Malachi only glanced at the boy towards the tail end of his explanation, and caught the odd look thrown his way.

What, even children were suspicious of him now?

"Just curious," he admitted. "I was hoping that if she does this a lot, there might be a place she usually goes to when she does."

Perhaps the sister was just job-hunting, or... ah, who was he kidding. She'd left her young children with a boy hardly older than them.