“Aye,” she nearly whispered the word. Her gaze finally settled on his face, startled by his offer. What did she say to that? “Thank ye for that.” She stared then, and then the man came by to read tickets and she fumbled in her pocket with shaking hands. At last, the ticket was produced and punched.

“Karen Calloway is me name,” she said in an increasingly tight voice. She wondered if she had done the right thing by letting him sit across from her. But then, he didn’t seem to be judging her for traveling with such young children. The man was harmless, yes? She took a deep breath and let it out, but it didn’t stop the trembling she now felt. Perhaps she was a bit tired… after all, she had hardly slept the night before thanks to the nightmares about her late husband.