Anne was glad that Mable didn't seem mad and offered a constructive solution. She did not want to condemn her friend to near silence but she did not want to lose her as a friend either.

They reached her father's boat. He was there with the two men on his team and William, her younger brother, who still served as a lad.

"I'm so glad ye're okay!" she said. There were only a few fish in the boat, so they had risked their lives for nothing.

"Aye, said her father. "It was too rough out there. Take the net, Anne, and hang it out to dry. It needs mendin'." He glanced at Mable but did not say anything, and Anne did not introduce her, but took the net and stepped back.