There were also hares on the farm, but not many, and their numbers never seemed to swell no matter what the conditions season by season. They were bigger, didn’t burrow, and zigzagged markedly when they ran.

Further back in the hills were wallabies, but Pearly and Richie hadn’t gone after them. They were distanced and didn’t seem to belong. Richie had vowed that if they invaded the farm he’d shoot the shit out of them.

EIGHT

The next afternoon Pearly asked Anne to come to his office for a chat, and she brought her coffee and sat across the desk from him, hooking a sales contract towards herself to browse while he found a sugar sachet for his own drink. They were aware of each other’s dealings in the business: no secrets. Again he was struck by the girlishness of her face. She had grown up without loss of external innocence.

‘I’ve been asked to head the committee organising the high school’s 125th celebrations,’ he told her.

‘Congratulations.’ There was a tinge of irony in her voice as she replaced the documents.

‘No, I just mention it because it’ll be another distraction from work here. Helen said I’m leaving too much to you. That I’m getting overcommitted. You’d tell me, wouldn’t you, if it wasn’t fair on you?’

‘You work as hard as anyone.’

‘A lot of it’s council stuff, though, isn’t it. There’s just the three of us here, and I don’t want you and Kylie getting snowed under. I’m lucky to have you both, and sometimes I’m more preoccupied with other concerns than I should be.’

‘I’m not complaining,’ said Anne, ‘though perhaps at some stage we should consider taking someone else on, especially if you stand again.’

‘Maybe we should, but where do you get someone who can hit the ground running? Anyway, what have you got on right now?’

‘Someone rang wanting to sell in Montgomery Avenue. I’m about to go round.’

‘No, I’ll go,’ said Pearly. ‘You have some time in the shops, or go home early, or whatever. I’ll get the info from Kylie. And we want you and Simon to come over some evening soon. I promise not to talk about work. Helen’s going to give you a ring.’

Pearly wouldn’t take no for an answer, and after a couple of phone calls and a talk with Kylie, he drove to the Sanderson place in Montgomery Avenue, taking something of a detour to check whether the block of flats by the railway station still had a sale sign up. A rival firm had the listing, but he rather hoped it would be offered to Rawleigh and Gates as joint agents if it didn’t sell soon. The placard was still up, and that meant Pearly was in a buoyant mood when he reached the Sandersons’ home.