[b]"What brings you to this jolly little town?"[/b]

Colm shrugged. It was a natural question, anyone would ask that. Truth was, he didn't know. He could easily have just stayed on the 35, gone south to Des Moines, continued on to Kansas City. But something had made him pull off onto the little state road, drive through all the cornfields, and come to this little place, all in the middle of the night. He didn't know why, but he was here in Rainey. 

"Just passing through, I guess," he said, still not wanting to tear his eyes off the Great Mouse Detective, but trying to be polite and not call attention to his stalker. [i]This poor girl must think I'm insane[/i]. "Not really on the way to anywhere, to be honest. I just, uh, had some time off from work and I thought I'd see the country for a little while." He looked over to the next table, his curiosity piqued by the two British accents he was hearing. He had thought Seattle was a long way from here, but those two had covered quite a lot of distance. 

Colm suddenly gasped as a hand slammed onto the table. He looked up, into the face of the one man who had already been in the dining room when he arrived. The man with the tangled mane of blonde hair and the turtleneck sweater. Unlike the fella in the green suit, he seemed decidedly normal aside from his poor choice of summer clothing.

"Sorry to interrupt," the man said with a smile. "Billy Blue. I'm the deacon at the church here. First Presbyterian, right over on Locust Street. I don't normally do this, but we're having a little meeting this afternoon at the church. Spiritual guidance, moral support, that sort of thing. If you're lost or lonely or unsure, it might do you guys some good. Bring you a little peace. Especially if you're stuck in the middle of bumfuck nowhere," he said with a self-deprecating grin. "So, you know, give it some thought. And if you've maybe got a friend who keeps following you around and just won't leave you alone, bring them too." Deacon Blue closed that remark with a wink, huge and obvious, to both Tallah and Colm. Colm could only watch, dumbstruck, as the man wandered off to the next table over.

The deacon approached other tables, where breakfast was being eaten, and gave more or less the same message. Robert and Emma were told of the meeting and to invite their "friends", as were Parker and Sebastian. Benjamin was also relayed the same message. Always accompanied by a big sloppy wink. Nudge nudge, say no more. Finally, Deacon Blue gathered up his newspaper and strolled out of the dining room after speaking to each guest. 

Colm looked over at the other guests, quietly confused. [i]Does he know? No, it's impossible.[/i] "Well, I don't know what that was about," he said, loudly enough for the entire room, trying to reassure himself. He barked a nervous laugh. This place was getting to him.