In the distance there was a vast, invisible sigh as the curtains in Vicky’s bedroom moved in a midnight breeze. But she did not notice, still trying to make out Dandaroo’s dim features. Her mind was whirling with confusion; and a kind of dizzying excitement, touched with hope, was rising inside her.
“The dollhouse in the attic,” she said, twisting her hands. “It’s my house, isn’t it?”
Dandaroo nodded.
“And the dolls in it. They’re my mother, and father, and … and me?”
“Only you aren’t in it any more.” Again, he looked apprehensively toward the door.
“But wait a minute.” She brought her voice down to a whisper again. “Tell me something first. Do you … do you and the other dolls play with that dollhouse, do you play with the dolls in it?”
Dandaroo laughed; a short, mirthless grunt. “If you can call it that. They do things to them, yes indeed. Every time we get a minute to ourselves, up we go to the attic. Up we go, to tip the mother down the stairs, to make her yell at the father and punish the little girl. Ganglia and the mother, they enjoy it the most, of course.”
Without seeing, Vicky stared off into her bedroom. “So that’s why … why everything’s been so strange recently. The dolls are doing it.”
“Yes. Because you were doing it to them.”
Vicky turned on him. “That isn’t fair! It’s not the same. I thought you were just dolls, that it didn’t matter, that you couldn’t feel anything. But you knew we were real.”
“That didn’t make any difference. They just wanted to get back at you.”
Vicky was puzzling it out. Perhaps she felt a little guilty, but another thought was uppermost in her mind: If she could ever get out of here, she could get that little dollhouse away from them, and then the terrible things would stop happening in her family. If she could get out.
“The little girl doll. What did you mean when you said she wasn’t there any more?”
“Ganglia took her out of the dollhouse. That’s why you’re here.”
“But why did she? And where is the doll? Tell me everything; you’ve got to!”
“Shhh! Keep your voice down. They’ll kill us if they find out. They could be listening, you know.”
“All right, all right. Just tell me.”
Dandaroo sighed. “It was the mother’s idea. She started wondering what would happen if we took you out. It might mean that you would get lost away from home, or something else unpleasant, or even that you would be caught in here. It was at lunch today. And when you made her send Ganglia up to her room, that was the perfect opportunity to find out. So when you weren’t looking, Ganglia sneaked up to the attic, and took the little girl doll out of the house.” He paused.
“Go on! Go on!”
“Well, three of us were sitting at the table, and your great big face was right beside the room, breathing on us; and then suddenly it was gone. And Ganglia came tearing down the stairs, screaming that she’d taken out the doll. Taken it out, and then lost it.”
“Lost it?” said Vicky, a cold wave of horror running through her. “She lost it?”
“She said she’d taken out the doll, and then it suddenly was gone. She must have dropped it. But she looked everywhere for it, she said, everywhere, and couldn’t find it. So of course the mother was furious.
She thought Ganglia had ruined everything, and sent her right back up to her room. And then, we noticed that the music box was on, and the aunt went to see what was happening. And there you were.”
“Lost it?” Vicky repeated bleakly. “Didn’t anyone else try to find it?”
“Oh yes. That’s why they sent the father and me up to the attic. We looked everywhere, but we couldn’t find it.”
“And I … I suppose,” said Vicky, trying to hold back the tears that, once again, were threatening to overcome her, “I suppose if you could find the doll, and put it back in the dollhouse, then I’d be back in my own house again?”
“Yes,” said Dandaroo solemnly. “That’s the only way.”
“How could she lose it? How could she lose it?” Vicky moaned, clenching her fists.
“I don’t know how. It’s just like her, though. But one thing is, it’s got to be up in the attic, somewhere. Your only chance is to go up there, and find it, and put it back in the house. And I’ll help you get up there.”
She was studying his face again, suspiciously. “But why? Why are you on my side?”
He looked down at the floor. “You know I’m not
like the others. I haven’t been here as long. And I hate them! They’re always picking on me. If you got out, you could make them stop.” Suddenly she felt her hand in his blunt, desperate grip. “But if I help you get out, you’ve got to remember me, please, remember to make me safe, the minute you get out, or else …” He let her hand drop. “Or else, you know the kind of things they would do. And the other reason I’m helping you is … you never played with me much, I guess. You never made me do anything mean. So I’m not cruel like they are. I don’t want to see them make you their slave.”
“Their slave?”
“Shhh! Yes, their slave. That’s what they want to do with you. They’ve already thought up all kinds of chores for you, like bringing all the furniture up and down the stairs to different rooms, and polishing the walls and the ceilings and the roof, and waiting on them … . But it isn’t right. You’re different from us; you’re not a doll; you don’t belong in here. That’s why … why I’ll help you.”
This time, her tears were not for herself. She reached out and touched his rough sleeve. “Thanks,” she said. There was a long silence, while he continued to stare, embarrassed, at the floor. “Thanks,” she said again, softly. “I won’t forget. I promise I won’t.”
He cleared his throat. “Yes. If you get out. But it won’t be easy.” He looked at her. “They’ll be listening every instant, of course. If they hear so much as a creak or a footstep out there, they’ll be at you again. The only thing to do is get them away from that door. What I can do is pretend you ran downstairs. I’ll start yelling that you ran away, downstairs, and make a lot of noise, and hopefully they’ll all run down there after me, without thinking. The aunt is down there already. And that’s your chance. You’ve got to hurry up to the attic and find that doll. Once you’ve got it, you’re safe. Just put it back in the dollhouse. But you won’t have much time. They’ll catch on quick enough and be back up there, looking for you. And if they catch you, and you haven’t found the doll, then … then I don’t want to think about what will happen next. And it will be just as bad for me.”
“You mean I have to go up there alone?”
“But how else can we do it?” he said with exasperation. “I’m doing everything I can.”
“Okay. I’m sorry.” She looked away for a moment, thinking. Then she pushed her hair back and stood up. She took a deep breath. “Okay,” she said. “I’m ready, I guess. Let’s get going.”
She never would have thought that Dandaroo,
who was always so quiet, could make so much noise. His solid, stiff little body was suddenly a darting whirlwind of energy as he sped, thumping and shrieking, out of the room. “She’s running away, she’s running away!” he screamed, already clattering down the stairs. “She’s going downstairs, she’s getting away. Downstairs! Downstairs! She’s getting awaaaaay!”
The noise and confusion on the landing were instantaneous. “You fool! You simpleton!” came the harsh voices of Ganglia and the mother, and “Dear! Dear!” she heard the father mutter, as momentarily their footsteps and rustlings filled the hallway. And Dandaroo had been right. They were in a fury to catch her, and no one waited to guard the stairway to the attic. Before she knew it, they were down the steps. It was time now, and she didn’t have a second to lose.