Can my employer change their referral for hire after committing to it?

I recently started at a large department store and then applied for a job at one of their stores out of state. I had expressed interest a long time ago but everything was on hold due to the economy. My manager said she would support me and gave the hiring manager a positive report, and gave me my 45 day progress report which was outstanding. She asked what my last day needed would be and I told her, explaining that's when I had scheduled my flight. She kept me on the schedule for two days beyond my last day and told me to find people to fill these days. i reminded her that I had a flight and she said I needed to take care of these two days. I told her I would do what I could. She just walked away and then left for vacation. I asked everyone in the department and no one was available. They all told me it didn't matter that they were happy to have fewer people on because better opportunity for them to make $and that they did this all the time. I talked to HR and she said it shouldn't matter as long as the dept. said it was ok. My mgr had previously informed me to get trained by my team, and informed then to train me and help as much as possible. When she returned from vacation my name had been crossed off of the schedule and she got angry and refused to endorse my transfer. The store manager at the store that was hiring me refused the application. I had continued with the transfer process based on the committments made by the hiring manager and my current manager. I was in my new town without a job! The hiring manager refuses to return my calls, as well as the HR manager. I talked to my current/former manager and she said I was unreliable because I didn't cover my last two days and she wouldn't recommend me. I had been warned by several employees prior to all this but didn't understand that they new I was being set up. I spoke to my managers boss who was new, and he just said I didn't follow her instructions. I responded that I did, because she told me to follow the instructions and guidance of my team, and I did, and she told them to properly train me. I followed their instructions. Is this defamation? What about the new location's management refusing to hear my side of the story?