As the crowd was pushed aside and a path suddenly appeared, the parents and hoodlums who had been locked in a heated argument, and were on the verge of exchanging blows once again, instinctively fell silent.
One after another, heads turned toward the newcomers.
For a brief moment, the noisy street became eerily quiet as everyone stared at the group making their way through the crowd.
It didn't take long for Ashley to spot the child she had asked to watch over the car.
The sight immediately made her frown.
The boy's left eye was swollen and bruised, a dark black eye forming around it. His split lip was still bleeding, staining the corner of his mouth red. He clung tightly to a woman who appeared to be his mother, sobbing miserably.
When the crowd suddenly fell silent, the boy instinctively looked up.
The moment he saw Ashley, his eyes lit up with recognition. It was as if he had finally found someone he could complain to after enduring so much injustice.
