‘Good. Could you put a bullet into a back tyre? My rifle’s loaded.’

Cavalier reached across to the rifle lying next to Mac. He barked his approval. Cavalier lowered the left-hand front passenger window.

‘Put a bullet in the left rear tyre, if you can.’

Haut’s vehicle was thirty metres away when Cavalier fired.

‘Did you hit it?’

Cavalier said nothing. The vehicle careered on another fifty metres, listed to the left and ran off the road. It hit a tree and came to an abrupt halt. Haut pulled up behind. Mac jumped out. Haut restrained him as two men struggled to extricate themselves from the vehicle. They both groaned. One held his head; the other his shoulder. Their rifles were in the vehicle. Mac growled. Haut pretended to have trouble restraining him by the collar.

The men were both in their early twenties.

‘You tried to kill me,’ Haut said. ‘You could have hit this bloke or my dog …’ His words were menacing yet controlled. Both men spluttered denials.

‘Who sent you?’

They looked at each other. Mac bared his teeth. Haut now had real trouble holding him.

‘What do you think I should do?’ Haut asked Cavalier, turning and winking at him.

‘I wouldn’t let the dog loose,’ Cavalier said, shaking his head. ‘He’d rip their throats out.’

‘He would!’

‘Shit!’ the taller one of the two said. ‘No, Reverend Haut! Please! We only meant to scare you!’

‘I repeat,’ Haut said, ‘who sent you?’

‘Fuckin’ tell him!’ the other young man, short and stout, said, his voice trembling as he stared at Mac. The dog’s bull neck strained against Haut’s grip.

‘We … it was …’

‘C’mon,’ Haut said. ‘You’re bleeding from the elbow. You know what that means to an outback dog. He smells it. He wants to have meat! That’s you.’

‘It was Neil Farquar.’

‘Ah! It had to be!’ Haut said, dragging Mac back to the ute and ordering him onto the tray, where he was held by a chain attached to his collar.

‘What were you asked to do?’

‘Fire into your tent. High, Reverend Haut, high,’ the taller one said.

‘Let me look at your injuries,’ Haut said, moving close to the taller man.

He bent down, showing his scalp.

‘Bit of glass from the windscreen. Just splinters,’ Haut said after a cursory examination. He looked at the other man. ‘Flex your arm.’ Haut held the arm and manipulated it.

‘Christ!’ the man yelped.

‘Not broken,’ Haut said, ‘and don’t take the Lord’s name in vain.’

‘Sorry, Reverend Haut.’

Haut and Cavalier examined the front of the Toyota. The bumper bar was dented and the engine hood damaged. The engine was intact.

‘Change the tyre and see if you can drive it,’ Haut ordered the men.