Ultimate Justice Page B

relatives were too poor to have more children to support. Some had run away from home because their guardians abused them.”
    â€œUnbelievable!” exclaimed Kakko. “How can anyone abuse a small child?”
    â€œThose who were abused are the most damaged,” Mr Pero continued, “it is easier for those who have some good memories of their parents. If you’ve been loved at all, there is hope. But if you’ve never been loved – never known love – then you can grow up hating everyone, including yourself. These children needed somewhere to go where people would love them. So I found a warehouse on an industrial estate that was up for sale and bought it.”
    â€œI bet everyone’s really proud of you for doing this,” said Bandi, the first thing he had said that morning.
    â€œMaybe some. But it also makes many feel uncomfortable. They think I am telling them they should give their money away too.”
    â€œAnd do you?” asked Jalli.
    â€œNo. They know what I believe and… and think I sit in judgement on them. I can see how they feel.”
    â€œBet it makes them feel really guilty,” broke in Kakko.
    â€œIn a way. But it isn’t as simple as that. To feel guilty you have to have a conscience and many of them have never been brought up to have one – at least not in regard to poor people. They believe that they are rich because the Creator made them that way, and each of us should be content in our own situation in life. That’s what they believe…
    â€œBut I was not brought up in a rich home. A comfortable one, yes, but not wealthy. And my parents were always sharing things. So for me it is more natural to want to help these children. It is easier for me.”
    â€œI think you are being very gracious Mr Pero,” said Jalli, “that is just like you. But I think, at the bottom of their hearts, they
do
know what is right and wrong.”
    â€œMaybe you are right, but there is so much stuff that has been piled on top, generations of prejudice that smothers a sense of justice in them for these children. Some of them have inherited positions of privilege that go back centuries. They fear change, not just for their own lives, but for the whole of society.”
    â€œAnd you are challenging that,” said Jack.
    â€œI am a subversive influence,” he laughed. “Now, I must get going. We have an outing organised for twenty of the younger ones. There are some free places for helpers. Would you three youngsters like to go along?”
    â€œWhere are they going?” asked Jalli.
    â€œOh. They’re only going up the coast a bit. It’s to get them out of town. There’ll be a picnic and some swimming.”
    â€œCount me in,” said Shaun.
    â€œMe too,” said Bandi.
    Kakko was a bit disappointed. She had reckoned on persuading her parents to let them go on the boat with the rich kids. But she realised that there was no way she was going to be allowed to go on her own. The thought of going on a picnic with a load of little kids sounded cool, though. “And me,” she said.

    ***
    They all piled into Mr Pero’s van.
    â€œIt’s not far. It’s just behind the harbour,” he explained.
    As they drove the short distance, Pero continued his story. “I didn’t tell anyone what I was planning to do. The warehouse was just surrounded by industrial units and other warehouses. I couldn’t buy ordinary houses or anything because no-one would want a place for street children near them.”
    â€œWhy ever not?” asked Kakko, incensed at the idea that people didn’t want children around.
    â€œAll sorts of reasons, I guess,” answered her father. “These children are survivors. They have to beg, and steal too, no doubt. And they will be dirty and smelly, and half-starved kids without anyone to love them are not cute. I bet they can be pretty revolting at