Around three in the morning they finally dozed off, awaking at dawn among the tangled sheets and toast crumbs to make love a final time. Then there was barely half an hour left.

‘I’ll make you a huge breakfast before you go,’ she said, ‘you must be absolutely starving.’

‘No, don’t.’ He pulled her back to him as she started to rise. ‘I’d rather stay hungry and stay here.’

‘Me too.’ She snuggled in close, and they both lay gazing at the ceiling.

‘I’ll be back, Amelia,’ he said, ‘you do know that, don’t you?’

‘Yes,’ she said, ‘I do know that.’

They would ignore the threat of war.

Propping on an elbow, he looked down at her in a puzzling way that may or may not have been serious. She couldn’t be sure.

‘I have a secret I feel I should share with you,’ he said.

‘Oh? What’s that?’

‘My name’s not Robinson. It’s Rabinowitz. I’m Jewish.’

‘Yes,’ she said, studying the aquiline face that she found so attractive. ‘Yes,’ she said thoughtfully, ‘you look Jewish.’

EPILOGUE

1964

Lyndon knocked back the rum that remained in his glass; a third of the bottle was gone by now and Bobby had had only three shots, but Lyndon Johnson could hold his liquor well; he showed no ill-effects.

‘So there you go, Robert,’ he said, ‘that’s the story of the 96th Battalion and Townsville in forty-two. Another Bundy?’ He picked up the bottle, nodding encouragingly for Bobby to polish off what was left in his glass.

Bobby obediently did as he was told. ‘Jesus, Lyndon, that’s one hell of a story,’ he said, watching distractedly as his glass was filled with another healthy shot of rum. He was definitely feeling the effects himself.

‘Yeah, it sure as hell is, isn’t it,’ Lyndon agreed, pouring his own shot. ‘You can see why FDR wanted the whole mess kept under wraps, can’t you. Few know about it to this very day, and those who do “ain’t sayin’ nuthin”, I swear.’

‘But what about the families of the men who died,’ Bobby asked, ‘what were they told?’

‘I believe they were told their boys died of Ross River Fever,’ Lyndon said, ‘a tropical disease spread by mosquitoes in that part of the world. At least that’s what I heard they were told, I can’t be sure. I wasn’t kept in the know all those years back, you understand,’ he added with a self-deprecating smile that didn’t work, ‘being the young, naïve congressman I was.’

I doubt you were ever naïve, Lyndon, Bobby thought as he watched Johnson down another swig. In fact, I find it difficult to believe you were ever young. I think you were born into this world a hard-nosed, power-hungry, self-opinionated shit.