The Prologue takes place in 1963. It shows the release of Rumpus, a snow leopard cub being held in captivity as a pet, into Wildoak Forest in Cornwall, England. This is a flash-forward and represents an event that will actually take place in Chapter 8 of the chronological narrative that begins with Chapter 1.

In London, in 1963, the book’s 11-year-old protagonist, Maggie, is sitting in class. She dreads being called on to read aloud because of her stutter; it has isolated her and made her the object of ridicule. She drives a pencil into her own palm so that she can go to the school nurse instead of reading in front of her peers. The school nurse is unsympathetic. As she roughly treats Maggie’s injury, she makes it clear that she thinks Maggie’s stutter is abnormal and a burden to Maggie’s classmates and the school. She tells Maggie that she will suggest that Maggie be sent to Granville, an institution that Maggie has heard terrible things about.