"A bit better," Sadie commented as I entered the dining hall. She was obviously waiting for me to emerge. "Let me see the hands," she ordered. I held out my hands with a small roll of my eyes. She ignored my eyes and looked closely at both sides of my hands with special attention to the nails.

"Take the chairs off the tables," Sadie ordered. I assumed she had accepted the cleanliness of my hands since she didn't make me rewash them. "Tuck them under, equidistant apart. Don't move the tables, they are exactly where they belong. Meet me in the backroom when you're done." She headed off with a...