our
story began when the image of Faith Sterling appeared on the ATM surveillance
camera outside Fort Wayne Bank. Recognized as the woman, kidnapped from Fort
Wayne at nine years of age, by Ezra Stratton, Faith Sterling escaped and made
her way back home. Melvin Dean Fargo,
the self-confessed robber of Fort Wayne Bank, was the accomplice to the
kidnapping and was a friend of Stratton’s. Faith lived in Illinois as the
captive-daughter of Ezra and Emily Stratton.” Clisty walked over to the large table,
opposite Faith, so they could both be in the scene. “We have met here today in
a neutral setting so Faith can have the opportunity to confront Emily Stratton.
She is the person Faith called ‘Lady’ the entire eighteen years the Strattons
held her captive. Faith’s parents, Ralph and Roma Sterling are here with her.
They will join us in a moment.” Clisty turned from the camera to Emily.
Clisty faced the woman who sat on the other side of
the table from Roma and Ralph. “Thank you for coming, Mrs. Stratton. I know you
have wanted to see Faith and her daughter since you came to Fort Wayne. Will
you tell the audience what you called Faith during those years?” Clisty was
warm yet professional.
“We called Faith, Joselyn. Of course I wanted to see
her. She’s my daughter,” Emily stated with a sweet smile on her face.
“I understand that’s what you think, Mrs. Stratton,”
Clisty said firmly. “You do know, however, if you call Faith, ‘your daughter,’
or use the name, ‘Jocelyn,’ she will leave the room.”
Emily looked down at the table. “Yes, I hear you.”
Clisty was ready when Jake brought Roma and Ralph
into the room. “Mrs. Stratton, Faith wanted her parents to be with her. They
have come in first so you can meet them before their daughter comes into the
room. This is Roma and Ralph Sterling.”
Emily looked at both of them, her mouth open in
apparent surprise. Stunned, she said nothing at first and then stood. “I ... am
so sorry.” She started to explain. “I didn’t know. I didn’t know that Joselyn
had living parents ... that she had been kidnapped.”
“We understand that,” Ralph said, his body tense.
“Her name is Faith. It always has been. Faith was kidnapped; Faith was missing;
and, Faith has returned, on her own, not from anything you did to help her.” He
and Roma sat down at the end of the table.
“Yes, Mr. Sterling,” Emily spoke with humility. “I am
sorry to say, I agree. I didn’t help her,” she hung her head and didn’t make
eye contact, “even though she told me she had parents in Fort Wayne.”
“You knew?” Roma lunged in the woman’s direction. Ralph
tugged gently on Roma’s shirt sleeve and patted her back as she settled again
in her chair.
“Yes, I knew what the child told me, but my husband
said something else.” Her body grew tense and she wrung her hands. “I didn’t
know who to believe and … I wanted to keep her,” she whispered.
Jake opened the conference room door. “Are you ready
for Faith?”
“I don’t know,” Clisty spoke with control and
authority. “You all tell me. Are you ready for Faith to come in? I will demand
that she not be upset or I will shut this meeting down. Any uproar might make
good TV, but I will not permit it at Faith’s expense.”
“Yes, yes,” Emily begged. “Please, don’t blame me for
Ezra’s crimes. I was his captive, too. Now, I just want to see her.” Her voice
broke under the emotion that was evident in her tears.
“Alright,” Roma answered and stared at the broken
woman beside her.
Faith came in the room, hesitantly. She looked at her
parents and then at Emily. “Mama, Daddy,” she said as she sat opposite Emily
and beside her parents. “Lady,” she nodded an acknowledgement. “Are you
alright?”
“I’m okay, Jos—” she stopped quickly, “Faith. Are you
okay? How is Pooky?”
“She’s fine. She wants to see you.” Faith twisted a
childhood handkerchief she held in her hands. Embroidered little red roses were
in one corner, a symbol from her lost childhood she could hold onto.
“Pooky wants to see me?” Emily started to reach for
Faith’s hands then pulled back. “Faith,” she looked at the woman she had called
daughter for eighteen years, “I want you to know, I had absolutely no idea that
Ezra had kidnapped you. He told me he had adopted you.”
“I told you!” Faith whispered forcefully. “Why didn’t
you believe me? Why did you pretend to love me but not let me call you Mom? Why
did I have to call you Lady?” Faith had sadness in her voice, not anger. Those
were surprising emotions to Clisty. She didn’t think she was past the anger
herself and she had only lived the memory. Faith had lived the tragedy.
“You wanted to call her Mom or Mother?’ Clisty asked.
“Not Mother. I had a mother. And, not Mama,” she
looked at Roma and took her hand. “But, I needed to have someone who claimed
me. I needed a mom, even if she wasn’t my mom.”
“I know, Faith. You’re right,” Emily admitted. “Lady
was all you could call me. Ezra said I had to keep a wall between us. He said you
might die like our first daughter did. He said it wouldn’t hurt us as much if
it happened again, if we didn’t get close to you. Ezra was so controlling. He
controlled you, me, Steven, everyone and everything.”
“Was I actually married to Steven?” Faith asked,
shaking her head in disbelief. “Lady, I had no last name.”
“Yes, Ezra had a license to marry people. You and
Steven were married and your marriage license was filed and recorded properly.”
“Did I sign it? I don’t remember,” Faith threw her
head back in frustration and confusion.
