Katie followed his directions, putting her legs into the harness. It was kind of weird, but if she had something like this to keep her from falling then she could climb a lot higher. But first she wanted to go down. Almost falling wasn't fun.
"Okay, Mr. Giotto," she answered solemnly. "I'm Miss Winderfield, and I'm ready to go down now." The man belaying them explained what to do, and she called down to him, "Okay! I'm ready!" Then she leaned away from the wall and held on to the rope, just like he told her. This was something she wanted to learn how to do right.
But then Mr. Giotto mentioned parents. Her lips turned down in a frown. "I don't have parents, so there's no need to find them," she announced. So what if Mr. and Mrs. Thompson had "adopted" her? They weren't her parents and they never would be.