Never in her life had she been tempted to lie, to exaggerate a hurt, just to keep a gentleman closer. Lottie would be proud of her for entertaining such a thought even briefly. Which was enough to make her shake it away.

She plastered on a smile and flicked it from Oliver to Mabena, who had also hurried back. “Quite.”

The lads dashed around the corner too, looking stricken and pale. “What happened?” Perry’s voice asked. She could see now that said voice belonged to the boy clearly not related to the other two, who looked enough alike to have been twins, if they weren’t four inches apart in height.

Someone must have raised these lads right. Had it been schoolboy-aged Bram and Sheridan caught adventuring when they should have been in class, they’d have run the other direction upon hearing another voice, not come to make certain all was well.

She rewarded them with a smile for their concern. “Just found a hole with my foot. A burrow of some kind, no doubt.”

“That’s no burrow.” Though he toed the hole, Oliver kept an arm around her that warmed her far more than the summer sun. “Look. The edges are square.”

The lads surged around Mabena and crouched down beside the hole. It wasn’t large—just big enough for her unfortunate foot—and grass had crept over the edge, which surely meant it had been dug a while ago. “Bet Johnnie dug it,” Perry said.

The taller of the brothers snorted. “It could have been anyone, Perry. Any time.”

It could have been Beth. That was surely what Oliver and Mabena were thinking. But how could they ever know?

Oliver cleared his throat and put a stern expression onto his face, though the boys could no doubt see as easily as she did that it was more obligatory than meant. “And what exactly are you three doing here when you ought to be at school? What would Mr. Wearne say if he knew you were here?”

Whether they saw his mixed feelings or not, they reacted as any lad would when faced with the consequences for his truancy. Their faces morphed immediately into pleas. “Aw, come on, Mr. Tremayne! You won’t tell him, will you?”

“We’ll head right back. We promise!”

“It was such a beautiful day. . . .”

Oliver just lifted his brows. Given the twitching at the corners of his mouth, she suspected he said no more simply to keep laughter from his voice.

The lads huffed out matching sighs and pushed back to their feet, shoulders sagging. The taller of the brothers muttered, “We’ll just get back, then.”

“You certainly will,” Mabena put in with gusto, narrowing her eyes and crossing her arms over her chest. “And you can be certain we’ll be watching those blue sails of yours all the way back to Tresco. Now get on with you.”