For Your Own Protection(20)

‘I will be careful, Daddy!’

They entered the shallow warm water of the toddler pool. In front of them, parents and children frolicked and splashed among the various water spouts and jets that burst forth from the pool’s sides and bottom. It was particularly busy today, and must have been close to capacity.

‘Daddy, I want to go on the slide!’

Matt nodded and waded across with Charlie to the steps that led up to the water slide. It had taken Charlie numerous aborted attempts before he had mustered up the courage to slide down it, but now he had broken through that mental barrier, there was no stopping him. On one visit, Matt counted that Charlie had been down the slide twenty times in just under an hour. The slide itself was safe for young ones, being not too high, and impossible to fall off, with its concave shape. It was out of bounds for adults, so Matt would often accompany Charlie to the steps, before dashing out of sight to the foot of the slide. Charlie would be at the top, waiting impatiently to come down, and would direct Matt to hold out his hands before going for it.

‘You go to the bottom,’ Charlie said, pointing out where Matt should go, as if this were his first time.

Matt watched him climb the first couple of steps before making his way to the foot of the slide.

‘Daddy! Hold your hands out!’

Matt crouched down and spread out his hands in a welcoming embrace. Charlie nodded his appreciation before launching himself down the slide.

Matt and Charlie laughed as they were both sprayed with water.

‘Again!’ Charlie giggled, wiping the water from his eyes. ‘I want to do it again!’

Matt made to go with him to the steps.

‘It’s okay, Daddy, you wait here.’

Matt hesitated. Last week, for the first time, he had let Charlie return to the slide on his own. He had been out of sight for no more than thirty seconds, but it had felt infinitely longer. Matt now examined his son’s expectant face. It wasn’t just that he wanted another go on the slide. He wanted to do it on his own, to exert his independence. Matt had noticed in recent months how Charlie had grown up. Yes, he was still only a young child of just over four years of age, but he could see the grown-up waiting to emerge inside, the man he would be and wanted to become. That reality saddened him. His little baby had gone. A week ago, Matt had been backing up his computer files and had found himself looking through the photos of Charlie’s first year. There were hundreds and hundreds of images – mostly of Charlie, but some of the three of them, of Beth and him, proud new parents. It had been the best of times.

Charlie cocked his head as Matt stared down vacantly into the water, gaze lost in the bubbles from the jets below. ‘Daddy, can I go on my own?’

‘Yes, okay, but be careful. And make sure . . .’ But Charlie was already splashing off. ‘Make sure you come straight down!’ Matt shouted after him, though he probably couldn’t hear over the general noise anyway.

Matt waded back towards the bottom of the slide, waiting impatiently for Charlie to appear at the top. Two larger boys splashed down in quick succession, and a small girl came next, coaxed down by her mother. Matt got ready to open out his arms in anticipation of Charlie’s appearance.

‘C’mon, Charlie.’

Where is he?

A young boy appeared. But it wasn’t Charlie. Matt stepped back as the boy flew down the slide and splashed off for another go.

‘C’mon, Charlie, where are you?’ It had only been just over a minute. But Matt was already beginning to panic. He stood his ground, goose pimples forming on his damp arms and legs as his body cooled outside the water. He debated whether to go around to the slide’s entrance, in case Charlie had got distracted by something. The danger was, if he left his station just as Charlie made it up the slide, they might miss one another.

The boy who had just slid down appeared again and whooshed down. He was probably just a little bit older than Charlie.

‘Have you seen a little boy on the steps? Brown hair, red shorts?’

The boy shook his head, looking a little worried. His parents had probably given him the same ‘don’t talk to strangers’ lecture that Matt and Beth had delivered to Charlie. Matt glanced around, self-conscious that the parents, who must surely be nearby, might think him a danger to their little one. But the boy merely splashed back around to the start of the slide.

Matt looked back up. This was starting to feel desperate. He should never have let Charlie go off alone. Matt waded towards the steps up to the slide with some urgency, having to negotiate infants, babies, and parents who were busy enjoying themselves. Rounding the corner, he caught his breath. Charlie wasn’t anywhere to be seen. He splashed back over to the base of the slide and looked up. Charlie wasn’t there. Turning, Matt scanned three hundred and sixty degrees, desperately hoping to catch a glimpse of him. But there was no sign of his little boy anywhere among the crowds of swimmers.

‘Please, no.’

Maybe he’s sitting at the top of the slide, just out of sight, waiting for his daddy.

Matt ignored the ‘No Adults’ warning and ascended the steps, earning a rebuke from one of the young lifeguards. The steps turned around the corner just near the top, which gave him hope that Charlie might be there. But he wasn’t. Neither was he in the water below. ‘Charlie, where the hell are you?’

‘Excuse me,’ the lifeguard said, now appearing at his shoulder. ‘You’re not allowed up here. Children only.’