01x05 - The Edge of Forever

[bunniefuu]

Previously on Signed, sealed, delivered...

Shane: If someone tells you they're leaving you, you'd think that they'd stop checking every letter that comes through from France.

I know you poured your whole heart into that book.

Thank you, Cora.

Oliver: I think it's best if we didn't dance together.

What? Why?

[♪♪♪]

[Laughter rises nearby]

[Girls giggling]

Girl: Until you're so old all your teeth fall out!

Girl ♪2: Until you're so old your teeth and face falls off!

Faces don't fall off! That's just crazy.

You're crazy.

You are!

Until all your hair falls out!

You are. Until all you hair falls out and you're bald and you look like an egg.

Until all your hair and your eyebrows fall out and you look like a rotten egg!

Good morning, my crazy girls.

[Giggling continues]

[Laughter fades]

[♪♪♪]

[♪♪♪]

[Bell jingles]

Hello?

[Footsteps]

Morning! How can I help you?

Maggie.

It's Carrie Atkinson.

Do you remember me?

Carrie?

Oh, for heaven's sake!

How long has it been?

How are you? How are the...

Oh, honey.

Oh, my dear.

I need a favor, Maggie.

I need your help.

♪ Send me love every day ♪
♪ And send me on my way ♪
♪ Deliver me just deliver me ♪

[♪♪♪]

Oh!

Ms. McInerney.

Oliver. How are you this morning?

Well. How are you?

I am also well.

That's good.

Yes, it is.

Heads up! Comin' through!

[Skates rumbling]

Rita, are you actually... on roller skates... in the U.S. post office?

Well, I read all 12 issues of International Delivery Monthly from 2012 yesterday, and in it there's an article about how they use roller skates in the main post office in Finland, and guess what?

Their delivery rate is up by 47%!

So what do you think?

So, how was your ballroom dance showcase on Friday?

Oh, uh...

There was an unexpected development and we were forced to cancel.

Funny. That's not quite how I remember it.

Was unexpected, though.

[♪♪♪]

Oh, hey! How did it go?

With... the... Broncos this weekend?

Denver Broncos are a football team, Norman.

They haven't played since February.

Ah! Good to know.

I'm not very athletic.

Well, apparently, Rita has decided to be.

Yes! We are all just full of surprises, aren't we?

Whispers: They didn't do their dance.

Oh...

[Rumbling]

Please.

Thank you.

What do we have here, Norman?

Ah!

A high-grade, reinforced, corrugated shipping box, postmarked a week ago, marked "fragile,"

"this side up," missing a label.

Return address must've been printed on the label, so.

No identifying marks.

Well, nothing here to conveniently search or tweet.

Guess we'll have to rely on good old-fashioned intellect, huh?

Okay.

It says "Maggie."

Sender is female.

Handwriting tapers off, with a light touch.

But there is a note on the back, male handwriting...

"This envelope has been... "

Oh, my.

[♪♪♪]

"This envelope has been included at the request of, and by prior arrangements with, the deceased."

[♪♪♪]

What is that?

Well, it appears to be the misplaced ashes of the deceased.

More importantly, I think the question might be who is that?"

My next-door-neighbor got lost in the mail once.

He was trying to send himself to Fresno.

For Christmas.

I'll run a comprehensive search of lost-and-found claims for the past week, with a filter for "ashes" and "urn."

This won't take long.
Watch and learn, Norman.

Okay.

Norman, please take note that a sensitive matter such as this requires great... sensitivity.

All we do now, Norman, is wait for the postal lost-and-found program to find a match.

Ought to have it in just a minute, and we'll have old Harry, or Harriet, back home by lunch. Zip. Zap. Boom.

Any minute now...

[♪♪♪]

Any second.

Has anybody seen my 1946 inverted-pink pelican stamp?

It was just here.

Huh!

Did you know that Rita's favorite food is the Jerusalem artichoke?

I did not know that.

And how is it that you know that?

Well, it says so right here on her application for the "Miss Special Delivery pageant."

Oh, hey! This is an application for the Miss Special Delivery pageant.

Really? Let me see.

No! No, no, no, no!

Oh, please, give me that back.

I'm sorry, I'm sorry.

I saw it and I read it, and I'm sorry.

