Let's go visit Kale!

[Snowdrop]

Snowdrop put her nose to the glass of her bedroom window and stared out, thoughtfully, into the almost-dark of the world outside. Behind her, somewhere in Granny Weathermane's home, the clock was chiming 3am. That meant it was officially morning now, right? 2am was still technically nighttime, but 3am was morning!

Snowdrop pulled on her saddlebag and carefully tucked a bag of candies into it. After being brought home during the storm, and taking a long hot bath, and being subject to a very mild lecture about being reckless, Granny had taken pity on a rather subdued Snowdrop and roused herself to teach the little filly how to make Fruit Drops! Lemon, apple, cherry, pineapple, orange, pear and raspberry- all kinds of pretty colored candies. She had suggested, in her grand-marely way, that they made nice presents for friends... And that was all that needed to be said!

Snowdrop pushed open her bedroom window and took a deep breath of slightly chilly, rain soaked air before making a fluttering leap out. She could have used the front door but this was always more fun. Had she not been carrying a present for Kale, she would have splashed her way through all the beautiful puddles. Instead, today she made a game of avoiding the puddles, and was doing quite well!

Awarding herself fifty points for a spectacular leap over a wide puddle just outside the hospital, Snowdrop pranced up to the front door- only to bounce off of it. Locked. Locked? she looked, puzzled, and read the sign by the door. Visiting hours: 10am to 6pm. Ten? in the morning?! That was...Snowdrop thought a moment.... eleventy hours away from now! She couldn't wait that long!

Glancing around furtively, Snowdrop checked that no one was observing what she was up to- and began carefully looking into windows. When she didn't find him on the first floor, with the aid of an oak tree and a risky, wing aided jump from it to a windowsill, she began checking the second floor. It was dangerous work, jumping from sill to sill, and no doubt would have caused quite a stir had anyone been awake to see her- but there was no one awake in any of the rooms she checked. Even some nurses were taking a nap in a staff break room.

What Snowdrop would have done if Kale hadn't been on the second floor, she had no idea. Fortunately, with only half-a-dozen windows left to check, she came across him. And luckier still, his window was open just a crack! Using her wings for balance, Snow got her nose under the sash and raised it, just enough to slide in. She moved over to the side of the bed and noted, with relief, that Kale seemed to be sleeping pretty easily. Well, she could wait. Plopping into a visitor's chair, Snow curled up and watched Kale sleep for only a few minutes before falling asleep herself.

[Kale]

It wasn't quite right to say Kale was sleeping 'easily.'

After all, he wasn't doing it without help.

Once he'd escorted Snowdrop back to her grandmother's house (and weathering a very awkward conversation with her about what had happened), Kale had made for Ponyville General Hospital as fast as three-and-a-half functioning legs could carry him. After enduring another explanation of how he'd managed to injure two limbs at once, the stallion was a little less than pleased when the doctor asked him to stay for a couple days. Apparently, they wanted to 'make sure nothing else was wrong he didn't know about.' He'd told them that his sitting in bed for almost a week was going to help nopony, but they'd been quite insistent.

So, one bandaging session later, Kale found himself in a light green hospital robe, sitting in a similarly-colored bed. If he wanted to complain before, though, he no longer had the urge; the medicine the nurse had given him to numb the pain while she had to set and re-bandage his wing had made him quite complacent. Once she'd treated his injured leg and left, the pegasus passed the remainder of the evening in a sort of haze, eventually drifting off to a deep, restful sleep.

As Kale had fallen asleep facing the window (so as to avoid resting on his bad wing), he was gently awoken by the rising of the sun. Opening his eyes slowly, the white pony blinked blearily, gradually shedding the last vestiges of sleepiness. After a few moments, he pushed himself up to a sitting position, taking in his hospital room with less drug-addled eyes. Other than the occasional kitschy decorative touch, it was decidedly sparse: four lightly-colored walls, the bed, a bedside table, a chair, Snowdrop, a clipboard, a small vase with flowers--

--wait, Snowdrop??

"Agh!" Kale blurted, clapping a hoof to his chest while he waited for his heart to stop racing. Breathing heavily for several seconds, the stallion recovered from the shock, then, glancing furtively at the door, hissed a whisper to the filly. "Snowdrop, what are you doing here?" Glancing out the window, he turned his gaze back to Snowdrop. "What-what time is it?"

