The Preacher's Son - Juliette Duncan Page 0,24

the gang.”

I blew out a small breath. “I guess we’ll have to hope he makes good decisions.” Julia’s concern was touching. I shared it myself. Leon had wound himself around my heart strings and I truly cared about what happened to him. But I’d also been working with young offenders long enough to know that things didn’t always go the way you wanted them to, and often there wasn’t a thing anyone could do about it.

Right on cue, my gaze travelled across the camp to where he stood by the fence. As though sensing my gaze on him, his head swivelled around. Raising my hand in greeting, I jogged over, genuinely pleased to see him. Only when I got closer did I see that he wasn’t smiling back. Instead, he had the same wary, hard as nails expression that he’d worn when I first met him. Only then did I notice the other boy slipping into the trees on the other side of the fence. I slowed to a halt a few metres away and looked at him. Leon tipped his head back defiantly.

“Who were you talking to?” I asked lightly, trying to sound interested rather than suspicious, but he wasn’t fooled.

“A friend. Why?”

“Would he like to come in and get something to eat?” I asked.

Leon snorted in derision. “No. He does not.”

“Okay.” We stared at each other for a few moments before Julia joined us. I wondered if she’d seen the other boy.

“Hey, Leon. Are you okay?” Her voice was bright, and I guessed she hadn’t. Should I tell her? I knew I should. If the boy was a gang member and probably a drug runner, then it wasn’t good for him to be hanging around the camp. What if he tried to recruit other vulnerable kids, too, not just Leon? But Leon kept that steady gaze on me and I knew he was waiting. Waiting for me to get him into trouble. Would he be asked to leave if he was endangering the others? I didn’t think David and Julia would give up on him so quickly, but there were safeguarding rules that had to be followed since there were many other kids in the community who needed to be protected.

“I’m okay,” he replied to Julia, but he was still looking at me.

“Do you want to come to the canteen with us?” she asked, sounding slightly bemused.

He shook his head. “I have class soon.”

“It’s good to see you so eager.” Julia smiled and patted him on the back.

Leon gave a tight half-smile and walked off, finally tearing his gaze from mine, but not before I saw a flicker of fear in them. He wanted to stay here, I knew he did. What hold did his friend have over him? But I already knew. To an outcast kid, alone and learning to be tough to survive, the gangs were family.

I walked with Julia to the canteen with a heavy heart. I had to mention my concerns, but how could I do that without jeopardising Leon’s placement at Safe Hands? Once he was out of earshot, Julia faced me and said, “See what I mean? I bet whoever he was speaking to was his gang contact. I’ll ask David to talk to him later...remind him of the rules here. I just hope that doesn’t push him away.”

I sighed with relief. “I was just arguing with myself about when and how to tell you. I almost got the impression that Leon was testing me, to see whether or not I would tell.”

“Don’t worry,” Julia said astutely. “I'll make sure David mentions that I saw the boy. It’s important for Leon to trust at least one of us.”

In the canteen, we sat opposite each other and sipped non-alcoholic coconut drinks. I stretched my legs under the table, enjoying the reprieve from work. “It’s been such a hectic week. I feel like I’ve hardly seen Hayden,” I said.

“It does get like that.” Julia studied me with friendly curiosity. “The two of you are such a great couple. How did you meet?”

To my surprise, I blurted out the whole story of how I’d met Hayden on Daydream Island at my friend Shayla’s wedding, and how we’d fallen in love, and then he went to Bible College to keep his father happy, and I thought my heart would break. Until he came back.

“Oh, that’s so romantic!”

“Yes, it was.” I smiled as I recalled the utter joy I’d felt when I opened the door to find