Au contraire..." "What?" Constance demanded. Curtain blinked. ~ The Perilous Journey

And please don't call me that." I didn't call you 'that', I called you George Washington.

Everything is as it should be.

Remember, children. For every exit, there is also an entrance. ~ Milligan, The Mysterious Benedict Society

Something about this made Reynie uneasy. Had he done so badly? Was this meant to test his courage? He did as he was told, closing his eyes and bracing himself as best he could. "Why are you flinching?" the pencil woman asked. "I don't know. I thought maybe you were going to slap me." "Don't be ridiculous. I could slap you perfectly well with your eyes open. I'm only going to blindfold you.

I think when I started to write The Mysterious Benedict Society that I had that kind of thing in mind - the notion of having to be able to solve puzzles and riddles because enormous stakes rode upon your ability to do that.

Children are capable of such open rudeness.