[Snowdrop]

At the 'Agh!' the ears of the little filly, relaxed in repose, twitched and flicked upright. With a big yawn and a little shake of the head, Snowdrop glanced across the room to a rather agitated Kale. She blinked sleepily herself, then just as he had, first at the door, and then out the window at the sunlight beginning to stream in. "It's morning." She replied, answering the easier question first. Then in case he wanted a more specific answer, "Forty-seven minutes after Six." From this, Snowdrop might have appeared to be quite adept at telling the time from the position of the sun in the sky- but in truth, she had been looking at a clock tower visible from the window.

Now Snow turned an equally sunny smile onto Kale. "I came to see how you were!" she announced, sitting up and streeeeeeeetching! "And to bring you a present, too, and to see if you needed anything. How's your wing? And your foot? How long are you stuck here for?" Amazingly, for all her risk-taking, slips, spills, attempts to fly, and other accidentals, she'd never actually been admitted to a hospital before. In truth, Snow had rarely suffered anything beyond an occasional cold.

Hopping down from her chair, Snow came over and fished out the bag of fruit drops from her bag, setting them down on the bedside table. "Candy!" she explained happily "I made them myself!... Don't worry," She added, "I had help. And besides, I tasted some first. They're eat-able, and tasty too." She giggled a little at that. Like any foal, she loved candy, and it had taken a lot of affection for Kale, and even more willpower, not to eat his entire present!

[Kale]

"It's morning."

No, really.

"Forty-seven minutes after Six."

This answer was much more informative, if hardly more pleasing. Rubbing his eyes, Kale leaned forward to glance at a clock in the hallway, which verified Snowdrop's answer. Of course, it took him a moment of squinting to make certain he was reading it correctly; it was, after all, hard to read when morning had barely broken.

Now, it wasn't that Kale was vain--his chronically messy mane attested to that quite clearly--but he was no morning pony, and hated showing it. It generally took the stallion several minutes just to 'come back to life' each day, and several more to get his brain running at normal speed again. And even with the jump-start that Snowdrop's unexpected presence had given him, he still felt traces of sleep draining from him. Needless to say, this wasn't the sort of condition he enjoyed having guests in. "Okay..." he responded after a brief yawn. "What are you doing here?"

"I came to see how you were! And to bring you a present, too, and to see if you needed anything. How's your wing? And your foot? How long are you stuck here for?"

Smiling faintly at the litany of questions that spilled out of Snowdrop, Kale put on the air of somepony who was having a great deal of trouble processing all that information into sentences (and it was only sort-of acting). "Let's see...thank you, it's fine, same thing, and just until Friday," he listed, gesturing as though he were counting off each list item. Setting his forward hooves back on the bedspread, the stallion peered curiously at what Snowdrop was doing, leaning back as she finally retrieved something from her bag.

"Candy! I made them myself!...Don't worry, I had help. And besides, I tasted some first. They're eat-able, and tasty too."

It was rather amusing, the way Snowdrop defended the candies before anypony could have a chance to question their edibility. "They look great," he said, craning his neck to look into the small sack without having to actually scoot to that side of the bed. Turning back to Snowdrop, he smiled gratefully. "Thank you." As much as her being here was against the rules (aside from the incorrect visiting hours, it was generally expected for foals to have a parent or guardian with them), the stallion was genuinely glad to have her around. He'd never been admitted to a hospital before, either, though his avoidance likely had more to do with his non-risk-taking lifestyle.

And given how he'd fared when he did take a risk, he was hard-pressed to deny the rationality of that lifestyle.

But more to the point, it was comforting to Kale to have somepony there who he knew and cared about. Even though the doctor and nurses had been quite kind, the pegasus still found the hospital rather intimidating. Of course, if it was so un-intimidating that Snowdrop would be willing to break and enter, it couldn't be that bad, could it? "Snowdrop," he began, about to tell her why that was terribly illegal, but he only got as far as "I appreciate your coming here, but the r--" before he heard somepony approaching the room. Glancing in alarm at the door, the stallion turned back to the filly, his eyes wide. "Somepony's coming!" he whispered urgently. "Qu-quick, hide!"

