‘Now that the cat’s out of the bag, Sky,’ he turns to me, ‘how would you like to go camping?’

‘In the freezing snow?’ My mouth’s hanging open. ‘You’re joking, right?’

‘Don’t worry,’ my father says. ‘We have heavy-duty equipment; no one will freeze. Once you see the sky, it’ll be worth it.’

‘Sky seeing the sky. Funny.’ Jaxon smirks.

Hilarious.

‘Have you camped before?’ my father asks. ‘Are you into hiking? You like the outdoors?’

‘Sure,’ I say. I’ve camped a couple of times with Mum and Melody at music festivals. And I walk my dog Bella, and there’s sport at school—we run around the grounds. That counts, right?

‘But, Jaxon—’ my father starts.

‘Go, Adam. I’ll head home, I’m fine,’ Jaxon says. ‘My dad will be back soon, unless …’ He looks at his feet and wiggles his toes in his socks.

‘Bud, I don’t know …’ My father sighs.

Jaxon’s eyes spark up again. ‘Are you heading northeast towards the valley? I’ll tell you exactly where the wolf dens are. I was out there a few weeks ago recording data. If you have the topographical map, I’ll try and find it, although it may be tricky with all the fresh snow, but—’

‘Dens? We can see wolves?’ I’ve forgotten about being annoyed for a moment. ‘Oh my God. Seriously, I love wolves. I’ve only ever seen a kangaroo, oh and the bum of a koala, but it was too high in the branches to get a good look.’

‘Kangaroos!’ Jaxon grins broadly. ‘I’d kill to see them in the wild. I’ve never met a real Australian. Say some Aussie stuff.’ He pronounces the word like ‘uh-zee’.

‘G’day, mate,’ my voice lilts. Jaxon bursts out laughing, a full-blown real guffaw, so over the top it makes me laugh too.

My father excuses himself to make some calls, and I wonder if I can ask Jaxon about his dad and where his mum is.

‘So,’ I say to fill up the silence.

‘Your dad’s pretty awesome, by the way.’ He turns his beanie over in his hands.

I smile. ‘Awesome’ sounds way better than ‘loser’.

‘Have you finished high school?’ I ask.

‘Yep, a few months ago. But I’ve been working at the Anchorage Visitor Bureau for the last couple of years, and then I got a job as a horseback guide over the summer in the Chugach Mountains to the east. Now I’m interning with a researcher at the national parks studying the wolf population close to town. There are about 7000 wolves in Alaska but in the south-east there are only a few hundred left; they’ve totally dropped in numbers.’

‘That’s so sad. Just like the orangutans in Borneo. My mum and I wanted to see them too. I’ll still go … one day.’

Now I feel sad. Who will I go with? I can’t help but hope it may be my father.