You signed up for the pageant?

Oh, not yet.

But you should.

This is wonderful.

It is?

Yes! We are 100% behind you.

Aren't we, Norman?

Yeah. Right behind.

There she is.

Miss Special Delivery of 2014.

[Flustered muttering]

Oh. What's that?

Oh, uh...

That is an urn full of Harry.

Or maybe Harriet.

[Computer chirps]

Ah. We're about to find out.
And it only took a minute.

Isn't technology wonder... ful?

I can't believe it.

What?

Nothing. No claims, no inquiries.

Nobody's looking for Harry.

Or Harriet, for that matter.

[♪♪♪]

My Uncle Howard had his ashes put in a biodegradable urn with a tree seedling in it, and we planted him.

Now he's a sapling.

Really, Norman?

When he grows up, he's gonna be a Douglas fir.

Oh. Maybe he'll be a Christmas tree someday.

Alright.

We have two addressed envelopes.

One to a "Caitlyn Atkinson", one to a "Vanessa Doherty."

And there's a letter, which reads...

"Dear Maggie the time has come and here I am I'm enclosing both letters for you to mail as soon as you receive this After all we shared you're the only one I trust with them Thanks for being there when it mattered most Thanks for keeping your promise.

Your friend, Carrie."

That's very sad.

I don't even know what it means.

It means somebody named Carrie sent herself to somebody named Maggie.

Yeah, and I bet the answers are in those letters.

Ms. McInerney?

Way ahead of you.

I tracked their addresses to phone records.

Caitlyn Atkinson on Pearl Street, and Vanessa Doherty... Cherry Hills.

That was fast.

Easy. I used my computer.

And my brain.

[Dialing]

Yes.

Leaving a message for a Ms. Caitlyn Atkinson.

This is the dead letter office from the United States postal service.

Let's see what you've got.

With regards to a package we received.

Rita! The deadline to sign up for the pageant is 5:00.

Please return our call...

Today!

I know, but it took me 3 days to answer all the questions and fill out the essay, and... [sighs]

Well, now I have to declare an act for the talent section, and... [sighs] I don't have a talent.

Uh, you're a novelist.

You wrote "Renita Hayweather: Frontier Duchess."

It's not enough. I have to put something on the application, like singing, or dancing, or playing the piano, then I have to get up the nerve to do it.

If the "Frontier Duchess" could find the courage to catch a banana boat to the new world, don't you think you can find the courage to do this?

Oliver: 4728.

Alright, then. Back to business.

I left messages for both addressees, there's nothing to do now but wait.

[Phone rings]

Hello?

[♪♪♪]

That should be fine.

Okay.

So they're sisters?

That is what Vanessa said on the phone.

I'd never lose my mother in the mail.

Okay. I finally got ahold of Caitlyn.

She's on her way.

She said, "don't let that crazy Vanessa touch the urn" until she gets here.

That's what Vanessa said about Caitlyn, only her language was a bit more, uh, colorful.

She should be here any minute.

So this should be interesting.

[♪♪♪]

So, Rita.

Have you decided what you're gonna do for your talent section?

Uh...

Can you sing?

Play the piano? Twirl a baton?

Juggle?

Eat fire?

Tricks with a yo-yo?

Contortion?

[Chuckles]

Rita, you have to be talented at something.

Well, I have a photographic memory.

Oh! You could memorize the 2014 postal code.

No. She has to do something that's unexpected.

Rita, a contest as highly regarded as Miss Special Delivery" is a singular opportunity to represent the dead letter office and everything we stand for.

Oh. I, uh...

I never thought of it that way.

May I suggest a rousing speech?

An homage to the written word?

Something by Benjamin Franklin, our country's very first postmaster general?

Oh, yes. A speech by Benjamin Franklin.

Now, that says "entertainment."

Miss McInerney...

Uh, you know...

My aunt Amelia, she used to keep my Uncle Elmer's ashes in the bottom drawer of her bedroom dresser.

It was very upsetting.

He deserved to be in the top drawer.

Oh, excuse me?

I'm looking for Oliver O'Toole.

Yes. Miss... ?

I'm...

I'm...

There you are, Caitlyn.

You didn't have to come, Nessa. I can handle this.

