‘People’ll shit on you if you let ’em.’

Again, the flow. I said, ‘I’m not preaching, but spark plugs?’

‘Conte’s a good man, he could do with the work. So we’ll give it to him.’

I didn’t believe him. Pop’d do anything to save a few dollars. He said, ‘You’re still riding the clutch.’

‘I am not.’

‘You’ll burn out the clutch plate. That’s always been a problem with Datsuns. Pull in here.’

I obeyed.

‘Reverse around the corner.’

Fine.

‘Three-point-turn.’

Easy.

‘Right, keep going.’

Back on the road, he fell silent for some time. I crept over the limit, but he didn’t say anything. I stayed in third too long, but again, nothing. ‘D’you reckon I’m ready for the test?’ I asked.

‘One way to find out.’

Then he returned to the road. After a while he said, ‘I’s readin’ about Lasseter.’

‘Yeah?’

‘Everyone thought he was mad.’ Again, he looked at me, as if to ask.

‘How’s that?’

‘He reckoned the reef was seven miles long, which is a stretch. But maybe he was prone to exaggeration?’

‘Maybe.’ Indicating, turning towards home. He saw this and said, ‘Go round the block a few times.’

I drove into the basketball stadium car park, found a gravelly hill and tried a start. It was shit, but he didn’t say anything.

‘People reckoned he was mad. Some fella put up fifty thousand quid for his first expedition, but when they got out there, Lasseter was um and ah and they’re thinkin’, Christ, what have we done?’

‘They didn’t find gold?’

‘Eventually the whole expedition deserted him and he was left with these camels, and they ran off into the desert, then some blackies tried to help him, but they thought he was mad, so … he was left alone.’

‘What happened then?’

‘He walked around a bit, realised, I guess, he was in a heapa trouble, sat down and wrote a note.’

The car was running better now, and I cruised the back streets without indicating.

‘Watch fer kiddies.’

‘I’m always watching.’

Again, he was wandering the desert, determined. ‘He was right at the end, Clem.’ And touched my arm, so I understood. ‘He wrote: What good’s a reef worth millions? I would give it all for a loaf of bread. Then he died.’

‘Without finding the gold?’

‘He had another sheet of paper, and he drew a map …’

‘Your map?’

He waited, then said, ‘You’re still with me, aren’t you, Clem?’

‘Of course.’

‘Cos if I thought …’ He looked into his lap, mulling it over. Then back at me, ‘If I thought you thought I was … deluded?’

‘No,’ I said. ‘If you trust the map.’

‘I do, Clem, a hundred per cent. Nan didn’t believe anything unless she could see it. She kept me working … and I shouldn’t have gone along with it. But there were bills to be paid. She hated the thought of me going. That time I bought a tent and a camp oven and a compass, she got real shitty. And when I was working, she put the map in the bin, but she never knew I got it out again.’