‘Hello,’ I said. ‘We don’t mean you any harm.’

She didn’t say anything, nor did her eyes stray from ours. She just carried on shaking the can. I started to get a little uneasy. Street kids could be dangerous, we’d been told, though there was scarcely anything of her, her build was so slight. It looked like a strong breeze would knock her over.

‘We’re leaving now,’ I said and took a step towards her.

Immediately, she stopped shaking the can and a series of sounds behind us made us turn. Seven or eight kids dropped from the branches of the nearest fig tree, like strange and alien fruit. They landed elegantly, flexing their legs. Not one stumbled. Aiden stepped in front of me again, obviously – and reasonably – judging the threat to be greater on that side. My throat was dry as the kids walked towards us. Five boys and two girls, all ragged, dirty and tough-looking. I thought briefly about running, but there was no point. It was obvious they’d run us down in less than ten metres. We didn’t have anything valuable, so there was no point trying to rob us. Then again, they might just decide to hurt us because … well, because we were different and maybe they were bored. I saw Aiden bunch his hands into fists.

They formed a rough circle and looked us up and down. The first girl moved into the circle. She’d started shaking the can again.

‘We don’t have anything of value,’ I said. ‘We’re just a couple of schoolkids and we need to get back. I’m sorry if this is your place. We didn’t know and we certainly didn’t mean to trespass. We’d like to go now, if that’s all right.’

Silence.

‘Please,’ I added.

‘Please,’ said the girl. She smiled, revealing a set of small, brilliantly white teeth. ‘How very polite. Please. Thank you. After you. Don’t mind if I do. Much appreciated.’ She stopped smiling.

‘We have nothing you want,’ I said into the following silence.

‘Oh, I dunno ’bout that,’ said the girl. She took a step towards us, ignoring Aiden’s attempt to block her. ‘Those clothes look good to me. Better than mine anyway. Maybe we’ll strip you naked, leave you ’ere to find your way home. If I’m feeling very generous, then you can wear my gear, but I dare say it wouldn’t suit. Fleas, you know. Nasty. Definitely not your … style.’

‘We’ll call security,’ said Aiden. That made most of them laugh.

‘Ooooh,’ said a boy. ‘Not security! I’m scared, Xena. Protect me, Xena. Those bad, bad security officers.’

The girl held up the can and sprayed a fine black mist in front of our eyes. Aiden and I both took a step back.

‘Or maybe I’ll tag your bodies. That’d be cool. Xena’s tag on your bare butts. You could show them to security. I’m a bit bored with marking out our territory, to be honest.’ She pointed to the park entrance. On one of the pillars there was a large X in black spray paint and a smaller squiggle next to it that I couldn’t make out. ‘I need to branch out, develop my art,’ she continued. ‘What better than a couple of rich kids as my canvas?’