49
Kate and her girls were passengers in the small bus leading down to the Natural Bridge. Along with Rose, her friend George Tyler, Helen and Paul, they were the first people in line when the souvenir shop opened at ten in the morning. On this Tuesday morning, there were no other people lined up so early. They were the only ones on the bus. When the bus came to a stop, Kate was the first one out the door. She ignored the driver who had asked her to be seated until he stopped the vehicle. Kate ran toward the Natural Bridge. She looked around her and saw no one.
“William!” Kate was calling out William’s name and looking in every possible direction. “William!”
“Kate, you need to calm down.” Helen was holding her sister. Kate broke away.
“William!”
“Kate, you are scaring Nicole and Tara.” Helen whispered in her sister’s ear. Helen looked at Paul, who was studying the underside of the bridge.
“Paul, do something, bring William back. You said he would be here today. Where is he?”
Rose was speechless. She did not know what to say. By now George was convinced Kate needed to be hospitalized again.
Nicole started crying, she was noticeably frightened. Tara had no idea what was going on. She just stood there by her sister with her thumb in her mouth, silently unaware of the importance of this visit.
“Listen, Kate, you need to calm down. William’s last message in the ad said he would be back here on this date. It did not say what time he would be here. We may have to wait out the day. You have waited this long, let’s sit here and be patient. If William is meant to return here, we will have to allow whatever it is that must happen to happen on its own. We cannot control his return nor can we be certain it will actually be at this very spot. Let’s sit here for a while.” Paul led Kate over to the side of the pathway to a park bench and Helen followed with Nicole and Tara.
Noon hour arrived and visitors were now coming and going. Couples were arm in arm, and a young mother was pushing a baby carriage with a hungry infant crying to be fed. Helen took the girls over to the concession stand and got them some food. She brought back some wrapped sandwiches for her sister and Paul, who had remained vigilant on the same bench. Kate refused to eat. Paul ate half of his sandwich and then wrapped the remainder and placed it in the paper sack with Kate’s uneaten sandwich.
Rose and George finally left, they were not able to convince Kate to return home. It was 4 PM when Kate finally broke down. She started crying and could not stop. Helen had walked in the distance with Nicole and Tara. Paul put his arm around Kate and tried unsuccessfully to calm her.
By 6 PM, the girls grew impatient. Helen decided she would take them back to the gift shop and see if she could buy them each a toy to play with. She took along Paul’s cell phone and they decided that if anything happened Paul would ring her from the pay phone at the concession stand. Helen never got a call from Paul.
By dusk, the girls were asleep in the car while Kate and Paul waited to the last possible minute. Kate was not able to look at the powerfully visual light show that happened every night. A guard who noticed that Kate and Paul had sat on the same bench all day came over to see if they were sick or something. He mentioned that in all his years there he never saw anybody sit and look away while the light show went on. They were finally asked to leave the Natural Bridge. When the last small bus drove up the road to the parking lot, Kate and Paul were the only ones on it.
As they approached the car, Helen saw her sister was in a devastated state. Paul was speechless and sad as he helped Helen place Kate in the back seat of the car next to Nicole and Tara. He closed the rear car door. Helen was still beside him. He had no words for her. He hugged her and kissed her on the forehead. He helped her sit in the front seat of the car and got in himself, stopping for a second to ponder the day and how unproductive and sad it was. He started the car and drove back to Kate’s home minus the one passenger he had hoped would be with them.