Bram came walking in his direction, holding his ear, and pouting - crying upon closer inspection.

Seeing Bram in such a state, Elijah almost ran to him trying to get to the boy quickly. "What happened, Bram! Are you alright?" He knew it couldn't have been Will. Who would strike the child and why?!

"Nobody was there when I came back. T' doctor boxed me ears for prankin' him and said I was naughty. But I wasn't naughty this time." He wiped his face, but almost began crying again over the sheer injustice of it. "Why did you do that!"

There was an ache in his heart as he heard it was all his fault. He knelt down before Bram. "I am so so sorry. I thought Alice and Anne would be there. They were supposed to wait for the doctor. " He wanted to make it right for the boy. "I am trying to help your dad find the person who has been taking the money. How about as soon as I can, today, we both go to the doctor. I will explain myself so he knows you're innocent and I have him apologize for boxing your ear and not believing you?"

Bram pouted and sniffed. "And will ye arrest him?"

Elijah rose his brow. "Arrest him? Heavens no. Not for just boxing a  ear, it stings but I don't think it is enough to take someone into jail over. Though I will ask he make sure the child is innocent before doing so next time."

Bram looked indignant. "But Will said..." Grown ups were so confusing.

Elijah shook his head. "Will isn't always right. Even Ben isn't always right. I'm not always right either. But I know the law more than either of them. It's my job to do so. A judge or a lawyer would know the law even better than I though.'

Bram pouted. "You tell 'im I'm not naughty! Can I stay home from school now?"

Because why not exploit this situation?

Elijah sighed heavily. "Alright. Since I feel bad about what happened. But no fighting with your family, alright?"