Ben frowned. "I don't think we can stop her from being afraid," he said, and then immediately regretted having voiced it. It was true enough — both because the situation was frightening for a child who had no context for where she was or what was happening or why, but also because they were scared, and he was sure Nora would be able to tell that. She'd sensed how tense things were between the pair of them when he'd left earlier in the year, even if they'd both worked hard not to actually say or do anything around her that could confirm it. She was going to know they were scared, and she was going to be scared, and there was nothing they could do to save her from that... but that didn't mean it had been a useful thing to say to Melody.

"Sorry," he said with an even deeper frown. "Of course that's fine. Let's do it."

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