And she got down on the rug on her knees and took the kite from his hands.
Everychild, standing beside her, looked into her rather sad, kind eyes, which were closer to him than he remembered their ever having been before. There were little moist lines about them, and they were faded. Her hands were not at all like his mother's hands. Not nearly so nice: and yet how clever they were! She was really untangling the tail of the kite, moving it here and there with large gestures.
And then Everychild forgot all about the kite. Certain amazing things had begun to happen near by.
It had been getting dark in the room; and now it suddenly became quite bright, though no one had turned the lights on. And there was a sound of music—a short bit of a march, which ended all of a sudden. And then Everychild realized that by some strange process two persons had entered the room.
CHAPTER II
EVERYCHILD'S ENCOUNTER WITH THE GIANT
He was almost afraid to look at the two strange persons, because their being there seemed very mysterious, and he had the thought that if he looked at them steadily they might vanish. He knew at once that they were not to be treated just as if they were ordinary persons. It was not only that they had come into the room without making any noise, or that there had been that burst of music, or that the light had brightened.
It was rather because the cook went on untangling the kite, just as if nothing had happened.
He said to himself, "She does not know they are here. She does not know I have seen anything."