The Journey of the Shadow Bairns by Margaret J. Anderson

Short description JSB Elspeth MacDonald didn’t understand her mother’s dying words. Take care of wee Rob. You mustn’t let them take him away. You are to stay together. . . .Do you understand. . . ? Who would want to take her brother away? But the meaning of her mother’s plea became clear when the social worker said that Robbie would have to go to an orphanage and she knew of a place where Elspeth could work as a maid. Determined to keep her promise to her mother, Elspeth decided that before the social worker returned, they would run away. . . . They would go to Canada and find their Uncle Donald and Aunt Maud. . . .