Somewhere Out There

About the Book

Sue Ellen at twenty-five left her parents to find a job. She went to work as a waitress at Sam’s Saloon in Oklahoma. She made friends with April and a kind old man who cleaned up the saloon. When he got too weak to work, the owner told him to leave. Sue Ellen helped him to her room and found a doctor to see him. The only diagnoses was that he was just old and worn out. After a week, when Sue Ellen went to check on the old man, she found he had died. By the bed were sheets of paper. One had her name on it, and the rest she crammed into her tote bag to read later. The note asked her to quit her job and go to this small town in Texas. With the help of the doctor and a funeral director, Sue was able to get the body on a train to Texas. When sue read the rest of the papers, she found a will making her the beneficiary of all his money, farm and house in Texas. He only asked that she try to find his daughter who had been kidnapped when she was three years old. He had been looking for her for twenty years. He wanted Sue to get in touch with a lawyer in Texas and show him the will. After getting the old man buried, Sue cried and cried for him and the daughter who had been kidnapped. In the house at the farm, Sue found a box of pictures and realized that she was actually this daughter and this lonely old man had been her father. The lawyer that Sue showed the will to had plans to get James McCoumb’s money and farm. He realized Sue was the daughter and knew he must get rid of her. His attempt failed and the lawyer was killed by the two men he had hired to kill Sue. A young man, Jeff, had been taking care of the farm, hoping he would hear from Mr. McCoumb. Sue wanted to do something in memory of her father, so with Jeff’s help, she turned the farm into a retreat for orphans to enjoy a week away from their restricted home life. The plan was a big success. Sue Ellen and Jeff fell in love and married.

About the Author

E. R. Hammack always dreamed of writing since she was thirteen. Her discouraging attempt was a story written on a school tablet. She mailed it to a love story magazine then watched for the mail carrier day after day. Sadly her story was returned rejected with a note attached – “Please send postage next time.” The dream didn’t end; it just lay dormant. She married at seventeen, raised a family of eleven and eventually went to work for Civil Service. She kept a journal and read everything she could get her hands on. When she became a widow and retired, she took correspondence courses and received some encouragement that her writing had potential. In a dream, she could see this little girl who was kidnapped at three years old. The story is the search to find the grown up girl. E. R. Hammack lives in Texas, alone but not lonely. She is blessed with her family of seven sons and four daughters, 31 grandchildren, 47 great grandchildren and 2 great great grandchildren. Still there is another story dancing around in her head.