While the townsfolk might have been suspicious of their new guests, they were still quick to offer their hospitality, especially once the sheriff was involved. This was particularly of importance to Grace, as Sheriff Lyman's presence immediately lifted a huge weight from her shoulders and deposited on his. Hugh soon had his rifle back behind his bar, now more precious for the intrusion, and Grace was off to more important tasks.

After surveying the contents of Norah's kitchen, she had judged it unfit for combat with such a large crew of hungry mouths, and hurried off to raid her own larder. By the time Norah had finished sorting her new charges and returned to the kitchen, Grace had rosy-cheeked Bernadette laying out dumpling wrappers, tow-headed Jephthah (who was sporting a good shiner from yet another round of fisticuffs) scooping filling, and Grace's own hands flying around the edges. A stack of bamboo steamers was already waiting at the end of the table, and the three were quickly adding more to it.

"There's a bowl of tea eggs, there, if you think they might be appreciated," Grace said as Norah entered. "I meant to send them to the school tomorrow, so I had set the eggs to soak before we went down to the tavern. They should be about ready."

She smiled at the older woman.

"Benjamin's gone out for a wheel of cheese, if you wish to add it to the beans."

It might not be the meal the travelers were expecting, but it was sure to be one of the most...unique they had had in a long time.

By the time that Molly finished washing, she was becoming aware of a raging hunger. Some delicious aroma was beginning to waft up from the lower regions, so she followed her nose towards the source.

Peeking in through the door, she saw a bustle of activity going on, and wondered whether she should offer to help, or if she would just be in the way. Then she figured there was no harm in asking.

"Would you like me to take those to the dining room?" She pointed to a stack of plates, and some bundles of cutlery that were sitting near the door.

“Sounds good to me, thanks,” Grace replied, glancing up and smiling before returning to her work. “You can just leave the extras on the table—I don’t know how Norah will find enough chairs, or where she’ll fit them, but she will, so it would be best have them out. I’m guessing everything will be ready in the next ten minutes or so.”

Norah appreciated Grace's assistance in the kitchen. Many hands made light work, and many brains brought creative solutions. Sometimes age brought solutions too, born of experience. In Norah's case, she'd worked in a lumber camp kitchen when she was younger, and lumber camps had never bothered with chairs. They'd set everyone down on long benches.

It'd still be crowded in the dining room, but they could fit everyone in. She'd just have to fetch some boards from the storage shed out back.

Eliza and Marcus followed the rest of the group into the building while looking closely for Zale. Once inside, they noticed people writing their names into a guest book at a desk. They hoped that maybe they could ask if anyone had seen Zale or perhaps he would walk up on his own and be found that way. Eliza decided to ask anyone in the immediate area of the desk if they had seen Zale.

"Has anyone seen my son? His name is Zale and is 15 1/2, 5'10', with shoulder length black hair and has a blue right eye with a green left eye. If you see him please either tell me or tell him that Eliza and Marcus are looking for him." Eliza announced to no one in particular.

* * *

Zale had loosely followed the group to the building and just hung out by the entrance unaware of what everyone is doing inside. He searched through his clothing to find his yo-yo or to just think of a way to calm himself down from what is happening. He hoped that nothing bad will happen, the doubts still echoing inside his head.

((OOC: I wish I would have gotten this out earlier but I got a bit busy. And as I was writing this earlier it deleted and I had to start over. I hope to do more in the future. Goodnight at 12:36!))

Norah paused in the entry on her way to the dining room, an awkward armful of boards sticking up toward the ceiling.

"You folks say your son is missing? Are we talking "he was right here a minute ago" or "I haven't seen him since Dinkling Falls"? 'Cause the first, he'll show up when I ring the dinner bell, like as not, and the second you might want to have a chat with the sheriff."

"I haven't seen him since before we got here, so the latter." Eliza replied.
"Ya and we're getting a bit worried." Marcus added while scanning the group once more.

((OOC) I am again sorry about not posting. And to let you know I will not be back online until around the 16th. Good night and thanks for reading.)

"Zale?" Cody heard the familiar name, and pushed past the crowd to get to the couple he'd heard say it. He realized the pair must be Zale's parents, and felt a great deal of relief. "Did you say you're looking for Zale? He's here... I mean, he's in town with us. Last I saw him, he was sitting under a tree."

