2 - Granny's Bed and Breakfast
After leaving the car in a nearby space, the girls had found a small B&B and were waiting at the desk which appeared to be unmanned.
"Okay, what is with this wallpaper?" asked Hanna, distastefully glancing at the walls red flower pattern which they all had to admit wasn't exactly pretty.
"Hanna" hissed Aria, as an old woman shuffled towards the desk shooting Hanna a murderous glare.
"Can I help you?" she snapped, looking over the girls with clear hostility.
"Umm, hi we were wondering if you have any rooms available?" asked Spencer, as usual taking the lead.
"Sure" the woman was clearly unwilling to offer any additional information without prompting.
"Can we have 2 rooms preferably next to each other"
"Ruby!" the woman yelled, making them all jump.
A few seconds later, a tall skinny brunette with bright red streaks in her hair dressed in a skimpy waitress uniform made her way in from the other side of the counter.
"What is it Granny?" she asked, popping her chewing gum.
"Can you show these girls to their rooms please?" Granny handed Ruby two keys with the numbers 1 and 2 engraved on them and gave her a look.
Not one that Spencer understood, but she definitely noticed. Ruby turned to them with a slightly confused look and them gestured for them to follow her upstairs.
"So where are you girls from?" Ruby smiled, as she led them up the stairs.
"Philadelphia, a little town called Rosewood" replied Emily.
"Sounds like a nice place. So what brings you to Storybrooke?"
"Ummm, we..." Emily looked at Spencer but it was Hanna who jumped in.
"We were on our way to Portland to meet some friends but the had to cancel at the last minute so we decided to stop here"
"Oh okay" something in Ruby's tone suggested that she didn't quite believe them. But she quickly unlocked the 2 doors which were adjacent to each other and stood back.
"These are your rooms, Granny's cafe is just downstairs so whenever you're hungry we open from 7-9. If you need anything just ask and enjoy your stay"
They waited until Ruby left and Emily and Hanna had dumped their stuff in Room 2 and all gathered in room 1, sat on the bed in silence.
"Why is everyone looking at us like we just killed someone?" said Aria finally, breaking the highly uncomfortable silence.
"You don't think they know, about Rosewood?" asked Emily quietly.
"No, no way" said Hanna, "Okay, there's no way this tiny little town in Maine has heard of Rosewood, it's literally miles away!"
"Yeah but you never know. Ali's disappearance was quite a major story" said Aria.
"It doesn't matter if they know! Let's just use this weekend to gather our thoughts and then when we get back maybe we will be a step closer to finding A and this trip won't be a complete waste!" said Spencer, fiddling with her nail.
Aria's features softened a little, it was clear that Spencer blamed herself for dragging them up here and she wanted to reassure her. She decided the best way was to just change the conversation topic.
"I'm starving, you wanna go downstairs and get some food"
"Good idea!" said Emily, jumping at a chance to lighten the mood.
Emma and Regina arrived outside Granny's and were greeted by Ruby, who had clearly been waiting for them. She had been pacing slightly agitatedly before a look of relief spread across her face at the sight of the women.
"They're inside" she said.
Emma moved to go straight inside but Regina grabbed her arm and turned to Ruby "What do we know about them?"
"4 girls, they say they're from a town called Rosewood in Philadelphia. Said they just stopped by on their way to Portland, but I'm not convinced" said Ruby, folding her arms.
"No one just 'stops through' Storybrooke. No one should be able to find it!" Emma was clearly a lot more shaken by this than she was letting on and Regina could hear the panic rising in her voice.
"Do you think they know about magic?" asked Regina, trying to keep Emma focused and calm.
"They didn't mention it but neither would I. To people who don't know it would sound crazy?!" said Ruby, making a good point.
"Alright Sheriff, time to do some digging" said Regina, warily watching Emma as she shifted in agitation.
She began to walk boldly towards the door to Granny's as Emma turned to Ruby and said a quick thanks before turning and hurrying after the mayor. They walked over to the counter and tried to keep from staring. The 4 girls were sat in a booth near the corner, talking quietly.
"What do you think Granny?" asked Emma, leaning on the counter.
"They're suspicious, but I don't see them as a threat"
"Great, now we're taking advice from a wolf!" mumbling Regina, rolling her eyes.
"You were more than happy to take advice from Ruby, madame mayor!" said Emma, who knew Regina and Granny never really saw eye to eye.
"Here's your coffee" said Granny, handing Emma hers and slamming Regina's down on the counter in front of her earning her a glare.
"Well, I'd say it's about time we introduced ourselves" said Emma, interrupting the staring contest that had ensued.
"I still think Melissa..." started Hanna warily.
"Please don't go there Han" jumped in Spencer, taking a sip of her triple shot black coffee.
"Look I'm not saying she's A, I just think she knows more than she's saying" Hanna raised her hands defensively.
"Yeah Spence, we can't exactly forget that she was in Ali's room the night..." Aria started.
"So, you must be our latest visitors"
Looking up, they saw two women stood at the end of their table. The one who had spoken had what Spencer saw as a slightly cold smile on her red lips and short raven hair, dressed neatly in a black blazer and trousers with a purple silk blouse. The woman next to her was much more casually dressed in a white tank top, jeans and a red leather jacket. She was stood with her fingers hooked in her pocket and their eyes were immediately drawn to the shiny gold sheriff's badge in her belt.
