"It was our secret place when we were five and six." "Willy Hill, she used to call it." "You could crouch down, shelter under the overhanging rock if it rained." "We kept a blanket there and sometimes had feasts of chocolates and lollies." "But she'd still go there, even when she was 16." "It was still her special place." "When night was falling, it was like... you were on a ship and the hill sailed on through the night, with the land and the sky lapping past." "Every tree and rock, to her, was almost like they were living things." "We'd always been close." "Always been really sweet and gentle with each other." "What are you doing shooting again?" "I thought I told you no shooting!" "If that gun had been loaded, it could've gone off." "We'd have both been killed!" "You shouldn't have had it in the first place!" "Stop pressing against me!" "I'm not!" "I know what you're doing." "I can feel you!" "Arrgh!" "Agh, that's not fair!" "Right, no more shooting." "I wasn't gonna shoot anything anyway." "I was just getting some rabbits for the old man's dog!" "Promise!" "Ow!" "Alright!" "Promise!" "That hurt." "Serves you right." "What were you doing, jumping on me like that?" "'Cause I felt like it." "God, you're juvenile." "Oh, sorry, you're so mature for your age." "I bags red!" "It's slippery!" "1-0." "Your gran been fed yet?" "It's Gail's turn." "I took it in half an hour ago." "Haven't you got any homework?" "Yes, Nils." "Don't be cheeky." "I'm just going down the road." "Gee, that's unusual." "If I see you playing that thing once more, I'll throw it out!" "I'll be back in a couple of hours." "I won then. 3-2." "3-3." "Fair go!" "Alright, 3-2." "You can win." "You always have to win, don't you?" "What's wrong with Nils?" "I don't know." "It's 'cause hardly anyone's come in all day." "I don't blame them either." "Who'd wanna come to a dump like this?" "It's the highway, isn't it, Mrs Olson?" "Everyone takes the shortcut." "They weren't thinking about us when they built it, that's for sure." "We're gonna go broke, aren't we?" " We'll all starve like the Africans." " You shouldn't say that!" "Has Gran had dinner?" "I told you!" "I took it in half an hour ago." "Did you help her eat it?" "No, I had to do the washing up!" "You've gotta help her with it now." "She'll get it all over herself!" "I put a towel around her neck!" "You two, shut up!" "One of you see if your gran's alright." "OK." "See you later." "11:30?" "Yeah." "Come on, you haven't had much of your dinner yet." "You like egg custard, don't you?" "It's your favourite." "Did I tell you what we were doing at school today?" "We were learning about Europe, so I spoke about Norway." "You remember when you told me about Norway?" "Hey, Martin!" "Any chance of getting 'The Forbidden Planet' again?" "You've seen it three times." "Yeah, it's got a lot to it." "Last time you were the only one in the audience!" "I don't run this place just for your benefit, you know." "Any other space stuff coming up?" "Not on the list." "Any, uh..." "Brigitte Bardot?" "Not that you'd be allowed into." "This your gun, is it, Bandy?" "What's he been shooting?" "Is it loaded?" "Give us it, Pierdon." "Make me." "I'll shoot you." "Yeah, bandicoots are vermin, aren't they?" "Pierdon..." "He'll start bawling in a minute." "Aw." "You gonna bawl are you, Bandy?" "Aw, Bandy." "Come on." "Wanna be careful, but, wandering around at night, Danny." "Someone could mistake you for a bandicoot." "Please, God, let something terrible happen to Pierdon and Malseed." "I don't know what." "Maybe a disease, like leprosy." "Maybe they could be taken away by flying saucers for experimentation." "The Lord Palmerston was the best hotel in town." "Sell, it was the only hotel in town." "My parents ran it and we lived upstairs." "The cockatoo lived out the back near the gents toilets, which gave him a pretty..." "interesting repertoire." "You hung-over too, are you?" "Blurgggh!" "Hello, Danny." "G'day, Keith." "Hello, Danny." "No, what we need's another Rising Fast." "No" " Major Tulloch." " Mr Consistency." "Hey, er, my brother-in-law's got a promising horse at the moment." "Made it's first start a couple of months ago and then it got sink-shore..." "er... er, shin-sore." "But it was showing us a lot at the track." "He gives you the inside information, does he, Nils?" "Oh, yeah." "L-let us know when it's gonna win - that's for sure." "He's had a couple of other horses, hasn't he, this brother-in-law of yours." "Oh, yeah, yeah, he's a, you know..." "he's got a real eye for the..." "They broke down too, didn't they?" "Yeah, wasn't there one running at Randwick?" "We all backed it and it got scratched?" "Er, yeah." "Er..." "A bit of a problem with the float." "Jesus, mate, he can pick 'em, your brother-in-law." "If they don't get shin-sore, they'll brain themselves in the horse float." "I first heard about mental telepathy from this bloke Jonah who worked on the railways." "And the best thing about it was Freya being interested too, 'cause whatever she was interested in, I was." "Look at that!" "What?" "Well, I've drawn a star, and the sun's pretty close to a star." "Actually, it is a star." "I s'pose." "I can't tell what I'm picking up telepathically and what's just my own mind." "Or your mind." "What else were you getting?" "I don't know." "Stuff." "What?" "Nothing clear." "Why?" "Thinking dirty thoughts, were you?" "I was concentrating on the diagram." "Sure." "Funny thing about Jonah  he won the pub raffle every year." "So he had this endless supply of whisky, which Freya loved, and I was trying to like it at least a little bit