They watched the last of the light fade over the ocean baths. Kelly ached to leave Bluebird, even more now than when she had blown up their marriage. Once she’d understood that she would not be forgiven, she’d expected to be cast out. Which was fine, and perhaps what she really wanted. So why the fuck hadn’t that happened? Fuck Gordon and, in particular, fuck Leonie. Fuck, fuck, fuck her, and once she’s truly fucked, fuck her again. Fuck her.

‘Gordon does forgive you,’ Lou said. ‘He thinks it’s more important to save the past, warts and all.’

‘I’ve given him a few warts.’

‘So what about Dog?’ Lou wrung her hands as if she wanted a neck to put between them. ‘Red Cap and his mum can’t cop him, Ben and I can’t bear the sight of him, Sam wants to murder him. So why is he still allowed to keep stinking the place out every day?’

Kelly was shaking her head. Lou still didn’t understand the first thing about it.

‘What am I missing?’ Lou said.

‘It’s Gordon. The more Bluebird vanishes, the more essential it is to him to preserve The Lodge. It’s like he’s one of those model battlefield obsessives, and every person in this house is one of those little painted soldiers. For him to be able to preserve it, the people aren’t allowed to change. What happened between Dog and me must not have happened. Do you get it? That is Gordon’s sole reason to get out of bed each morning. To obsess over his model of the past and stop anyone tampering with it.’

Kelly was panting with the effort of compressing a lifetime—her lifetime—into this last moment before a chill mist fell over the lawn, and she and Lou walked up to the house and became their normal selves again.

‘I want him to smash Dog’s face in,’ Lou said.

‘That’s not Gordon’s style, but he does have his little revenge acts.’

‘I wish I could see them.’

‘Oh, you just need to know where to look. You know those imported coffee cups you use? The French tablecloth? The pot holder? The odd little senseless splurges from Eastons that bob up in the kitchen?’

‘I thought they were things you get,’ Lou said. ‘Through your work.’

‘I wish!’ Kelly smiled. ‘No, Gordon takes rides on the Fast Ferry every few days. Sometimes he just goes to OC and back without stopping. Sometimes he drops into Eastons to pick up something really, stupidly expensive.’

‘Gordon’s the last person in the world I can imagine doing that.’

‘It’s not him, but he has to.’

‘Why?’