Bram frowned and folded his arms, but he had no reply to that.

"I should go home for tea now." he said instead.

Elijah nodded. "I'll walk you there. Maybe Ben has some news."

When they arrived there, Ben wasn't there, Will was on the floor, fixing a net. Alice sat by the table, shawl wrapped around her, and Anne was preparing a meal, but looking equally miserable. She looked up when she saw Bram and Elijah. "Oh, hello Elijah," she forced a smile. "Father's gone out."

Elijah looked surprised. "He is supposed to be taking it easy. Any idea why?" He glanced around and then at Bram hoping for an explanation. When he saw none  he sighed. "What's happened? Everyone looks miserable."

Will looked at Elijah and then glared at Alice. "Alice is a thief!" Alice cringed.
"Shut up, Will!" Anne shouted. Her older sister just wrapped her shawl tighter around her.
"It's true! An' a liar! An' she's vexed father!"
Bram pulled Elijah's sleeve. "Can I have my tea at your place?"

Elijah frowned looking at them. "She apologized..." He sighed and shook his head. "I know how to fix this. Let's have tea at my home, Bram.." He looked over. "You come too Alice." He smiled apologetically, "You can come too if you want, Anne."

Will looked sulky as he realized he was excluded.
"I don't think Anne or I are supposed to leave the house right now..." Alice barely more than whispered. "I think now is not the best time, Elijah..."

Elijah didn't mean to make Will feel bad but he wanted the boy to be kinder to his family. Though he supposed if he thought about it hard enough Will was trying to be responsible as his siblings got into trouble and perhaps it was getting to him.

"I was thinking a good way to have Alice pay him back was maybe help clean my house once or twice a week. It wouldn't take long but bring in a little extra money. "

Alice looked down.
"You should probably discuss this with father, Elijah..." Anne said quietly.
"She's gonna be married soon anyway." Will added bitterly.

Elijah arched his brow in surprise. "What? With who? When was this decided?" It seemed very quick and he looked at them wondering if that was why they were upset.