myself." "Finished." "Completely?" "Chapter 12." "Time to celebrate." "You've been on chapter 12 since last year." "A lot of distractions." "Trains, mainly." "Never get a job with clocks." "You can hear your life ticking away." "You ever been in there?" "The ghost house?" "No way." "Are you chicken?" "Would you go in there at night?" "How much for?" "10 quid." "Pathetic." "You wouldn't pay up anyway." "I take Gidget for a walk down there sometimes." "She won't go near the place." "Dogs can tell when people die, can't they?" "Yeah, so they reckon." "Corinna, Corinna" "Da, da, da, da" "Corinna, Corinna" "Da-da, da-da, da-da, da" "Corinna, Corinna" "Da-da, da-da, da..." "I've, er, got a book on hypnotism now." "Oh, yeah?" "Need someone to try it out on." "You want me to be your victim?" "Yeah." "See you later." "Where have you been?" "Out." "Please, God." "I'm sorry for this." "I promise I'll give it up by my next birthday if you help her not to telepathically pick up that I'm out here." "Please, God, help her not to draw the curtains." "I meant the blinds as well." "I was so stuck on Frey." "I couldn't think of anything else." "I used to try sending her thought messages about what a fascinating and desirable person I was." "I'd send them so hard that I'd have to stop in case I short-circuited my brain and became a moron." "Every year we used to earn pocket money helping with the hay baling at some of the nearby properties." "That's when Freya got to know Trevor Leishman for the first time." "He was a full-back in the school football team." "Pretty big deal." "Everyone around town knew him because he was wild." "How are you going, Frey?" "Alright." "Always getting into trouble at school or with the police." "People said he was hyperactive - whatever that meant." "Thanks, Tommo." "She's a bit bloody warm, mate." "Hey, does your father allow you to drink?" "He's my stepfather." "Freya!" "Fair go, Tommo." "Couple of mouthfuls won't hurt her." "Yeah?" "Well, we all know where you get your drinking experience from." "Yeah." "Hey, hey!" "Easy!" "Hey!" "Stop showing off." "I can always get my first name." "The way you know when you're really drunk is when you can get your second one as well." "That's what my old man taught me." "Longest I ever got was my whole name plus three letters." "But I was busting." "I'd been saving it up all day." "Shh!" "She's changed in the past couple of years." "Yeah." "Not a bad sort now." "Yeah." "You know her pretty well, don't you?" "Since we were kids." "Is she your girlfriend?" "Oh... sort of." "Not really." "Piss off!" "A couple of miles out of town was the swimming hole where a lot of the mating rituals took place." "That's what people who study tribes would call them, I think." "Pretty juvenile sort of stuff." "He's a pisspot through and through" "He's a drunkard, so they say" "He tried to get to heaven but he went the other way" "Drink it down, down, down, down down, down, down, down, down." "Come on!" "Go, Chris!" "Come on!" "Yep, you're going in!" "I've got her!" "Time to go in!" "Let's get Olson!" "Run!" "Get her!" "Come on, tackle her!" "Get her!" "Quick!" "Go!" "Get her!" "Whoops!" " You'll get it in a minute!" "" " Get her top off!" "Get off, you bastard." "Get out of the way!" "Under the water!" "Go in the water!" "Get her in the water!" "Come on!" "Bring her in." "Whoo!" "You're twisting my arm!" "Get her in!" "OK!" "One..." "One!" "Two!" "Three!" "Yay!" "Bastard." "Hold her under!" "Whoo-hoo!" "Dunk her!" "Dunk her!" "Bastard." "Hey, don't drown her, Trev!" "He's off his head." "Leishman!" "Trev!" "Let her up, you mad..." "She's alright, aren't you, Frey?" "Yeah.." "Yeah, I'm alright." "They're juvenile, aren't they?" "Who?" "Oh, Leishman and those kids." "I don't think so." "Look at your knees." "They're all scraped." "So?" "It's so sexy." "God, you're a pain." "Hi, Mary." "Oh, hello, Freya." "How nice to see you." "That's Danny, isn't it?" "Hello, Danny." "Hi, Mrs O'Neil." "How are you going for milk and eggs and everything?" "Well, I'm getting a bit low." "I put the money in the jar so I wouldn't forget." "There's the money." "Now, would you like a cup of tea?" "That's my young man." "He was great-Iooking, - wasn't he?" "I liked him better out of uniform than in." ""The wind on the hill is in your hair" ""The smell of the rain perfumes the air..."" "Oh, here he is." "The poet." "What?" "Malseed's found all that stuff you've been writing in your desk." ""We once were friends and still are now" ""But you think I'm too young to love But I know..."" "Give us it back, Malseed, or I'll belt you." "You're so sensitive, Danny." ""If only I could prove it to you You would see" ""We could become two and be forever free."" "OK, into the dunny!" "No!" "Into the girls dunny!" "Poofter, Embling!" "Gail!" "From now on, you're gonna use these toilets." "You're dead!" "I swear." "Are you a girl, Bandy?" "Fuck off!" "Wash your hair in it, Bandy." "You want a bit of soap down there, Embling?" "One, two..." "Three." "No!" "Down!" "Come on, back down there!" "How's it feeling, Embling?" "Bloody good odds, isn't it?" "Nah, he's thirsty, Trev." "Come on." "Arggh!" "Put him down." "It was just a joke, Trev." "Yeah, he's alright." "He was laughing." "Arggh!" "Come on, Trev, it was a joke." "Get out of the way." "Stop, Trev!" "You're out of your mind!" "Arrgh!" "I was only joking!" "Should've seen what he done to us!" "We were only mucking around anyway." "Heads or tails, fellas?" "Alright." "Heads it is." "Oh, no." "Arrgh!" "Sounded hollow, I reckon." "Danny?" "You alright?" "Have you done your composition yet?" "No, I'm