She lifted deep blue eyes briefly to the camera, then dropped them quickly. "Hello," she said in a voice barely audible.
"Mary is not used to many people, or to audiences," the announcer said. "Mary has been sitting in this wheel chair for almost three years, since a crippling disease twisted her limbs.
"We hope that Mary can be made to walk. The finest surgeons in the country have been consulted, and they believe an operation can give her back her legs, that were twisted when the disease struck. International Witch Corporation has arranged for that operation.
"Tomorrow Mary will go to the hospital. She will have the operation soon. In a few weeks, perhaps Mary will walk.
"Will you like that, Mary? Will you like walking?" he asked, leaning toward the child.
Again the eyes lifted for the briefest instant. Again they dropped shyly.
"Yes," Mary said in that barely audible voice.
"Then you shall have it, if it can be done," the announcer said, and the camera moved even farther back to include a stage onto which the witches danced.
The witches came onto the stage, not toward Mary, but stage center, chanting—their cry.