T he garden house had two rooms, one for sleeping and one for playing. The 
playing room had a set of double doors, made of many small windows, that opened 
onto Constable Moore's garden. Nell had been told to be careful with the little 
windows, because they were made of real glass. The glass was bubbly and uneven, 
like the surface of a pot of water just before it breaks into a boil, and Nell 
liked to look at things through it because, even though she knew it was not as 
strong as a common window, it made her feel safer, as though she were hiding 
behind something.