Leah's obvious discomfort sent an immediate wave of guilt crashing into her. Pru's face turned red and she averted her gaze. Her heart pounded away anxiously in her chest. What would Leah think of her? Clearly, she'd noticed it wasn't a normal, friendly touch. Would she want to chat about it later? What would Pru even say? She couldn't lie... but she also didn't know if Leah would be comfortable being her friend anymore if she knew the thoughts that had just run through her best friend's mind.

Pru did the only thing she knew how - prattle as a distraction as she pulled the rest of her layers of dress over her head, "When do you think the storm will let up? I'm getting hungry and I'm sure it's getting close to dinner time. Did I tell you that I ran into Holliday in her room the other day? She was in an awful state. That magazine Witch Weekly had mentioned her brother in one of the articles about the fog expedition. They predicted that he was going to die. She was near inconsolable, poor thing. I had to reassure that there wasn't an ounce of truth to it. Can you imagine?"