After four years away, I returned to Emerald City, CA to find it largely unchanged. This small lumber town in Northern California remained a popular tourist destination for hikers but was still isolated from major cities and airports. Despite my family's murky history in the area, I come home to recoup and regain some semblance of everyday life again. Meeting Dusty, the town mechanic, was not in the cards. Authors Note : I made up a job for Mona. So if her little research gig doesn't sound realistic I'm sorry.