Warm air washed over her as she opened the door. She hadn't realized how cold she was until then. The hall wasn't lit, but light spilled into it from the kitchen. She could hear silverware clinking and a fire snapping. Something smelled good; cooking. A woman's shadow moved across the floor.
"There you are!" Sissy appeared out of nowhere, making Arrietty jump. "I told Mom to set an extra plate for breakfast. Come on, let's get you cleaned up."
She plunked the flashlight down on a shelf, whisked Arrietty around a corner and pushed her up a flight of stairs and down another hall, finally stopping in front of an open bedroom door. She held a hand up and measured; Arrietty was leggy as Human Beans went and was a good nine inches taller than Sissy was. "You won't fit my clothes," she mused, "but maybe... wait here!"
She started to run off to a different bedroom, then screeched to a halt. "No, no, I have a better idea." She took hold of Arrietty's shoulders and pushed her across the hall into a bathroom, flicked the light on, then scrambled across to the shower and turned the water on full blast.
"Throw those pajamas in the hamper," she shouted, over the roar of the tap. "I'll bring you something to wear, okay? Towels are here," and she yanked a cupboard open to show the stacks of folded white terrycloth. "Oh, and there's disinfectant in the medicine cupboard over the toilet." Then she locked the door from the inside and backed out, still clutching the edge of the door.
"I'll knock three times, okay? Let me in when I come back."
The door slammed before Arrietty could answer. Two bottles fell off the counter and rolled across the floor.
"Sissy!" someone yelled from downstairs. "Will you stop that!"
Arrietty licked her lips and held a finger under the water. It was hot, wonderfully blissfully hot. She hadn't bathed in hot water since leaving the Sadako house. Three seconds later the pajamas were in the hamper.
She was drying off when the door shook under Sissy's "knocks." They sounded more like hammer blows. She wrapped herself in the towel and opened the door.
"Here." Sissy blew in along with a gust of cold hallway air. "Look what I found!"
She held it up proudly by the straps. It was a pair of women's overalls. The cuffs were a little high on Arrietty ankles, but "They'll do," Sissy decided. She also had a pair of shoes - with something crinkly stuffed in one of them - under one arm and a frilly cream blouse slung over her shoulder. "These belonged to our milkmaid. She quit because she said the barn was haunted." Sissy giggled. "Fancy that! And I found a set of underwear I haven't used yet. You're pretty slim, and -" she eyed Arrietty's flat chest "-I don't think you're any bustier than I am, so they should fit."
She put the toilet lid down and dumped everything there. "So. Get dressed and come back down. Waffles are almost ready!"
Arrietty got her hands over her ears in time to block out the inevitable slam.
The farmer was in the kitchen when Arrietty came down in her new blouse and overalls. That made Arrietty feel better about facing the new Human Bean, the woman.
"Well there!" The woman smiled and turned the gas range off to shake Arrietty's hand. Her eyelids flickered as she took in the band-aids on Arrietty's hands. "So you're the Good Samaritan who saved our little Beauty."
"Er... yeees." Arrietty stole a glance at Sissy, who was stuffing her face at the table. Sissy nodded fractionally and gave her a thumbs-up. Arrietty was starting to get a sense that Sissy was rather "artful" as Homily might say. She didn't even realize yet that Sissy had intentionally not let her mother see Arrietty in the dirty pajamas, or that Sissy had chosen overalls knowing her mother would assume that Arrietty worked at a nearby farm. The fact was that Sissy did not have many friends her age and was determined to keep Arrietty as long as she could; she knew she had a much better chance at this if her mother did not think Arrietty was a homeless runaway, as she and the farmer suspected she was. Children sometimes have a more realistic view of their mothers than their fathers do.
Arrietty didn't know what a Good Samaritan was, but she shook the lady's hand back. "Yes," she said more firmly. "I am. Pleased to meet you. I'm Arrietty."
"My name is Carol. Do sit down and have some waffles."
"And after breakfast, can I show her around the farm?" Sissy said eagerly.
"Well, dear, she may need to go back to work..."
"It's my day off," Arrietty heard herself say. Her ears burned, but her hair was still down from the shower and no one was the wiser.
"Oh, good!" Sissy jumped up and hauled her to the table. "Let's go egg-hunting. I've always wanted to go egg-hunting with another girl."
"Don't you see other girls at school?" her mother teased. She set a plate down in front of Arrietty; the farmer passed syrup, and Sissy slid a waffle onto her plate.
"Yes, but I don't like them," Sissy grumbled. "They think farming is stupid. Are you good at hunting eggs, Arrietty?"
"Yes, quite," Arrietty said, and picked up her fork. It was true; robin's eggs, quail's eggs, even insect eggs - she'd done a lot of that since her family moved into the dugout burrow.
"Oh, good."
