chunk: At first, Mary is her usual self, sour and rude, disliking her uncle's large house, the people within it, and, most of all, the vast stretch of moor, which seems scrubby and grey after the winter. She is told that she must stay confined to her two rooms and keep herself amused without much attention. Martha Sowerby, a good-natured maid, tells Mary a story of the late Mrs. Craven and how she would spend hours in a private walled garden growing roses. Mrs. Craven was killed when a tree branch fell on her in the garden, and the devastated Mr. Craven locked the garden and buried the key. Mary is piqued by this story and her ill manner begins to soften. Soon, she comes to enjoy the company of Martha, Ben Weatherstaff the gardener, and a friendly robin redbreast whom she assigns a human personality. Her appetite increases, the bracing air improves her health and she grows stronger as she plays by herself on the moor. Martha's mother buys Mary a skipping rope to encourage this, and Mary