Ahab steadied himself against the side of the compartment as they turned a corner. That may have been true, but not in the later years. Jesse had always been volatile, but near the end he’d really begun to lose it, the paranoia taking over. It happened to all Dempseys who used ice. And when you were dealing it, you had an easy supply.

Ahab had his own problems by then, dealing with his mother, so he’d started removing himself from Jesse’s, Davey’s and Mackenzie’s lives. Not a day went by that he didn’t regret that, but at the time it felt like he didn’t have a choice.

‘So you made your way to Uncle Mackenzie’s,’ said Ahab. ‘Clever lad. How did you even find his house?’

‘Promise you won’t think I’m crazy . . . The shells told me where to find him.’

What? The boy can talk to shells?

Ahab tried not to show any emotion on his face, but the boy was too sharp.

‘You hear them too?’ said Forest, sitting up.

‘No.’

‘You do. You hear the shells too! I’m not crazy!’ He threw the blanket from himself and tried to get off the gurney. ‘Let me out! Let me back to the ocean! I’ll prove it.’ He shook off Ahab’s hands. ‘No, I can prove it! Let me back to the ocean and I’ll prove it!’

The paramedic climbed into the compartment from the seat in front. ‘Forest, it’s okay, I need you to calm down.’

‘Don’t even think about it,’ warned Forest as she reached for the sedatives. He lay back. ‘I’m fine.’

‘Are you sure?’ said the paramedic.

Forest reached out for him and Ahab took his hand in his own, feeling the hard scabs on the boy’s fingertips.

‘I’m sure,’ said Forest.

Everything that had been on the tip of Ahab’s tongue dried up. Every question he’d been about to ask, every strategy he’d thought to employ to get his answers.

They went over a pothole, and Forest’s grip tightened briefly. It was sweaty. Or was Ahab’s hand sweaty?

He can talk to shells . . .

Alarm bells sounded in his mind.

No, he’s a Dempsey. We learn how to lie from the cradle. It doesn’t mean anything.

Ahab thought back to everything that had happened. He was missing something. He reviewed the facts, and kept coming back to the same conclusion: no one now stood between this boy and full control of Dempsey Abalone.

‘Why was Davey scuba-diving in a Black Wind?’ asked Forest.

‘Nobody knows,’ said Ahab. ‘Maybe he was looking for your mum and dad.’

Forest bit his lip. ‘Was it the curse?’