‘And yet the boat’s not here,’ Judah said, more to himself. He left the shed and looked again out over the water. ‘Might be them out there.’

Brendan and Sidney joined him. ‘Could be,’ Brendan said.

‘How long would it take to get over there?’

‘Not sure,’ Brendan said. ‘An hour or two? Depends what kind of boat.’

‘You got a boat?’

‘Why would we have a boat?’ Sidney said.

‘Bloody hell,’ Judah said. ‘You always this whiny?’ And then to Brendan, ‘He always like this?’

When Brendan didn’t reply, Judah said, ‘We get a boat and head out there.’

‘Might not be him, but,’ Brendan said.

‘Might not. You got any other ideas?’ ‘He could be anywhere by now,’ Brendan said.

‘He could’ve driven up to Melbourne.’

‘In that car I slashed the tyres of, out in the bush?’ Judah asked.

‘His wife has a car, maybe.’

‘Maybe,’ Judah said. ‘And maybe hers is that car parked right out front of the house.’ He sucked on his cigarette. ‘I want to get out there.’

‘Probably a waste of time,’ Sidney said.

‘Quit bloody whining or I’ll smack you.’ Judah said this with little venom; just dissatisfaction.

Sidney stood silent, then said, ‘That’s two hours out and two hours back if it’s not him.’

‘What did I just say?’ Judah lifted his hand as if to remove the cigarette from his mouth but instead clapped Sidney on the back of the head, hard. Sidney stumbled, and put up his own hands to steady himself, the movement jarring his already sore shoulder.

‘Keep going,’ Judah said, and raised his hand again.

Brendan said, ‘He’s right, though. That’s a lot of wasted time if he’s not out there.’

They studied the flickering light in the distance.

Brendan said, ‘We could ask the neighbours.’ ‘Ask them what?’

‘Whether he went out in his boat today.’

Judah took a moment and then nodded. ‘Alright.’ He stubbed his cigarette in the dirt and walked back down the driveway. Sidney followed him and Brendan to the house next door, a three-person army under cover of darkness.

They were soon motoring through the water. The darkness beneath them like blanketed sickness, souls gathered in evil perpetuity. The shotguns lay on the bottom of the boat, at Sidney’s feet, clunking together. The old man’s neighbours, after being threatened with violence by Judah, had been quick to give up what information they had. They’d seen Vernon head off that morning in his boat, his wife with him. He went out to Snake Island all the time, they said.

They hadn’t put up a fight when the three of them took their boat. It had been a struggle to fit them all in, the two hulking giants and the diminutive Sidney. Judah sat in back with his feet up on the bench, Sidney squashed to the side near the just-in-case oars. The engine was garbage, barely strong enough to motor over this inky blackness. Any small swell would send them right back where they’d departed from.