doing it tonight." "You can't go in." "Why the hell not?" "You just can't." "Olson..." "Ow!" "What are you doing, you mad bitch?" "You're crazy, Olson." "Stupid bloody slut!" "Oh, you're disgusting." "Ugh, that's what she learns from her alkie stepfather, probably." "As you all know, the first match of the season is against last year's premiers, Jagarilda," "And we gave them a run for their money both times we played them last season." "But this time we're gonna go one better and beat them." "But we're not gonna win with individual brilliance." "We can only win if we play together as a team." "And that's why we're here tonight." "To enjoy ourselves, have a good time?" "No way." "Because each one of you has got to be confident you can rely on each and every other player in the team." "OK." "Now you can start stuffing yourselves." "G'day." "Hi." "Want a smoke?" "Yeah." "Hey, what are you doing later on?" "Going home, I suppose." "You wanna... you wanna come for a drive?" "You're not pinching Mrs Osmond's car again?" "Yeah. (Chuckles) The old dear went away for the weekend." "Went up on the train somewhere." "We'll go to the racecourse." "What'll we do there?" "Beat the record." "I done 96 around there last time." "Yeah, and Sergeant Pierce caught you." "Yeah, well... oh, it was on the way back." "I mean, it was just, you know... bad luck." "What else will we do?" "That's for you to find out, isn't it, if you're, er... if you're game." "It was hard to feel really down on Trevor Leishman, seeing how he'd saved me in the girls toilets just that day." "Please, God, don't let him kiss her, for God's sake." "If she's going to be interested in me," "I have to be more outgoing more of a personality." "Maybe I could be funny, entertaining." "I need to learn jokes." "Talking to yourself?" "I was, er... going through some answers for a history test." "People who talk to themselves grow hairs on the palms of their hands." "How's Trevor?" "Alright." "Do you love him?" "You do, don't you?" "Why?" "'Cause you're always hanging round with him." "So?" "We're going to the movies on Saturday." "Why don't you ask my sister?" "Then you could come as well." "She's in third form." "Same difference between you and her as between me and Trev." "How's the music?" "Can play 'Get a Little Dirt on Your Hands' now." "Sing it for me." "No." "If you can't sing in front of me, you'd be hopeless in front of your millions of fans." "Don't talk as much as we used to now, do we?" "That's 'cause we move in different circles." "When I was a little boy" "My daddy used to say to me, "Son,"" "Dah, dah" ""We've got a lot of big plans" ""And a lot of hard work to be done."" "Neh, neh, neh" ""So go get your marbles and put 'em in..."" "You're laughing." "It's good." "Can't sing without a guitar." "Why do you like it up here so much, anyway?" "Do you follow me sometimes?" "No." "Y-You've always liked it up here, even when we were kids." "It's Willy Hill." "My special place." "Dogs can tell when people pass away." "Maybe they pick up the soul leaving the body and flying off into space or wherever they go." "This time, it was old Mrs O'Neil." "It was really nice." "Dropped off in her sleep." "There's a little parcel for you, Freya." "It has your name on it." "She must have been going to give it to you on your birthday or whatever." "How old are you now?" "Um..." "You must be 16, mustn't you?" "Yep." "Here we are." "Oh, isn't it lovely?" "She bought that at a church fete." "You could put a little picture of your boyfriend in that." "Do you have a boyfriend?" "Danny." "Oh." "Come on!" "Now!" "Now!" "Get him!" "Don't let him through!" "Good tackle, Tanner." "Good one, son." "Hit the bastards hard!" " Four tries in..." "" " Most of that half, I was happy." "But that last try, they should never have got." "That attempt to tackle was pathetic, Johnno." "Weak as piss." "He just brushed you aside like you were a girl." "Now, some of the ladies here could have made a better fist of it." "You don't just wave your arms around like a bloody windmill." "You go in and you hang on to him, and you don't let go, and you pull him to the ground." "You know what?" "It looked like you'd already decided he was too strong for you and you just went in and fell over just to make it look good." "And that's another thing." "When he got through Fulson, the rest of you just stood around like stunned mullets." "You don't just hand the opposition a try on a golden platter." "You go in and you chase, even if you've got no chance of catching them, keep 'em on it." "But overall, I was not disappointed." "Now, Trevor Leishman, he put in." "He showed a lot of the old G and D." "And that's what I want to see more of." "Cobber, you've been daydreaming again..." "Wanna come to the film tonight?" "What?" "Do you want to come to the film tonight?" "What's on?" "Oh, I think it's called 'Summer Fire'." "Hey, Sal." "What's on at the Flea Palace tonight?" "Romance, set in Hawaii." "Why?" "Who are you going with?" "Him." "You just want to take her 'cause you reckon it's got lots of intimate love scenes, do you?" "There's a group of us going, that's all." "I might come too, then." "Stupid, stuck-up little third formers." " Hey, what time will you pick me up?" " You gotta pick me up too." "Oh, I'll meet you there." "The only reason I wanted to go was so I could check up on what happened between Freya and Trev." "Surf's up." "Yeah." "Those waves sure sound big." "Must have been that storm." "Maybe they'll call it off if it's too dangerous." "Sit down!" "Big waves make for a better showdown." "Are you scared, Johnny?" "I