‘No,’ he said simply. He pulled out a packet of cigarettes from the pocket of his shorts and lit one. ‘No. I’m going to the mainland. You’ve drawn way too much attention to us. This place won’t be safe for me anymore.’

‘Forest’s ghost will follow you there. You know it will.’

‘I don’t care! This is all going to go wrong!’ Huck’s face was set off by the glow of the cigarette tip, the smoke escaping from the side of his mouth. ‘All I want to do is stay the hell away from it.’

‘What you want is to prove your dad wasn’t involved,’ said Forest. ‘You want to be more than a teenage runaway, camping in fucking boatsheds. What you want is your own life back.’

Huck puffed on his cigarette. ‘And if I believe you? If you really can put Forest to rest?’

‘Then I need you to take me to the cave,’ said Forest.

‘No,’ said Huck instantly. ‘Fuck off.’

‘The one where Forest died.’

‘No,’ said Huck.

‘You have to,’ said Forest.

‘No. I’m not going back there.’

‘I’m not asking you to go back there! I just need you to tell me where it is.’ He pulled out the crinkled map. ‘If anyone else ever finds the cave . . . if I, Forest Dempsey, don’t know where it is, my story is blown.’

‘That’s not my problem.’

Forest pulled up his sleeve. ‘An oath.’

‘And I made a promise that I would never tell anyone where that cave was. Ever.’

‘You’re not telling me. You’re not even showing me.’ He flashed the pen he’d brought. ‘I’ll hold the pen, and you just . . . guide my hand to the right spot.

Huck sat there, thinking about what Forest was asking of him. Thinking about the past, too, probably. What he’d escaped and what still haunted him.

‘How does this lay Forest to rest?’ said Huck. ‘Seems to me like you’ll just rile him up more.’

‘I need to know where it is. Just in case. As insurance, while I solve the mystery of what happened to him. You should see Ahab’s room, Huck. He’s got a whole corkboard full of photos and pins. He’ll help me work it out.’

‘So I’m just helping you trick these poor people.’

‘Huck, look at me . . . look me in the eyes. Everything I’m doing here, I’m doing for you, alright? You’ve trusted me before. You’ve gotta trust me now. No matter who else gets hurt by this, you won’t get hurt. All of your hurt is gonna go away. I promise.’

Huck stared back at him. So grown up, so jaded, and yet still so childlike . . .

‘Fine,’ said Huck. He slid the lighter and packet of cigarettes across to Forest. ‘But no one else in the Dempsey family gets hurt.’