“Ah! Sis Hartwell, did you... hear everything?”

Faye Moon was the first to notice her. Her fair, rosy face, refreshed from a good sleep, now flushed with nervousness and embarrassment.

Clutching Callum Lockridge’s hand, she spoke in a soft, timid voice, “Sis Hartwell, don’t worry. Teacher just cares too much about me and the baby, so he tends to overreact over small things.”

“Small things?”

Noelle Hartwell smiled faintly, as ...