"Because I do not hope to turn again." "Because I do not hope." "Because I do not hope to turn." "I left them Misting, turning below." "There were no more faces and the stair was dark, damp, jagged, like an old man's mouth dribbling, beyond repair." "Or the toothed gullet of an aged shark." "Desiring this man's gift and that man's scope," "I no longer strive to strive towards such things." "Because I know that time is always time." "And place is always and only place." "And pray that I may forget these matters that with myself, I too much discuss, too much explain." "Because these wings are no longer wings to fly but merely fans to beat the air... the air which is now thoroughly small and dry, smaller and drier than the will." "Teach us to care and not to care." "Teach us to sit still." "Although I do not hope to turn again." "Although I do not hope." "Although I do not hope to turn." "After five years of high school, the final November arrives and leaves as suddenly as a spring storm." "Exams, graduation, huge beach parties." "Biggie and me, we're feverish with anticipation." "We steel ourselves for a season of pandemonium." "But after the initial celebrations, nothing really happens." "Somehow our crappy Saturday job at the meatworks becomes full-time." "And then Christmas comes and so do the dreaded exam results." "The news is not good." "A few of our classmates pack their bags for university and shoot through, and suddenly there we are..." "Biggie and me, heading to work every morning in the frigid wind in the January of our new lives." "Some days I can see me and Biggie out there as old codgers, anchored to the friggin' place." "Beside me, Biggie's face gets darker and darker." "When the shift horn sounds, he lurches away, his last canon half-empty." ""Fuck it," he says." ""We're outta here."" "That afternoon, we buy a kombi from a hippie on the wharf." "We fill the ancient VW with tinned food and all our camping junk and rack off without telling a soul." "I can't believe we've done it." "The plan is to call from somewhere the other side of the city, when we're out of reach." "I want to be safe from the guilts." "The old girl will crack a sad on me." "But Biggie has bigger things to fear." "His old man will beat the shit out of him when he finds out." "I can't tell Biggie this, but missing out on uni really stings." "When the results came, I cried my eyes out." "I thought about killing myself." "Biggie's results were even worse than mine." "He'd really fried." "But he didn't have his heart set on doing well." "He couldn't give a rat's ring." "In his head, he's always seen himself at the meatworks or the cannery, until he inherits a salmon netting license from his old man." "He's content." "He belongs." "Biggie's not the brightest crayon in the box but he's the most loyal person I know." "He's the real deal." "We didn't meet until the second week of high school." "I was new in town and right from the start, a kid called Tony Macoli became fixated on me." "That's how it started..." "a single decisive act of violence that joined me to Biggie forever." "If you believe him on the subject, he acted more out of animal irritation than charity." "But I felt like somebody ransomed and set free." "Biggie became my mate, my constant companion." "Friendship, I suppose, comes at a price." "There have been girls I've disqualified myself from because of Biggie." "Not everyone wants to have him tagging along everywhere." "Right through high school, I had occasional moments, evenings, encounters with girls, but no real girlfriend, and mostly I don't regret it." "Except for Briony Nevis." "For two years, we're sort of watching each other from a distance." "Sidelong glances." "She's flat-out beautiful." "Long, black hair." "Glossy skin." "Dark eyes." "I kiss her once at a party." "Well, maybe she kisses me." "But there, out of the corner of my eyes," "Biggie, alone on the smoky veranda waiting to go home." "I don't go to him straight up." "I do make him wait a fair old while." "But I don't go on with Briony Nevis the way I badly want to because I know Biggie will be left behind... for good." "We pull in to fuel up and use the phone." "Biggie decides he's not calling home, so he sits in the VW while I reverse the charges and get an earful." "I hang up and find Biggie talking to a chick with a backpack the size of an elephant saddle." "She's tall and not very beautiful with long, shiny brown hair and big knees." "She thinks she's on the coast road north and she's mortified to discover otherwise." "I can see Biggie falling in love with her moment by moment." "There isn't really even much consultation." "We just pull out with this chick in the back." "Meg is her name." "Meg is as thick as a box of hammers." "It's alarming to see how enthralled Biggie is." "And I just drive and try to avoid the rear-view mirror." "While I'm thinking about all of this," "Biggie's gone and climbed over into the back and Meg's lit up a number and they're toking away on it with their feet up like I'm some kind of chauffeur." "Biggie's never had much luck with girls." "I should be glad for him." "But I'm totally pissed off." "We come upon a maze of salt lakes that blaze silver and pearly in the sun." "I begin to have the panicky feeling that the land and this very afternoon might go on forever." "Biggie's really enjoying himself back there." "I slowly understand why." "There's the obvious thing, of course... the fact that he's in with a big chance with Meg come nightfall." "But something else..." "the thing that eats at me... is the way he's enjoying being brighter than her, being a step ahead." "Feeling somehow senior and secure in himself." "It's me all over." "It's how I am with him." "And it's not pretty." "The kombi fills up with smoke again." "But this time it's bitter and metallic and I understand we're on fire." "Without an extinguisher, there's not much we can do, once we're standing out there in the litter of our belongings, waiting for the VW