The End of the Littlest One [Completed]

38. Scanning crowds

'Then you walk straight ahead for a while, and-, 'the woman looked down. 'Mel, stop pinching my arm.'

The little girl next to her looked her mom in the eyes.

'Don't give me those puppy eyes,' the woman said. 'You know they'll make me melt.'

The little girl laughed, and her mother smiled.

As soon as Olivia arrived at the town, she approached someone to tell her where the inn was. The first approachable people she noticed were the mother with her child in front of her. The resemblance between the two was incredible.

'And then you turn left. It'll be a large, stone building. You can't miss it.'

'Alright,' she said. 'Thank you so much.'

'Sure, no problem. Have a good day.'

'You too.'

The woman smiled and took the hand of her child.

'Let's go.'

The two left Olivia. She, in her turn, followed the woman's instructions, and started the last part of her trip to the guys' inn.

She turned left, and was welcomed by a wide, paved road. It seemed that people had shoveled the snow off of it. High piles of snow stood next to the road, presumably on the pavement. Consequently, pedestrian and driver travelled on the same road, narrowly avoiding each other.

It seemed like, in the past few days, it snowed more here than at where Olivia came from. The people she saw here weren't bothered by it and continued their day like it were any other.

True to the woman's words, you couldn't miss the inn, even if you wanted to. The stone building looked like a miniature castle and had four floors. It was busy in front of the doors; a constant flow of people walking in and out. Outside of the building, people were catching up in small groups.

She scanned the crowd. Different people from all layers of society were talking with each other. She saw young and old people, short and tall, dressed fancy and not so fancy.

None of them were the two men she was looking for. From the second she was even remotely close to the town, she made sure her eyes were wide open. She scanned every man's face, but none turned out to be the ones she was hoping to find.

Olivia had no other choice but to walk straight into the inn and ask if there were two people checked in named Jamie and Danny.

So, she did.

'Good afternoon, how can I help?'

The man behind the desk at the reception smiled at Olivia.

'Good afternoon. I was wondering if two men named Jamie and Danny are currently renting a room,' she responded.

The man flipped through the open book in front of him. His index finger traced numerous pages, while he read the countless names written in them.

Olivia felt a sting of jealousy. This inn was so much bigger, fancier and more crowdy than Sheppard's would ever be. It would be so much more interesting and fun to work here. It would probably pay better as well. Maybe she'd ask if they were in need of more employees. Not now, though. There are more important things happening.

'I don't see any Jamies, miss. I see a Danny checked in two days ago. It says here the man seemed to be sixty to seventy years old. Could that be who you're looking for?'

'It's not, unfortunately,' Olivia said.

Did they give me a false address? It couldn't be. Why would they do that if they needed me? I can't be in the wrong town either. Plus, the woman said she was sure this is where I was supposed to be.

'I'm afraid there's no other way of knowing if they stayed here, other than the register. And since every guest has to be registered...'

He didn't finish his sentence. Instead, he looked at Olivia, hoping she would understand. That way he didn't have to disappoint her by saying what he was about to say.

'I understand,' Olivia said. 'Thank you for your effort.'

'Of course, miss. Can I help you with anything else?'

'No, I don't think so,' and after a short pause she added, 'Have a nice day.'

She smiled briefly, and turned around to exit the inn, back onto the street.