‘Nah, I’m too busy with the Island Progress Association right now.’

‘What exactly is that?’ I asked.

‘We’re working on turning Bill’s island into a tourist attraction, but it’s a time-consuming process. We’ve got the shire doing a risk assessment with their insurer to see what needs to be done for us to get public liability coverage approved, and then we’ve got to petition local government to allow public access. There’s also the ongoing maintenance of the building and the grounds and other issues we need to work out.’

‘Wow, sounds complicated. Is it really that amazing out there?’

‘It’s like nothing you’ve ever seen. When Bill started going to the island on a makeshift raft, it was deserted and overrun. Not many people went over there because they were scared of snakes, but Bill saw its potential. He started spending all his free time out there, making a clearing and then eventually beachcombing for anything he could use to make a shelter. Over time he created a true island paradise for himself. A bunch of us even built him a throne a few years before he died. We joked that he should secede from the rest of the country and create his own kingdom, like that bloke up near Northampton who declared his farm to be a country.’

I laughed. ‘I remember hearing about that when I was a kid. So Bill wasn’t a hermit?’

‘No, not really. He didn’t leave the island much in his last few years, but he was happy to have visitors, as long as they rang the bell on his little jetty to signal their arrival. He let the primary school visit once and the kids couldn’t get enough of his castle. They felt like they were in a fairy tale.’

‘When you say castle …’

‘You really have to see it to believe it,’ Dan said. ‘My offer to take you over still stands. You could come tomorrow when I feed Lion, if you like. If we’re lucky, we’ll see some sea lions. They’re often frolicking in the water on the other side of the island.’

Despite Cassie’s rumours about him still ringing in my ears, his invitation was even more tempting now. I liked making up my own mind about people, and so far Dan hadn’t been anything but gentlemanlike towards me. I also still hadn’t seen any of Wei’s promised sea lions.

‘I’d love to, but my daughter has an early soccer game tomorrow morning, so I’m heading back to Perth first thing.’

‘Ah, never mind,’ he said as some kind of birdsong sounded above us in a tree. ‘Maybe next time?’