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Snake Island

Ben Hobson
Contents ( 73)
  1. Contents
  2. ONE
  3. VERNON MOORE
  4. TWO
  5. CALEB MOORE
  6. THREE
  7. SIDNEY CAHILL
  8. FOUR
  9. SHARON WORNKIN
  10. FIVE
  11. SIDNEY CAHILL
  12. SIX
  13. VERNON MOORE
  14. SEVEN
  15. SIDNEY CAHILL
  16. EIGHT
  17. VERNON MOORE
  18. NINE
  19. SHARON WORNKIN
  20. TEN
  21. SIDNEY CAHILL
  22. ELEVEN
  23. VERNON MOORE
  24. TWELVE
  25. SHARON WORNKIN
  26. THIRTEEN
  27. SIDNEY CAHILL
  28. FOURTEEN
  29. VERNON MOORE
  30. FIFTEEN
  31. SHARON WORNKIN
  32. SIXTEEN
  33. VERNON MOORE
  34. SEVENTEEN
  35. SHARON WORNKIN
  36. EIGHTEEN
  37. PENELOPE MOORE
  38. NINETEEN
  39. SIDNEY CAHILL
  40. TWENTY
  41. VERNON MOORE
  42. TWENTY-ONE
  43. BRENDAN CAHILL
  44. TWENTY-TWO
  45. PENELOPE MOORE
  46. TWENTY-THREE
  47. VERNON MOORE
  48. TWENTY-FOUR
  49. SIDNEY CAHILL
  50. TWENTY-FIVE
  51. VERNON MOORE
  52. TWENTY-SIX
  53. CALEB MOORE
  54. TWENTY-SEVEN
  55. SHARON WORNKIN
  56. TWENTY-EIGHT
  57. CALEB MOORE
  58. TWENTY-NINE
  59. BRENDAN CAHILL
  60. THIRTY
  61. VERNON MOORE
  62. THIRTY-ONE
  63. SHARON WORNKIN
  64. THIRTY-TWO
  65. SIDNEY CAHILL
  66. THIRTY-THREE
  67. CALEB MOORE
  68. THIRTY-FOUR
  69. VERNON MOORE
  70. THIRTY-FIVE
  71. SHARON WORNKIN
  72. THIRTY-SIX
  73. VERNON MOORE
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Copyright © 2019 by Ben Hobson

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any manner without the express written consent of the publisher, except in the case of brief excerpts in critical reviews or articles. All inquiries should be addressed to Arcade Publishing, 307 West 36th Street, 11th Floor, New York, NY 10018.

First North American Edition 2020

This is a work of fiction. Names, places, characters, and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.

Arcade Publishing books may be purchased in bulk at special discounts for sales promotion, corporate gifts, fund-raising, or educational purposes. Special editions can also be created to specifications. For details, contact the Special Sales Department, Arcade Publishing, 307 West 36th Street, 11th Floor, New York, NY 10018 or [email protected].

Arcade Publishing® and CrimeWise® are registered trademarks of Skyhorse Publishing, Inc.®, a Delaware corporation.

Visit the author’s site at hobsonben.wordpress.com.

Visit our website at www.arcadepub.com.

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

Library of Congress Control Number: 2020940060

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available on file.

Cover design by Luke Causby/Blue Cork, courtesy of Allen & Unwin

ISBN: 978-1-950691-71-5

Ebook ISBN: 978-1-951627-23-2

Printed in the United States of America

For Aunty Rose

If you’re reading this, and you don’t know who I’m talking about, you missed out.

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Contents

One

Vernon Moore

Two

Caleb Moore

Three

Sidney Cahill

Four

Sharon Wornkin

Five

Sidney Cahill

Six

Vernon Moore

Seven

Sidney Cahill

Eight

Vernon Moore

Nine

Sharon Wornkin

Ten

Sidney Cahill

Eleven

Vernon Moore

Twelve

Sharon Wornkin

Thirteen

Sidney Cahill

Fourteen

Vernon Moore

Fifteen

Sharon Wornkin

Sixteen

Vernon Moore

Seventeen

Sharon Wornkin

Eighteen

Penelope Moore

Nineteen

Sidney Cahill

Twenty

Vernon Moore

Twenty-One

Brendan Cahill

Twenty-Two

Penelope Moore

Twenty-Three

Vernon Moore

Twenty-Four

Sidney Cahill

Twenty-Five

Vernon Moore

Twenty-Six

Caleb Moore

Twenty-Seven

Sharon Wornkin

Twenty-Eight

Caleb Moore

Twenty-Nine

Brendan Cahill

Thirty

Vernon Moore

Thirty-One

Sharon Wornkin

Thirty-Two

Sidney Cahill

Thirty-Three

Caleb Moore

Thirty-Four

Vernon Moore

Thirty-Five

Sharon Wornkin

Thirty-Six

Vernon Moore

ONE

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VERNON MOORE

The weight of a life, summed up in the suffering. Look at the bloody thing. Vernon had noticed the downed bird as he lowered himself into his chair, mug of tea in hand, and sat at a loss. He should get up. Though there wasn’t much could be done. One white wing, caked in muck, rose above its body. No seeing the orange beak. None of the elegance normally bestowed upon a pelican remained. It was muddy black and it was dying and that was all. Out on the mudflats of Port Napier. Behind it, Snake Island. The tide would drown it, though not for a while. Like it drowned everything eventually. With the polar ice caps melting it wouldn’t be long before all humanity was underwater. The sea was never full, would never stop eating. He’d be in it too, one day.