At the end of the party, the Floss children (minus Camellia) are rounded up to be returned to the home, but the couple that has “been holding on to Gabion all day” (151) is reluctant to give him up. Miss Tann tells the couple that “this little darling is definitely a popular one. I’ve had several asks after him already” (151). This remark makes the husband all the more desperate to secure Gabion for his wife. He and Miss Tann have a whispered conversation, and Rill is told to go to the car and take the children with her.

Rill refuses to move and tries to round up her baby brother, to scoop him up into her arms. “Oh goodness. Is she his sister?” (151) the woman who is fussing over Gabion asks and Miss Tan lies, saying the older children in the home sometimes just bond with the younger ones. Miss Murphy commands Rill and the others to go outside and get in the car, but Rill feels “roots grow[ing] under her feet” (152) as she senses what is about to occur. At last she is dragged out of the house and sits with

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