There was an awful commotion at the estate upon their return to the estate, as Mother informed Father of Justin's upcoming performance at the Winter Festival, and of "what Jeremy had done."
That evening, Anna put the small music box on the side table next to her bed. She cranked the little golden lever on the music box , and listened to its melody. This time, the song spoke to her like this:
My little babe in the wood
All alone, with naught to do
Come and listen to the wind
Greet the stars, and breathe in
We’ll take you by the hand
And fly away to Fairy Land
Sing sweetly, together true
See the world in colors new
Then safely return you home
Until it’s time again to roam
Anna listened to the music box until she fell asleep, and even heard its melody thereafter in her dreams. Nanny did not protest Anna listening to the box in bed—she could not hear the box's music, and saw no harm letting the child play with the simple, seemingly silent toy.
In the morning, Nanny told Anna that Mister Jeremy had "unfortunately been let go" and had left during the previous night to go and live with his granddaughter in a neighboring City.
Anna spent the rest of the morning crying in bed, and refused to eat anything for the the day, despite Nanny's desperate appeals. Nanny tried to explain to Anna that Mister Jeremy was very old and was thinking of retiring anyway, and would be very welcomed at his granddaughter's home. But Anna was inconsolable.
Later that evening, Anna again listened to the music box for comfort. Every time she played the box, its song seemed to be somehow different, and yet, somehow still the same.
Once again, the music box lulled her to sleep.
The next few weeks before the Winter Festival passed by with a bother and a flurry. Mother and Father were more than usually occupied with preparations of one sort or another. And Nanny was oftentimes preoccupied with fashioning Anna's green velvet dress for the party, and so Anna was frequently asked to go and play in the yard alone.
Anna would invariably head to the West field to visit the old gray pony. The tired and retired animal often seemed like her only friend. Anna would play her special music box for the pony and feed him an apple. Anna thought that the sheen she could see in the pony's big, glassy eyes meant that the pony appreciated the music. And anyway, she of course knew that the pony also appreciated the apples.