"Let it out, Anne. Yer safe." her words were soft over the sounds of tears. She could feel the dampness of her own smock, and the dampness of Anne's own hair, but it mattered not. Just sweet words, soft gestures "That's all right. Yer one of me own, it'll be alright." In the moment of raw emotion, Lottie's own true feelings and wants leaked out too. She wanted this girl as part of her own family, to repay a debt and have a larger legacy.

Lottie had failed this girl once and It would be a cold day in hell that she'd let her down again. Anne might not have realized it yet, but as far as Lottie was concerned she was no longer a Ward, she was a Blacke.

One of her own. Anne wished it was true. Not that she didn't want to be part of her own family. But she couldn't help a sense of yearning and incompleteness when she thought of what it would be like to be a Blacke. To have a mum, who listened to her and understood her, whom she wasn't afraid of. To live in a nice house too and probably do nicer jobs than mucking and baiting lines... To have a nicer bed. To not have to look after her brothers and do all the house chores alone. God, she wouldn't have to do all the laundry alone. And to come home every day and be able to share her joys and sorrows of the day with Mrs. Blacke... Oh, how lonely her own life felt when she thought of it and it made her cry all over!

When she had finally regained herself, she pulled back slowly and wiped her face with her sleeve. She took a handkerchief from her pocket and blew her nose. "Oh, I'm so sorry," she said as she put it away. "I am so happy to see ye, Mrs. Blacke. "How have ye been?"

Tears spent Lottie pulled away from Anne. How she wanted to give this girl a calmer roof to sleep under, nice clothes to wear, and a family to be proud of.

"Well, my dear, it's been an adventure for me. With Joe 'avin' gotten married to Miss Pearl, and playin' with me grandson chubby little Jacob - he's a joy." She said, bunging the stopper on the noxious lamp fuel and putting it away. Soon she had the kettle back on the boil, and there was nothing to do but wait.

"Now, let's see ye." Lottie commanded in that same sweet mothering tone she used with Ruth and Kate. She wanted to see Anne and what sort of image she was presenting to the world. "I remember that dress, fits ye well. You're grown' up in to a beautiful young woman-" She stopped suddenly. The girl's bedraggled hair clashed with her otherwise pristine appearance "No, no, this won't do. Yer 'air needs fixin' - stay there." Leaving the stove, Lottie quickly made her way upstairs to her bedroom and then came back down.

Anne had heard about Joe and Pearl of course. Such a juicy gossip had soon spread all over town, down to the last little ghaut and back alley. Kate had said Joe was an idiot. Anne thought Miss Pearl looked rather pretty and she had been very nice and polite when Anne had met her, and not looking down her nose at all like some rich girls did. Anne couldn't judge her for her murderer brother without condemning herself. And if they loved each other, what did it matter that they were from different classes? At least they had married for love.

When Mrs. Blacke looked at her, she blushed and turned her eyes down. She wasn't used to being looked at for long, unless it was other girls making fun of her red hair or stout body. And that always made her blush and turn her eyes down. Mrs. Blacke called her beautiful... She dared not believe it.

Anne felt even more uncomfortable and self-conscious, when Mrs. Blacke said her hair needed fixing. She had just braided it when leaving home, and it had been wet and easier to manage too! Did it look so bad?

She stood in the middle of kitchen, face redder than her hair, and afraid to move. "Do ye like Miss Pearl, Mrs. Blacke?" Anne asked when the woman returned. She was eager to turn the conversation away from herself.

"Oh she's a good woman, Anne." Lottie stopped before commenting on the rest of that family. She crossed the room and opened the door on the stove to let some of the heat into the room. It would help dry her hair too. "Enough about other folk, let me take care of you. I'll use this." Lottie held up a wooden hairbrush. It had a dark wooden handle and studs on the back.

"Me dad carved this brush 'andle when 'he was in the Navy. Out in China or India some place. 'e said the wood came from a mango tree. Very 'ard wood it was. 'E says the iron on the back 'ere came from the nails of his ship. 'aven't used this since it was re-bristled. He gave it to me mum, who gave it to me; I wanted Ruth or Kate to use it when they got married but who knows when that'll be? Ye 'ave fine 'air, Anne." Lottie said undoing the ribbon that held it and stroking it lightly. It's wild, but lovely. Ye should be proud."

Anne smiled when Lottie gave a positive evaluation of Pearl. She watched the brush. It wasn't like any she had ever used before. The wood was darker and prettier and it looked sturdier too. She let Mrs. Blacke undo her hair and listened, flattered both by the compliments and the fact that Mrs. Blacke was willing to use such a special heirloom to brush her hair. Was her hair truly pretty? It was the part of her body she liked most.

"Thank ye, Mrs. Blacke," she said quietly.

Did she use it to brush Kate or Ruth's hair? She dared not ask.

"If you want it, it's yours to keep. You're family now." Lottie whispered.

Anne suddenly stepped forward and turned, looking at Mrs. Blacke rather startled. Something about that offer had made her feel very uncomfortable. "Oh Mrs. Blacke... I could never. What about Kate?"

"Kate's got 'er eye on some of the exotic necklace or broach da picked up out there instead. She's never said anything about the brush. Go on..."

Anne shook her head. "Oh no, I couldn't take what rightfully belongs to 'er."