don't know." " I guess..." "" " You can tell me." "Sell, ever since my brother disappeared after that wipe-out in Saimea Bay..." "Yeah." "... well, I wonder if that could happen to me." "Johnny, I don't want you to go out there tomorrow." "I don't want you to be world champion." "I just want us to be together." "I want that too, more than anything else in the world." "But I also have something to prove, to prove to myself." "I owe it to Jesse to be there tomorrow." "I'm proud of you, Johnny." "Just so long as you'll be there watching me." "That makes it a whole lot better." "I will be, Johnny." "Yeah?" "I will be." "Gail." "It wasn't me." "It was Bandicoot." "Bloody Bandy." "Well, thanks." "Did you like it, the film?" "It was dumb." "Well, I might as well go, I suppose." "See ya." "Hey." "Hey!" "What are you doing, you little..." "Carrying on in front of the whole bloody town!" "God. 'Bye, Trev." "Nah, don't worry about it." "I don't want you to see her again." "And you..." "And you just stay away from this bodgie, alright?" "Shut up, for God's sake." "Well, someone's got to lay down the bloody law." "If you're too blind to see what's really going on out here." "Will you come inside?" "You're drunk." "Couldn't you see what was going on?" "Yeah, real nice talking to you too, Mr Olson." "Don't want to keep me voice down." "You've woken the whole town." "You ever been in love?" "When I lived in Cootamundra." "She worked in the 'Spirit of Progress' catering car." "Trains would change crews in Coota." "Girls would stay there overnight." "Lord Byron Hotel." "Past your bedtime." "He can't sleep." "He's in love." "Yeah?" "Well, you're his mate, so you can't be the lucky lady." "It's Gail." "Should've seen them carrying on after the flicks the other night." "YOU can talk." "I might sleep at the ghost house tonight." "Win your ten quid." "If you're staying there, I'm staying there with you." "Oh, isn't he a gentleman?" "Who used to live in it?" "People called the Amerys, apparently." "Is that who haunts it?" "One of them?" "I don't believe in ghosts, not as such." "You said your dog wouldn't go near the place." "The way I see it, when you're scared, your brain gives off all this fear and it hangs in the air and sticks to the walls." "Like this." "ARRRRGH!" "Did you feel it?" "Did you feel it shooting out?" "That moment's hanging in the air now, like..." "like a force-field." "That's what's in that place." "That's what the dogs pick up." "So that means something terrible's happened there." "Probably." "I tell you where there'd be another force-field, though." "In a little hotel room in Coota." "The one I used to share with my lady friend from the 'Spirit of Progress'." "Be a happy one, though." "Room 306, Lord Byron Hotel." "Green bedspread, little gas fire, picture of the Blue Mountains on the wall and one of those soft mattresses." "You both sink in together in the middle." "Now, that'd be the place to take your girlfriend." "What do you reckon about what he was saying?" "I agree." "I reckon there's good and bad places." "Where's a good place?" "Willy Hill." "Bet you you can't walk in a straight line." "Can too." "Should learn to kiss properly, by the way." "Gail said you were slobbering all over her." "I was not." "Do it gently next time." "Don't stick your tongue down someone's throat on the first night." "Just think." "Everyone's asleep." "What?" "The whole town's out dreaming." "Yeah." "Dad would be dreaming he's pulling beers." "Nils would be dreaming he's locked in a brewery for the night." "Old Mrs Osmond would be dancing around with the Duke of Edinburgh." "I wonder if Mrs O'Neil's around." "Her ghost?" "Yeah." "Or her force-field." "They're all here, the whole town." "I can feel them too, you know." "Here you go." "How's that horse going, Nils?" "Oh, coming along." "Don't say he's gone shin-sore on us." "No, no." "He's doing fine." "Setting him up for a first-up killing, are you, Nils?" "Yeah." "Yeah, hopefully." "Could be another Phar Lap, you reckon?" "Trainer's doing about as good a job as Nils is doing with his eldest bloody daughter." "Well, she's not my daughter, is she?" "Seems to have taken a fancy to young Trevor, I've heard." "Shut up, Tom." "Bob." "Your bloody son's gone and pinched Mrs Osmond's Mercedes again." "Trying to set up a lap record round the racetrack." "Jesus, not again." "Come on." "Trev, mate!" "Chicken!" "Well, I'm not gonna chase him." "Just as likely to stack the thing and kill himself." "Last time he went round till it ran dry." "Yeah, well, there's not going to be a next time, Bob." "You know that, don't you?" "Trev's gone for a burn in Mrs Osmond's Mercedes again." "I know where he'll go." "Come on." "Trev." "Trev." "He's not here." "They probably caught him." "He'll come." "Trevor!" "Trevor!" "He's running out of juice." "Get after him!" "See ya." "You've got a hernia." "Argh!" "What do you want me to do?" "Chase after the bastard." "Go on!" "Fit little bugger, isn't he?" "Argh!" "Embling wet himself." "How long have you been here?" "I just got in round the back." "Why?" "Did I catch youse cuddling?" "Sure." "He said you pinched that car again." "Yeah." "Jeez, that bloody thing can move." "Sergeant Pierce wouldn't chase me, the bloody chicken." "Welcome to my mansion." "Nice decor." "Yeah, well, I knew you were coming, so I went to a bit of trouble." "Wonder what lives in here." "Hey, Frey." "Have a seat." "Come here." "Here." "You gonna stay?" "I might." "How do we get rid of Bandy?" "Don't call him that." "He's alright." "This magazine's from 1946." "When I was born." "Hey, uh..." "Hey, Bandy, you