to explode." "But it just smoulders and hisses awhile as the sun sinks behind us." "In the end, with the smoke almost gone and the wiring cooked, it's obvious we're not going anywhere." "We turn our attention to the sunset." "Meg rolls another spliff." "We don't say anything." "The sun flattens itself against the salt pan and disappears." "The sky goes all acid-blue and there's just this huge silence." "It's like the world's stopped." "Right then, I can't imagine an end to the quiet." "The horizon fades." "Everything looks impossibly far off." "In two hours, I'll hear Biggie and Meg in his sleeping bag." "She'll cry out like a bird and become so beautiful, so desirable in the total dark that I'll begin to cry." "In a week," "Biggie and Meg will blow me off in Broome and I'll be on the bus south for a second chance at the exams." "In a year," "Biggie will be dead in a mining accident in the Pilbara and I'll be reading Robert Louis Stevenson at his funeral." "Meg won't show." "I'll grow up and have a family of my own and see Briony Nevis, tired and lined in a supermarket queue and wonder what all the fuss was about." "All of it unimaginable." "Right now, standing with Biggie on the salt lake at sunset," "I don't care what happens beyond this moment." "In the hot, northern dusk, the world suddenly gets big around us, so big we just give in and... watch." "Eenie, meenie, minie... moe." "Arggh!" "Oh, argh." "..was not presented by the May 31st deadline, then more industrial action will be taken." "Now in a bit of the macabre, in the seaside town of Angelus, a gruesome discovery was made this afternoon." "Just behind the sand dunes in Angelus' Madison Gully, two boys playing at the site of a new housing development on reclaimed swampland made the grisly discovery of human bones." "So far, two femurs and a skull have been recovered." "Police have cordoned off the site and a broad search is under way throughout the area." "Police are yet to make identification of the bones but believe they are the remains of a child." "At the third stroke, it will be 8:22 and 20 seconds." "At the third stroke, it will be 8:22 and 30 seconds." "Hey, look." "Hey!" "Wait up!" "Hey, guys, look at that." "Oh, sweet!" "Wicked!" "Not bad!" "Oh, look at this!" "Think it could float?" "OK!" "Yes, this is perfect." "Reckon it'll float?" " Oh, give it a crack." " Yeah?" "Sweet." "Hey, help me get around this log." "Oi, just over there near the bushes." "Where do you think you're goin'?" "What have you got there?" "Tadpoles?" "Stay down." "Here we go again." "I've had enough of this!" "I'm getting outta here." "Come on." "Help me with this thing." "Gotta go to school." " Oi!" "Where are you going?" "!" " School!" "My husband had a thing about this girl with a birthmark." "It began when he was 16 and went on and on." "Like a fever that wouldn't break." "It's a story he used to tell against himself." "His crush on Strawberry Alison." "It was one of the things that charmed me about him." "Eh, Vic?" "See the new form-six chick?" "What do you reckon?" "Spunk?" "Yeah." "Pretty good." "One, two" " Pigeons!" "Sucked in!" "Oh, my God." "What a shocker." "Oi, she's got a face like a half-sucked Redskin." "Strawberry Alison wasn't the only damaged specimen to capture his imagination." "His first love was a farm girl whose ring finger ended at the first joint, ripped off in a hay baler." "That was over in a night." "A teenage kiss." "Not like Alison." "Alison!" "I always assumed the whole thing was just a mortifying memory." "Later, I started thinking about that." "You know I've been trying to get more poetry into the school paper." "Yeah, but I didn't really mean for everyone to see this." "OK." "Well, I just think it'd be great experience for you as a writer, baring your soul." "Well... you think about it, OK?" "What you doing, dickhead?" "OK." "Let's go." ""Incandescent." ""They say that when you're there, you'll know." ""That when it's happening, you'll see." ""And it'll all be right." ""But it's not that way, is it?" ""You say it's not what they think." ""You say to show them your face..." ""..to not be afraid of the burning girl." ""It's something else folded within itself." ""My burning girl."" "Alison." "I loved your poem." "I thought..." "I thought it was really great." "So?" "I think you're great." "Oh!" "Where do you think you're going?" "I was just gonna..." "Why don't you just leave her the fuck alone?" "Time heals all wounds, right?" "And a lot of time's passed." "Alright." "But then just last week, I caught him poring over something." "This damn box." "Crying." "Oh, he didn't want to talk about it, he said." "So we didn't." "Hi, guys." " Hey, guys." " Hey." " Hi." " Hi." "You alright?" "Good." "Just... you know." "Watching the fire." "I'm starting uni in a few weeks." "We're driving to Perth tomorrow, me and Roberta." "Right." "I guess I'll see you later." "I still love your poem." "I still love you for loving it." "Ali?" "Sometimes I felt like a biographer... searching around for the one, final, telling detail at the centre of my husband's life." "Then I think of Strawberry Alison and the way my husband was drawn to her." "To the pain he thought he saw." "All very endearing until you think of it turned your way." "That your husband's love might have been another act of kindness." "As if you too might have been some kind of damaged goods." "What were you looking at?" "Uh, the... sheep ships." "They've got the smell and everything." " You looking forward to this?" " Mm-hm." "Yeah?" "Bit excited?" "Bloody smell." "Here we are." "Get 'em in, eh?" "Why are you doing that?" "Never liked this wall." "You want to have a go?" "I can't even lift it." "Just trying to get out of a hard day's work." "Look out." "Wasn't it boring here when you were a kid?" "No." "My memory's a bit shot, mate." "I don't think there's much I could remember that'd impress you." "You're kidding." "Jesus wept." "Come here, for the love of God." "Lord, it's good to see