"Come on we need to thee Chrithtine again. There'th thomething the didn't tell uth."
Rusty barked in agreement and followed her down the hall. Well he tried to follow her at least, as he found his natural gait overtook Marcia easily. Everytime he overtook her, Rusty looped back to her and inevitably drifted ahead again.
Eventually, the two reached the dining room where Marcia sensed Christine now was. When she tried to enter, Marcia found she lacked the strength to move the heavy door an inch, so she was forced to knock as loud as she could.
A moment later Christine carefully opened the door, "Oh Marcia it's good to see you're ok. And who is your new friend?"
"Thith ith Ruthty," Marcia announced and paused for a moment for Christine to process, "We need to talk."
"Oh...uh...yes! Sorry I'm just... You know."
Marcia nodded at the flustered woman and stepped inside along with Rusty. The woman returned to her place the head of the table where a plate with a half eaten piece of cake was sitting.
After setting down her bag and scrambling on top of the neighboring chair, Marcia found the only way for her to keep her field of view above the table was to stay standing. Rusty, unsure of what else to do, took a seat on the cold tile floor next to Marcia.
Christine looked at the two and said, "You two look uncomfortable. I'll get my butler to bring some things to help with that."
"That'th ok we really need to..."
"Nonsense. You're doing such obviously dangerous work for me it's the least I can do. Besides I'm sure after what you've both been through you need something to eat and drink."
Marcia is going to insist they stay on topic, but her stomach growled loudly when she caught sight of the cake, "I gueth tho."
Christine then called her butler in and whispered a few instructions into his ear. He promptly returned with a few other staff members carrying various things.
One maid lifted Marcia up and affixed a bib around her neck. Another quickly installed a booster seat which Marcia was then buckled into. As the tray was locked in place over her lap, a bottle of milk was placed in the cup holder and box of animal crackers was dumped into the main portion.
Meanwhile, a large pillow was placed on the ground next to Rusty. When he got up to move onto it, he yelped in surprise as a collar was put on him. The attached leash was securely tied to a table leg. Finally, bowls of water and kibble were set down by the pillow.
The operation had been so efficient, the staff were gone before Rusty and Marcia had finished processing the events. Though neither were too pleased with the results.
Christine held up her hand and said apologetically, "I felt that, with all the stress this whole situation has been causing, not explaining to my staff that the people hired to solve this problem were so...affected by the situation was for the best. Causing a panic would do no good. You understand of course."
The explanation left little room for disagreement, so Marcia didn't voice any, "Yeth, I underthand."
In a show of politeness, Marcia forced herself to take a sip from the bottle and then tried to hide her unexpected enjoyment of the warm liquid. Following her lead, Rusty took a few bites of the kibble before scarfing it down.
Biting off the head of a cracker Marcia attempted to steer the conversation back to a productive direction, "Thomething ith off here Chrithtine."
"That's a bit of an understatement," Christine replied incredulously.
"No, thith," Marcia said waving her bottle and cracker holding hands to indicate Rusty and her, "ithn't normal even for the thupernathural. If you want uth to fix thith you need to tell uth the whole twuth."
Christine started "I don't know what you..." and then sighed, "Alright fine the truth is...