"Back to Scotland on a ship? I thought you hated the water."
"I do hate it, but I promised to go back for Cathleen. With my pay, I can take her…"
"How old is she?"
"Fourteen years, ten months and six days. They'll be throwin' her to the streets soon. They don't abide anyone over fifteen."
"Fifteen?" He wrinkled his brow. "How old are you?"
She took a deep breath and wiped the last of her tears away. "I am twenty-one. You will not tell the others, will you?"
Hannish was completely taken aback and it took a moment to regain his composure. "Why must it be a secret?"
"Mr. Hannish, I never thought of you as witless."
This time, he could not hold back his grin. "In what regard am I witless?"
"I know I am young for my age. I try to grow up, but 'tis hard when you've had no one to guide you, save Old Mrs. Forthright. What she can teach can be put in a thimble, and a small one at that. If the others know how old I am, they will laugh at me."
"They are very fond of you. They will not laugh."
"Aye, but Keith…"
"What about Keith?"
"If a lad looks at me too long, does it mean he fancies me?"
"Perhaps."
"That is what I thought. That is why, then."
He wrinkled his brow. "That is why you do not want him to know your true age?"
"Aye, if he thinks I am too young, he will not ask."
"I see. Tell me, if they discharge a child at fifteen, how did you manage to stay in the orphanage?"
"'Twas I who cleaned the office and once, when Old Mrs. Forthright first come, I found my certificate of birth. That's how I know I am a Scot. Anyway, I changed the year I was born to one year younger than my sister, and Old Mrs. Forthright was none the wiser." Sassy suddenly wrinkled her brow. "The certificate of birth said 'parents unknown,' but I remember a woman, although I dinna think she was my mother. Oh well, it matters not; my mother bore me and here I am."
"So you are. What is your real name?"
"Leesil."
"Leesil what?"
Sassy shrugged. "Please say I can go home."
He paused to consider the problem for a moment. "Sassy, your pay is not yet enough to care for you and you sister, but I've a better idea. McKenna needs something to do and she knows a great many people. Perhaps she can arrange employment for your sister. Once you have saved enough, you can go home and I will see you to the train myself."