"Umm, I guess so" said Aria, with a small smile.
"Well I'm Regina Mills, I'm the mayor. Sheriff Swan and I thought we should welcome you to our little town" she said, her voice sweet but the girls could sense an edge to it none of them quite understood.
"Lovely to meet you" said Emily, the politeness her mother had taught her taking over, "I'm Emily and this is Aria, Hanna and Spencer"
"So what brings you to our small town? I only ask as we don't exactly get many visitors!" Regina was still smiling but Aria noticed this was the second time they'd been asked in the 10 minutes they'd been there.
"We were on our way to Portland and thought we'd stop for the weekend" said Emily, smiling, "This town seems charming"
"Well, we do our best to be welcoming" said Regina, glancing to Emma who had been practically mute the entire conversation and was staring intently at the girls.
Aria and Emily were shifting under her gaze and Regina lightly tapped her Emma's arm to try and get her to stop. Emma appeared to snap out of it, and just at that moment 3 people bustled into the diner. The first in was a young boy who was practically bouncing with excitement.
"Mom! Mom!" he beamed, rushing over to Emma and Regina, "David let me drive the truck!"
"You did what?!" snapped Regina, turning and glaring at the tall man with neat brown hair and a sheepish expression.
"I just wanted to show him we were cool grandparents!" he said, avoiding eye contact.
"Come on dad, really?!" it was the first time the Sheriff had spoken so far.
"What damage do I have to repair?" Regina's voice was soft, in a calm-before-the-storm kind of way.
"Only like one postbox!"
"David!"
"Come on Henry, let's get you a hot chocolate" said the other woman, who had a short dark hair and bright eyes, ushering the boy away.
Regina had grabbed David's arm and walked off to one corner where she was clearly giving him a piece of her mind. David looked decidedly uncomfortable, shifting from side to side, eyes fixed on the floor. Emma turned to the girls, who were looking slightly confused.
"Sorry, those are my parents Mary-Margaret and David" she offered in way of an explanation, "And that is Henry. He's mine and Regina's son"
Hanna's eyes widened and she said, "Oh are you two together?"
"Hanna!" said Spencer and Aria at the same time.
"It's totally okay if you are, Emily's like that!"
"Hanna!" said Emily a little louder, shooting her a glare.
"No no" laughed Emma, good naturedly, "I'm his biological mother but Regina adopted him as I was very young at the time"
"Oh" said Hanna, nodding.
"Emma, do you want anything?" called Mary-Margaret, from the counter.
"I'd better go, but it was nice to meet you girls. I hope you enjoy your stay in Storybrooke" smiled Emma, turning and heading towards the counter.
"Hanna, you can't just ask people things like that?" said Spencer, glaring at her friend.
"What? It was a reasonable question"
"And you just had to announce to everyone that I was gay in the first 15 minutes of being here!" snapped Emily, folding her arms.
"Sorry, I panicked!" Hanna's tone made it clear she was not very sorry.
"So, what do we think?" asked Aria, lowering her voice a little.
"I don't know about you guys, but the mayor scares me" said Emily, glancing at where David was still being reprimanded.
"Yeah, let's not get on the wrong side of her shall we!" said Spencer, looking over at Emma, Mary-Margaret and Henry who were laughing and smiling together, "Sheriff Swan seems nice though, what was her name?"
"Emma, I think"
"Maybe we've finally found a police officer we can trust" said Aria, ever the optimist.
"Let's not get ahead of ourselves. I think Caleb must have got his information wrong, unless you think Mayor Mills is A?" said Spencer, ever the pessimist.
"I don't know, I think we should do some more digging. There must be something important here, Caleb worked on that for a long time, chasing a lot of dead ends. Plus there's something about this place"
Emily raised an eyebrow quizzically at Hanna's declaration and she explained, "I don't know, this place gives me weird vibes"
"Thanks Sylvia Browne!" said Spencer, sarcastically, "Well I say we finish our coffee and then go exploring. If we're going to stay here we may as well look around!"
"Who?"
"Never mind Han, let's go!" said Emily, downing the rest of her drink.
Once Regina had finished scolding David, she made her way over to Emma and pulled her to one side.
"Sorry, about dad!" said Emma.
"Well, I'll be fixing a postbox and a few lampposts but I think he's got the picture!" said Regina, dismissing it with a wave of her hand, "Now, what do you think?"
"My superpower tells me they're lying about stopping through on the way to Portland but not about who they are or anything else. What do you suggest we do?"
The Mayor was silent for a moment, mulling over possibilities in her head.
"I say, we borrow Henry's book and see if they look like any of the characters in there and go from there. Seeing as we can't exactly ask them if they are from a magical land, I think it's our best shot"
"Good plan, I'll get it off Henry tonight and have a look"
"Alright, meanwhile, I'm going to see if I've got anything in my vault to help us out"
"What are you guys talking about?" asked Henry, sticking his head in the gap between his two mothers.
"Discussing a new mission Henry, you want in?" smiled Regina, knowing Henry's love of adventures.
"Sure" beamed Henry, excited.
"It needs a name kiddo" said Emma, as Henry pondered.
"How about...Operation Eagle?" he declared, clearly proud of himself.
"Operation Eagle is ago!" said Emma, with a mock salute making Henry giggle.
Ago indeed, thought Regina as she watched the girls carefully.