THEY CAME early， ringing at the bell， knocking at the<br > door， and shouting. Elinor s room was at the back of the<br > house. The noise disturbed her dreams， and she pulled<br > her quilt over her head. Unlike her sister Judy， she was<br > bad at waking up. It took her a long time to clear her<br > mind of sleep.<br > The sound of Bambi crying finally roused her. He had<br > a loud voice. Her young stepmother， Sophia， claimed<br > he d be a famous opera singer one day. Maybe. If he<br > lived that long. Why didn t Sophia get up and feed him，<br > the lazy pig? Elinor got out of bed， put on her dressing<br > gown， and opened the door of her room.<br > Something was wrong!<br > The light was on in the hall below， and she could hear<br > Sophia s voice raised in an angry wail， the words so mud:<br > tied .with tears that it was impossible to tell whether she<br > Was Spe~ in English or Italian. Then a man said some-<br > thing Elinor could not hear. She ran to the banister and<br > loo~edid~w~ into thelhall.<br > w~te woolen gown，<br >...~l"t ~ ~ ":~"~ :~ g~ ~d jiggling him up and down<br >