Al watched from the table, not hearing the discussion but closely observing the odd mannerisms of the innkeep.
The man never dropped his smile. He shook his head negatively, his movements twitchy and odd. "No. Nothing odd really. Simple wood, beautiful lakes, but nothing out of order" He mused. It hadn't been noticeable during check-in, or at the least Joseph never mentioned it, but the innkeeps voice was.. weird, to say the least. He sounded scratchy and old, the way the floorboard on the stairs of an abandoned house might creek, and he spoke slowly, not as if he was finding the word, but as though he wasn't used to speaking. Like he was taking his time getting his words out. It was an unsettling combination
Ama's hand shook behind her back, but she continued smiling. "Are you sure? Neri suggested you might know something."
Laural watched her sister closely, almost glaring at the innkeep
Chris observed the innkeeper, taking mental notes of him, planning to google about him later, he looked for a nametag or something to tell him who this man was.
His nametag, a small gold placard clipped to his breast pocket read 'Joe Green'. It was an extremely generic name, to be honest. "I mean, there's always the risks that come with the forest, but aside from the odd few missing persons from years past, nothing. Not current at least." He responded. The damn smile. With each syllable he uttered, his smile faltered just enough to form letter sounds
("What'km ESD find mst.mkssknfnkerdkdn?
What j just managed to sleep. In case you haven't tell, autocorrect cannot help a sleep deprived Eldritch horror half the time. I'm surprised it's managed to get the rest of it, because what I've types had not been any more coherent)
(I will reply when I can actually form cohesion thought)
"Oh! When was the last one.?" Ama asked excitedly. She was bouncing on her toes, excited to have possibly found a lead.
Laural watched wearily, nibbling on her food
Chris made a mental note of the name, figuring it was fake, from the genericity of it, but if he looked up the name with the location, he might find something.
"A year and a half ago. Never found the poor bloke" He replied. At this, his smile dropped a bit, but returned almost immediately
Ama nodded. "What was his name? Were there any clues? Maybe we could find him!"
She seemed genuine, not only wanting to find the cryptid rumored to be around here, but also to find any victims that weren't found.
Joseph finished his coffee and then picked up a fork and stole a bite from Simon's plate.
Simon looked at his friend, smiling. Heck, a bite of his pancakes was better than straight bean water for breakfast. Al, on the other hand, was entirely focused on the creepy inkeep.
"The name was Leiara Camden. No clues though. Poor girl was just there one moment, gone the next. Never seen again, even though search parties combed the area back and forth for months. She was only 14 years old" Now the old man seemed sad. It was the first 'normal' display of emotion they'd seen the innkeep display. As though he knew the gir
Ama's smile faltered. "Did you know her? I'm sorry for your loss-"
Laural was still suspicious of the man, perhaps even more so now.
Joseph smiled back at Simon, putting the fork down and getting up to make himself another cup of coffee.
Chris made a mental note of that name, more work for him later.
"She was a regular here with her aunt. This here forests' a national one. They used to go hiking in it" He replied
Ama nodded. "Do you know what trails they liked? Where was she last seen? We'll look for any clues, and find her if at all possible."
Laural finished her breakfast but stayed where she was, watching the innkeeper closely.
Joseph took his coffee and walked over to stand beside Ama with a polite smile.
The innkeep smiled at Joseph. "Not particularly. She was last seen on Plainlow Pass though" He replied. Al and Simon still kept an eye from the table
Ama nodded, taking not of the name. "Thank you for your help. We'll do our best to figure out what's going on!"
Laural stood up to toss her trash, still just watching. She trusted Ama, but the innkeeper was unsettling.
Joseph held his empty hand out to the innkeeper to shake, "I am Joseph, we spoke yesterday, I would like to thank you for you help, and warn you we might come asking more questions later, we can be a very curious bunch" he smiled.
The innkeep returned his smile and shook Joseph's hand as Al and Simon approached. "Of course! I'm more than happy to answer them" He responded. Al had walked up beside Chris and Simon beside Joseph. Simon's expression read neutral, and Al had her resting glare on
Laural smiled slightly, happy to see that Ama was safe with the other teens. She approached as well. "Should we get going? Sounds like there might be a trail to visit or research."
Chris shrugged, "Ill go back to the room to research". As he normally did.
Joseph sipped his coffee with a hum, "Yeah, I suppose so".
Simon nodded and simply followed as the group walked off. Al did too. "I say we find the trail, let Chris do his research, and Simon and I can case it later today, have us all out there by tomorrow?" She proposed. Her and Simon's job was a safety precaution, one she especially wanted to take having Ama with them.
Laurel nodded. "That sounds great. I'll try to find the mom, me and Ama can go talk to her, try to find out more about her."
Ama nodded in agreement.
Joseph sipped his coffee, "whats that leave me to do?".
Chris agreed and headed back towards the rooms, where he could sit and research in peace.
"If Chris manages to find people we need to interview about stuff, all you. Otherwise, you're welcome to case the area with Simon and I" Al replied. Joseph's job in this phase was usually that. If there was no one to ask questions to, he'd join Al and Simon. After all, he was the one concealed-carrying
Ama smiled. "You can join us if we find me missing person's mom. as long as you promise not to scare her unless she gets violent."
Laurel looked at Ama incredulously.
"No offense, but I think I'll stick with Simon and Al." Jospeh said with a soft smile, being 6' tall people, espically wemon, more so when they are in mourning, tend to be wary of him. "Besides, I can protect Simon and Al if anything happens, you two shouldn't need protection."
Chris went into the room he was staying in and sat at the provided table, pulling out his laptop and notebook and started searching, for the missing girl first, to help Laural and Ama find the person they wanted to talk to.
( of course! The hesitant cryptic and the child can protect themselves better than the two that are fully prepared lol- though laural is good at preventing them from needing protection)
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