"Aye, I am. I know how it is ta go hungry, so I wanted to help." Of course, he had used it as a pickup line at first, but that was neither here nor there in his humble opinion.

He smiled at Bram and said, "Ye don't say."

"Aye," said Bram, holding a now much smaller piece of brioche while his hot food was untouched. "Can ye give him brioche instead of bread sometime?"

"Bram!" his father and Rose shouted at once.

"Brioche is bread," he chuckled, "It's just made a different way than other breads." He grinned at the kid and wanted to reach out and ruffle his hair.

"And Bram should be very grateful and content with any bread he gets," the boy's father said with a warning look at the child.

"Oh but it is awfully good of ye to help Mr. Meijer." Rose quickly said. "Those bairns who come to school hungry are really at a disadvantage."

"I am glad ta help. Mr. Meijer is a busy man and a good friend of mine. With his own bairn on the way, he needed a bit of a break too so I am happy ta help him out too. He cares deeply about all the children." Even the naughty ones, he thought.

Ben nodded. "Well I'm glad to hear of it. That school has seen darker days, and I'm glad it now has a teacher who cares so much."

"He still doesn't know how to handle Ed, though." Bram said.

"Bram, don't be mean!" Rose scolded.

He frowned. He did not know of this Ed kid, but Uriel never complained about the kids whenever he saw him. He wondered if he should give Ed a job to keep him busy... but then he didn't want some kid stealing from him either, so he didn't know. "I see," he said and ate a bite of his food.

"Don't mind him! I'm sure Mr. Meijer is doing a perfectly good job!" Rose quickly said. Well, that Mr. Meijer. She was convinced that the only thing her employer excelled at was petulance.

"How long have you been in Whitby, Mr. Willaby?" asked Ben, changing the subject.

"About six or seven months now," he said, grateful for the change in topic. He chose to remain quiet on his friend for the moment, though Rose would probably see the thankful look he had on his face for her words.

Rose did see, and was glad for it.

"How do ye find the town so far?" father asked.