I had instincts that made me want to hop over the fence and help. Still, outing myself as a cape at Chris’s home would do more harm than any good I could do here.

“Sorry,” the woman said.

“Not a problem,” I said.

Skye shrieked.

The little girl gradually stopped kicking, as she didn’t get much of a response. I waited.

“I can send somebody to get Chris, if you like. He should be in his room, if he didn’t go for a walk.”

“Chris?” Skye asked.

“Yes,” the woman said. “Why don’t you go, Skye? You’ll burn off some energy if you run.”

Skye looked between us. “I don’t want to.”

“Well, you have to, now. Spitting isn’t allowed, this can be your time out. You know where his room is?”

“Everyone knows,” the girl said. She was still breathing hard from the struggle.

“Great. Katie? Go with Skye. Hold her hand tight. Tell Chris his friend is here.”

One of the older girls approached, an eleven-year-old. Skye was released from the hold, and, after hesitating, took Katie’s hand.

“Scoot!” the yard monitor said, and she might as well have cracked a whip, because the kids picked up the pace.

I watched them go into the building. The yard monitor wiped away most of the dirt that the kneeling and kicking had deposited onto her knees and upper shins.

“They’ll be a minute. He’s on the top floor and he’s probably in bed.”

“Got it,” I said. “I’m Victoria, by the way.”

“Val. We can talk until he arrives.”

“Sure,” I said. I frowned slightly as I tried to think of how to phrase it.

“Worries, questions, or warnings?” she asked.

“Well, it’s telling that the kids are scared of him, and of the three possible topics you just mentioned, worries were one and warnings were another.”

Val smiled. “He’s unique.”

“That’s—yeah. He’s okay? He’s managing?”

“I only know what I see when he’s here, and he’s mostly here to sleep. He spends some of his time, ahem, volunteering,” Val said. Her sharply penciled eyebrow went up.

So she knew about the cape stuff.

I nodded.

“A lot of time is spent on ‘walks’,” she added.

“You’ve brought that up twice. The walks.”

“We talk about it, among the staff. It’s been more of an issue lately, and it’s on my mind. We would call his therapist, but—”

I saw her expression change.

I shook my head.

She nodded. The fence bent slightly with her weight as she leaned back against it, her back to me while she watched the children.

“I liked her,” Val said.