going home?" "Nah." "I'm interested to see if anything materialises." "What?" "!" "This place." "It's known to be haunted." "By what, mate?" "By the ghost of that dead rat?" "I'll get some wood for the fire." "How come..." "How come you want him to stay?" "Why not?" "Oh, you know." "We could have this place to ourselves." "How are we gonna you know, if he's around." "We can still do things." "Yeah, well, alright." "Alright, well, we'll sleep in there." "He can sleep in here on the couch." "Let's sleep in front of the fire." "It's gonna be a bloody ripper fire, mate." "You be warm enough, Danny?" "Yeah." "If you keep touching me there, I'm going to start making a noise." "So?" "Be awful for Danny." "How would you feel if you were him?" "Oh, you know, if I were him," "I reckon I'd leave us alone and give us a fair go." "I'm not going to do it, anyway." "Not yet." "How come?" "I mean, we do everything else." "I mean..." "You know, it's not going to hurt now." "I know it's not going to hurt." "Yeah, well, it's easy for you, isn't it?" "I mean, you can come just from my fingers, huh?" "So can you with mine." "Yeah, but I mean, it's not the same thing." "You know, it it feels heaps better when it's inside." "How do you know?" "Who else have you done it with?" "Er..." "You can just tell, that's all." "Don't stop." "I thought you were worried about..." "Shh." "I thought you were worried about making a noise." "I'll grit my teeth." "Danny." "Yeah." "It's here, isn't it?" "Something is." "Let's go." "Trev." "What?" "What's on here?" "Trev!" "Come on." "Frey!" "What?" "What's happening?" "What did you hear?" "It's gonna have a grip on our brains." "Hurry." "Argh!" "Bloody caught myself in the zip." "I don't think it's coming." "Where are they?" "Oh, thank God." "What did you hear?" "It was there." "What?" "Inside the house." "We felt it." "What was?" "It was there." "Something cold." "Course it was cold." "It was freezing 'cause you let the fire go out, you idiot." "Frey, did you see anything?" "Yeah." "Mr Leishman." "Oh, shit." "Well, I hope you're pleased with yourself." "That Trevor Leishman's a ratbag." "The Olson girl's even worse." "What's wrong with her?" "I know you used to be friendly with her when you were young, but she's... well, she..." "She's older than you now." "I don't see what you can have in common." "She helps me do my work." "If you're looking for a girlfriend, look for one your own age." "She's already got a boyfriend." "From what I hear, she's got too many boyfriends." "Trevor Leishman got sent to some 'youth training centre' they called it, which gave me a chance with Frey." "Not much of a chance, though." "She was set on him now." "Corinna, Corinna..." "Maybe hypnotism was my only hope." "Maybe I could get her under my power, tell her Trevor Leishman was really a hoon, a meathead." "The trouble was he'd been OK to me." "I love you so" "Whoa, whoa..." "Then there was that force-field at the ghost house." "I'd felt it alright, that night we'd stayed there." "I felt something." "And I could have a word with him and see if he could get you something wholesale." "Another good mate of yours, Nils?" "Oh, best of mates." "No..." "Hey, Tom." "Yeah." "You know that old derelict house the other side of the railway lines?" "Do you remember who used to live there?" "Ha." "Do I ever." "Amery, was that their name?" "Hey, Bob." "Does anyone remember who used to live in the old place on the hill?" "Well, I don't remember the face." "Never look at the mantelpiece when you're stoking the fire." "Danny." "Bring up another half dozen crates, will you?" "Good on you, Danny." "We'll be needing them for later, son." "If you want some carrot, get a whole one out of the fridge." "Who was Sarah Amery?" "Who?" "Sarah Amery." "She used to live in that spooky place near the railway line." "She would've died before you were born." "Did you know her?" "No." "But you know about her." "What do you mean, I know about her?" "You knew who I was talking about." "Well, I heard when she died." "I mean, you always hear about it when someone in the area dies." "What did she die of?" "I've no idea." "She was only 17." "Was she?" "Would Dad know?" "You were asking about this in the pub, weren't you?" "Why are you so interested?" "I don't know." "I've told you." "I don't know anything about her." "Well, maybe Dad does." "For goodness sake, who put this idea into your head all of a sudden?" "No-one." "Any mail?" "No." "I told you Trevor Leishman wouldn't write." "He probably can't write." "He will." "He's mad." "He's also unstable." "That's 'cause he's hyperactive." "Did she sleep with him?" "Sally!" "I bet she did." "Everyone knows." "Oh, how do they know?" "All the older kids know." "She's terrible, your sister." "They reckon there's a list in the boys' toilets of all the guys who've gone through her." "She's a nymphoniac." "Hello?" "Oh, God, I'm gonna hide." "It won't be you he's after." "Hi, Smoochy." "Hi, Sally." "What do you want?" "Is, uh, Frey around?" "Yeah, I'll get her." "What sort of place have they got Trevor in?" "Miss McColl reckons it'll be different to a prison." "They'd have classes and play sport and that." "She doesn't have the address, though." "What about his old man?" "I told him I wanted to write to him and he told me to piss off." "Said Trev could do without my influence." "Gee, you must be in such a bad way hanging around with me." "Don't your parents give you a hard time about it?" "Nah." "Liar." "Given up." "Yeah?" "Self-hypnosis." "I could get you to give up, if you want." "Terrible habit." "Terrible for whoever's kissing