‘Fancy boy,’ she bellowed. ‘You wanna come in ere and tell me your business?’ The eyes of the other women indicated they knew what the business was. George Augustus Robinson. Parish stepped in again, and drew a rolled paper from inside his coat. From a top pocket he produced spectacles.

‘Very well, then,’ he said. ‘I am happy to repeat this for the benefit of the men, whenever they might reappear…

‘By Order of His Excellency Lieutenant-Governor Colonel George Arthur and under the power vested in me by His Majesty the King I am hereby authorised and commissioned to take hold of, seize, arrest and remove all persons hereabouts who are Aborigines of Australia, or are of half, quarter or octoroon blood including all offspring of same and whether or not such persons are co-habiting with, or profess to be married to, persons who are the subjects of His Majesty the King.’

‘Why don’t you put your paper down and talk to us in English?’ came a scornful voice from the corner. It was Tarenorerer, reclining in a tattered wicker chair, with her bare feet crossed on a footstool. She was chewing at something—a twig or a straw—and it made her appear both relaxed and threatening.

Parish cleared his throat nervously. He was the only one of his party who had spoken, and the others looked to him with obvious relief. There was no chance they would be contributing. ‘It means that I am authorised to take with me all of the wives and their children. They will be resettled and given Christian catechism and the full enlightenment of English schooling.’ He paused. ‘It means that you are not lawfully entitled to resist.’

Shock settled over the room like a pall of acrid smoke. The children had run off cheering as the men departed on their search—I wondered now if they’d had the sense to stay away when the visitors arrived. Knowing this community, they would have been well schooled in such evasions.

‘Take us?’ Bet Smith repeated. ‘You not gonna take us.’

Parish smiled generously. ‘Take is a strong word. I hope that I can persuade you to come with me voluntarily. You will be well fed, clothed…you will not be made to work. Only to learn.’

‘Noberdy’s takin no one anywhere,’ said Tarenorerer, contemptuously refusing to rise. ‘You can take your boat out there and keep goin, Parish, and consider yourself lucky we don’t string you up like the fella last night.’

Parish blanched. ‘What fe—’ He took a moment to regain his composure. ‘I do not want this to become a contest of wills, Mary Anne.’

The use of the name had the desired effect. She glared at him.