Honestly, I didn't have to. They knew enough about your absence, or it must have been explained well enough when you first returned. Uncle Ian knew I was yours the moment he saw me. No questions asked. And he gave me money to secure passage to North Carolina, along with a trunk of your clothes, mama.

[ She honestly wishes she'd had more time to spend with him, that she could have met Aunt Jenny as well. But there's every chance she'll meet them at some point, she hopes. ]