you." " G'day, Peter." " Don." " This must be Ricky, then." " Oh, g'day, Ricky." "Ooh!" "He's got some muscles." "You don't have to tell me anything, Peter." "We've heard." "Oh." "This is our Sky." "Hey, Sky." "She's Fay's, of course." "Fay's... uh... not around?" "She'll be back any day." "So she tells us." "Maybe you could catch up with her." "Oh, Don." "I'm not really in a good place to..." "In our mind, you're family." "We always..." "We've got our Sky." "She's put us through bloody hell." "We're grateful for small mercies." "We need a break, mate." "Tell us you'll think about it." "Come on, sleepy sheets." "Alright." "Come here." "Have a good day." "OK." "Bye." "Love you." " Love you too, mate." " OK." "Careful crossing the road." "Careful, mate." "Ricky, thank Christ." "Sorry, mate." "I am really, really sorry." "Fay." "I, um..." "I, um... slept." "Jesus." "Uh, thanks." "Should have heard the row I had with Dad to get him to let me pick Sky up on my own and there she was with your little guy." "Mate, are you gonna give Sky one of your jackets?" "She's freezing." "I am too." "There you go." "Get in there." "Mum told me about your wife." "So... did she tell you about me?" "Uh, not really." "And look, I'm not that stable myself, so..." "I'm supposed to seek out good people." "Alright." "Don't worry about it." "I'll leave you alone, then." "Thanks again for Ricky." "Couldn't have my folks thinking you'd left your kid out in the rain, could we?" "You're still their golden boy." "Looks like I'm trouble around here still." "For you, at least." "Not having much luck, are we?" "Come on." "You'll like this." "I swear." "Chuck your bucket down." "Lie down." "OK." " Can you see up through there?" " Yep." "Alright." "Perfect." "Now just... just wait." "It's coming." "It's coming." "Here it comes." "Come here." "Please." "You're a mess." "You owe me a cuppa." "All daylong I've had to listen to stories about you and all your virtues." "There's a bottle of red open if you want to..." "Jesus, Peter." "You don't know much about all this, do you?" "No." "Just coffee." "Sure." "Coffee." "Sorry, I just..." "I had to come." "There's really no-one else?" "No." "No." "Dad drove me here." "So fucking sad." "They think I'll score otherwise." "Will you?" "I'm here, aren't I?" "What do you want from me, Fay?" "Is a bit of adoration too much to ask?" "I just need the edge taken off." "I mean... this fucking town." "What was I thinking?" "Why'd you come back?" "I want my kid." "What's your excuse?" "I came here for comfort and you're uncomfortable." "You used to treat me like a trophy." "I was your prize." "Please." "I'm aching." "Fay..." "Don't do that." "Don't look down at me." "I can't drink or drive." "I'm living with my parents." "A mercy fuck isn't going to kill you." "I can't give you anything, Fay." "You used to beg me for it." "Jesus." "This is so humiliating." "You were never really my friend." "Fay, don't do this." "Every shitty thing I ever did got back to them." "Except for the one thing that would make them realise what their fucking tin god is really like." "We were kids." "Your mum paid for it." "Then she paid me." "Jesus." "And then nothing." "What kind of a man..." "What kind of a kid..." "Dad?" "Ricky." "Ricky." "Bed." "I've got to wee." "Come on, mate." "Into bed." "I guess that's a no, then." "Hey, Mum." "Mum." "How long is this gonna take?" "Two hours." "You alright?" "This is bullshit." "What do you think you're doing?" "What does it look like?" " No, you're fucking not." " Hey, language!" "Mum, she sacked you." "Yeah, well, I have plenty of other clients." "Mum, you've got to stop." "This is demeaning." "Oh, and to whom is it demeaning, Victor?" "Hmm?" "You?" "Well, I'm not helping." "Did she call the police?" "Well, if she had, we'd know about it." "'Cause she can't claim insurance if she doesn't report it." "This doesn't make any sense." "Does she think I stole them?" "Oh, no." "You haven't helped out here in months." "Well, we have to do something." "You want to do something?" "Take these to the laundry." "No." "OK, Mr High-and-Mighty Law Student, what do you suggest I do, then?" "Well, let's just take the money and go." "And confirm I'm a thief?" "Well, let's just leave, then." "No." "Not cleaning would look like an admission of guilt." "So report it yourself, then." "Can you imagine the talk?" "I'd lose all my clients." "Eugh!" "Mum, it's not fair." "No." "It's not fair." "So do your poor mother a favour, will you?" "And use a disinfectant." "Ha." "Eh?" "Bit of excitement, please." "It's carelessness." "Stupid carelessness." "Worth 500 bucks, my arse." "It doesn't change anything." "But this is proof that you're innocent." "She'll just think that I put them back because she found me out." "Changes nothing." "Pop 'em back in her bedroom, will you?" "Well, that's the end of three years' service." "What about the money?" "Oh, I'm worth more than that." " Well, I'll take it, then." " Don't you dare." "We're not taking it on principle." "Good one, Mum." "That'll really teach her." "I'll meet you out the front." "I know this one." "No, no, wait a minute." "Wait a minute." "We're definitely past 'More Songs of Praise'." "It's either 'Further Songs of Praise' or 'Yet More Songs of Praise'." "You got somewhere to be?" "Just trying to help." " I haven't finished." " Alright." "You're gonna be late for school." "Bye, Mum." "Why are you following me?" "I'm just going to the bus." "You know what I mean." "Did you do your maths?" " No." " Bugger." "I thought you might have." "Hey." "Do you mind if I come along?" "You've got no shoes." "I'll be alright." "Suit yourself." "Damn ugly buggers, aren't they?" "S'pose." "Ow!" "Ah!" "Fuh... f..." "Ow, ow, ow." "Ow." "Are you OK?" "Yeah, bloody wonderful." "Only a matter of time." "Hot water, they say." "See ya." "Brakey." "Have you drowned in there?" "At least you got shoes tonight." "Do you remember that old canoe, when we were kids?" "And, like, we'd all try and pile into it?" "What happened