There were four doors upstairs, one bathroom and three bedrooms. Janet and Everett had the room at the end of the hallway. Janet pulled a key out of her dress pocket and unlocked the second bedroom, on the front side of the house. Inside was a room with two twin beds. The walls were painted a pale green that reminded me of Tilly’s eyes. The beds were neatly made, with thin quilts tucked in on all four sides. On the wall hung a framed painting of a single stemmed flower with layers of long, yellow petals and a dark eye at its center. The room was clean and bright.

“You’ll stay in this bedroom,” Janet announced. “No marks on the walls, please, and keep it tidy. Do you understand ‘tidy’?”

Janet pretended to throw handfuls of something all over the room, her face in a pout. Then she turned to me and wagged her finger in my face.

“Clean. No mess,” she repeated and pointed at a closet. “Put your bag in there.”

I did not move. Janet frowned and tried to take the bag from me, but I pulled back, clutching it on my lap.

Janet withdrew. She pulled her shoulders back and cleared her throat.

“Everett,” she called out, though her eyes stayed on me. Everett appeared in the doorway, a look of concern on his face.

“Is everything all right?” he asked.

“She may be deaf or dumb. She won’t even put her bag in the closet.”

Everett shook his head.

“Maybe she just needs to adjust,” he said gently. He put an arm around his wife and corralled her out of the room. “Let’s give her time alone to meditate on her new surroundings.”

I was relieved to see them pull the door closed as they left, though my stomach knotted to hear the scrape and click of a key inserted into a lock. When their footsteps faded, I crossed the room and pressed my ear to the wood. Hearing nothing, I tried to turn the knob. I was locked in. I looked out the window. I was on the second floor with a view of the front yard and the curb that had tripped me on my way out of Ann’s car.

I went back to the bed and sat down, wondering if I would ever be let out of this room.

The room did not have a clock, but after a while I gauged by the sun’s shift in the sky that two or three hours had passed. I was thirsty and a bit hungry too, but I could have slept that off. It was my full bladder that demanded attention. I started to knock on the door, gently at first and then a bit louder when no one responded.

“Hello,” I called. “Please, I need something.”