‘So you going to do it?’ Nathan said.
Bub shook his head. ‘Cam thought it was stupid. Said I should stay and focus on things here.’
‘So? You don’t need Cam’s permission.’
‘Need money though. Cash, I mean. Not all tied up in bloody long-term property investment stuff. I need to get the equipment, fix up the Land Cruiser. Find somewhere to live, that kind of thing.’ Bub squinted into the sun. It was hard to read his expression. ‘I wasn’t asking for anything that wasn’t mine. I just wanted to free up some of the money –my money– in this place.’
‘Cameron said no?’
‘Not straight out. But he wanted me to think about it. Talk to him again next year. Make sure I was doing the right thing.’
‘Sounds sensible.’
‘But what do you think of the idea?’ Bub seemed genuinely interested.
‘Me? I dunno, mate.’ Cameron’s and Bub’s interests may not have aligned exactly, but Cam was probably right to suggest Bub think things through. ‘It depends. You don’t want to be too hasty. I mean, I only sold out in part and I still ended up in the shit.’
‘Yeah, I suppose.’
Bub looked dejected and Nathan felt a bit bad. In all honesty, his brother would probably make a pretty decent roo shooter. ‘Look,’ he said. ‘It doesn’t sound like the worst plan.’
‘Yeah, well, tell that to Cam.’ There was an awkward moment, then Bub shrugged. ‘It’d be good, though. You ever thought of doing it? Money for nothing.’
‘No, not for me.’
‘Haven’t got the balls for it?’
‘Something like that.’ Nathan tried to keep his tone casual. ‘Haven’t got the licence for it anymore, either.’
‘Wait.’ Bub stared, incredulous. ‘You haven’t got your gun licence anymore?’
‘No.’
‘Why not?’
‘Expired.’
‘Are you bloody joking, mate? When?’
‘Dunno. Few months.’
Just over six, actually. Nathan had felt something start to change in him last year after his dog, Kelly, had died. Steve had called him on the phone from the clinic and made him do this questionnaire all about how Nathan was feeling and things like that. Nathan had toned down his answers, but after that either Glenn or Steve had seemed to coincidentally find themselves in the region of Nathan’s property every couple of weeks.
He’d started to feel a bit sorry for them, trailing all the way out to his place to check up on him with fabricated excuses so threadbare they were transparent. So when his licence renewal had rolled around, he’d let it lapse partly to put their minds at rest, he told himself.
Nathan knew there must be some sort of watch list in their desk drawers, and he knew his name had to be on there. Probably high up, possibly even right at the top. Either way, ready access to firearms was unlikely to be on the recommended treatment plan and he could tell it was making them nervous. So he’d surrendered his weapons to Glenn. Now, Nathan’s rifle cabinet door swung open, unlocked, and every once in a while, when he found himself somehow standing in front of it, there was just an empty shelf.
Nathan glanced at his son in the car. ‘Listen, don’t tell Xander. He gets funny about things sometimes.’
Bub was still staring at Nathan as though he’d admitted to chopping off his right arm and losing it somewhere. Xander caught the expression and called something out of the window. The words got lost in the wind.
‘What’s that, mate?’ Nathan shouted back.
The car door opened and Xander walked over. ‘What’s wrong?’
‘Nothing. You okay?’
‘I suppose. Hey, listen, why didn’t Jenna say anything to Mum?’ Xander said, in a way that suggested he’d been dwelling on the subject for the past hour. ‘When they were driving home together?’
