PETER: ‘My purpose in coming here must now be revealed. I came here to steal the statue of Artemis. We shall take it back with us.’

ELIZABETH: ‘You cannot do both; take the statue and leave me to die. If a man dies, a house, a name is lost, but if a woman dies it means nothing.’

PETER: ‘No murderer of you shall I be. Either I escape to Argos with you or die here with you. Now I see the plan of the gods: they have intended that I should find you here. I see the strands of fate entwining themselves. Lady, I think we shall reach home!’

MARY, the maid, enters. Both PETER and ELIZABETH stop.

MARY: I’m sorry, Mrs Archer, an urgent phone call for your son.

PETER: Who is it, Mary?

MARY: The superintendent of New Norfolk Asylum, Mr Archer.

PETER heads off, followed by MARY.

ELIZABETH: [exasperated] Peter! [To the audience] Ladies and gentlemen, a slight pause before my son returns. In the meantime the blind children would adore it if they saw you reaching even further into your pockets. Our target tonight is five hundred pounds, so dip your hands in. Go on, the heavens are clear and fortune shines on us tonight.

SCENE EIGHTEEN

The wilds of south-western Tasmania, day. FRANCIS lies on the ground, dirty and sleepy. There is a sudden noise and he wakes up. PETER appears wearing his old hiking gear. FRANCIS is surprised to see his friend. Silence.

PETER: I knew you’d come back here.

FRANCIS: Are there any others with you?

PETER: No. [Pause.] Are you alright?

FRANCIS: Tired, that’s all.

PETER: I’m not used to all this exercise.

FRANCIS: [smiling] Neither am I.

Silence.

PETER: Betsheb?

FRANCIS: Down by the river.

PETER: When I got to the asylum, Doctor Simon was still shaking. She said you were about to shoot Betsheb and when she called out you turned the gun on her.

FRANCIS: I wanted to put Betsheb out of her misery, but when I held it against her head I realised I should have been holding it against mine. I knew what to do. I would bring Betsheb back here, bring her home. We destroyed them.

PETER: It was a combination of events. How were we to know that the Government would deal with them that way?

FRANCIS: Does it bother you?

PETER: It does, but I have never been obsessed by them as you are or my father was. How could they have survived, anyway? They were pathetic remnants of what was probably an even more pathetic collection of people. They were like those Aboriginal tribes that withered away because their culture wasn’t strong enough. It happens in nature, in human civilisations, one big animal swallows a little one. [Looking around] It didn’t take long for it to return to the wilderness.

BETSHEB enters and smiles when she sees PETER. She hugs him.

BETSHEB: Peter, Peter, Peter.