He reached the crest of a spur that gave a view over the farm buildings. An accustomed place to pause, and welcome because of that long familiarity. He sat down on the dry ground with his hands on his knees and the brown cocksfoot whispering at his side. There was a light and welcome breeze that hadn’t been evident on the flat. He looked over property his family had depended on for three generations — the red-roofed wooden house, the home gardens, the yards and sheds, the windbreaks and those paddocks darker than others because of the lucerne crop. Pearly didn’t consciously address his misgivings concerning his dealings with Deidre and Helen, his part in Gumbo’s injury, Andrew’s superior insight and awareness, but all those things were under a form of subliminal review in a context that favoured clarity and discouraged deceit. There was a view behind him also: dry hills softened only slightly by grass cover, distinguished by occasional cabbage trees, and contoured by sheep tracks — one markedly accentuated by the passage of farm bikes. And farther back were the mountains where high up the wind sounded like the sea. There was a comforting permanence to it all, a wholeness of scene that required no people to complete it.

There was nothing subtle or unusual in Pearly’s failings, just the selfishness, pettiness and pride that he observed so often in other people, but that commonality offered no excuse. He’d fucked up, and he had to face that. He had to do something more about it as well, and that’s what he’d come into the hills to decide. It was still hot, and after a time he stood up to have more of his body in the light wind as he continued thinking about things. He would have stayed much longer, but there was Gumbo to see and Andrew to farewell in the afternoon. The real estate work and municipal obligations would have to wait. And as Pearly walked down the gully track he knew a decision had been made. ‘That’s how it has to be, I reckon, Pearly,’ he said quietly, and he took off his gold-lettered Chinese cap as he went and ruffled his hair to cool himself just as his brother had.