The Very Little Princess: Rose's Story by Marion Dane Bauer Page A

servant watching?
    Regina lay down on the bed. She got up. She sat in the graceful velvet chair, then got up from there, too.
    She walked to one wall and then to the other. She walked to the window and to the gaping front of the house.
    â€œMaybe,” she said to herself and to the empty room beyond her cozy dollhouse, “it would be all right if Rose came back … just for a little while.”
    She sat on the window seat, smoothed her satin skirt, crossed her ankles prettily, and waited.
    The girl, the big, clumsy girl, would return. Whatever mistakes Rose made along the way, she always came back.

    Rose did come back, of course. It was, after all, her room, her dollhouse, her doll. Not to mention her responsibility. But not for several hours.
    Sam kept her busy all afternoon.
    After lunch he suggested a bicycle ride. Sam was the one who had taught Rose to ride her bike, but he’d never before asked her to ridewith him. “Your legs are too short, pip-squeak,” he’d say. “You can’t keep up.”
    This day, though, he said, “How about we get our bikes out and go for a ride.”
    And they did.
    He kept pace alongside her, too, never riding out ahead. He didn’t call her pip-squeak, either … except once when she had to stop for the third time on their way up the big hill behind the Methodist church.
    After their bike ride, they got ice cream sandwiches from the freezer in the back of the grocery store. And then, to Rose’s delight, Sam suggested that they go swimming at the quarry. The quarry was where all the big kids went. Sam had never taken Rose there before.
    At the quarry, he held her up when the water was too deep and never called her pip-squeak even once.
    It was nice, Rose had to admit to herself, not to have to worry about Regina for a while.
    Rose was tired when they got home for supper, but still, she hurried upstairs to see her doll.
    She let out a sigh of relief when she stepped into the room. There the princess sat on the window seat inside the dollhouse, looking right at her. Her ankles were crossed neatly, and her tiny hands were folded in her lap.
    Everything was fine. Regina even looked happy, sitting there in her own little bedroom.
    â€œHave you been having fun?” Rose asked, crossing to the dollhouse. “I’ve had the best time. First, Sam and I went biking. We even went up the hill behind …”
    But her voice trailed off. Princess Regina didn’t seem to be listening. In fact, she didn’t seem to be doing anything, not even moving.
    She was just sitting … staring … as deaf and dumb as any other china doll.
    â€œOh!” Rose cried, and she scooped the tiny doll into her hand. “Oh … don’t! You can’t go off to sleep.” She shook Regina gently. No response.
    This was so unfair.
She
hadn’t forgotten this time. Regina had told her to go. The princess had practically dismissed her!
    After a moment, Rose laid the doll down very gently on the dollhouse bed and backed away until she bumped into her own bed. She sat down abruptly.
    She would not cry! She would
not
!
    Rose sat for a long time watching Regina, but she didn’t pick her up again. After a while, she wiped away a tear. Only one. There would be no more.
    Princess Regina was safe now. The princesshad her own little house, and she was perfectly safe.

    To tell the truth, Rose didn’t know how to feel. She was almost as glad as she was sad not to take care of the princess any longer. She didn’t have to take constant orders. She didn’t have to protect the doll from every kind ofaccident. She didn’t have to keep her hidden from grabby hands.
    But still …
    Rose cocked her head and studied Regina. The tiny doll’s expression had changed since Rose had discovered her. She no longer looked down and away as though avoiding too-friendly hands. She looked directly out into the