Well, it wasn't inconceivable that Beth also had her reasons to keep secrets, Rena reasoned, seeing reflected in her eyes an almost eerily familiar haunted look. Though she wanted desperately to hear this younger girl's story, she knew now wasn't the time nor the place. If she needed to get out of the streets, well, Rena would help her with that; there would be time for stories later.
"You do not need to tell me anything you don't want to," Rena offered in a low voice, again scanning the streets for what might be making Beth so uncomfortable. There was, she noticed, an unfamiliar man on the streets. Having lived in town for as long as she had, she had learned to recognize an outsider when she saw one. "But it would be helpful if you gave me an idea what you're so upset about. Are you ill or do you need me to hide you?" Perhaps it said something about Rena that she noticed this potential, a certain understanding of the many options that she might be facing, but she spoke calmly and quietly, trying to prevent the younger girl from panicking and moving in such a way that she might protect her from whatever danger she saw.