That's what you always say.

And look where we are.

And where are we, Vanessa?

I'm amazed to find you anywhere.

And what is that supposed to mea...

Ladies?

I'm Oliver O'Toole.

Vanessa Doherty.

Caitlyn Atkinson.

And that, I suppose... is mama.

So, neither of you know anyone named Maggie?

After the service, I thought the funeral director would give the ashes to me.

Or to me.

But he said that mama had made other arrangements, and we could probably expect to receive some sort of explanation in the mail.

She always had a flair for the dramatic.

Actually, she was very organized and methodical.

I'm sure she had a reason.

Well, let's just read the letters and find out what they were.

Sorry. The urn and these letters are still under the protection of the U.S. post office.

What are you talking about?

He's saying that everything was in a box intended for somebody named "Maggie," so it has to be delivered to Maggie.

What I meant was, they're our mother's ashes, the letters are addressed to us, why can't we just cut to the chase and...

I'm sorry.

We're walking a very fine line here.

I don't even know if there's a precedent for this.

Actually, there is.

Regulation 17250 section C.

Oh! Right.

"In the event of indeterminate ownership of non-processed mail the section leader shall establish intended delivery by employing personal inspection and good-faith evaluation... "

And Mr. O'Toole is the poster boy for good faith.

Let me assure you, it is our policy only to read as far as necessary to identify the addressee.

[Exhales heavily]

[Oliver opens envelope]

[♪♪♪]

It appears to be written to you both.

"Dear Caitlyn and Vanessa you are each receiving a copy of this letter They were mailed for me by someone you probably don't remember but she was a good friend to us, once when we needed one By now, I imagine you are wondering what has happened to my ashes and that each of you believes you should be the one to decide where my final resting place should be And, if you fulfill my last wishes you will Do you remember the silly little tradition we used to have when you were children and daddy and I would have a treasure hunt on your birthday?"

She would give us a clue that led to another and another until we found our birthday present.

"We'd been such a happy family before You loved each other so much that I could never imagine that you would ever be anything but best friends But, as we learned terrible things happen whether we can imagine them or not."

I'm sorry, if you don't want me to read this aloud, I...

No.

It's okay.

"All a mother wants for her children is for them to be happy and to have each other when she is gone."

Overlapping with Carrie: "But for the last 13 years... "

Carrie: "I've watched "two little girls who seemed inseparable grow farther and farther apart.

"When I got sick I realized I might never live to see you two be the sisters you used to be but with this little treasure hunt, at least I will die hoping."

"So, here it is Go on this treasure hunt together.

May it lead you both to me."

"And, I hope, back to each other."

"I love you so much.

Mama."

The letters are identical, there doesn't seem to be anything to lead us to Maggie.

Other than the clue at the bottom.

Why would mama give her ashes to somebody we don't even know?

Well, she did say that Maggie was a friend.

She made a lot of friends.

Everybody loved her.

She always used to say...

Overlapping: "I never met a stranger."

So what's the first clue?

"Two sisters meet between 7 and 72.. By Caitlyn's creek and Vanessa's fondue."

Well, I don't know about the rest of it, but "Vanessa's fondue"...

I was on this "I'm moving to Switzerland" thing when I was 13, and I decided to make fondue, and I ruined mama's best saucepan, trying to melt Swiss cheese on the stove.

Every time she tried to cook after that, mama would always say, "Nessa's going Swiss on us."

I'm a terrible cook.

So, the first clue has something to do with Swiss cheese?

I guess.

But 7 and 72?

What's that?

79?

Um, well, um, we're looking for a place, so, uh, 72 could be highway 72?

And highway 7!

The peak-to-peak highway.

The most beautiful scenic drive in the state.

Yeah. Not a lot of Swiss cheese there, though.

What's "Caitlyn's creek"?

No idea.

There are all kinds of creeks around the peak-to-peak.

And they all have funny names, like, um, "big fish," or, um, "little fish."

So maybe there's a "Caitlyn's creek."

I can look it up.

[Sighs] Oh. Battery's dead.

If I had brought my laptop, I could find it in a heartbeat.

Oh, if I recall, there was quite a long heartbeat with your laptop this morning.

Well, I have a whole book on obscure names of rocky mountain creeks.

