He had tried to heat a can of soup for his supper, but both the stove in the galley and the one in Nathan’s workshop smoked, and he hadn’t been able to light a fire. In the end, he had eaten the soup cold but abandoned it after a few mouthfuls. Now he lay in his berth under all the blankets he could find, cuddled up to Elsie for extra warmth, his mind whirring.

The Sparrowhawk was in a worse state than he had thought. She didn’t just need a scrub and a lick of paint. All her windows needed recaulking, her metalwork was spotted with rust, and he hadn’t even dared to inspect the engine. How much was it going to cost to put all this right?

“First thing in the morning,” he told Elsie, “I’ll go and look for a job.”

He’d ask at the boatyard, where he’d done odd jobs since living with Mercy, running errands and messages. John Snell, who ran it, had known Nathan; the two men had liked each other. And he could advise Ben on the Sparrowhawk too, where to start with getting her back into shape, ready for when Sam came home.

When Sam came home …

The truth was, Ben had no idea when his brother would return. He had lied to Mercy, and now he had lied to Lotti too, which had been more difficult because there was something about Lotti that made him want to be honest with her. But a secret was a secret, and this one was not for sharing. There had been no letter from the War Office and if the constable Albert Skinner found out, Ben would be taken into care again and separated from Elsie. The Sparrowhawk, he imagined, would either be sold or left to rot.

How long could he keep up the pretense before anyone found out?

Chapter Four

The next morning at dawn, Lotti stole out to take Federico for a quick run on the hills, then returned the little dog to Zachy. After breakfast, which she ate in the kitchen, she sewed for four hours, irreproachably dressed in a scratchy navy pinafore, her curls pulled into neat braids. With a tremendous exercise of will, she managed to hide her impatience, but as soon as her aunt dismissed her, she sneaked away to fetch Federico and ran down to the Sparrowhawk.

Oh, please let Ben be happy to see me, she thought as she ran. Please let it be as lovely as I remember it!