With a flutter of nervousness (it was probably that kind of thrill more than dizziness, fall or no) Daisy tucked her arms about his neck as though that would help him carry her, as though she wasn't lighter than a sack of potatoes already. Anyway, he was being tremendously kind, and caring, and worrying about her especially! Wasn't that a lovely feeling! She'd say it was a little like having a parent, only the one parent she had met in her life... hadn't done much of that, so Mr. Goyle was a mythical person if ever she'd met one.

"Top secret preparations," Daisy said, delighted at his interest. She expected he could tell that was a lie - that no one would entrust her with anything terribly important - but if he so much as chuckled at her teasing, the collision would the lamppost would be well worth it. "I do all sorts to help out, see. I know practically everyone there, an' I do anythin' they need me to." (Not well, necessarily, but with gusto, which ought to count for something.) "One day maybe I'll get to be an act myself, maybe." For a split-second, she had considered pretending she already did something awe-inspiring, but she wasn't sure he'd believe it. "Are you going to visit the festival this summer?" She asked brightly. "I know it's not all same as usual in the fog, but there's still... some stuff to see!" (Her, she meant, mostly.)

---

  

Silence wasn’t heavy, but she still tried to make carrying her easier. And although it didn’t help much, Clifford appreciated the effort. Also, from his experience, many children would spill any secrets as soon as they got a chance. Especially if it was something exciting (which carnival definitely was). But Silence kept hers. Top secrets, even.

Considering how she tried to help even in small details, and how carnival organizers entrusted her with secrets, Silence’s parents must have been so proud of her. And it was a shame such bad things as robberies happened to such seemingly good kids as Silence. Jesus probably had higher standards for decent folks and sent them more difficult tests sometimes.

Carnivals relied on mysteries and unexpected. So it was fair for Silence to maintain the element of surprise, and Clifford interrogated her no further. What he initially meant as a distraction from troubles turned out to be a test of resolve, unfortunately. ”Understandable,” he said and smiled, ”No more carnival questions then.”

The healer doubted he would participate in many carnival activities, as such festivals were vice and most likely frowned upon by Jesus. Still, Clifford didn’t want do disappoint Silence, ”I’ll surely check the carnival if my work allows." This way in no way a lie. Just a conditional promise, with a very slim chance of the condition being met. "But the fog made it much harder to do my duties, while the amount of incidents grew,” he added.

The two reached the Hospital, and Clifford carried the girl inside, greeting some other healers who happened to pass by. He then lowered Silence to a chair in the main corridor, ”Finally here. Would you like some rest before I check your head?”

---

  

Really, she wouldn’t have minded if he had asked her a hundred more questions. She always was delighted to talk!

But he had said he would come (if his work allowed, he had added, and that was very sensible of him, but, more sensibly, Daisy happily ignored that condition and took his promise for a given). Who’d have thought she’d be so delighted to have hit her head at all!

“Maybe some rest,” Daisy said shyly, now that she was sat back down in the hospital corridor again. This had ruined her plans of buying a wand, but somehow she really rather didn’t mind. Though she didn’t want him to leave her off to more important work of his, she was more than happy to stretch out her visit as long as she could muster. She smiled cheerfully up at him, wide-eyed and sincere. “Thank ya, sir. You’re a real angel, sir.”

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