to it?" "I don't know." "Where are we going?" "I'm going to the Beasley sisters'." "Do they pay alright?" "The Beasley sisters?" "I don't even know what flathead's worth." "It's gotta be more than mullet, though, right?" "Jesus, Brakey." "Spare me the pity, will ya?" "I don't even like fishing." "I thought things were better over at yours." "Why?" "Because he doesn't hit her anymore?" "It's worse." "OK?" "It's worse." "Hey." "Oh, f..." "Sorry." "It doesn't matter." " Shit." " I said it doesn't matter." "I'll see you, Brakey." "Oh, shit." " Mum, there's a fire." " What?" "Fire!" "Please help them!" "Agnes!" " Agnes!" " Agnes!" " Agnes!" " Agnes!" "No." "No, Brakey!" "No!" "No, Brakey!" "Don't!" "Get off." "No fighting, youse two!" "Hi." "Is this machine free?" "Yep." "Boy, that must've hurt." "I didn't even have the guts to get my ears pierced." "It must really hurt there." "Oh." "No." "No." "It's easier than getting a tatt." "My name's Sherry." "Rae." "Hi, Rae." "We're moving into a house up the hill." "Just waiting for the kitchen to be done." "Are you staying in White Point for good?" "Yeah." "Dan's the new manager up at the depot." "I know what you're gonna do." "Don't touch that." "Don't youse be fucking with me, saying you need to go when you don't." " You need to go to the toilet?" " I need to go toilet." " You really need to go?" " I need to go toilet." "Max?" "Max!" "Max!" "Why can't we have a house, for fuck's sake?" "With an actual toilet in it." "We wouldn't have to walk 50 metres, like... to take a shit." "I need to go toilet." "Go." "This place is so calm." "You're stuck here now." "You make it sound tragic." "Max lets me do darts nights, Tuesday at the pub." "But... nothing happens here." "You're gonna be fucking bored outta your skull." "You should come." "Darts night." "You can meet the girls." "Oh, nights are a bit tricky for me with Dan's workload." "Stay away from that water, 'cause there's..." "But the clays are good." "Your husband works at the depot too, doesn't he?" " Yeah." " Whoa!" "There's a big one!" "He's a cray fisherman." "When we first got together he shouted us a trip to Bali." "Screwed ourselves silly for two weeks straight." "He's got a gut now." "Ooh." " Oh, good bullseyes." " Oh, yeah." " Ooh." "I'll go again, Razza." "Yay." "Come on." "Bullseye." " Oh!" " Bullseye." "You must be Rae, right?" " Sherry in?" " Yeah." "Rae?" "Rae!" "Are you OK?" "Where are the girls?" "They're..." "It's darts night." "Max has got 'em." "Oh!" "You guys have been going at it, haven't ya?" "Come in." "Come in for a cuppa." " Yeah." " No." "Nah, it wouldn't be right." "'Cause..." "Oh, I'll leave youse to it, ya root rats." "See you." "Hope youse are hungry." "Yum." "Let me have the plates." "A chicken boob?" "All good, hey?" "Lily." "You right?" "Some more?" "Pretty good, hey?" "It's good." "You like..." "You like your mum's dress?" " Rae." "You're early tonight." " Yeah." " What happened to dads?" " I'm skippin' it." "Bunch of bitches." "Deb's got a gob on her." "I'm just over it." "Would you like some gnocchi, Rae?" " What?" " Pasta." "Oh, yeah." " Hello." " G'day." "So it's this." "This?" "This." "The Bible?" "Yeah, I know what the fucking thing is." "Guys younger than me, fucking half my age, getting promotions." "I'm still fucking..." "Shit-kicking, hauling arse all day on the fucking deck." "It's not fair, Rae." "It's not fucken..." "Hey." "I'd promote ya." "Hey?" "Maxy?" "Have you got anything stronger?" "There's a reason why there's no booze in the house." "Oh, 'cause you're churchy, right?" "Actually, it's because I'm an alcoholic." "White Point is kind of our second chance." "Yeah." "Booze leaves a pretty big hole." "We're just here, finding our way." " Ooh, look." " Do you like that?" " Fairy dust." " Ooh!" "This is like a snake." "Come and have a look at these ones." " Showbags?" " Yeah, we'll find them." "I know where they are." "You know where they are?" "Did you see them already?" "They're up there, I think." " Check it out." " Oh." "You saw it already?" "Holy hardware, not really my thing." "Aww!" "Have a quick squiz." "Look at them all." "Do you want to go and get the show bags, girls?" " Yeah!" " Yes?" "We'll go get the show bags." "Let's go over here." "Come on." "Hold my hand." "Look." "Check it out." "Instead of snow, it's got little doves." "Look at his sixpack!" "Jesus is ripped." "Alright?" "What was it like?" "This... "born-again business?" "Well..." "It's about getting into..." "No, no, I don't..." "I don't mean what it's about..." "I mean..." "What did it feel like?" "The moment you suddenly got it." "The change, you know?" "The moment you turned or whatever you guys call it." "It was like a hot knife going into me." "Like I was butter." "And this knife was opening me up... and suddenly I could see all this possibility in the world." "And then something more than that." "There..." "There was hope and beauty where... all I'd felt before was hollow." "Sounds sexy." "Yeah, it was." "Yeah." "Lily." "There's Daddy." "Girls, get in the van." "Get in the van." "Who is it?" "What?" "Fucking darts nights for weeks!" "Who the fuck is he?" "Tell me!" "He's bigger than you, Max." "So be careful." "You don't know him, but he owns you." "He'll open you up like a knife in butter." "Is that right?" "You tell me his fucking name, ya slut!" "Hi, girls." "Where the fuck do you think you're going?" "!" "Where you gonna go, eh?" "Who the fuck is gonna have you?" "Where the... fuck are you going?" "You're mine." ""When an archer is shooting for nothing, "he has all his skill." ""If he shoots for a brass buckle, "he is already nervous." ""If he shoots for a prize of gold," ""he goes blind and sees two targets." ""He is out of his mind." ""His skill has not changed, but the prize divides him." ""He cares." ""He thinks more of winning than of shooting." ""And the need to win drains him of power."" "Prelim final, the Swans lead by 18 points early over the Hawks." "Here's the jack-in-the-box, what a