Cody was struck by guilt for abandoning Zale like he did. He'd more or less assumed that someone had found him and brought him back into the group once they'd all started moving on. He really should've double-checked that. His eyes dropped to the floor as he added, "He... he looked like he wanted to be alone for a while. But I know he was looking for you. I mean, assuming you're his parents - he was looking for his parents."

“Thank you. That really helps narrow down where he could be.” Eliza sweetly smiled at Cody for the information that he gave to her. Marcus also smiled knowing they were one step closer to finding their son.

* * *

Zale felt a bit awkward just standing outside so he finally decided to gather up the courage to go inside. Once he had made it inside he saw that there was a group of people talking to each other. While looking closer at the group he noticed Cody near the center. Zale wanted to get Cody’s attention because he was one of the only people he knew, but it seemed that he was occupied with whatever the group was talking about. Meanwhile, he spotted an unoccupied seat and sat down.

Norah gave the dinner bell a good, hard ring. No one--unless they were deaf as the grave--could miss the sound.

"Come 'n get it!" she hollered for good measure.

Her guests soon filled the benches. Norah and her helpers bustled between the kitchen and dining room, keeping the serving bowls full. Conversations sprouted around "please pass the salt" and "did you try this dish?"

It was later than the usual dinner hour, but they were unusual guests. That didn't affect any appetites that Norah noticed. With a smidge of luck she could pack everyone up to bed, content and well fed, and let tomorrow bring what it would. A good night's sleep would give perspective to the situation.

Molly smothered a big yawn. If she wasn't careful, she was going to fall asleep into her plate of food.

"Wonder what kind of sleeping arrangements they've got around here. Sure hope that 'hitting the hay' is only a figure of speech," she muttered to the boy beside her. "Are you Zale? My name's Molly. Actually, hay wouldn't be too bad, considering some of the things I've tried to sleep on," she continued, chuckling.

Other people seemed to be finishing up their meal, so Molly began collecting up the clean-scraped plates and stacking them into a pile.

As quickly as Molly scraped the plates, Grace whisked them away and into soapy water. Another dried, and Jephthah carefully stacked them. Clean up passed quickly, and soon everything was back where it belonged.

Grace stood in the doorway, watching as Nora bustled about, directing the last few folks to their appropriate rooms.

“It seems you have everyone quite sorted, so think I’ll head out and get these two to bed myself,” she said. “Goodnight, Nora, rest well.”

Faye still didn't know what to make of all this, but she had to admit some relief that the townsfolk had stopped asking questions that they didn't really have satisfying answers for. Still, she was all too grateful when the meal was wrapped up and everyone went back to their separate rooms.

Throughout the meal, she'd been musing about what could've happened. Time travel? She didn't know of a time when Ditto Town was ever called "Original", but then again she wasn't an expert in history. And yet, it was too similar to the town's actual history. There was something weird going on here, but she couldn't put her finger on it.

When she was in the bedroom with the other women, she decided to get another question answered. She cautiously glanced out the door to make sure none of the townsfolk were about, before asking in a low voice, "Did anyone else think the Sheriff seemed familiar? Something about him...." She had an idea in the back of her mind, but it was too crazy an idea. Wasn't it? "If I didn't know better, I'd say it was Dr. Milner. But then why didn't he recognize any of us?"

"That's funny," Molly looked up from the pillow she was adjusting, "I had the same feeling. Only I didn't think of Dr. Milner. Now that you mention it, though...." She shook her head, not in disagreement, but in puzzlement. "It just doesn't make sense. This whole--situation--doesn't make sense. Was this--well, whatever this change is--an accident, or is there some kind of plot or scheme or scam going on? And why were the townspeople so touchy and suspicious? I'd really like to know," she added, tucking up her blankets, "but I'm almost afraid to ask."

Bernadette had been allowed to help with dinner--she'd been The Best at Laying Out dumpling wrappers--but after that she'd wanted to see more of the strangers. So she'd gone upstairs to see what the rooms Norah had given them looked like.

The trouble with being So Small (Benjamin assured her she would grow but Bernadette wasn't sure she believed him to be the authority on this) was that sometimes you were overlooked. Still, Bernadette Wasn't Eavesdropping. Certainly not. No how. Not her. She had been Inspecting the Beds. (It was important that they had been made properly in the morning. Bernadette had no idea Why, but adults fussed about this point.)

Bernadette peered over the foot of the bed and stared at the ladies with wide eyes. "You were in an Accident? Is that why you think we're suspicious?"