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“Are ye certain? Ye know ’ow busy we be with all ’em pilchards. Ought we really be takin’ somethin’ like this on?”

“It be the least we can do for ’er, Trevik.”

He looked away, residual guilt pecking at his conscience. He hadn’t meant to ensnare the woman, but perhaps Mother was right. They ought to ensure she was healthy before sending her on her way.

“’Ow long ’til she be well?”

Poppy returned from the cellar with a slab of cheese, and Mother thanked her before responding. “Dr. Kent said it’d only be a few days. She be weak, ye know.”

Weak? That woman was hardly weak, and his jaw could attest to that. He rubbed at his cheek as Mother continued.

“I’d like to keep ’er ’ere ’til we be certain she remembers what she needs to.”

He paused, narrowing his eyes. “Remembers?”

“Fetch a glass, Poppy,” she said as she cut into the cheese. Poppy dutifully obeyed as Mother continued. “The poor dear appears to be a bit…confused. Didn’t know the day or where she be from.” She paused. “She even seemed to forget ’er accent at one point.”

Her accent? Trevik’s suspicion grew. “’Ow be that possible, then? She can’t remember any o’ that, yet she remembers ’er name?”

“’Tis more ’an possible,” Poppy piped up. “Dr. Kent said so ’imself.”

He faced Mother. “So Dr. Kent believes she lost ’er memory?”

Mother hesitated, glancing to Poppy. “It be ’ard to say.”

Trevik understood her reluctance at once. She and Dr. Kent were both hesitant to call the woman a liar, especially in front of Poppy. But Trevik didn’t understand why the truth couldn’t be known. After all, didn’t they deserve as much with the woman living under their roof?

Finally, Mother paused in her frittering about and focused on Trevik with a warning look. “Don’t be doin’ that already, Trev.”

“Doin’ what?”

“Castin’ all sorts o’ suspicions ’bout ’er. She ’as ’er reasons for what she be doin’.”

He scoffed. “’Cause she clearly be ’idin’ somethin’?”

She shook her head, layering the cheese onto the plate. “Ye best be careful, or ye’ll start soundin’ like Edern Cardy. No doubt that man’s already been spreadin’ lies ’bout the girl bein’ a mermaid.”

Trevik wasn’t surprised at all with Mother’s intuition. She’d been dealing with the Cardys since before Trevik was born. Of course she’d know what they were thinking.

But Poppy’s eyes rounded with excitement. She looked down the corridor to where Miss Hollow slept in her room. “A mermaid? Wouldn’t that be the most excitin’ thing?”

Only Poppy could think the presence of a dangerous, mythical creature exciting.

“Well, she ain’t one,” Mother said. “She simply be a lost woman, and that be all.” She turned to Trevik. “A woman ye ought not be suspicious of for wishin’ to keep to ’er own.”

“I ain’t be suspicious of ’er,” he lied. Truthfully, he’d never be so daft as to think the woman was a mermaid. But he had every right to be wary of a woman found in the middle of the sea before dawn, human or not. “I just be curious, is all.”

Poppy placed a glass of brandy on the tray they’d filled for Miss Hollow. “Dr. Kent said it be perfectly normal to lose one’s memory when one experiences such trauma as being nearly drowned by a fishin’ net.” She raised a condemning brow at him, but he ignored it.

“Don’t fret, son,” Mother said. “I’m sure she’ll be feelin’ better soon. ’Til then, we’ll make ’er as comfortable as we can. Poppy, ye be fine stayin’ in my room for the time bein’?”

“’Course, Mother,” Poppy responded with an innocent look. “I be more ’an ’appy to ’elp by offerin’ me room to ’er. Unlike some members of our family.”

She cast a look at Trevik, and he struggled to ignore her again. Some days, his sister was far too successful at teasing him.

“Thank ye, Poppy, dear,” Mother said, then she picked up the tray of bread, cheese, and brandy and moved to the door. “I’ll just be givin’ these to ’er now.” She looked between her children. “Behave, ye two.”

“Ye know I will, Mother,” Poppy said.