A young couple were manoeuvring a boat into a shed a few doors up. The man was cursing as the trailer caught on something. Forest waited until he was sure they were distracted, the woman giggling at her partner’s frustration, before he fell to his stomach and slid underneath Huck’s shed.

Inside, he found the remains of a small campfire, a rusty pot and billy, a canvas sack, and nothing else. Where was the rest of Huck’s stuff? The pack with all his clothes? His sleeping bag, or the store of firewood, or . . .?

This was a bad sign. Why had Huck removed all traces of himself?

No, he must’ve been out fishing. That made sense.

Forest roamed over the shoreline, tripping over ocean-weathered rocks, to the fishing point. But there was no sign of him there either.

He took a different path back, looking through the scrub along the edge of the beach, then walked among the sightseers around the blowhole, down to the bustling marina, scanning faces. He even approached strangers and asked if they’d seen a tall, tanned boy with curly brown hair who looked like he’d been sleeping rough. No one had seen him. He sweated in the heat of the day, eventually returning to the boatshed.

He couldn’t lose Huck. He couldn’t . . .

He made his way back to the Mermaid’s Darling and sat down beside Zeus, pulling the dog’s head into his lap. He was grateful to see one of the kitchen staff had given Zeus food and water.

Huck and Zeus – they were all Forest had.

His mind turned briefly to Mack and Ahab.

He remembered the hurt on Mack’s face when he’d realised that Forest had been lying to him all this time.

He thought of the way Ahab had said, You’re not leaving my sight . . . He’d lost the man’s trust.

Even though those relationships hadn’t been real, it still hurt to lose them. He’d liked the way they’d tried to protect him, when they thought he was one of their own.

But now they didn’t care about him . . . and he couldn’t care about them. How could he? They were just . . . a means to an end.

Huck was all he cared about, and Huck deserved to have back everything that he’d lost. That had to still be in his power. Somehow.

Untying Zeus, he led him down the streets of Shacktown. The dog was happy for the exercise, sniffing at whatever he found in bushes and gutters, cavorting with other dogs out for a walk. Forest let him have his fun. There was no need to rush now. There was no turning back after what came next.

When he arrived, he knocked on the door until she came and answered.

‘Good to see you, Forest,’ Frankie said warmly.