Kate was glad for her mother's words. Her parents normally told her to respect and obey her elders, and so there had been a slight worry that her mother would say that if that was what Mr. Ward decided, she and Anne had to respect that. "Anne is afeard to disobey him. Perhaps... if I go and apologize, 'e won't think me rude anymore..."

Lottie scoffed "I'll not have ye say sorry to that man! - wait. That's a great idea!" Lottie's expression changed in a flash as she rediscovered the courage of the much, much younger and more rebellious Charlotte 'Lottie' Clarke. The young fisher lass from the Cragg who needed to be practically tied to a chair to help with domestic chores.

"If you go in yer Sunday best, ye'll look more sincere. Then ye can slip Anne a note? Yer grandfather said in the navy when our sailors didn't want the enemy to learn what we were planning, they used secret codes in flags. We can give Anne a code she can use to come and see us. What kind of a code can we tell her?"

Kate stared at her mother in awe. Who was this woman? She had never seen her mother so... defiant. "Can we really do that?" she asked, not so much because she doubted the strategy, but rather because she doubted that this had just come out of her mother's mouth. "I suppose... I suppose we could use a fixed location where she can leave notes..."

"Lighthouse. No. The bandstand?" Lottie tried to think of places they could hide a note in public that Anne could get to and at the same time not be found by anyone else, least of all Ben Ward. It all had to appear natural, completely at home in that place.

"Can she not just come over when she wants to... If... if she dares to disobey 'im? She can do it secretly. We won't tell anyone, will we?"

Admittedly a secret code did sound a lot more adventurous.

"She can, we're not goin' to tell anyone, but we have to keep 'er safe. If Mister Ward knew she were comin' 'ere..."

Lottie did not have to finish that sentence. She had long known that Anne was rather afraid of her father. But still what she had witnessed had disturbed her greatly. "Perhaps, I can go to the Girls' Mission again." Kate hadn't been in ages, but she knew Anne attended faithfully. "And then she can come home with me afterwards, and she can say at home that the meeting ran late."

"That'd work." Lottie nodded. The girls could then both come to Osway Street for supper and to rest. If Anne needed a sweet treat, or a friendly ear Katie could be there. If the fisher lass needed clothes mended, or a mother's heart Lottie would provide it quietly. The real magic would be up to Anne herself to actually defy her father again.

"Ye think it's to late to go and apologise now?" Kate asked. She was terrified of telling Mr. Ward she was sorry, but she had to be brave for Anne. It was a sacrifice she was willing to make if it meant she could see her friend again. She hoped that was what it meant and Mr. Ward would relent.

"I don't think so, if ye hurry." Lottie said.