His father sat forward and there was no more of the fury in his eyes. ‘I’m sorry this happened to you.’

‘Yeah. I know.’

He finished his toast. Cassie took the plate and swept the crumbs from his shirt and went into the kitchen. Ernie remained seated. When Cassie returned with a face washer, warmed with water, and started to dab at the cut on Sidney’s forehead like he was a baby, his wife did not turn to watch.

From a way off they heard a car. Headlights coated the front verandah. Ernie and Brendan stood, turning off the lights in the living room. Sidney raised his head to see. The headlights flicked off, leaving them in darkness. The sky outside was cloudless, he saw through the window, the stars swirling together, hard to see through the pain. He felt foggy. He sat up a bit more, hurting his arm. His father was at the doorway, one hand on a shotgun leaning against the frame, hidden from view. Brendan stood to the side.

Sidney heard a voice ask, ‘You Ernie Cahill?’

‘That’s right.’

‘You got that hand there on a gun of some description?’

‘Considering what’s happened, I have no clue what to expect.’

‘Relax. We’re not here to do anything. Look, we’ve brought Sharon.’

Sharon Wornkin’s voice said, ‘Ernie.’

‘They treating you alright?’ he asked.

‘They beat up on Jack a bit, but yeah, they’ve been alright.’

Ernie said, ‘What can I do for you blokes?’

‘You know who we are?’

‘Of course I bloody do.’

‘Well, you’d know why we need to chat, then,’ said the voice. ‘Can we come in?’

‘Is there a need for that? We can chat out here.’

There was a moment before the voice outside continued with, ‘It’s just hospitable, isn’t it? Thought that’s what you found in the country. Small-town manners and all that.’

His father’s back shifted. One leg closer to the gun.

‘You have weapons?’

Another moment. His father shadowed in the doorway like some ogre from one of Amy’s books. Like there were stories about him. The stars seemed to shift to accommodate his presence.

One of the visitors said, ‘There. Happy?’

His father took a step aside. ‘Come on in.’

He nodded to Brendan, who flicked on the lights. The men who entered, one small, one large, were squinting. Looking around them in judgement. A smirk on the younger one’s face, a lazy eye. Sharon followed, standing to the side like she was attending a party to which she hadn’t been invited.

The younger man looked at Sidney with his one good eye. ‘What happened to you, then?’

His father manoeuvred his body in between Sidney and the two men. Cassie was back seated beside him, dabbing at his cheeks. His wife still sullen on the floor.

‘You blokes being here means the car wasn’t where it should’ve been, right?’ Ernie said. The younger one nodded. Ernie shot his oldest son a look. Sighed.

‘We’ve been robbed,’ Ernie said.