[Snowdrop]

Snowdrop sized up the room in an instant. Under the chair? Too obvious. Behind the clipboard? Even worse. Under the bed? Sheets were tucked, she'd be spotted for sure! She considered making a window escape, but instinctively she guessed that would alarm Kale more than her being found would! She wasn't sure, but she had some sort of idea that you weren't supposed to frighten people when they were in the hospital. She took a moment to reflect that this room was a terrible place to play hide and seek before opening the bottom cupboard of the bedside table.

It was a cupboard intended to house belongings of patients, and luckily, empty at the moment. Even so, it was a small one and Snowdrop shouldn't have been able to fit inside, yet somehow, she managed it by dint of exhaling, tucking legs and wings tight against the body, and almost standing on her head! She even got the door shut- though she had to open it again and pull her tail in after her before shutting it again!

It was dark and cramped, smelled vaguely medicinal, and she couldn't draw a deep breath, but other than that, it wasn't so bad. She shifted slightly into a more-comfortable position and had to smother a giggle. It was actually pretty funny, her being tucked away in there and no one besides Kale and herself knowing about it!

Eagerly, she listened for the visitor, wondering who they were (though she supposed it would be a doctor or a nurse) and why they were showing up now. Kale's wing and stuff was already bandaged, it wasn't like he needed anything more done! In Snowdrop's mind, doctors and nurses only showed up when someone was in trouble, like she read about in books.

[Kale]

Kale bit his lip, watching uncertainly as Snowdrop stuffed herself into the cupboard. The first time she shut the door, a good portion of her light blue tail still protruded from the table; fortunately, Kale didn't have to tell the filly before she reached a hoof out and pulled her tail all the way in. Biting his lip, the stallion made silently prayed that the hiding spot would work.

Sitting back up and trying to look nonchalant, Kale realized just in time that the bag of candies sitting on the tabletop were a dead giveaway that somepony had visited off-hours. He just had time to grab them and stuff them under his pillow before a nurse walked in, a concerned expression on her face. "Is everything alright in here, sir?" the earth pony asked, looking about the room. "We heard a noise." Kale frowned for a moment. "Noise? ...oh, that was just me...um...I forgot I was in a hospital, so when I woke up I was confused, but now I'm not, so everything's okay...?" he said, a nervous smile plastered on his face.

The nurse looked a bit quizzical.

"Well...alright, then. Breakfast will be in an hour. If you need anything else, just call," she said, still visibly suspicious as she walked out of the room. Waving and calling a 'thank you' after her, Kale breathed a sigh of relief, then leaned over and opened Snowdrop's cabinet. "She's gone," he whispered. "You can come out now." Offering a hoof to help pull the filly back out of the cabinet, the pegasus used his other hoof to retrieve her candies from behind his pillow.

"Snowdrop," he asked once the pony in question was fully freed, "Does your grandmother know you're here this early?" Even as he asked the question, though, Kale was fairly sure he knew the answer. After all, what sort of grandmother would let their grandfoal break into a hospital just because they were too impatient to wait for visiting hours?

[Snowdrop]

It was lucky Kale lent a hoof when he did. It turned out getting out was a lot harder than getting in, once the excitement and fun of hiding were over. She had been in imminent danger of getting herself stuck. Once freed, she took a moment to give herself a soft, jingling shake and rearrange some of the feathers on her tiny wings. But when Kale asked if her grandmother knew where she was, she tilted her head on one side quizzically. Then she understood.

"Granny Weathermane isn't actually my grandmother." she told Kale, "She's like my great, great aunt, once removed. I think. I just call her granny 'cause she likes it better and it's faster." Snowdrop grinned, before continuing. "Nah, she doesn't know. She was asleep before I went out, and she's probably asleep still. She wouldn't care, though. No one does, as long as I don't get them in trouble. " Snowdrop regarded Kale, in a hospital bed, and had the shame to blush a bright pink. "I-I do tend to get ponies in trouble, you know, even though it's not on purpose."

There was a moment of quiet. Snowdrop thought she ought to fill it with something, so she turned to look out the window. "Um, Most of my family is in Cloudsdale- Mom and Dad, My grandparents, uncles and aunts. I have lots of relatives, but most of them don't live on the ground. And the ones that do are usually pretty distant. So, you know, it's not like I really belong to them. I'm just a houseguest."

