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that strange, stilted voice of hers.
    “It only looks dark because it’s so bright outside. Come on, Rose, don’t you want a surprise?”
    She nodded trustingly. “I love surprises.”
    “Then go. Don’t turn anywhere—just go straight.”
    Fury welled within me. I knew Rose wasn’t likely to remember that instruction. Once inside, panic would probably overset her altogether.
    “Stop!” I said.
    The children all turned to look at me. I was angry—angrier than I had ever been in my life.
    “We weren’t going to send her in alone,” one boy said. “We were going to follow her.”
    I glowered at him. “Go home before I tell your mother.”
    “She’ll never believe you. You’re Talia the Tart!”
    I made a move as if to swat him. The boys scattered, leaving me alone with Rose. She blinked at me in confusion.
    “I want the surprise.”
    I sighed. “There was no surprise, Rose. They were just trying to trick you.”
    She looked at me with her big blue eyes. “No surprise?”
    “No. It was a trick.”
    “I like tricks.”
    “Not this kind. This kind was mean.”
    She appeared to think about this for a moment. “Why is a surprise mean?”
    “No, I didn’t mean all surprises are mean. I meant the trick was mean. I don’t believe the boys had a surprise for you at all.”
    Tears welled up out of her eyes. “Why no surprise?”
    As I led her home, she continued to ask for her surprise. It was the most heartbreaking conversation of my life. I could not get her to understand the concept of a trick, or even of a lie. She persisted in believing that the boys had a surprise for her and that I had cheated her of it. My heart grew heavier and heavier.
    By the time we got home, we were both in tears. When she saw Aunty Danty, she broke away from me and threw herself into her aunt’s arms. Danty looked at me, bewildered.
    “Where’s your sister?” I asked.
    “Still out looking. Where did you find her?”
    “I need to talk to you and Allegro. I have something to tell you. I’ll come by after Rose’s bedtime.”
    ***
    Later that evening, I sat with Andante and Allegro and I broke their hearts.
    “I’m afraid we must admit it to ourselves,” I said. “There’s something very wrong with Rose.”
    “Wrong?” Allegro said. “She’s as healthy as a horse.”
    “Yes, but you must admit, she’s often…except for musical things…rather difficult to teach. And today, I couldn’t get her to understand that the boys were trying to trick her. At all .”
    They were silent for a moment.
    “What are you trying to say?” Danty asked.
    I took a deep breath. “That Rose is simple.” It was the hardest sentence I ever had to utter.
    Silence.
    “But she’s a genius with music!” Allegro declared.
    “Yes, she is. And with the two of you in the house, I can see why. But for her own safety, you must see that what I’m telling you is true. You cannot permit her to run loose like the other children do. She must be watched constantly. Otherwise, someone will recognize her simple beauty and…and do something terrible to her.”
    Andante started crying, but Allegro got angry. “How dare you call our baby simpleminded!” she shouted. “Get out, you filthy strumpet! Get out!”
    I left without a word, hoping she did not mean it, hoping I would still be allowed to see little Rose. Three days later, much to my relief, Allegro came by the shop, with Rose.
    “I’m so sorry, Talia,” she said, her eyes on Rose as she promptly went to our display counter and stared at all the spools of thread. They were arranged by color, a rainbow of spools from one end to the other. “I didn’t want to believe you, but you are right.”
    “I understand,” I said. “I would have hated hearing something like that.”
    “I should never have called you such a thing. You have only been good to our Rose.”
    “May I…” I stopped.
    “May you what?”
    “May I be permitted to give her something? To make it up to