you." "Yeah, we all know you're the expert." "Did you find out who used to live at the old ghost house?" "It was a woman called Sarah." "Died 16 years ago." "I reckon she might've been a sort of a prostitute." "In this place?" "Well, I asked some of the blokes in the bar and they're all carrying on like it's a big joke." "Alright, see if you can hypnotise me, then." "I bet you can't." "Alright." "Give us your locket." "Are you relaxed?" "Mm-hm." "OK." "Now, watch the locket." "Backwards and forwards." "Listen to the sound of my voice." "Gee, you sound professional." "Are you going to do it properly or not?" "OK, I'll do it properly." "Watch the locket swinging backwards and forwards." "Backwards and forwards." "And relax." "Your eyes are getting very heavy." "You are feeling very tired." "My voice is very smooth and sleepy." "You are so relaxed that nothing matters at all." "Can you hear me?" "Lift your left hand." "And drop it." "Oh, God." "And when you come to, you'll find that that you're extremely keen on me." "In fact, you'll like me considerably more than you like that thug meathead, Trevor Leishman." "And also, you'll be wanting to make love to me." "Desperately." "And I'm not going to do anything bad, so just continue to relax." "I wasn't going to do anything." "I was just..." "I wasn't going to try and take anything off." "It was just..." "You're hopeless." "If it had been anyone else, the whole school would've been laughing at me." "That was one thing about Freya." "You could really trust her." "You could tell her anything and she'd always keep it to herself." "But that buggered any chance I had of taking her to the mid-year dance." "It'll be starting soon." "I know!" "Are you going to come and show us?" "No." "Dad said you have to come and show us or you can't go." "Hang on!" "Give us a look." "You look very nice." "You do look nice, Freya." "Especially the make-up." "When will you be back?" "Dawn, maybe." "You'll be home by 11:00." "Yeah, I'll come over the the pub." "You can give me a lift." "Night, Gran." "Hey, Freya." "We've got a couple of beers outside for later." "Gee." "We'll walk you home after." "Oh, yeah?" "The sun a bit bright for you, Embling?" "He reckons he's Marlon Brando." "How are you goin', Marlon?" "Where's your white stick, Bandy?" "Probably been wanking all day." "Oh, God, you two are off." "Hi, sexy." "Hi." "Given up." "Must've been you hypnotising me." "Gee, you're clever." "Are you with anyone?" "Myself." "Me too." "I'm pretty pleased with my partner." "Wanna dance?" "In a while." "Try one of them." "Plenty of time." "Good luck." "Want to dance?" "No, thanks." "Arggh!" "He'd be doing it to her for sure." "I thought about what Jonah said, that when you have intense experiences, your brain gives off energy, like electricity." "And I tried to pick up hers." "But it didn't work." "What happened to your woman from Cootamundra?" "She went." "Fell in love with another bloke." "Were you sad?" "I drank myself into a coma every night." "Ever think about suicide?" "You get over it." "Maybe never completely." "Memory's always there." "But it doesn't eat away at you like it does at the time." "Is that what your book's about?" "Yeah." "Probably be banned, though." "First truly erotic Australian novel." "If we had a special machine, we could record that force-field, prove it exists." "They'll have them one day, machines like that." "Do you reckon it's just buildings that have force-fields?" "No, no." "The Abos know all about it." "The whole world's a... a museum." "Everything that's ever happened in a place, it's all there." "If the whole world's a museum, an imprint of everything everyone's done or thought  then I knew what kind of force-field would be in my bedroom." "A museum of desire." "Do you want to come out for a walk?" "Oh, yeah, OK." "I came up the fire escape." "I only just got here." "Don't fall." "If I do, I'd take off, like I do when I dream." "Yeah, I fly a fair bit." "Where do you go?" "All over town." "Your place, sometimes." "Do you see me?" "Do you?" "No." "I don't really see people." "You do, don't you?" "You know, I reckon if you believe hard enough, you could fly when you're awake." "Alright." "I'll meet you one night on Willy Hill and we'll try it." "If anyone heard us talking, they'd think we're mad." "Maybe we are." "Or else everyone else is." "Is Trevor mad like us?" "No." "He's sweet, though." "I wanted to tell you something." "What?" "It'll come out soon for sure in this dump." "Seeing as you're my friend..." "I'm having a kid." "Danny?" "Hell." "Here." "Danny?" "Hey, I'm the one who should be crying." "I'm hopeless." "That's the first time you've kissed me since I was six." "Playing doctors and nurses." "You watched me piss." "Then you wouldn't let me watch you." "Yeah." "I was cruel, wasn't I?" "This time I was playing properly." "You don't have to have it, do you?" "There's places in the cities, I reckon." "I could come with you." "But I think I want to have it." "'Cause I'm really keen on him." "Here." "I thought I lost it." "Look." ""S.E.A"." "Sarah Elizabeth Amery." "It must be." "Remember?" "Mrs O'Neil bought it at the church fete." "From this town." "No holiday for Halliday..." "I thought you said Trevor Leishman never got into Freya Olson's pants." "'Cause I don't reckon he did." "How come she's pregnant, then?" "Where'd you get that from?" "Liz Elliot." "Her sister's a nurse." "Could be half of fifth form, probably." "Here she comes." "Who's the lucky man?" "Could be Piking, I reckon." " Is he a squealer?" "" " Is he?" "!" "It's part of him, as strong as he." "The power