‘Never asked you to do this.’ Huck tugged on his rod. ‘It won’t be good if people see you talking to me.’

‘One last question, then. Have you ever heard of Blackbeard?’

Huck frowned. ‘No. Should I?’

‘No. I guess not,’ said Forest.

He held out his hand so he could take a drag of Huck’s cigarette. He watched the fishermen nearby, one of whom was giving them weird looks. Buckets of bait sat beside them. He wondered what Huck was using for bait.

‘Huck . . . have you got any bliss salts with you?’

‘Yeah,’ said Huck. ‘Of course. You want some?’

‘No,’ said Forest, ‘just wondering.’ He watched the waves as he took another puff. ‘But you remember the house, yeah? You ever wonder where they got it all from?’

‘No,’ said Huck, ‘the one time I asked, I got belted. You’re not thinking of trying to deal here, are you?’

‘No,’ said Forest. ‘Got all the money I need as Forest Dempsey.’

‘Ahuh. Just be careful hanging around with Mackerel too much,’ warned Huck.

‘Yeah,’ said Forest heavily. ‘But I like spending time with him. He’s different from the rest of the family . . . and he went nuts over the shell-talking! You should have seen him! I’ve got his complete trust, I think.’

‘I thought you were gonna save that for emergencies?’

‘No, I was gonna save it for a strategic time,’ said Forest. ‘It was a strategic time.’

‘You were always a better conman than me,’ said Huck. ‘You and the Witch could’ve done very well for yourselves if things had gone differently . . .’

Forest took another drag of the cigarette, his heart low. He thought he’d escaped the world of drugs. Now it looked like he was right back in the middle of it.

Well, at least it was a world he understood. If he had to revert to the boy he used to be, and use all the skills the Witch had taught him, then so be it.

He extinguished the cigarette and stood up. ‘They’ll be wondering where I am.’

‘You’ll come back and see me soon?’ said Huck.

‘Whenever I can,’ said Forest.

CHAPTER 28

MACKEREL

Mackerel saw Shelby’s Jeep leave the Seaglass’s gravel carpark and take off down the street in a screech of tyres. He followed swiftly after her in his own car, praying she wasn’t headed for the police station.

Instead, she drove along the boulevard and up the hill towards Homeward, speeding the whole way, overtaking other cars even on narrow streets. Bark had been blown off the gumtrees during the Black Wind and now blanketed driveways.

He rolled down his windows as he caught up to her on the switchback road that led up to Homeward – a strong salty breeze clacked through the eucalypt leaves overhead, a quartet of seagulls riding the air.