Leo looked along the pathway. ‘No, but he’s safe here.’
‘Yes, because you cleared the way.’
It didn’t take long for the statement to sink in. Leo shoved his glasses up the bridge of his nose, sniffed, clicked his litter grabber, then darted off towards a tissue he spotted curled around a nearby bin.
Spencer came over, peered in the pram, then smiled her way. ‘All good?’ he asked quietly, one eye on Leo.
‘Yes, we’re having a lovely restful day. Bit like the ducks. Have the boys earned their litter-picking badge yet?’
He grinned over at Ryan and Jax having a sword fight with their grabbers. ‘Erm, excuse me,’ he called.
The lads lowered their weapons and went back to hunting down rubbish.
Spencer nodded at Beth. ‘Almost. Another ten minutes should do it.’
‘And this was your idea, was it? All this badge malarkey?’
He was watching the boys while talking. ‘It all started with a comment Leo made, really. He wanted to be a Scout, but he’s too nervous to be around a lot of kids, so I figured we could have something similar at the Sunshine Centre. There aren’t many kids there his age, and they were the only three to sign up. Their parents gave consent, and here we are. It’s great seeing the boys out and about, laughing.’
Beth smiled. ‘Perhaps you should consider becoming a primary school teacher.’
His eyes momentarily flashed her way as he laughed. ‘No, thanks. This is enough for now.’
‘You look as happy as them.’
He went to reply, but Leo came sprinting over, his face as white as a ghost.
‘What’s wrong?’ asked Beth, as the boy practically squashed himself into her side.
Ryan and Jax approached, and Beth watched Ryan fold his arms tightly, with the grabber poking out. Everyone seemed to be glaring down the pathway, except Leo, who she could feel trembling.
Beth followed Spencer’s gaze to see a man followed by a group of six boys about the same age as the ones around her. A park-keeper was with them, and judging by what they were carrying, they all seemed ready for a spot of gardening. Due to the time of year, she figured they were having a bit of a tidy of twigs and such.
Leo’s head was low, but Ryan’s held high as the group passed. Spencer said a cheerful hello to the head of the team, but got some sort of crooked smirk in return, which Beth thought odd. Just when she thought that was the end of it, the leader came back, two boys in tow.
‘I heard you’re working with the Sunshine Centre,’ he said, sounding as though he had the hump about that fact.
‘Yes,’ replied Spencer, staying neutral.
Beth felt she was in the middle of a stand-off, the tension was that strong.
The man waggled a finger in circles at Ryan’s lanyard covered in Luna’s handmade activity badges. ‘I got wind of this nonsense. Bit daft, don’t you think?’
Beth wasn’t sure who raised their eyebrows the highest. She was sure she won her own badge for that.
It was only Spencer’s mouth that smiled. Beth could see his eyes were far from going to that happy place. ‘We’re building confidence.’
The man scoffed. ‘Please! They should just volunteer to help their community, like my team, not this . . .’ His fingers waggled again.
‘We like what we do,’ said Ryan.
One of the boys by the man snorted. ‘That’s because you’re too thick to do anything else. Oh, except your stupid swimming. And you’re no good at that either.’
Ryan unravelled his arms. ‘Shut up, Donkey. What would you know? You didn’t even get picked to race.’
The lad practically growled at Ryan, but Ryan was unmoved.
‘Erm, that’s no way to speak,’ said Spencer.
