Ross wheeled the chair over to the stand. Six steep steps led up to the central space where there was a landscape of trees with a backdrop showing an ancient castle, with various people in costumes engaged in swordfights. The woman he’d seen in the armour and body paint seemed to be making short work of her rather lumbering opponent.
‘Just be a minute.’ Laurie left Ross and Adam watching the fights, disappearing around the side of the stand. She reappeared again, smiling.
‘What?’ Ross murmured to her.
‘No ramps. That means that Adam’s going to have to walk up the steps. I know he can do it...’ She turned the corners of her mouth down. ‘Although I’ll still be giving the organisers a piece of my mind. They should have made everything wheelchair accessible.’
‘Yeah, I’ll join you. Although we don’t need to go up there, do we?’ Adam had already collected the freebies that were available on other stalls from costumed characters who were wandering around the sides of the stall, and tucked them carefully into the backpack he’d brought.
‘Photographs. I spotted them taking photographs up there a while ago. I think they’re doing it between fights.’
‘Has it occurred to you that they’ll probably see the wheelchair and come down here? No one’s going to let a kid in a wheelchair miss out.’
Laurie frowned. ‘I’ll think of something.’
When the fights finished, and people started to go up the steps to the
podium, she left Adam’s side, walking straight up to her avatar and speaking to her. The woman listened and nodded, then turned to Adam and waved. But she didn’t come down the steps. Then Laurie re-joined them.
‘They can’t come down. Something to do with having their photos taken with the proper backdrops. We’ll have to go up to them.’
Adam looked at the steps speculatively. If this didn’t work, Ross wasn’t sure what would.
‘I’ll help you, Adam. It’ll be just like the way you do it in the gym.’
‘I don’t know...’ Adam was looking up at the podium.
Ross felt a tap on his shoulder and turned to see a man dressed as an intergalactic warrior. ‘Excuse me? I’ll go and get my mates, and if the lad wants to go up there, we’ll carry him. Bloody outrageous they don’t have a ramp.’
‘Thank you.’ Ross ushered the man away from Adam so he couldn’t hear the conversation. ‘Thing is, this is his favourite video game and walking up there himself would mean a lot to him...’
He assured the man that his offer was much appreciated but that they didn’t need any help, and agreed that they should complain that there was no ramp for wheelchairs. When he turned back towards the stall, he saw Laurie bending down to release the brakes on the wheelchair. She gave him a smile that clearly concealed disappointment.
‘Let’s go for some lunch, shall we?’
She was a little subdued as she filled the cafeteria tray with sandwiches and drinks, then led the way out into a large open-air seating area. Laurie found a table and sat down. Adam was leafing through his catalogue, the disappointment over the photos seemingly forgotten.
‘Here’s the thing, Adam.’ Laurie gently caught his attention. ‘I know exactly what you can and can’t do. I know that you need a wheelchair to come here, because it’s too much for you to walk around the exhibition. But I also know that you could make those steps, if you wanted to.’
Adam shrugged. ‘It’s okay. No big deal.’
‘Well, it’s a big deal to me, because I want to see you get better. I know that you wanted to go up and have your photo taken.’
Laurie had decided to confront Adam. She’d worked hard to make a relationship with the boy, and he trusted her. If she thought this was the right time, then it was.
‘Suppose I fall.’
‘You won’t. Ross and I won’t let you.’
‘My foot...it isn’t better yet.’
‘No, it isn’t, that’s going to take a while. But you can do this, we’ve climbed steps in the gym together.’
Adam sat silently, shaking his head.
‘I think I know why you won’t.’ Ross saw a glint of determination in Laurie’s eye, which told him she wasn’t giving up now.
‘No, you really don’t.’ The boy reached for his drink, opening it and putting one of the straws from the tray into the bottle.