Well, that was a new one. Same island? Different island? The European names in Samoa tended to run French, but ‘Mable’ sounded … not-French. English? German? One of those, maybe.

“So do you, Mable.”

Oh. Ropati pulled his lips in the moment she looked away. Whatever this was, this wasn’t good news. He would have apologized for her loss, but she was on to the next subject. Her brother?

“Are you both … orphans, then?”

Were they both too young to be fending for themselves?

“There are … much more interesting things than where I came from,” he answered, leaning against his cart. “Tell me about your shell collection.”