Dorothea began to snap at her, and Sam gazed at her incredulously as she wondered where that outburst had come from. It was probably a good thing though, since she was distracted from her uneasiness about the height. The cat began to give her directions, a bit more forcefully than what Sam thought was necessary, and she finished by threatening to leave her behind and then sitting to glower at her.

Sam was still for a moment as she gazed at the cat in shock, then she made a face of her own. "Okay," she responded in a defensive tone. "Alright, I'm going. Jeeze..." She shifted her weight and raised herself into a crouch in preparation for her descent. She looked down to find the branches below and took a breath. "Okay, I'm going," she said to herself. Dorothea had been right about one thing. Children did this everyday. She could surely figure this out.

Keeping in mind what Dorothea had said about balance, Sam lowered herself onto the branch below her. She kept her focus on her hands and feet rather than the distance to the ground, and she tried to move as swiftly as she could. It wasn't as quick as when she had climbed up the tree but it wasn't as slow as she could possibly go, either. She found that it was a bit like climbing down a ladder. She still had to be careful but it wasn't as hard as she had made it out to be. But it was only when she finally dropped from a low hanging branch back to the earthy ground that Sam allowed herself to relax. Only slightly, though. The Jockal could still come back.

"Okay, I'm down now," Sam said as she looked up at Dorothea. Her arms were crossed over her chest and she looked a little annoyed despite her relief at being out of the tree. "You know you didn't have to yell at me up there."