Finding Lenore

“The room is unfamiliar. I don’t know how I got here.” I stared blankly at the woman in front of me.

“What is the last thing that you remember, Miss.”

“That’s just it. I don’t remember any particular thing that happened recently. I mean-I remember my childhood and stuff like that but-we-ell, I think that I came to Redding because my sister—something about my sister.”

“What is your name?”

There was a long silence. Several times the second hand passed the twelve. Still no answer. “You don’t remember your name do you.” She gazed at me gently. “It’s okay. You probably lost your short term memory when you were knocked over the head. I guess it would be useless for me to ask why you think someone would do that to you.”

“You guessed right. I can’t remember anything that recently. Not even coming to this small town is a very clear memory. I think that’s as recent as it gets.”

“Well, maybe it will come back to you fairly quickly. I think the best thing for you tight now is to get you out of this old house and into some place bright and cheery. How about you come down to my house and -no. Come with me to the local clothing store and I’ll buy you a new outfit. That one is too dirty for what I have in mind.”

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She was a cheery woman who apparently ran the local bakery. She was very industrious and had a good business going. Everyone loved her baking. We entered a store with the words “Local Closet” above the door. Mrs. Fontaine headed right to the back. I followed, but leisurely. I perused the circles of hanging clothes, mostly dresses and shirts. When I rejoined Mrs. Fontaine at the back, she held up a long gorgeous red velvet gown up for my approval. “What do you think?”

I was a little bit confused at this point, but then I remembered what she had said earlier. At least my memory was working for current things, albeit I still couldn’t remember much from before I was knocked out.

“Just what is it that you have in mind?” I asked.

“A date.”

“What? I don’t even remember who I am? With whom?”

“Kevin Hagerty.”

What could I say? That I didn’t even like the sound of his name? “Um, I think I -don’t think this is a good idea.”

“Well—I do.” She paused. “I will tell you why later. Just call him. I will give you his phone number.”

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I thanked her for the dress and closed the door. Slowly, I turned toward the phone. After dialing his number I waited for him to pick up. She had told me what to say so I didn’t feel as sketchy about this as I did at first. I still didn’t know why she wanted us to go on a date.

The phone rang five times. I held my breath. Would he pick it up? What I heard next made my heart jump.

“If this is you, Lenore, I just wanted to tell you that I love you—and I miss you. If this is anyone else, just-just leave me a message if-if you think it’s worth it.——I-I really miss you, Lenore.” Beep.

I was speechless. My message was a bunch of small undecided noises. Finally, I said. “Mrs. Fontaine wants you to come over for supper tonight—if you are interested.

I hung the phone up and turned toward the door. He had sounded so broken. Who was Lenore? A strange, startling thought entered my mind. Am I her?

I tried again to remember why I was here. And why had I gotten knocked out? Were the two related? Why can’t I remember? I just want to remember. It would be so much easier.

How can I find out?

Wait a minute.

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“Who is Kevin Hagerty and who is Lenore?”

A look of sadness covered Mrs. Fontaine’s face. “They were sweethearts.” She said. Last week Lenore was in a car accident. They couldn’t find her body, but the wreck looked pretty bad. Her cell phone lay opened to her contacts. It looked like she was able to make one final call before she died-or left-or whatever happened to her. The odd thing was that the police couldn’t find any evidence of her departure. If she was badly hurt there would certainly be some sign of her leaving the area.” She paused and sighed. “But there wasn’t.”

“Who did she call?”

“Strangely, not Kevin. The name was Marisa Greenway. Must have been related, because her last name was Greenway. I figure it was probably her mother.”

“Where was the accident?”

“Just down the main road about three and a half miles west of here.”

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There were still shreds of metal and plastic next to the road and in the ditch. Dried blood stained the grass so she or someone must have been hurt. Mrs. Fontaine hadn’t said if there was anyone in the car with her, so I assumed that there wasn’t. The accident had been cleaned up and all visible evidence taken to the lab for inspection, so I don’t know what I expected to find. But I wanted to look around-just in case I found something.

Soon a car pulled up. A man stepped out and asked what I was doing here. I told him, and he said, “You-you’re Marisa.”

“I am?”

“Aren’t you? She talked about you. You look like her a little bit.”

I told him what had happened to me and that I couldn’t remember my name nor why I was here.

“She called you for help because she was ashamed of what had happened to her. Someone hit her and he was at fault. It was a hit and run. I think he took her body, but I don’t know if she is still alive. He must be the one who knocked you out. If so, he’s worse than I thought. She must have died and he’s trying to hide it. Maybe he has a bad record and didn’t want to encounter the law. At first I clung to the hope that she was still alive, but I’m pretty sure she’s not or we would have found her by now. He probably knew that you would just stir up the case more. I don’t know why he didn’t kill you. He doesn’t seem to have any scruples so far. My only problem is proving everything to the police. You might be able to help me with that.

“I’ll do what I can.”

“You’re gonna have to try to remember everything.

“I- I remember that I’m here because of my sister.”

“That’s good. Maybe that’s enough. Come on.”

We jumped in his car and headed to the police office. When the door was opened, my mouth dropped to the floor. Lenore was standing next to a young officer. She saw us and burst into tears. She hugged me first, then Kevin and lingered in his arms. “He found me! This officer found me! Someone was driving on the wrong side of the road and pooped over the hill before I could see him. He was passing someone in a no pass lane and I didn’t see him in time to make an adjustment. I wasn’t badly hurt, but he grabbed me and drove away in his damaged but working vehicle. That’s why the police couldn’t figure out what had happened to me. It just looked like I had crashed into the big tree on the side of the road. He had a record so he didn’t want anyone to catch him. His mistake was taking me. He thought this would lessen his chances of getting caught but it only increased them. He’s in jail now. Oh, I’m so glad to be back! Kevin embraced her quietly and held her tight. “Thank you, Lord, for bringing her back to me.”