Emma Vanderboom

**Emma Vanderboom** is a member of the Vanderboom family, and the only daughter of James and Mary. She is the mother of one child, Frank.

## Rusty Lake: Roots

Emma is born on April 26th, 1867, the middle child between her brothers Samuel and Albert. She is put into a cot next to the first born, Samuel, and given a bottle of water to drink from. In 1876, she and her brother Albert are trying to catch a butterfly outside. Samuel uses a slingshot to shoot the butterfly off of the tree, and it lands on Emma's head. She catches it in the jar she is holding, and Albert tries to push her over. She manages to push him harder, and he falls over onto the tree. Samuel shoots a beehive on the tree and knocks it down onto Albert's head, causing Emma to laugh at him.

During the Spring of 1884, she has created a garden in the yard and has begun crossbreeding her flowers. After crossbreeding her existing flowers into four new plants, she puts them together into an empty pot. The four plants combine and they become one new flower, with glowing orb-like seeds that fly off the flower head. The seeds fly under Emma's skirt, impregnating her with her son Frank.

In 1891, Frank mysteriously goes missing. She searches throughout the Lake using a telescope, but cannot find him. She attaches a letter around Harvey's neck to be delivered to Frank, explaining that if he ever finds the letter, to look for her in the stars. In 1895, she appears in her brother Samuel's family wedding photo, along with his new wife Ida and son Leonard. Joining them are her mother Mary and her brother Albert.

In 1896, she decides to paint outside, near the tree. The player must paint the canvas using the same colors as her flowers. Once the painting is complete, the sky turns grey and Emma has hanged herself from the tree. Her tears are collected in her painting oil bottle, becoming the third sacrifice. She is then buried in the Vanderboom family graveyard, along with her father James, until her grave is dug up many years later in 1932 by her niece, Rose, and her right leg bone stolen.

Later, in the Winter of 1930, Frank is searching for the silver timepiece in the attic. He finally receives his mother's letter from Harvey, which is delivered 39 years later. There is a portrait of Emma and her son on the wall, which maps out a certain constellation that can be seen through the telescope. When the constellation is lit up, her spirit appears through the stars, and she asks the player to have her son read her letter. The letter contains the combination code to open up a small locked chest, which contains the timepiece.

## Trivia

* She was 29 years old at the time of her death.
* Her personal symbol is a flower.
* The tarot card associated with her is the Hanged Man, which refers to her death by hanging. She is also associated with the Queen of Pentacles, which references the title of the chapter where she is introduced, "Fertility".
* Despite being in the chapter "The Wedding Photo", her picture is not present among the frames introducing the characters present at the beginning of the stage.
* She appears to have aged prematurely, having a pale and wrinkled face at age 24.