And still my eyes wander back to that stupid old, banged-up … I do a double-take. There!

I call, ‘Uncle! Uncle!’ But there’s no getting his attention while that’s going on right in his ears. Flinging open the door I step from the car, keeping one hand on it like that will stop them from going off at me later. ‘Hey Uncle, look ere!’

Uncle Joe swings an irritated look at me, but he stops when he sees me beside the car.

‘You get back in that—’

My frantically wiggling eyebrows cut off his growl. I have his attention now, so I tilt my head in the direction of Troy’s car. Hesitating for a second he lets go of Mum; she barely notices, going back to banging her palms against the screen while Edna threatens to call the cops. Watching Uncle storm towards me like I am in some serious trouble, I feel a smile creep over my face.

‘Stacey Claire Thomson, I told you to stay in that car!’

See, not as scary as when Mum says it, I smirk. Coughing into one hand and doubling over a bit to do it, I slide my other hand down, pointing under Uncle’s car, before again tilting my head towards Troy’s old bush-basher.

Uncle picks a path that takes him closer to the house. At the last second he veers towards Troy’s car. Swerving to the side of it he drops to his knee and grabs a handful of whatever he finds under there. Next minute he’s pulling a struggling Troy out, not caring if he gets any scrapes or bruises along the way.

‘Get off me!’ Troy yips.

Edna must’ve heard him because she breaks off swearing at Mum and starts screaming to her husband to call the cops. Suddenly switching from banging on the screen to leaning against it with all of her weight, Mum smiles evilly as she watches Uncle handle Troy. She’s always fast on the uptake is Mum.

Uncle is a big man, even by today’s standards, and years of tordoning and fencing work has left him with a lot of muscle. He gets an arm across Troy’s throat pretty easily and has him pinned to the ground in no time. Whatever he’s saying to the boy has Troy’s struggles slowing then stopping, leaving him looking up at Uncle Joe. Me and Laney might not be scared of our uncle, but any man with half a brain should be, especially if they’ve harmed his brother’s girls. And Troy has done plenty of harm.