Dr St Clair looked out of the window. It was such a long distance away, such a long distance; a different world. And it was a long time ago, too, when he was twelve and had been sent to the Anglican school in Toowoomba. ‘It was a boarding school,’ he said. ‘We lived in Toowoomba and so I was able to go as a day boy – most of the others were boarders. They were the sons of pastoralists. Some of the stations they came from were the size of Scotland, you know – or almost. Vast places. ‘I was fairly unhappy there. The boarders knew one another well and so the day boys were the outsiders. You know how cruel boys can be – children in general. Girls are as bad, I suppose.’

‘Some girls,’ said Irene. ‘Not all.’

Dr St Clair nodded. ‘Well, you had to look after yourself. And you needed friends for that. And anyway, at that age friendship is terribly important for all sorts of reasons. You yearn for a friend, a good friend, a loyal friend. David and Jonathan, so to speak.

‘There was a boy in my year called Gavin. His father had one hundred and twenty thousand acres up on the Tablelands. He told me that he had shot a crocodile when he was ten. “I wasn’t meant to,” he said. “But I did. It got too close to us. I had to. Dad said, ‘Get that croc, Gav. Quick, before he gets us.’”’

Irene said nothing. She was watching Dr St Clair. This is a very fascinating man, she thought.

‘So, he shot a crocodile.’

‘Yes. But he was not like most of the others. He seemed … well, kinder than them. He used to do my mathematics homework for me sometimes, when I found it a bit difficult. We used to take it to a place behind the cricket grounds, where there was a stand of eucalyptus trees. When the wind came up, the sound that these trees made was like that of the sea breaking on the shore. You know that sound. Boys went there to smoke – we didn’t care, did we? We were immortal. Cigarettes killed other people, not us.

‘We became blood brothers. We each made a cut in our palms and then pressed our hands together so that the blood would mingle. Then we shook hands again and swore that we would be loyal to one another for the rest of our lives. “You ever need help,” said Gavin, “come to me.” And I said, “Same here.”