Norman, we can always count on you.

Well, here we are.

It's highly irregular to allow civilians in here, but it's unique circumstance.

Please, try to not disturb anything.

No problem.

This place is pretty amazing.

Oh! Thank you.

"Creeks of Colorado... "

Cross-referenced with bodies of water near highway 72."

How come you canceled your dance on Friday?

I didn't.

He did.

Why?

It's a type of creek.

[Shane sighs] I don't know.

Well, maybe I do.

I just think he started having too much fun and started feeling funny about it.

Said he was only taking lessons so that when his wife came back, he could surprise her with his new...

Dance prowess, or whatever.

Isn't that kind of nice?

Yeah.

But why did he have to drag me through two weeks of boring dance lessons only to get cold feet and dump me?

I mean, his wife left him and moved to Paris.

For all we know, she's never coming back.

For all we know, but, well...

As long as Oliver keeps checking the Paris box for letters from her, don't you think he hopes that Holly'll come back?

Holly?

Yeah. Holly O'Toole.

I only saw her a couple times, but she seemed really nice.

And pretty. And smart.

And smart?

Yeah. Like you.

Left-hand creek...

Crazy bear creek?

Ohio creek.

Elk creek.

Longs peak cascade.

Silver creek.

Old Joe creek.

Edgewood creek.

Happy rock creek.

Tungsten mine creek.

Little coyote creek. Big coyote creek.

Copper creek.

Two bear cree...

Both: Copper creek!

Try copper creek.

Remember?

When I was a little girl, our mom used to call me copper Catie" sometimes, because when she'd brush my hair, she said it shone like copper.

Okay. Copper creek runs parallel to the peak-to-peak highway for several miles, but it does...

Cross where highway 72 and highway 7 meet!

Oliver: Well, that's a start.

I suggest we take a ride up to the mountains.

I can't.

I have decided to stay and finish my application for the Miss Special Delivery pageant.

It's what Renita Hayweather would do.

Way to get on that banana boat, Rita.

She still needs to figure out her talent.

Well, that's why you're gonna stay behind and help her.

[♪♪♪]

What do you think, Norman?

Do you want to make a... A volcano?

Oliver: Well, this is the peak-to-peak highway.

Shane: That must be copper creek.

Look for something that reminds Vanessa of fondue.

[♪♪♪]

Have we been here before?

Yeah.

I bet that Maggie person's in there.

Oh, my God.

Remember now?

Why here, of all places?

I bet that's what the treasure hunt was for.

She knew we wouldn't come if we knew where we were going.

I'm sure she had her reasons.

We should go in.

No.

I'm not walking in there.

I can't be here.

Nessa?

Nessa!

[♪♪♪]

Oh. "Drove to Nederland. Back at two."

I suppose they wouldn't mind if we wait on the porch.

Might as well. Can't leave without Vanessa.

She'd find her way home. She always did.

I'd better go look for her anyway.

[Exhales deeply]

[Bird sings]

[Bird singing]

Oh, my goodness.

Could that be a mountain sparrow up there?

Hmm?

They're exceptionally rare.

Actually, quite special. Do you see? Right on the... oh.

I'm sorry? What?

Nothing.

It's just a shame you were looking at that... thing.

You missed something beautiful.

Perhaps it will come back, though.

[Scoffs, amused]

Oh, you find that amusing?

It's a bird. They just fly.

Sometimes, you're there to see them land before they take off and land somewhere else.

They don't "come back."

What makes you think that a bird would come back to anything?

Birds return to familiar places all the time.

It is a miracle of nature.

Why... would I not hope to see that bird again, hmm?

Hope, after all, is the thing with feathers."

I'm just saying that sometimes you have to get to a point where you stop hoping and you let nature take its course.

We're not talking about birds anymore, are we?

Your tone suggests that you're angry with me, so I suppose it's about ending our dance classes.

You may find me, uh, quaintly old-school.

I cannot apologize for attempting to do the right thing, especially when I see I've made a mistake, and...

So being dance partners was a mistake?

Let's call it ill-advised.

I'm a married man, and it became quite obvious that, although we're nothing more than colleagues, appearances...

Might send the wrong message to others.

Especially since I'm awaiting the return of my wife.

