Try the Reception

Pulling on her gun-belt, Clarissa made her way down to the motel reception. Her head was still banging like crazy but she needed to put her fears to rest. Entering the room, she was struck by just how acrid the room felt, like something had died in here but she couldn't be sure what or where. Clarissa vaguely recalled having bad vibes from this room last night, but she'd just chalked it up to exhaustion. The motel couldn't be that bad, she reasoned, they supplied us with plenty booze.

She approached the desk, which had a little green dinosaur toy on it, and saw the shrivelled up bespectacled woman almost hidden completely behind it. The woman was frail, although she couldn't have been older than 50, judging from her wrinkles. She had graying hair, tied up in a little bun, and wore a simple brown dress. The lady looked up from her desk and smiled a sweet, hopeful little smile,

"Well howdy there, Miss, I hope you found things to your liking." Her voice was throaty, quite hoarse but delicate like a cactus rose,

"I did, thanks Miss..." Clarissa was fairly sure the lady had told her her name before but she'd completely forgotten it,

"Crawford, although folks round here just call me Jeannie May," the older lady smiled her pleasant smile,

"Hi...Jeannie May umm," Clarissa stammered a little, taken back by the sweetness of the lady's voice, "I'm looking for my friend, Cassidy? Red hair, cowboy hat, brown leather jacket? I think she went out for a walk earlier."

"Oh sure, I remember her. Fiery girl ain't she?" Jeannie May showed her teeth,

"Umm yeah, sure," Clarissa 'smiled' back, "did you see her?"

"Oh I see every which way that comes through here dear." Clarissa lit up a little hearing this,

"Great, so where'd she go?"

"Well, let's see now," Jeannie May coughed, "she seemed awful tired this morning, stumbling about which ways. I hope you girls weren't drinking too much," Clarissa wasn't sure, but she thought Jeannie May had just laughed. It came out more like a sputter though,

"We were fine, thanks, but which way did she go?" Clarissa pressured. She was getting a little irritated now,

"She done headed down the road I think, towards Old Lady Gibson's place."

"Old Lady Gibson?"

"Oh she's a sweet old thing. Lotsa dogs though. I never was one for pets myself,"

"But where is she?!"

"You know the big HELIOS One tower?" Clarissa nodded. They'd seen it on their way into town, high and bright in the early evening sunlight, a huge satellite dish on stilts,

"If you head on down the road that direction, you can't miss Old Lady Gibson's place. She runs a little scrapyard. Mind the dogs though."

"Okay, that's amazing thank you!" Clarissa breathed a sigh of relief, just happy to get out of this suffocating room.

"Hope you find your friend!" she heard the older lady call as she headed out the door.