Lily Bagot, who was seven, had the day off from school because one of the nuns had died. Lily wanted to come out into the garden and sit on the carpet and go away somewhere, but Mrs. Bagot had said no. The carpet was in the garden to be beaten, not to be sat on or made into a playground. But to sit on the carpet and go away somewhere — Mrs. Bagot would have liked that, although she did not admit to Lily that she agreed with her. To get the two children and Bennie, the dog, settled on the carpet and then to vanish and go away somewhere, even if it was only for the afternoon, or part of the afternoon. To disappear for a little while would do no harm to anyone, and it would be very restful to get away from the house without having to go out by the front door and endure the ceremony of walking down the street, where everybody could see you.

But all this dreaming was not getting the work done. It was a shame for Lily to be shut up in the house, but it couldn’t be helped. As soon as the carpet was back on its floor again, Lily could come out, and in the meantime she was well occupied up in the bedroom with Margaret. Margaret, who was five, was in bed with a cold. Margaret had an inclination to get lonely when she was left by herself, and when she was lonely she screamed. She would not have a chance to scream with Lily there chattering and bullying her.