Gennevieve paid the coach driver after he dropped them at the little Inn on the outskirt of the town of Grove. Grove was surrounded by a dense thick forest that stretched out for miles. This very issue was the reason people avoided travelling through there at night. Bad people roamed these forests, beasts roamed these forests and most importantly creatures of the dark roam these forests, no one wanted to fall prey to them and least of all her.
"mum!" Anna screamed clearly ignoring the time of the day and the quietness of it all. She was tired and hungry and she did not like the shadows she saw coming out of the forests, slowly crawling towards them.
Her mother though did not see anything, or rather she could not see for she was human. So, taking her baby by the hand she led her to the inn and to the small counter setup to receive the guests.
Sliding her hand on the counter she placed one gold coin and three silver coins towards the receptionist. This was not her first night here and it certainly won't be the last.
"We'll be staying the night and till the morning coaches live" she said to the haggard looking old man estimating the time when her only friend and neighbor miss Downy would be here to take Anna.
Squinting his eyes at the money he slowly removed his dirty cap covering his greying bald head and frowned looking at the money and then at the woman and her child standing in front of him, His eyes lingered a little on the child, discreetly assessing the little brat who boldly looked at him before returning his eyes to the mother.
"This ain't goin' ta cover yer stay" he said eyeing Gennevieve, seeing if he could weasel out a few more silver coins for himself.
" I am not new here…sir, so you might as well be lying to a comrade" she said through gritted teeth noticing that he was not the grumpy receptionist she regularly saw.
The greedy light shining in the old man's eyes dimmed a little as he observed her, this trick had earned him a few more silver coins with young lads and lasses going to pipolini, it seemed this was where his luck ends.
"First room on yer left, up the stairs" the receptionists leaned back in his relaxed position on his chair behind the counter, arranging the cap again on his head, he spied the child heading up with her caregiver.