I asked whether the bird was frightened.

Pearl nodded.

“Do you ever feel like the bird?”

She stared at me for a long time.

At last she signed, SMALL VOICE HURTS.

I did not ask her to prove it or force her to say the names of people she feared.

I wrote down her exact words and the circumstances, then requested a private appointment with the pediatric clinician Desmond had agreed to consult.

If she was describing mistreatment, she needed people trained to help her safely.