young player he is." "Frank Leaper, second season player." "Hawthorn score a really important goal." "They're back within 12 points in this prelim final." "Leaper on the burst here, looking for a pass out wide." "Leaper picks it up, tries to get rid of it." "Does so." "Well played." "Leaper still trying to encourage himself and make a difference." "Oh, that's high!" "That is high!" "Sydney are gonna get a free kick." "Leaper's gonna have the chance to put Sydney through to the grand final." "Hawthorn fans cannot believe it." "There's no more play after this." "Leaper has the opportunity to do what every young footballer..." "I can't believe it." "He's dropped the ball." "Frank Leaper has put the ball on the ground and the match is effectively over." "It'll be Hawthorn into the grand final." "Words can't describe it." "Sydney's future, we know, in the short-term, is finished." "Sports fans are dismayed..." "So what the fuck happened?" "Couldn't do it anymore." "You mean you wouldn't do it." "That's what it looked like." "Watching, were ya?" "Christ, you idiot, that's my team." "Of course I was watching." "The whole family was watching, tearing our fucking hair out." "You know, I'm the one that has to live out here." "Yeah, but you hated it when I was good." "You stupid little bastard." "People dreamed of having what you had." "Oh, you mean you?" "You're a fucking pussy." "Grab your board!" "Let's go!" "Come on!" "Let's go!" "One, two, three." "During moments of stillness," "Vic often felt he could see the particles an object was made of start to move." "As if he could slip his hand through anything." "He was in the habit of snapping his teeth every time they drove under a streetlight." "Salvation belongs to our God, who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb." "All the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures." "He liked to count how many people caught his eye." "After this, I saw four angels standing in the four corners of the earth, holding back the four winds of the earth..." "He imagined God as a newscaster in front of a background of stars, preaching godly announcements in a pristine blue suit with utmost friendliness." "Amen." "Good evening, everyone." "He thought about how much he would miss eating meat in the paradise, as everything would be vegetarian." "This is God Almighty." "Welcome to the 7:30 news." "Oh, don't forget you've got soccer practice at 4:00pm this week, Vic." "Mr Davidson sent a notice around saying that the Tigers are sharing the oval..." "Can you do that before Aunty Mary arrives on Thursday 'cause I told her that if there's space, she can put some of her..." "Occasionally, when it's really dark at night," "Vic has to make sure he hasn't gone blind." "He likes to wash his hands and be out of the bathroom by the time the flush finishes." "He loves a girl who's out of his reach." "He wished he were invisible again." "He practised not looking over his shoulder... when he got the urge." "It doesn't happen often, but there are times when he gets the house to himself." "The rifle calms him down." "A bit early for a beer, isn't it?" "It's half past." "I thought she said 12:00pm." "You alright?" "Mmm." "These crackers are pretty good." "Executive crackers." "Which I think it means you get a better toy thing... you know, the little toy things they've got inside 'em?" "Oh, it's not like her to be late." "Don't ruin your appetite." "A bit early for a beer, isn't it?" "I've had a little glass." "Fair enough." "She won't mind us drinking, will she?" "No." "Yep." "It's Christmas." "You wouldn't know it, though." "It's so quiet." "I feel sorry for your mum, you know." "I mean... it's just not much of a Christmas, is it?" "No kids." "She's alright." "She loves ya." "Yeah." "Merry Christmas, Mum." "Very quiet." "Yeah." "It's a bit hot in here." "Sorry." "You should get an air conditioner." "Here." "That's for you." "Merry Christmas." "Merry Christmas." "Come in." "Lunch is almost on the table." "They've asked us over at Ernie and Cleds." " What?" " This arvo." "I haven't seen them for years." " Hi, Gail." " Hi, Carol." "It's for you." "It's a tin of tea." "Oh, Merry Christmas." "Oh!" "What, are you actually going to go?" "I don't see why not." "I think you have to give people the benefit of the doubt." "Jeez." "I don't believe it." "Will you come with me?" "You've never met them, have you, Gail?" "Your uncle Ernie?" "Just for an hour." "Yeah, fine." "Just for an hour." "Are you sure this is it, Mum?" "This is the address they gave me." "I just don't recognise anything." "Well, you haven't seen them since you were at the uni." "We'll look around the back." "Might be in the pool." "You don't even know if they've got a pool." "What are the chances of a place like this not having a pool?" "Imagine cleaning it." "What?" "The pool?" "The house, Gail." "Oh, so... yes." "Hello?" "Hello?" "It's quiet." "It's too damn quiet." "Yoo-hoo!" "It's the Marie Celeste." "It's rude, that's what it is." "Jesus!" "My sainted aunt!" "Not in this family!" "It's lovely in!" "What if this isn't even the right place?" "It better be." "I'm going to check." "Just wait there." "Oh, bloody hell." "Hey!" " What is it, love?" " It's not them." "Get out." "Oh, God." "I've lost my other shoe." "I'm going to lose my job." "Oh, dear." "Wrong house, Mum." " But I wrote it down!" " Oh, shit!" "Is that champagne?" "Pour me a glass!" "What?" "What, you don't think I've got an excuse?" "Just this once?" "Oh, come on." "Give your mother a drink." "I lost a shoe over this." "Oh, look." "I wrote '75' and read the 5 as an 8." "My handwriting's not good and my eyesight's worse!" "Oh!" "Don't worry about it, Carol." "For what it's worth, I enjoyed it." "Imagine if they'd've sprung us in their pool." "They'll find the shoe." "I mean, that is breaking and entering." "Well..." "Happy Christmas." " I'm serious, Mum." " Oh." "Well, I don't know about anyone else, but it's the most fun I've ever had at Christmas." "I felt like I