Anne seemed to visibly shrink and her face dropped when she heard it once and for all from a man of the law. Mrs. Blacke had said there was nothing anyone could do for Alice. But Mrs. Blacke wasn't a legal expert. That was what Anne had told herself to comfort herself and keep hoping. And hope she had done. Hoped and prayed and gotten a job that frightened her. All because she had to believe she could save her sister. Now that hope was crushed for good.

There was a lump in her throat and she could feel tears burn in her eyes, but she wasn't going to cry here on the train in front of this stranger. She looked down and clutched her bag so tight her knuckles lost colour. "Thank ye, ser," she whispered.

The train stopped and Anne looked out, wishing it was Castleton, so she could run out, but it was an earlier stop.