Nell was about to pipe up, but Harv shushed her with a hand on her arm 
and gave the woman a somewhat more abridged version than Nell might have 
provided. He mentioned that Brad had been "a friend of" their mother's 
for a while, that he had always treated them kindly and had actually taken them 
to the NAC to see the horses. Not far into the story, the blank expression on 
the woman's face was replaced by one that was somewhat more guarded, and she 
stopped listening. "I think Brad told me about you once," she finally said 
when Harv had wandered into a blind alley. "I know he remembers you. So what 
is it that you would like to happen now?"