of black magic is all in the mind of the victim." "That is the civilised theory." "The civilised excuse for the mind to shy away from the unacceptable." "Alright, what's your uncivilised theory?" "It is the spirit..." "Are you sure you want to walk with me?" "Course I am." "Why?" "Everyone knows now." "I don't care." "Maybe they'll think I'm the father." "I could marry you." "We could get engaged, pretend it's mine." "I don't care." "I don't want to marry anybody." "I do..." "love you." "Danny..." "It's still you." "You're no different." "And I'm no different." "Thanks for still being my friend." "So your father and I are going to look after it, are we, while you finish school?" "He's not my father." "Why have you always got it in for us?" "I'll get a job!" "Where are you going to get a job where you can have a baby with you all day?" "I'll find one." "Of course." "It's a marvellous example to Gail." "Stuff Gail." "What did you say?" "Do you know what you've done?" "Do you know what you've done to me, to this family?" "Leave me alone!" "Leave me alone!" "Did you hear about Freya Olson?" " She's exactly like her mother." " Yeah." "Well, it's... it's in her blood." "You never told me, did you?" "What?" "If you did it with her." "What do you mean?" "Well, you know what I mean." "Every boy in town started out with her." "We all knew about it." "And the place on the hill was like a free brothel." "I never went near her." "That's not what I heard." "Oh, she was the town bike." "You wouldn't know what you might catch." "It didn't stop anyone else." "Her father could've been half the men in town." "Well?" "!" "Well what?" "Did you?" "I told you I didn't!" "Guess what?" "I got Aquanita in the cup sweep." "It's one of the favourites." "You know Freya Olson's mother?" "Yeah, stepmother." "Her real mother." "I don't think anybody knows who that was." "It's Sarah Amery." "How did you know that?" "Found out." "What happened to her?" "I've no idea." "She died in that house, didn't she?" "I don't know." "And I think Freya would be better off not knowing too." "Or does she already know?" "That her mother was the town bike?" "That's a disgusting expression!" "That's what Dad called her." "You've been talking to him about this?" "No." "Ask him, then!" "God, he'd know better than I would." "That's it." "Hello, Danny." "Mum said you knew Freya Olson's mother." "Yeah." "She used to drink here." "What was she like?" "Turned up with a bloke from the railways." "He disappeared." "She stayed on." "Until she died." "Yeah." "Had a baby there on her own." "There were problems." "They didn't find her until it was too late." "She was only young." "Still under-age." "I didn't know that till afterwards." "Shouldn't have even been allowed in the bar." "Was she wild?" "People used to talk a lot about her." "You know how it is about this place." "You take most of it with a grain of salt." "All the guys used to get off with her." "There was a lot of talk." "Underneath, she was a really nice kid." "She was still a kid." "How come the Olsons adopted Freya?" "Well, somebody had to." "Nils was dobbed in." "They didn't have any kids of their own, then." "Dad." "Did you ever go over there?" "No." "No, I didn't." ""Blast with cold sleep" ""And dazzled by the moon" ""Out of the confused, hammering dark of the train" ""I looked and saw under the moon's cold sheet" ""The delicate, dry breasts" ""Country that built my heart" ""And the small trees on their uncoloured slope" ""Like poetry moved" ""Articulate and sharp and purposeful" ""Under the great, dry flight of air" ""Under the crosswise currents of wind and star..."" "Freya." "We want to know if Trev's been in touch with you at all." "No, he doesn't write letters." "Yeah, but you did see him on the night of the school dance." "The two teachers who were supervising didn't see him." "Otherwise, of course, he would've been reported." "On that night, did he give you any indication where he might be heading?" "No." "You mustn't think at any time you're being asked to dob Trevor in, Freya." "We want to find him for his own good." "You see, he robbed a cafe at Bibbengullen last night." "When the proprietor confronted him, Trevor bashed him." "Another man's in a serious condition in hospital." "How do they know it was Trev?" "Well, he was identified from a photograph." "And that means that the whole State will be looking for him." "Listen, Freya, I want you to think back very carefully to that night." "Did he say anything?" "Did he say anything at all that might give you an indication where he's hiding out?" "Remember, if we can find him, we can make sure he's apprehended without getting hurt." "If the police out of the district find him anything could happen." "I don't reckon he'd be stupid enough to come into town." "Those cops, eh?" "I still reckon they're after you." "No way, Bob." "Pretty dodgy." "What's going on?" "Apparently Trevor was spotted on the road not far from here." "It's only a matter of time before they get him, mate." " What's the latest?" " No news." "I hope he's alright, the poor bugger." "Arggh!" "Arggh!" "Help!" "Help!" "Arggh!" "You thought I was a ghost, did you?" "!" "They're lookin' for you, Trev." "Yeah, yeah." "Yeah, I know." "But old Piercey... he wouldn't think I'd be stupid enough to come back to this place, would he?" "There are a lot of cop cars in the main street." "What, are you gonna dob me in, Embling?" "Of course not." "I had a feeling you might turn up." "How's Frey?" "She's good." "You fancy her too, don't you?" "No." "Hey, it's, uh... it's alright." "I don't..." "I don't blame you, you