“Yes, you signed it,” Emily said. “Don’t you
remember? Ezra always had a way of manipulating people so they didn’t know what
they were doing. You signed, Joselyn and then Ezra spilled some water on the
document. He said, ‘That’s okay. When it’s dry, you can finish it.’ He put it
in his office and signed Stratton for you the next day and mailed it in.”
“But my name has never been Joselyn Stratton. The
wrong name is on my marriage license,” Faith put her head in her hands and
leaned on the table. “If the authorities agree that I was Joselyn Stratton at
the time I signed the marriage license, then my real name would be Faith
Stratton. Is it all a lie?”
“We’ll contact our attorney the first time his office
is open, and see if we can get it all straightened out,” her dad assured her.
“You loved Steven and Pooky loved her daddy. That’s all you need to know now.
None of that is a lie, Faith.”
“Thank you, Mr. Sterling,” Emily said as she turned
to them. “That means a lot to me that Steven is honored. He loved them both so
much.” Again she had to blot tears from her eyes.
“It’s not for you, Ma’am,’ Ralph barked. “It’s for
the girls.”
“I know,” Emily said apologetically.
The door opened a crack and a small voice came from
the other side. “Can I come in?” Pooky asked softly as she stuck her head through
the small opening.
“Are we ready for the little miss?” Clisty asked
Faith.
“Sure,” Faith said as she turned around and reached
out her arms to her daughter. “Come on in, Honey.”
Pooky hugged her mom and sat down beside her. She
looked over at the Sterlings. “Grandma!” she squealed, jumped up, ran around
the table and embraced her. She stepped back a little, still holding on to Roma.
“Did you see her? My other grandma is here, too?”
“Yes,” Roma answered her granddaughter.
“We’ve been talking.”
“Do I need to hate her? I will if you want me to,”
she asked with probing eyes. “Or, is it okay if I love her too?” Pooky asked
without turning toward Emily. “’Cause if I’m supposed to hate her, I’ll pretend
she isn’t here.”
Roma choked and cleared her throat as tears streamed
down her face. “There has been enough living like a ghost, Baby. It’s like
people look right through you,” she patted Pooky’s cheek. “Yes, sweetheart, as
long as your Grandma Emily loves you and treats you right, it is perfectly
alright for you to love her, too. We can never have too many people in our
lives who love us.”
“Oh good,” Pooky squealed as she ran to Emily and
threw her arms around her. “I missed you Grandma.”
Emily could not control her emotions and dropped her
head into Pooky’s shoulder. “I missed you too, Baby,” she cried.
Faith smiled at the closeness of her daughter and
Lady. She didn’t join in the embrace. Instead, she went around behind her own
parents and embraced them with eighteen years’ worth of love.
“Cut, I think that’s enough for now,” Becca said as
she wiped her own eyes.
As soon as the filming stopped, Clisty’s phone rang.
She looked at the screen and decided she needed to take the call. She got up
from the table, went over to the window and put a finger to her free ear.
“Hello, Clisty Sinclair.”
“This is Bradley Funderbird in New York,” a voice
said. “Your local station was able to connect the interview you just had with Faith,
her parents and Mrs. Stratton.”
“Oh yes. Becca was hoping that the feed would be able
to reach you without actually broadcasting at this time,” Clisty said. “How did
it come through?”
“It was great. Our offer to you is firm. Regardless
of how Ezra Stratton’s trial turns out, and we do want you to be there to
report it, we are offering you a weekly segment on our Network News Magazine,
titled, Stories from the Heartland. We
would feed story ideas to you that come in to our New York office from the
middle of the country, with an emphasis on wholesome, upbeat, down-to-earth
people and how they manage to overcome the difficulties that are present in
today’s society.”
“Sir,” she gasped, “that is wonderful.” She looked at
Jake, “Can you give me a little while to decide?”
“Of course. I’ll have to admit, I don’t know what you
have to decide. This is a promotion, Clisty. You have to seize the opportunity
when it comes. It may not come again.”
“I know, Sir, but so much has happened.” Clisty
studied Faith’s face and looked again at Jake. She had been afraid to love and
let people get close enough for her to experience messy, complicated
relationships since Faith disappeared. Now Faith was back and Clisty’s emotions
were set free to experience feelings she wondered if she would ever have. With Jake,
maybe—
“I think a good time to respond would be after
Stratton’s trial,” Funderbird said with a voice of authority. “That will wrap
up that first network story you are doing. Here in New York, we’ll start
gathering the story leads. The segments will run, with you or with someone else,
Clisty.”
“I understand. Thank you, Mr. Funderbird,” she said
as she looked up and saw Jake listening to her end of the conversation.
“Please, go ahead and send the ideas as you receive them. I would like to have
the opportunity to see if I can relate to any of them.”
“I certainly will do that, Clisty,” Funderbird said.
Clisty pressed “end call” on her screen.
Jake threw his hand to his chest in a disclaiming gesture.
“I was not eavesdropping, Babe. You were talking in front of us and—“
“Honey,” Clisty laughed,” I know you weren’t trying
to listen in on my conversation. You couldn’t help but hear it.”
“Funderbird? Interesting name. Who’s he, if I may
ask?”
“That’s okay.” She leaned into Jake and rested her
head on his chest. “Bradley Funderbird is the president of the network.”
“In New York?”
“In New York City,” she said and kissed his cheek.
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