was 10 years old." "Got that kind of naughty feeling." "Oh, yeah." "Be quiet, Vic." "Let her talk." "When I was little, we weren't even allow to say "Merry Christmas"" "because it condoned drunkenness." "It was "Happy Christmas" or it was the doghouse." "Oh, I'm sorry, Carol." "I wasn't thinking." "Sorry." "What, because Bob was an alcoholic?" "You're too careful." "Why... how did you know it wasn't Ernie's house?" "Photos." "Oh, no red hair, no freckles, no ugly cousins." "No wobbegongs." "Hang on." "That's our gene pool." "Don't even say the word 'pool'." "Well, they're nothing alike, Bob and Ernie." "Pardon me." "Bob was everything Ernie wasn't." "He cleaned up every mess Ernie ever made." "No thanks, no recognition." "And when Bob needed help, nothing." "No... nothing." "Just a howl of disappointment." "Disapproval." "Yeah." "No, no." "I've heard the stories." "Family's not a word, it's a sentence." "Mmm!" "Rubbish." "It's a challenge." "No!" "It's an adventure." "I think I'd like another glass, Gail." "Come on." "We'll take the bottle outside." " Mum..." " We can drink it there." "Oh, come on." "Oh, Vic!" "It's Christmas!" "Anyway, I think I'm a little bit tipsy." "Whoops." " Go on." "There you go." " Oh." "Ooh!" "Thanks, Gail." "Vic!" "You coming out?" "No, I'm good." "Yes, he is." "He's a good man." "Like his father." "There." "See there?" "That's where Santa Claus lives." "Is it?" "My mother was a drunk." "She lived on peanuts and gin." "Whenever I wanted her to hug me.." "I dragged her out of pubs after school, every day." "Whenever I want her to hug me, she'd crack open a peanut and she'd say, "Look, Carol." "That's where Santa Claus lives."" "Don't give her any more to drink." "Well, excuse us, Constable!" "Oh, let's get him with a peanut." "Go on." "Oh!" " Right." " Well done, Gail." " Hey?" " Now it's on." "Oh, yeah." "Now it's on." "It's a peg fight." "Peg and peanuts." "Now it's serious." "Hit him with the peanut." "This time, it's serious." "Pretty good." "Come on, Victor." "You're the target." "Yeah, don't start something you can't finish." "Is it your mother?" "Yes." "You'll need a cup of tea." "How long have you lived like this?" "Sober?" "15 years." "Look, it'll be too dangerous trying to drive back to the city in the dark." "Can you wait till morning?" "You're welcome to stay here." "How do you live?" "I get the pension." "I look after things for people, keep them for them." "What sort of things?" "Money, gold." "There's a few people here and there still prospecting." "And often as not, they're just going off their rockers and... drinking too much." "They don't trust each other, they don't trust themselves and they leave their stuff with me." "Why you?" "Because I don't drink." "Because I'm trustworthy." "I have to see some people before I leave." "In case there's any misunderstanding." "Do you want me to drive you?" "Well, it would be quicker." "Yeah, just pull up here." "Yep." "I won't be long." "Did you hear about the royal commission?" "Somebody said it was on." "You're not curious?" "It was a long time ago." "Shame to get this car dirty." "I hear you're a lawyer now." "Yeah." "What kind?" "Industrial relations." "On whose side?" "The little bloke." "Oh, that's good." "That's good." "You've gotta look after the little bloke." "Yeah, well, that's the theory." "And your mother, is she... sick?" " Yeah." " How sick?" "She's dying." "Well, it hasn't all been for nothing, then." "What hasn't?" "Sobering up." "I couldn't have gone drunk." "I don't think she really cares about that anymore." "Well, I wouldn't have." "I wouldn't have gone drunk." " That's irrelevant." " I wouldn't have gone." "It's not irrelevant to me." "Well, Jesus, you've been sober for 15 years, any way it turns out." "Waiting every day." "Have you ever written to her?" " Not since I've been straight." " Why not?" "Shame, I suppose." " I didn't want to get..." " She's married to you!" "So I believe." "It's good that you're sober." "I'm sorry." "I wish I could undo it all." "What the hell was it, Dad?" "I lost my way." "Yeah, well, we've come across that, haven't we?" "You lost your way and we..." "we all got lost with you." "You never said." "You never told us." "And the job?" "Was it something you did?" "Is that what you think?" "You think that I'm sitting here waiting to be named in that inquiry?" "Well, I've..." "I've wondered, Dad." "I'm really sorry about that." "I saw things." "Well, I don't know." "I half saw things." "Things I didn't really understand at the time." "I don't even really understand them now." "It's just..." "It was the surprise of it." "Knowing that I was on the outside." "As soon as I smelt that there was something crook," "I knew there was no-one safe to tell." "Nobody at all?" "No, I thought I was going nuts." "But then there was this little kid." "He was a small-time petty crim." "He had his legs broken out on Thunder Beach." "Yeah, he got... he hopped into a car with detectives..." "Yeah, that's the one." "Those two demons come down from the city." "I don't know what it was about." "Drugs, I s'pose." "I never really understood it." "It was just that he'd fallen foul of them and any question about it, any witness account died on the vine." "It didn't matter who it came to." "It felt like whatever was going on," "I was the only bloke not in on it." "So who do you talk to?" "Who do you trust?" "I know it ate me alive." "I should have quit." "But I didn't even have the guts to do that." "It would have saved us all a lot of pain." "I just hung on in there until there was nothing left of me." "There was nothing left of any of us." "It was cowardice." "It's not natural." "You learn it." "So, how did you get off the booze?" "I went to a meeting in Kalgoorlie." "Just the one?" "Yeah." "Only the one." "I'd had enough of self-pity." "30...?" "I was living behind the pub then." "Called myself a yardman, but basically I was an alcoholic sweeping floors for drinks." "Then I came up here with the dog and I hid." "I