Chapter 14
Beth
Being invited out for a walk in Anchorage Park while Spencer was litter picking with three boys from the centre where he worked part-time felt more of a big deal than it should have. It was nice he wanted to introduce her and Archie to the lads, but she also wondered if he was simply keeping an eye on her.
She sat on a bench, watching some ducks huddled beneath a weeping willow hanging low to the pond. The weather had turned mild, but she still snuggled her chin into her green scarf.
Archie was content and warm, staring at his pram mobile bobbing before his eyes.
Two of the boys and Spencer were having a chat with a man who had stopped by to ask about the badges attached to their lanyards. They were quite animated in their discussion.
Beth glanced to her side as the boy who wore a red cape sat down. The lads had taken to her quite quickly as soon as they found out she was a teacher. She remembered his name at once. ‘Hello, Leo. How’s it going?’
Leo raised his litter grabber and clicked it a couple of times. ‘Boring.’
‘But you’re doing a splendid job being a Sunshine Superhero.’
‘I bet superheroes don’t pick up rubbish.’
‘I bet they would if they saw someone could slip on something. A superhero would swoop in and save the member of public from harm.’ She saw his eyes widen at the thought. ‘Take that man Spencer is talking to.’ She gestured that way. ‘He looks elderly, right?’
Leo nodded as he plopped one arm over the top of the wooden bench.
‘Well,’ added Beth, ‘you wouldn’t want him to topple over on a crisp packet, would you?’
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.
‘Quite right,’ said the team leader, turning to flap a hand at the lad.
Beth glanced at Leo, who was as quiet as a mouse. Maybe she’d got it wrong about which boy didn’t like to talk in front of strangers. She was sure it was Jax, and she was good at remembering traits about kids, thanks to her job.
‘We’ll leave you to it,’ said Spencer, but the leader didn’t get the hint.
His grin was almost sinister as he leaned closer to Spencer. ‘Or we could have ourselves some friendly competition.’
Spencer shook his head. ‘No thanks.’
‘Oh, stop pampering the boys. My team is ready for anything.’
‘We’re happy doing some quiet litter picking to help the community,’ Spencer told him, sounding quite firm about it.
‘Let’s see who can collect the most rubbish around here in one minute.’ The man turned to the boys with him. ‘Twigs included.’ They nodded eagerly, but Beth was watching Spencer shaking his head.
‘I said no.’
‘They wouldn’t win anyway,’ said one of the other boys.
‘We did win,’ snapped Ryan, holding his grabber aloft. ‘We already cleared the path.’
‘Right, well, we’re off now,’ said Spencer. ‘Good luck with your gardening. Nice and mild for it.’ He turned his back, but Beth could see he had his eye on Ryan.
She was glad to see the group take the hint and walk away. ‘Well, he was just charming,’ she muttered.
‘Old school enemy of mine,’ Spencer told her, not sounding too bothered. ‘We used to get into a lot of fights. Guess he still doesn’t like me.’
Beth turned as Leo had sniffled. ‘Hey, are you okay?’ she asked softly, trying to lift his chin.
Leo was still so pale. He pointed to his chest, then tapped a couple of times. ‘My anxiety levels are rising,’ he replied, gasping. ‘Mum says to tell a grown-up when it happens.’
Beth managed to meet his watery eyes. ‘Focus on me, Leo. We’re going to take some deep breaths, okay?’
He nodded but didn’t look hopeful.
‘In through the nose,’ said Beth, joining in with the breathing exercise. ‘Out through the mouth.’
Jax was doing it too.
Spencer went to wrap an arm around Leo, but Beth stopped him.
‘Give him some space,’ she said quietly. ‘Now, Leo, keep concentrating on your breath. We’re going to count to three as we inhale, then hold it for two seconds, then count to six as we exhale. Count in your head. Ready, and . . . In through the nose two, three. Hold. Out through the mouth, two, three, four . . .’ She trailed off, giving him some peace to count.
Poor little Leo. He was staring at her with such hope. It was all she could do to stop herself from wrapping him up in her arms.
‘More breaths, Leo. Well done. You’re doing great. This technique will calm you.’
‘It’s calming me,’ said Jax, and his words alone made Leo smile. Oh, how it was a sight for sore eyes.
Beth smiled at the boy taking his breathing seriously while Spencer stood to his side, as stiff as a soldier standing to attention. It took a while, but the colour started to slowly creep back into the lad’s cheeks.
Leo’s head bobbed slightly. ‘Anxiety levels decreasing, Miss Horton.’
‘You can call me Beth.’
‘Doesn’t seem right when you’re a teacher.’
Jax poked him in the arm with his grabber. ‘Hunger increasing yet, Leo? You ready to leave?’
It killed the tension immediately, especially in Spencer, Beth could tell. His shoulders drooped and his lips parted.
Ryan came around the bench to face his friend. ‘Come on, Leo. Let’s get out of here.’ Beth watched him curl the cape further around Leo’s shoulder, then point his litter grabber out in front. Jax placed his on top, then Leo did the same. ‘Sunshine Superheroes,’ he roared, making Leo snort.
Beth placed her cold hands on the handle of the pram as she stood, as it seemed lunch was next for them. She turned to Spencer at her side as the boys headed off in front. ‘That could have gone a lot worse.’
Spencer nodded. ‘Where did you learn the breathing technique?’
‘Jan has been teaching me ways to relax and take back control. That one is the natural art of sedation. Longer breaths out, shorter ones in. I can teach Leo another one later.’
‘You can teach me. I think I need it after that.’
‘That horrible man scared him so much.’ She took the brake off the pram and started to follow the boys out the park.
Spencer shook his head. ‘It wasn’t him. Shouldn’t be head of a group of kids with that crappy attitude though.’
Beth kept her eyes on the boys in front, seemingly in good spirits now. ‘If he didn’t scare Leo, what did?’
‘Rufus Doncaster.’ Spencer thumbed behind him. ‘The mouthy boy. He was one of the kids that used to bully Leo. Got so bad at one point, Leo ended up in hospital, and another kid was arrested, but Caster got away with it. He’s that alpha type that gets his mates to do the dirty work for him.’
‘Caster?’
‘His friends call him that. Those that hate him call him Donkey.’
Beth muffled her laugh with one hand. ‘Oh, that explains that name. I thought Ryan was just insulting him.’
‘He was.’
Beth felt her heart go out to Leo. What a terrible trauma he had to face. ‘Do you think he’ll be okay?’
Spencer shoved his hands into his pockets and pulled out a pair of dark gloves. ‘Hope so. He loves being home-schooled, and he’s happy at the centre.’ He handed over the gloves. ‘Here, wear these. Your fingers look blue.’
They were starting to feel in need of some warmth, and Spencer’s gloves certainly provided that, apparently in more ways than one, seeing how her heart just fluttered. Probably the adrenaline from helping Leo stay calm.
‘Thanks for helping, Beth.’
She smiled over at the boys. ‘It’s okay. I know how it feels. Let’s thank Jan for teaching me some coping strategies.’ She certainly was grateful for them when Leo was in need. How she remained calm was beyond her, as she was sure her own panic might have wanted to join in.
Spencer leaned playfully into her arm. ‘You did good, Miss Horton.’
That silly heart flutter was back again.