Something was bothering the kid, but he wasn’t ready to talk. Leon tried to remember how his mum had wrangled things out of him when he was young. Or maybe she hadn’t; maybe, like Max, he’d kept everything tied up inside. Leon tried biscuits and hot chocolate, hoping to draw the boy out, but Max ate in silence. In the end, Leon decided simply to wait. If the volcano was rumbling, eventually it would erupt.

They sat on the back doorstep, and Bonnie snuggled up beside Max. The boy’s hand rested on the dog’s head as he stared up towards the bush beyond the fence where the trees were tossing wildly in the wind. He looked hollow and gaunt.

Leon was worried. ‘Are you sure everything’s okay? You won’t get in trouble if you tell me. I’m here to help.’

Max said nothing.

Leon could hear wind scooping under the eaves. A door banging somewhere. Shane’s shed rattling. ‘Is anyone hassling you?’ he probed. ‘Anyone hurting you? Is it a friend?’

Max shook his head.

‘I saw Miki the other day,’ Leon continued carefully. ‘She said someone’s been taking stuff from the shop.’

Their eyes clashed and Max’s face blanched. He glanced away and his shoulders slumped as he murmured something.

‘What did you say?’ Leon asked.

‘Jaden made me do it.’

‘That big boy who hangs out with you sometimes?’

‘Yeah, him. He’s not my friend. I hate him.’

They were getting somewhere at last. ‘What’s been going on? Has he been hitting you?’

A small nod.

‘Has he been making you take things from the shop?’

Max’s eyes, large with fear, flew to Leon’s face. He looked as if he might jump up and run.

‘Don’t panic.’ Leon said. ‘Miki and I want to help. It’s not like you to steal. You’re a good kid.’

But the boy was still cowering.

‘How long has it been going on?’ Leon asked. ‘This stuff with Jaden.’

‘A while.’ Max kept his eyes averted. He seemed so small, so closed in on himself.

‘Did something happen today?’ Leon asked gently. ‘Can you tell me?’

A long pause, then another incoherent mumble.

‘What was that?’

‘I took some beer to school.’

‘For Jaden?’

A nod.

‘Did he drink it?’

‘He said he was going to save it till he got home,’ Max blurted. ‘He said he was going to tell his mum I made him do it.’

Leon put a hand on the boy’s skinny shoulder. ‘His mum won’t believe that. As if a small kid like you could make a big kid drink beer!’

Max started crying. ‘But I got it for him.’

Leon didn’t have to ask where Max had got the beer—Shane was rarely without one in his hand. ‘Okay,’ Leon said. ‘What’s Jaden been doing to you? Tell me everything.’