think I was trying to work up the nerve to kill myself." "There's plenty of mineshafts up here." "No shortage of means." "I spent months plotting and planning." "I went mad, I s'pose." "And then I realised I'd been six months without a drink." "I woke up one morning." "It was winter." "The sun was on this fallen tree, this dead, grey tree, and there was steam rising off the dead wood... and I felt new." "I had this feeling that the world was inviting me in and luring me towards... something." "I dunno." "Life, I s'pose." "I see you read a lot." "Yep." "It's an education." "But my eyes are going." "We'll get you some glasses." "What time do you want to leave?" "Uh, first thing." "Fair enough." "You got it?" "You'll take it." "And you'll keep your fucking mouth shut." "Say g'day to Vic for me." "Ultimo 1 radio..." "you have a job for us?" "Listen up, everyone." "There's been a report of a missing hiker." "Last seen on the western track here." "By the sounds of it, he's been caught in a fog and wandered off the path somewhere." "He's missing two days now, so he's either fallen off the first tier, or broken something along the way." "If he's alive, we'll need to find him by dark." "It's getting bloody cold up there." "So we need to move fast." "Right." "Stick to your groups." "Let's get going." "Uh, Bill, you lead the group along the western track and keep everyone close." "We don't wanna lose any more of you, for God's sake." "Lang." "You'll be taking a back seat on this one." "Join Bill's group or something." "There's a reporter looking for you somewhere." "Just talk her through the process and make us sound good, alright?" " Me?" " Yes, you." "Fuck knows why, but she wants to speak with you." "Is there a problem, Sergeant?" "No." "No problem." "Good. 'Cause we don't want any more trouble now, do we?" "Constable Lang?" "Um... excuse me?" "Constable Lang?" "Sergeant Lang." "Oh." "Sorry, Sergeant." "Um..." "I was told you were someone who could help me." "My name's Marie." "You're the journalist?" "Mmm, no" " I'm a cadet, actually, but I was hoping I could ask you a few questions." "Won't hold you up." "Promise." "Can ask 'em as we walk." "Oh." "Well, come on, then." "Can you explain why we've left the group?" "In my opinion, he's landed on the eastern side of the mountain." "He's fallen into that area up ahead." "So, have you worked in this area long?" "About six months." "Oh." "How do you like it here so far?" "Looks like the weather's coming in." "I can't see the track anymore." "Or hear anyone." "Maybe we should just go back." "If you go back the way we came, you should find the track." "It's getting dark." "I can't go alone." "Fair enough." "Hello?" "!" "Constable Lang!" "Marie?" "Hello!" " Help!" " Hey!" "I'm over here!" "Marie!" " Is he alive?" " Just." "What are we gonna do?" "It looks like we're gonna be in for a long night." "Fuck, I just feel so helpless." "First day I was posted out here... got called up on this..." "this accident." "This young farm kid... was doing tricks... on his trail bike." "He pulled out from behind the bus on to the oncoming car." "Just cleaned him up." "I just sat there." "Waited with him till the ambulance came." "All his schoolmates just staring at me like there was something I could actually do." "He died in my arms." "Oh..." "God, I'm sorry." "I thought I was tougher than this." "Sometimes there's just nothing you can do." "Do you like your work?" "What?" "Guys you work with?" "Good guys?" "Yeah." "The two detectives found his father on the bed." "He'd been dead for 10 days." "Some say that he put a pillow over his dad's head... and suffocated him." "But that's just what they told me." "Mum and Dad told me about an oldish man called Boner." "He lived by the river in a beat-up caravan and his girlfriend had left him and he'd shot himself underneath the chin but he survived that." "He had half of his face blown off and he had a big hole in his neck, where his... around where his voice box was." "So every time he spoke, he had to put his finger into his mouth, into his neck, and that... just so he could..." "was able to speak." "It was, like... something like that." "I reckon it must've been early high school and Boner was older than me." "He wasn't really a mate." "I didn't have any mates in those days." "A mate was probably just someone who was a bit less of an arsehole than an enemy." "And people used to just treat me like shit." "They used to call me fucking 'Flathead' and there was these two older cunts that used to just belt the fuck out of me every lesson." "They thought it just was good fun." "Anyway, one day Boner must've fucking heard about it and I was down in A-wing, down this long bloody corridor." "I looked up and I saw these two bastards coming and... and Boner was standing behind them and he was kneeing them in the backside as they walked along and whacking them in the back of the head and he was saying to 'em, "You fucking leave him alone." ""You leave him alone."" "And he got to the end of the corridor and then he just fucking belted the shit out of them and he was saying, "Leave the..." "leave him alone, you fucking dogs."" "And no-one knew... no-one except me knew why he was doing it." "And he was standing up for me and yet..." "he hardly knew me, really, and that was the first time anyone had ever really stood up for me." "Yeah, well, Boner was driving along one day and he had a whole heap of garbage on the front of his car, on the dash, and they fell off and he looked down to see what was going on." "And there was a police car coming the other way." "And he wandered across the road and pushed the police car off the road." "Got down the road a bit, looked in the mirror and the police are chasing him." "So he pulled up." "The police said to him, "You just run us off the road."" "He said, "I didn't see you."" "He said, "Well, that's pretty obvious you didn't see us."" "He said, "You run us off the road."" "He said, "We had to go out in the paddock there."" "He