I'm... I'm sure you could understand that.

Oliver, she's not coming back.

I know it appears that way...

Three weeks ago, an American named Holly O'Toole signed a three-year lease for a place in the fourth arrondissement...

Stop. of Paris.

Don't say another word.

[Huffs]

How dare you?

How dare you inv*de my privacy?

And my wife's with that horrible machine and that insatiable curiosity of yours?

I assume that's what you did.

Looked up my wife's comings and goings.

Just because you have the means to do so, just because you can?

Because I care, Oliver!

I watch you check that stupid Paris box every single day, telling yourself that she must have sent a forwarding address, and convincing yourself that it just got lost in the mail, and, someday, it'll just find its way back to the dead letter office and...

So what?

"So what?"

So you can stop living in limbo and start living your life.

It's my life to live!

Why couldn't you mind your own business?

Just let...

Let...

"Nature take its course"?

I'm sorry, Oliver.

I am truly sorry, but this bird has flown, my friend.

This is how friends behave?

I don't know. I don't know.

I've never had a friend like you before.

Yes, well.

You may presume too much.

Maybe so.

[Relieved sigh and chuckle]

Three minutes! Perfect!

What did you think of the little twirly thing?

I just threw it in last minute.

Yeah, I thought the twirl was really... twirly.

Really? Okay! Uh... let me try it again.

Ready?

Whoa!

Ah!

[Gasps and sighs dreamily]

Rita?

Gushes: Norman.

Oh! There it is.

Ooh...

My inverted pink pelican.

I've been looking all over for it.

Great.

Hey.

Ms. Doherty.

We were worried about you.

I'm sorry, I just...

Where's Caitlyn?

She's looking for you.

Of course, she is.

I only went for the girl scout bronze star.

She went for the gold.

Sounds like you two have been through a lot together, though.

Ms. McInerney, I don't think that's...

Vanessa: It's okay. We have been through a lot.

We didn't really do it together.

Coming here's the first thing we've done together in years.

Can't hardly remember when we were ever close.

I guess mama never forgot.

[Girls giggling]

Good morning, my crazy girls.

Careful. This is hot.

You hold the cups, Nessa.

I should hold them. Nessa's too little.

I am not.

I'm just trying to protect you.

I'm protecting you.

I love to see you two together.

We're best friends forever.

Forever, forever.

Promise me you'll always stay friends.

You have to make a promise, too, though.

Like what?

I don't know. Make something up.

Okay.

I promise...

I promise to take you on a hike today and show you the closest thing to "forever" there is.

It's like... The edge of forever.

I want to see the edge of forever.

It's the most beautiful thing you've ever seen.

Daddy says you're the most beautiful thing he's ever seen.

We shouldn't go without daddy.

Oh. That reminds me...

[Lighter clicks on]

Happy Birthday, Nessa.

Make a wish.

I wish daddy could be here.

Well, guess what? He will be!

He left a message on the machine that he's flying to Los Angeles for his meeting a day early, so he can be home late tonight.

I thought he couldn't come.

So did I!

But I'm glad he changed his mind.

He just misses us.

Well, that means we better hurry up and take our hike.

Let's walk back to the store and get some things for our picnic.

Can we make s'mores?

S'mores!

Yes. Promise.

Now drink your hot chocolate and let's get going.

Until dad comes home for me either.

[Both chuckle]

[Bell jingles]

[TV playing quietly]

Hello?

[News report plays on TV]

att*ck on New York City, and we have to assume on the United States itself.

I mean, there's a lot of chaos on the ground here, a lot of emergency vehicles.

Countless people are here evacuating the financial district.

They're making their way uptown...

Daddy's okay, right?

Of course he is.

He was flying from Boston to Los Ange...

[chokes up]

[Shaking sigh]

Anchor:Flew the first plane into the north tower at approximately 8:45 this morning...

[♪♪♪]

That was the last time you were here.

And you lost your father that day?

Voice shakes: We lost it all.

I remember Maggie now.

She was the lady with the TV in there.

She gave us free orange sodas, helped my mom go back to the tent and pack everything up.

She drove us home in our car and made dinner for us.

"She was a good friend to us, once, when we needed one."

That was in the letter.