After a moment, she turned and looked at Kale "Did I ever tell you that I cant stand on clouds? I cant remember." She laughed a little, shy laugh. "I sink through just like an earth pony. It's been like that since I was born. Nobody knows why. Just one of those things. So when I go home sometimes, I have to stay indoors or be carried everywhere. I'm a lot of trouble."


[[ _{Whoops! Kale is not Jasper XD}]]

[Kale]

"Nah, she doesn't know. She was asleep before I went out, and she's probably asleep still. She wouldn't care, though. No one does, as long as I don't get them in trouble. "

Kale didn't bother hiding a look of concern at that. He was no expert at parenting--he'd never even foal-sat in his life--but somehow, he didn't think it took an expert to figure that a growing pony needed a great deal of supervision. After all, as Snowdrop was about to acknowledge, a great deal could go wrong otherwise. (In fact, something already had gone rather wrong, but for her sake, Kale would refuse to admit that.) Even Kale, for all that he'd suffered a helplessly awkward colthood, had had the benefit of two loving parents.

"I-I do tend to get ponies in trouble, you know, even though it's not on purpose."

The moment of silence that followed this statement was one of the worst Kale could ever remember experiencing. He wanted to break it; wanted to tell Snowdrop that she didn't need to say or think this, that she was being needlessly depressing, that bad things happened and sometimes it wasn't anypony's fault. But he didn't have time to phrase it, because the filly beat him to the conversational punch. So, the stallion was forced to sit, listen, and grow increasingly sympathetic.

"Did I ever tell you that I cant stand on clouds? I cant remember. I sink through just like an earth pony. It's been like that since I was born. Nobody knows why. Just one of those things. So when I go home sometimes, I have to stay indoors or be carried everywhere. I'm a lot of trouble."

For a moment, Kale just looked down, trying again to phrase what he was thinking. "Snowdrop..." he finally managed after a good while. "You're a great kid. Why do you refuse to see that?" Unbidden, a memory of his own youth floated to the surface of his mind: a time when a painfully snide comment from a guest at one of his parents' parties had left a certain colt just a bit hurt. Recalling what his mother had told him then, Kale took a deep breath and quoted her. "Everypony has a place in the world. Just because you haven't found yours yet, doesn't mean it's not there."

He hoped this attempt at raising Snowdrop's self-esteem would have a bit more of an effect than the last one.

[Snowdrop]

Snowdrop rested her chin on the windowsill and stared out of the window thoughtfully. She couldn't see Cloudsdale from here- (It was, in fact, in the opposite direction,) but it didn't really matter, because even if she could have flown there, right from this very window, she didn't belong there. Her own body made her unfit for sky living, after all. That certainly wouldn't be her place in the world.

And for being a good kid? Well.. Snowdrop wasn't bad she knew that. She meant well, and if it was the thought that counted, then she had one bird in the bush already! Or.. however that proverb was supposed to go. But if she were good, really good, then why didn't she seem to belong to anyone? Why was it so hard to find ponies who actually wanted her? Not just wanting her around sometimes, though that was good too, but- somepony that wanted to claim her as theirs? And Snow couldn't explain it in words that didn't sound greedy and selfish, but she thought that if she had been good, her parents would think she was more important than their work, or at least important enough that they would come down to live with her since she couldn't go up to live with them. But how could she ever explain that to anypony?

But, no, no, no, this wouldn't do at all! Snowdrop was here to be cheering up Kale not the other way around! How did it get all mixed up like that. She looked over her shoulder at Kale and smiled, eyes shining. She took an exaggerated deep breath, and she more than a little resembled a balloon being inflated, though there was no huge size difference. It seemed a more emotional thing than otherwise.

In two bounds, she was across the room and by Kale's side, giving the stallion a warm hug and a sunny grin. It wasn't fake or forced cheerfulness, she wasn't just 'putting a brave face on it' exactly-Though she hadn't vanquished her unhappiness, it had, for the moment, lost its hold over her.

"So what do you get to do in the hospital, anyway? Is there anything fun? Like, games or stories or..." That was almost the entire range of Snowdrop's indoor activities. At least, the ones that could be done while in bed!"

[Kale]

For a long while, it seemed like Snowdrop wasn't going to listen to Kale's comforting words. Again. The stallion deflated a bit, knowing that there probably wasn't any magical compliment or statement he could make that would cheer the filly up. If his own life had been any indication, it took more than a little pep talk to give a pony confidence in themselves.