said, "Look at the car." ""It's covered in grass and dirt and mud." ""What were you doing?"" ""Oh," he said, "what happened is..." "I'm a snake catcher." ""I had a snake in a bag there."" "And he said, "And he got out and he was crawling over my legs."" "He said, "I bent down to pick him up" ""and when I bent down, I must've wandered across the road."" "They said, "Where's the snake?"" "He said, "In the car." "Do you want to he!" "p me catch it?"" "He said to the police." "They said, "Nah, you're right, mate." "Just go on your way."" "That's what..." "He was a wild man." "I heard a bit about him but he was always in trouble." "He was always in trouble with the police." "He used to go to school and he got the cuts that many times, his hands and everything, that he decided that he wasn't going to get it anymore so he didn't do anything to the teacher but he just said," ""If you're gonna give me the strap again,"" ""you'll get the knife," you know?" "That was about it." "He was always in... when were in school, he was always..." "You know, he'd be the one that's there... baring his behind to the girls in the back." "He'd bend over and..." "Well, he got expelled for that, so that was the end of him." "I..." "I wasn't one of his molls." "But, um, I remember how just going for one ride in his panel van would set you up with a reputation for the rest of your life." "You didn't even really have to do anything with him, just be seen in his car." "So, one day when I had to go the shops," "I heard his car coming along and, um, started swinging my hips a little bit more." "And he pulled up." "And he only asked me where Jackie was, for God's sake, and I just said, "Oh, I don't Know where she is."" "And I kept him talking for a little while." "A couple of..." "Susie and Rachel went past in a car." "I leant right in the car and sort of bent down and touched the gearstick and made out that, you know, I was inside the car, giving him a kiss." "And then when they went past, he sort of drove off not long after and I told people that..." "that I'd fucked him, that I actually had sex with him that day." "And I didn't." "Like, he didn't even touch me." "The inside of the house was just... torn to pieces, they told me." "Like someone had gone through it in a fit of rage." "They said they found drugs at the house." "Lots of ammo." "And on the walls there was this weird pornography and he got a cigarette and burnt where their cunts were... and their breasts." "He was naked when they found him." "They said he was just crazy." "He wasn't making any sense at all." "He had these shark jewels around his neck." "His face was badly cut." "No-one knew what he'd done to himself." "When the cops got there... he just kept mumbling over and over again." ""You see that tree?" ""See that tree?" "That's my mother's screamin' neck." ""You can hang me from that tree." "I don't give a fuck." ""You can hang me." "I don't care."" "That's just what I've heard." ""I'm fucking Boner and don't you forget it."" "God." " Hi." " Hi." "Where did you get that?" "He thinks he's Clint Eastwood." " Hey." "Merry Christmas." " Give us a hug." " Hi, mate." " Happy Christmas." " Hi, Fenn." " Mwah." "Good to see you again." "Hey." "Happy Christmas." "You too." " Sorry we're late." " No, you're just in time." "Just cracked open one of Peon's new cab merlots." "It'll change your life." "It's so good to see you." "Oh, you too!" "What's this?" "I found it." "Back of Dads shed." "I never hit any of 'em but, Christ, it's fun trying." "You're a good country boy." "You a shooter?" " Nah." " Have a go." "Nah." "Rightio." " Is that the ocean?" " Yeah." "Moving down here was the best thing we ever did." "You grew up down here, didn't you?" " Yeah, about 20 minutes inland." " Get down much?" "Nah." "Not really." "You right?" "Yeah, good." "Really?" "'Cause you look like shit." "What are you doing?" "Just thought I saw the old man." "Turns out I'm just getting old." "Jesus, you're 38, Vic." "Yeah." "So you're just never going to talk about it?" "What do you want me to say?" "It's just so much good shit." "No, it's just because you want to play with them." "That's all." "Well, yeah." "We didn't have any of that stuff when I was a kid." "It was just Matchbox cars." "Oh, God, I wish I had Matchbox cars." "I only had the Book of Lamentations and... socks." "That's slightly cheaper than what he's going for." "Well, at least I've got a wife and Australia's largest mining company to prop me up." "How is that going?" "You should've seen it." "This boardroom was just filled with Texans wearing cowboy hats." " No." " I fuck you not." "Giant bucket hats with string ties." "Just throwing around their cash." "See, that's where you need to head." "There's no shit fights in the mining industry." "How's the nurses' strike going, Vic?" "Yeah, we're getting there." "Really?" "It's more of a statement, though, isn't it?" "We'll see, I guess." "Vic Lang." "Man of action." "The defender of the people." "Gail." "You know, I did used to shoot when I was a kid." "When I was about 14, before my dad left." "We had this old Savage." "When he'd go off to work and my mum would take my sister up the shops, I'd pull it out." "Sit by the window." "I'd, uh..." "look down the sights." "People walking down the street." "I'd aim it at them." "I'd... load and cock it and I'd aim it at people walking down the street." "That's what you wanted to tell me now?" "Another little childhood anecdote." "You're always bloody doing the dishes." "Leave them." "I'll do them in the morning." "Nah, it's alright." "I'll do 'em..." "I'll do 'em now." "They know, don't they?" "Was it Fenn?" "I thought you said you didn't want to know." "Was it?" "What difference does it make?" "Do it." "Do anything." "Being with you makes me feel so lonely." "Pull." "Pull." "Pull." "Pull." "Bloody hell." "You ready, Emmy?" "Yeah." "Ready... steady..." "Pull." "Although I do not hope to turn again." "Although I do not hope." "Although I do not hope to turn."