2. Road Trip

Marcus looks around the room to see if he spots any reactions in the waitresses and staff, after the Law left the place.
Relief, amusement? He wonders what the locals think of their blunt Sheriff.

Maybe some staff could be persuaded to share some gossip

Marcus catches reaction of the waitress behind the counter when the sheriff leaves. She smiles and waves. Reflexive. Neighbourly. If there is any animosity there, it's not evident. She doesn't seem bothered by his heavy-handed approach. Maybe she's seen it enough times.

Cutter is different.

The teenager sees the deputy moving towards the door and swivels on his stool, picture raised - eager, waiting to be noticed. The waitress grabs the boys arm. Not hard, but firm. She gives him a stern look - one from parent to child ... don't.

She looks back into the kitchen. The chef stands behind the pass-through, watching Cutter's back as he moves through the door. He looks back at the waitress and they share a look of concern.

The door slams shut behind the deputy. Both of them relax noticeably. The waitress releases the boys arm and returns to her duties without a word. The chef drops his gaze and returns to the kitchen. The boy looks down at his drawing for a moment, then continues working on it.

Marcus leans over to Ellis and Jocelyn, gesturing to the kid with his head.

"Did you notice the kid over there? He wanted to show his drawing to the Deputy... But his mom, the waitress, stopped him. Something weird going on there. Can you see what the drawing is, from where you're sitting?"

"Let me see if I can get a peek," Ellis replies to Marcus.

Marcus leans down with the pretext of tying a shoelace, and tries to get a better line of sight to the kid and his drawing.

Marcus leans over just as the teen moves to take a drink of his soda. The picture clearly visible on the counter in front of him.

Jocelyn goes to the counter to get some sugar and heads back to her seat, a perplexed look on her face.

He whispers to Jocelyn. "Did you see it too? A weird subject, for sure... Were those... trees with mouths?"

He briefly describes the strange drawing to Ellis.
"Best to pretend we didn't see it, for now. The mother seemed sensitive about that drawing..."

"I'm sorry," Ellis replies in disbelief, "Did you say trees with mouths?"

After a moment to settle down, he adds, "I agree with you, we saw nothing as far as anyone else is concerned."

What the heck is happening in this town? Ellis thinks to himself.

"I saw the trees were odd," Jocelyn says in a hushed voice, "but it was the kids around the fire holding hands and one of them...levitating...that caught my attention more."

"Levitating, or... jumping into the fire?" he replies softly. "Either way, that's a weird thing to draw..."

Noticing the waitress approaching with the coffee pot, he calls her over for a refill.
"Thank you so much... nice place you have here! Family ran, I guess?" he says jovially, in a casual conversational tone.

"And we haven't even ordered any food yet" Jocelyn adds, feeling something of a pit in her stomach. "Say ma'am, I could do with this hot roast beef sandwich," She turns the menu to face the waitress and points at the sandwich section with a smile.

"And could you ask Jim to be generous with the mustard? That is Jim in back, right?"

She turns to Clarissa who is sat next to her, quite possibly because of the swarm of boys around them. "How do you actually know Robert?"

Ann brightens at the question. "Family owned - that's right. I'm Ann." She tilts her head towards the kitchen. "That's Jim, and this ..." She ruffles the boy's hair "... is Jason."

Jason glances up from the picture and gives the group a smile and a small wave.

Ann takes everyone's order, scratching notes onto her pad in practiced shorthand. "I'll be back with your drinks, and food should be up shortly." She turns and calls out the orders to the kitchen, starting with Jocelyn's "Jim! Beef commercial, paint it yellow ..."

---

Clarissa looks over at Robert briefly, then back to Jocelyn. "He approached me one day not to long ago." She shrugs. "He's not really my type, if I'm being honest. I mean, I'm focused on making the Dean's list. He's a train wreck."

She pauses and sighs. "He caught me at the right time. I'm well ahead on all of my reading and assignments - I suppose I was in the mood to be distracted. When he mentioned this trip I thought - why not? A weekend out of Arkham." Her eyes light up. "Besides, the whole story of missing students. It's quite the intriguing mystery. Imagine if we actually found them."

That is pretty much the right answer for Jocelyn and she warms to Clarissa even more, though she still finds Blaine's behaviour quite odd. She never tried for the Dean's list herself when she was an undergrad, it had never even occurred to her to go that extra mile in the subjects she was less fond of, all to achieve an accolade.

"That drawing reminds me," she says in a lower tone, just meant for their table, "Robert!" she leans over to the next table where the leader of the expedition is sat "Remember you said I could have as much time with those books as I wanted if I came along? Well here I am and a promise is a promise.".

The thought has crossed Jo's mind that Blaine maybe wants Clarissa along so much because she is a woman. (The only other reason she can think of is her family connection.) With his interest in demonology, the strange drawing and with Daphne Devine having gone missing, her mind leads her to an unpleasant supposition that she prefers not to voice. But she does resolve to keep Clarissa close.

He nods his head smiling at the introductions.
"You don't get coffee like this, in Arkham. Or in Boston, for that matters! That's where I'm from. Hey, I can see Jason is quite the artist!"