"People like to believe what's most convenient for them. To any normal person, seeing a woman and a young boy together makes them immediately assume they're mother and son, or brother and sister at the least. It makes the most sense, so it's most likely to be true. If you play into that, then all the doors begin to open for you."

The ever-present smile is still there, but she raises her eyebrows at him as if to say, 'you see?' Intelligence level had nothing much to do with it, as far as Winnie was concerned. "That's the thing about lies. YOu keep them simple and vague and let others fill in all the rest. Suppose it's not technically lying if the other person makes it all up themselves..."

She trails off, tapping at bottom lip thoughtfully, then shrugs. Whatever! Makes no difference to her. "Why don't you get some rest, though? There's no telling how long it'll be before the ferry actually starts running. I'll stay here to make sure no one else bothers you."

You know, except for herself occasionally.