Or at least, that was what Kale thought. After a few moments, though, Snowdrop's demeanor changed dramatically, her depression melting away to be replaced by a bright grin. He was somewhat shocked by the way she suddenly bounded over and hugged him, but it was a good sort of shock. The stallion hated seeing Snowdrop upset. So, giving her a smile in response, the pegasus listened contentedly as she asked him a new question.

"So what do you get to do in the hospital, anyway? Is there anything fun? Like, games or stories or..."

"Uhh..." Kale trailed off, putting a hoof to his chin as he tried to think of an answer. He couldn't think of one, though; aside from the fact that he'd only been in the hospital overnight so far, there didn't actually seem to be anything to do besides sit and heal. "I don't think there is," he answered after several moments. "Maybe they have books or something?" He certainly hoped so. Sitting in a hospital for days on end was bad enough, but if they made him do so without any activities, he was going to go nuts.

[Snowdrop]

Snowdrop glanced around, looking for a bookcase or a bookshelf or even a book-end.. but she didn't see a thing! "I sure hope so... I'm sure they do... must just be in another room. Should I go look? Oh! Or instead, I'll tell you my favorite story! The one I'm named after!" With that, she hooked the leg of the chair with one of her back hooves and pulled it up before hopping into it to begin her narrative.

"Once upon a time, before I was born, before you were born, before Celestia was born... probably.... At least before she came to rule Equestria... The world was new and the spirits of nature all had voices and spoke the same language."

Snowdrop's eyes grew bigger as she revealed this exciting secret. "Some Nature spirits now still know some of the language- the river gurgles some, trees whisper some, the lightning shouts some- but most of it is forgotten. Well, the spirit of snow became dissatisfied because, he felt, he was the only spirit without color. Even his relatives, river and lake spirit, were the color of the sky and even though he didnt like the stormy grey color of rain spirit, at least it was a color, you know?"

"So the spirit of snow went to the birds, who had magnificent colors in their feathers. But the birds only laughed at him and in anger, he chased them away. Then to the trees, because he admired their beautiful green. But the trees were greedy and didn't want to share, so first they changed their colors to brilliant yellows and reds and oranges, but when that didnt work, they threw their leaves on the ground." Here, Snowdrop's voice got a little softer and sorrowful.

"Snow spirit was very sad, and he went to pick up the leaves, but he became distracted by the beautiful color of the flowers. He tried to ask the flowers for just a little, just a tiny tiny bit of their beautiful color, but the flowers were shy and hid their faces in the ground. Snow spirit was hurt and wanted to freeze all the flowers down to their very roots when a tiny little flower spoke up." Snowdrop hesitated and her own voice became very soft and tiny and shy, just like the flower's.

"If you don't mind my white color, it said, You may share it with me."Snowdrop couldn't help smiling at the thought of the kindness of a little flower. "And eeeeeever since then, snow has chased away the birds, made the trees drop their leaves, and frightened the flowers into hiding their faces. But the one generous flower who shared its white color is protected by the snow, and the Snowdrop is the only flower who blooms in the cold winter." The white filly finished her story with a triumphant flourish. "And that's the story of the flower I got named after!"

[Kale]

"I sure hope so... I'm sure they do... must just be in another room. Should I go look? Oh! Or instead, I'll tell you my favorite story! The one I'm named after!"

Raising an eyebrow, Kale waited as Snowdrop pulled over her chair and sat. Settling more comfortably into his own seat, the stallion listened quietly as the story began. Given that the narrator was Snowdrop, he hadn't been sure what sort of story to expect. Likely something a lot more random and a little less beautiful than what the filly actually chose to tell.

Kale made a mental note not to underestimate Snowdrop again.

It really was a beautiful story. Kale felt appropriately sympathetic for the poor, rejected snow spirit, but more than anything, he felt impressed by how fluidly his companion related the tale. It was clear that Snowdrop had either heard or told the story many, many times; probably both, given that it was about her name. In any case, she must have practiced, because her telling lacked any of the 'um's or 'uh's that plagued Kale's own speech.

"And that's the story of the flower I got named after!"

Kale grinned, softly clapping his hooves a few times. "Snow, that was beautiful," he said once he rested his hooves back on the bedspread. "Who told you that story?" It occurred to him after he'd asked the question that it had probably been her parents; after all, they were the ones who'd named her, weren't they? But it didn't matter much. Conversation was conversation, and now that the story was done, Kale was obligated to fulfill his end of the social bargain.

