She didn't know this boy. He was not from her community. A stranger, talking to her for no reason. She should be careful or she'd end up pregnant!

But she couldn't help her smile widening. "Thank you," she said shyly. He clearly struggled with English. A sailor lad? Almost a fisherman then. He looked nice, anyway, so he couldn't be the bad type. She patted the spot next to her.

"Look," she said, and she began to knit again, very slowly, so that he could see what she was doing. Her eyes slid from her work to the pretty face. She had never met a boy like him.