THe Stranger strode to the door in three swift steps and swung it open. In short order, the frostbitten newcomer was seated in front of a chortling fire, a tall snifter of five-star brandy in her trembling paw, and her wrists and fingers were being vigorously rubbed by a variety of comely warm-blooded administrators. THe color came back into her cheeks and she actually smiled.

"Hey maybe it's not that bad after all...", she thought, as the brandy began seeping through her blood/brain barrier. Not so bad at all....".

SHortly, Maggie's case was open, and the laughing call of a lively fiddle pouring out a quick-step dance tune was making toes tap and heads nod and jaws grin the length and the breadth of the Christmas Tavern.