Maybe Mabel

So hey, let's be friends
I'm dying to see how this one ends
Grab your passport and my hand
I can make the bad guys good for a weekend...

"Excuse me, ma'am," Jacob called over to a young woman halfway up a stepladder, looking like she was about to attack one of the gas lamps with a spanner, Clara noting with some odd unease she was very pretty in an understated small-town way.

"Ma'am?" the young woman said, frowning. "We don't get a lot of ma'aming around here. Mostly just 'hey Mabel'," she finished, affecting a deep gruff voice.

"Mabel," Jacob said thoughtfully, studying her, "that's an old fashioned name."

Mabel lay down her spanner, a grin tugging at her lips. "I'm an old fashioned girl," she almost challenged, climbing down the stepladder.

"Well, it's an old fashioned town," Clara said, taking Jacob's hand, startling him, "it stands to reason everything is at least ten years out of date," she said, glancing pointedly at Mabel's vintage looking red dress.

"Oh, these things?" Mabel said, gesturing to Clara's beloved brogues. "Or these things?" she added with a grin, glancing up at the gas lamp. "They haven't worked for forever, but I like to tinker about with them from time to time. It would be a sight to see them all lit up," she finished, sounding wistful.

"Yes it would," Jacob said, his gaze raking her, "like Paris."

"Oui," Mabel agreed. "Oh, comme Paris."

"Well, mais ici, dans Collins Falls," Jacob agreed.

"Venez le long de Jacob, le temps n'attend personne ni mortel," Clara said, rolling her eyes.

"σε ένα λεπτό αγάπη μου," Jacob sing-songed.

"No tenemos un minuto, cariño," Clara trilled.

"Sie mich nicht dagegen," Mabel interjected, "ich werde einfach hier stehen und beobachten sie beide argumentieren."

"Je zou ondertitels nodig," Clara said sweetly.

"Ik denk het niet," Mabel said just as sweetly.

"I'm Jacob Stone," Jacob said hastily, letting go of Clara's hand, holding it out to Mabel instead.

"And I'm Mabel Collins," Mabel said, shaking it.

"This is Clara Hartley," Jacob then said, introducing the now fuming Clara, "we're... we're librarians on a sabbatical. Clara's boyfriend's our boss, he's kind of into sending us on research trips."

"Sounds like my kind of man," Mabel said with another grin.

"Well, he's mine," Clara said coldly.

"So what are you researching?" Mabel asked Jacob, playfully miming a catlike swipe when Clara wasn't looking, making Jacob grin despite himself.

"Small town histories and stuff," Jacob said, leaning against the gas lamp. "That sort of thing."

"That makes sense," Mabel said, smirking slightly.

"Is there somebody we can talk to?" Jacob pressed, windmilling his hands through the air.

"I would recommend the town archivist," Mabel suggested, picking up her toolbox. "Family founded the place, so if they don't know it, it ain't worth knowing."

"Would you mind pointing us in his direction?" Jacob asked, only to become confused by the expression on Mabel's face, then wincing, finally getting it. "Collins Falls, Mabel Collins... you're the archivist," he said, spectacularly facepalming himself.

"Brains too," Mabel said deadpan, her own gaze discreetly raking Jacob, obviously liking what she was seeing.

"Never judge a book by its cover," Clara said smartly, before dragging Jacob away.