I don't remember ever seeing her after that.

I guess mama did.

They say tragedy either brings people closer together or tears them apart.

Well, I guess it's obvious which one happened to me and Catie.

It's like...

We were drowning, and all we could do was save ourselves.

You know what Catie does?

She's one of those 9-1-1 emergency operators.

And you?

I married an airplane pilot.

I fly for free all the time, everywhere, as much as I can...

London, Rome, Paris.

Everywhere but New York.

[Vehicle approaching]

Sorry.

Had to pick up some propane.

You folks been waiting long?

Oh...

She came by around four months ago.

We talked and got caught up, then she... sat down and wrote this, right there at that table.

Cried and cried.

We both cried by the end of it.

Made me promise that, when this came, I was supposed to mail the letters and wait until the two of you showed up.

We did.

But now Caitlyn's off somewhere.

Sorry.

Can't give this to you to read until you're both together.

That was the deal.

[Bell jingles]

Together.

Found her.

We looked all over for you.

I delivered the ashes to Maggie, and it would seem your mother's treasure hunt is back on track.

The treasure hunt continues.

"Nessa's fondue would have been worse by far, if she'd tried to melt a... "?

What?

If she'd tried to melt a chocolate bar?

Right.

Next.

"Inside of these treats aren't blues or yellows, 'cause white and puffy must be... "

"Marshmallows."

Maggie chuckles: Okay.

Caitlyn, "to solve the next, you'll have to factor in a box of Graham... "

Crackers.

It doesn't rhyme. Factor/crackers?

She made these herself.

So she wants us to make s'mores?

Only after you've answered one last question.

"A treasure waits for you to find but only if you leave behind whatever each has in her heart that kept two sisters so long apart."

This is ridiculous. It's not gonna change anything.

Change what?

Don't tell me you haven't always blamed me for dad!

What?

Dad left Boston a day early so that he could be here for my birthday.

He wouldn't have been on that plane if it weren't for me, and you knew it.

Is that honestly what you thought all this time?

That I blamed you?

Nessa, it's my fault!

Sobs: It's all my fault.

All that week, all you did was cry because daddy wasn't gonna make it home for your birthday, so I found his number in mom's book, and I called the hotel, and I left a message in his room and told him he had to come home for your birthday, because you missed him so much, and I missed him, too.

Oh, Catie...

I was just trying to help.

And all this time, you've been blaming yourself?

I couldn't tell mama, I couldn't tell you.

So you just stopped talking to me altogether?

Nessa, I'm sorry. I'm... I'm sorry.

Oh, Catie.

I love you so much.

[Vanessa sobs]

I love you, too.

[Sisters sniffling]

You're my big sister.

We're all we've got.

[Sobs]

Shane: "My darling girls, "if you are reading this it can only mean you found your way to Maggie's together and have forgiven each other for whatever it was that kept you apart for so long I never knew what it was but I knew it started here, and here is where it has to end... "

Carrie, writing: "So, this is my last gift to you...

"you did it.

You have found each other and you've found me."

"Each of you is part of me and when you find yourselves missing me, look for what you need in each other."

"Now I ask only one thing.. That you let me keep the promise I made so long ago to you."

"Let me take you on that hike I wanted to share with you that day Go in search of the most beautiful place in the world I can't tell you where it is It will be the place you find and agree upon together.

[♪♪♪]

"It will be the place where you can forgive each other.

"It is where your daddy waits for me It is the edge of forever and it is where you must let me go Be happy, my sweet girls Take care of each other And remember, you will always be sisters but maybe, today you learned once more how to be friends I love you forever and forever.

Mama."

I think we found it.

Yeah.

[Sighs shakily]

I think we should say a prayer or a poem or something, but...

Voice breaks: I don't know what to say.

I thought I would.

But I don't.

You know, Mr. O'Toole is very good with words and recitations, and he is a man of faith, after all.

I'd be honored, if that's...

Yes.

If that's okay with you?

Yeah.

[Mouths word]

"Whenever I have sorrow whenever clouds arise when songs give place to sighing... (Chokes up) .. When hope within me dies... I draw the closer to him From care, he sets me free His eye is on the sparrow and I know he watches me His eye is on the sparrow... And I know he watches me."