[Snowdrop]

Snowdrop was delighted that Kale liked the story as much as she did. She wasn't expecting applause for it, after all, she hadn't actually made up the story herself. But she had to admit, it was a great story no matter who told it. "My mother told me that story just before I..." she had been about to say 'got sent away' but that made it sound too sad, better tread carefully here, "I started living on the ground. I used to like pretending I was the spirit of snow, and I'd go around scaring birds and pulling leaves off trees."

Snowdrop giggled. "Luckily I was even smaller then than I am now- I didn't know it was mean to do those things. But being so small, I couldn't reach many leaves, and since I couldn't fly, birds got away from me pretty easy. Actually, once I came across some chickens and tried to scare them. But there was a big old red rooster and he was scary! He chased me for a long time! I never chased any birds, even little ones, after that."

Talking about when she was little (as though she were not still a little foal!) inspired Snowdrop to think of something completely new. "Hey, Kale? What were you like when you were small?" she tried to imagine a Kale, younger than herself, and couldn't do it. She couldn't even imagine a Kale her own age!

[Kale]

Kale couldn't help but find Snowdrop's answer vaguely hilarious. Apart from the brief moment where she nearly stumbled into depressing herself again (given the shadow that briefly crossed her features, it wasn't hard for the stallion to tell), the filly seemed blithely unaware of how ironic she was being. Given the way she described her behavior when she was 'small,' one might have assumed she was a very tiny adult. One would, of course, be wrong, not that Snowdrop seemed to notice or care.

"Hey, Kale? What were you like when you were small?"

"Hm..." Kale responded, looking down for a moment as he considered the question. He wasn't sure what to tell her; after all, he didn't feel as though he'd changed much. He was still shy, still not all that skilled with words, and still detested fancy parties. And somehow, saying 'I was smaller' felt painfully redundant. But then again, he realized, that colt would likely not have done half the things Kale had in Ponyville: between saving Snowdrop, making friends on his own, and . So maybe he had changed?

"Well, let's see," the stallion finally said. "When I was small, I was very shy. And I never did much flying. I've never even touched a cloud," he admitted, just realizing it before he said it. Honestly, there were times that Kale forgot he was a pegasus at all. It wasn't like living in Manehattan--mostly populated with earth ponies--had forced him to do much flying. In fact, the only time he could remember his wings being relevant was the Hearth's Warming Eve play his school had put on where, as the only pegasus colt in his class, he'd been forced to play Commander Hurricane.

It had been...interesting.

But he was wandering. Pulling himself back to the present, Kale shrugged a bit. "Really, there's not much to say," he admitted. "I didn't do much of anything before I came to Ponyville."

[Snowdrop]

Snow stared at Kale in amazement. "You've ...never touched a cloud?" she asked slowly, as though it were difficult to believe. "Kale, you gotta try it! They're like, the softest, most comfiest things ever! Not that I would know, but lotsa pegasus say so! And, and! You've never been to Cloudsdale either, then! You should really fly up there sometime! It's beautiful!" It seemed a little odd to Snow that she of all pegasai would be telling Kale about Clouds and Cloudsdale, seeing as how she couldn't enjoy either, but someone had to tell him!. She was about to say something more when she froze for a second. She heard approaching hooves.

An instant later, she was off her chair and back in the cupboard again, just in time to be out of sight of the cheery blue earth pony pushing the breakfast cart. "GoodMoooorning~" She sang in a slightly-too-cheerful tone. "Today's breakfast is Oatmeal and Applesauce~ there's also Carrot-flavored Gelatin as a treat~ I hope you're hungry~" Without actually waiting to hear if Kale were actually hungry or not, she flipped up his bed's table and set out a large bowl of the plainest grey oatmeal Kale may have ever seen, followed by a smaller dish of applesauce with too much sugar and cinnamon, followed by another and smallest bowl holding the watery orange-colored gelatin. Lastly she set out the most appetizing dish of the breakfast- A pitcher of plain ice water.

"Now do eat up~" sang the breakfast pony. "You need to keep your strength up~ Remember to call if you need anything, mmmyes?" and without waiting to hear anything further, she was off as quick as she had come! After all, she had other rooms to serve too!