Declan was sure that they'd given Maeve II tea when he was this age, but also he could not pretend that Mae had grown up in a particularly normal environment or that he had been a particularly normal child. So he probably ought to avoid arguing the point.

But maybe Maggie wanted a snack. And maybe there was another Whitby girl upstairs. "Stay down here," Declan said, because he did not want to abandon the printing press while it was still running — and because he was not sure how well taking a crying child up the stairs would go. "I'll get something."

He didn't wait for arguments before he left to go up the stairs, letting himself into the Whitbys' private quarters without his usual knock-and-pause. He didn't find any of the girls in his cursory search, but he did find a square of cheddar cheese on the kitchen counter, along with rolls of white bread, and some Honeyduke's toffees. He grabbed a knife to slice off pieces of the cheese. Declan gathered the items up in his jacket pockets, and made a mental note to replace anything that they ate when he came in tomorrow.

He took a second to exhale, with his hands resting on the Whitbys' kitchen counter, and center himself before he straightened and bounded back down the stairs, closing the door to the Whitby girls' rooms as he left. Right before he rounded the corner to find mother and daughter, he announced — managing a bright and cheerful voice despite the strange situation — "We have some cheese and also some treats, Maggie!"