Obligate

obligate
verb. To bind or compel someone, especially legally or morally.
verb, transitive. To commit assets as security, as "the money must be obligated within thirty days."
Also an adjective.

June was surprised and annoyed when two airline employees flagged down her and Tom. They had just deplaned and had less than thirty minutes to reach their connecting flight. She had only been in the Atlanta airport once before but remembered how large it was: the size of a small city. It even had its own mass-transit system to speed passengers between the far-flung gates and concourses.

“You two are heading for concourse A, right?” asked one of the uniformed women. In response to Tom’s “Yes,” she went on: “Would you accompany this young man to his gate?” She turned to him. “Is it gate 19?” The boy nodded, and Tom stated that he and June would be happy to help.

After one searching up-and-down look at the boy, June spun on one foot and headed toward the concourse exit. She was appalled. The airline staff had no business fobbing off their responsibility onto a couple of random passengers. She knew that there were rules for dealing with “unaccompanied minors.” Now that Tom had obligated them to take care of the child, it was too late to protest. An inner voice griped as she walked: “Really? We could be anybody--serial child predators! Unbelievable.”

She led their trio as fast as she could without breaking into a jog, turning her head now and then to make sure that Tom and the boy were keeping up. The latter appeared to be about twelve years old, and was holding his own at the pace she was setting. She had to pause and read overhead signs several times to make sure they were heading toward concourse A, and when she did, she noticed that the boy was staying a cautious distance from her and Tom: just far enough away so that neither nor both of them could grab him. She smiled at his good sense. Not an idiot. He knew better than to trust strangers.

After walking for nearly ten minutes, they reached the tram. One was waiting, and the electronic sign indicated that concourse A would be its next stop. She led the way on board, moved to one side and grabbed a bar.

“Have you ever ridden one of these before?” she addressed the boy. He shook his head “No.” “It’s going to go really, really fast and it will stop suddenly,” she warned. “Hang on tight to the rail and keep your knees flexed so it won’t throw you.” He nodded. A few more people boarded, then the doors closed and the tram car started down its track. She had tried to estimate the speed of the tram the last time they had been in Atlanta. It seemed to go at fifty miles per hour or higher. She was convinced that it travelled at least a mile.

As she had warned, it came to an abrupt halt and the doors slid open. She, Tom and the boy exited, then followed the signs toward concourse A. After about five minutes of walking, they arrived at gate 19. She flanked the boy as he approached the desk. “Does it look as if you’re in the right place?” she asked him. “Yes,” he answered, nodding. She and Tom withdrew a few feet as they saw two desk attendants turn their attention to the boy. June could tell that they were willing to take over his care. Relieved, she and Tom exchanged a glance, then continued their rapid pace down the concourse to their gate.

Definitions adapted from The New Oxford American Dictionary, Oxford University Press, Inc., 2005 (eBook Edition, copyright 2008), and from Webster's Seventh New Collegiate Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam Company, Publishers, Springfield, Massachusetts, USA, 1965, depending on which is more convenient to hand.