know." "I didn't realise till that night you stayed here." "Must've been hard for you." "She's pregnant." "What?" "Are you sure?" "Yeah." "Christ." "It'd be really dangerous to take her with you." "Yeah." "Yeah, I know that." "I just wanted to see her again." "That's all." "Would you do that for us?" "Would you go and get her for me?" "You think I'm gonna piss off with her?" "I'd like to, but no, I won't." "Especially if she's got a kid coming." "Yeah, alright." "Thanks, mate." "Hey, uh, Danny." "Is it my kid or yours?" "Yours." "Here's the new boyfriend." "So, you're, um..." "you're having a kid?" "Are you glad?" "Yeah." "Even..." "Even though the father's a no-hoper?" "So is the mother." "Best of both worlds." "What are you gonna do?" "I don't know." "Um..." "I'll go up north, I s'pose." "Some place called Dampier." "They reckon you can get work there, no questions." "I talked to a couple of guys where they used to put us in the lockup." "They said that was the place to go." "Hey, I didn't mean to hurt that guy in the cafe." "I know you didn't." "Did you miss me?" "A bit." "Danny!" "Over here, son." "Trev!" "Cops!" "Shit!" "Stay here, alright?" "There's a whole lot of them." "That's OK, I've got a ute in the garage." "Trevor!" "You're putting other people at risk now, son." "People you care about." " I'm coming with you." "" " Nah, no way." "I'm coming with you!" "No, no!" "Nah, nah, look..." "Look, you stay with Danny, OK?" "He's alright, huh?" "Trev!" "Hey, I'll be alright." "I'm lucky, remember?" "I got you." "We're coming in, Trevor." "Get out of the way!" "You'll get squashed against the fence, you bloody idiot." "Arggh!" "Fuck off!" "Arggh!" "Bastard!" "Get in the car!" "Get after him!" "Get into your bloody cars!" "Whoo!" "Yeah, yeah, I understand that, Nils." "Sure." "Yeah." "Just calm down, will you?" "Listen, Nils, I don't wanna hear that." "From out of the east a stranger came..." "Look, it's no use carrying on to me about it." "Law book in his hand..." "There's not a lot I can do!" "A man The kind of man..." "Settle down, will you?" "!" "The West would need to tame a troubled land" "'Cause the point of the gun" "Was the only law that Liberty understood" "'Cause when it came to shooting' straight and fast" "He was mighty" "Good." "G'day, Bruce." "He's all yours, mate." "Thanks, Dave." "We're gonna have to drop her off ourselves." "The Olsons won't pick her up." "They don't wanna have anything to do with her." "You never stop, do you?" "It's 'cause you can't." "You just can't help it, can you?" "Um..." "I've got some rather sad news." "Trevor Leishman, who you all know was badly injured when his car ran off the road last night, died a short time ago." "Excuse me, miss, I gotta go somewhere." "Certainly, Danny." "Hi, Mrs Olson." "Danny." "Is Freya home?" "Haven't seen her since this morning." "Have you heard about Trevor Leishman?" "Yeah." "What a waste." "See you later." "What number?" "295, please." "Yeah?" "Mr Olson, is Freya back yet?" "No." "Do you know where she is?" "No." "Ow." "God." "Freya!" "Frey!" "Frey!" "What are you doing over there?" " Just going to the loo." "" " You shouldn't be out of bed." "You haven't even got your slippers on." "Hi." "Hi." "Thanks." "You can kiss me." "It's nice to get a proper visitor." "How are you?" "Good." "What's everyone saying at school?" "Not much." "Yeah, for sure." "They said I could've died 'cause I got so cold." "How come you knew?" "It works." "Doesn't it?" "What did your folks say?" "Nothing, hardly." "They're not MY folks, anyway." "Never were." "Do you want me to go?" "Not if you don't want to." "It's just the baby was the only part of Trev I had left." "He took 100 pounds of clay" "And then he said" ""Hey, listen," ""I'm gonna fix this a-world today" ""Because I know" ""What's missin"'" "So he rolled his big sleeves up" "And a brand-new world began" "He create..." "When did you get out?" "This arvo." "Shouldn't you be taking it easy?" "Can't take it easy at home." "Is it bad there?" "It's finished." "You can stay here." "I'll talk to Dad." "I couldn't stay anywhere in this place now." "Hello, Freya." "You OK again?" "Yeah." "I'm just going, Mr Embling." "Oh, I could give you a lift." "It's alright." "I'll walk her home, Dad." "Sure." "What's the matter?" "Did they ever tell you anything about your mother?" "Only that she died not long after I was born." "I don't know anything about her." "Why?" "That's where she lived." "She was Sarah." "How do you know?" "I heard people talking about it at the pub." "What happened?" "She was living out there alone." "No-one was around when she had you." "Thanks, I'll be OK now." "Where will you stay?" "Some hotel." "Got a fair bit of money from the hay baling - saved it all." "Here." "Come off it." "Where'd you get that?" "Tips and stuff." "It's yours." "Take it." "That way you'll have to write to me at least once." "I'll write to you." "Maybe we can send messages again, like we used to." "By telepathy?" "Yeah." "I don't know if it could work over a long distance." "We'll make it work, be pioneers." "Monday nights?" "Midnight on Monday nights." "It's a deal." "Are you really going?" "Yeah." "Well, what am I gonna tell Mum and Dad?" "They won't care." "Not for long, anyway." "How long will you go for?" "Dunno." "Frey I don't want you to go." "I have to." "Danny." "I'll let you hypnotise me again..." "one day." "I hung around a lot at our place on Willy Hill." "Maybe there's a positive force-field up there 'cause we'd had a lot of good times together." "Maybe there's a part of her still there too." "But I knew she'd never come back."