‘Well, good luck,’ she said. ‘You might not need it as much as you think.’
‘Maybe. But –’ He could still hear the chatter through the door. ‘It’s what you said. I haven’t seen most of those people in years. And maybe they can forget what I did, but now I’m supposed to just forget whattheydid? It’s been ten years. Xander’s suffered, my livestock, someone poisoned my dog –’
Ilse looked up at that. ‘Really? That’s how Kelly died? I didn’t know that.’
‘Yeah.’ Nathan said. ‘Not that anyone believes me.’
‘Why not?’
‘Because there were no other reports of baiting. Glenn and Xander think I’m paranoid.’
Ilse swung a little in her chair. She was frowning. ‘Wait. Remind me. When was this?’
‘About eighteen months ago.’
‘Bub went through a phase of baiting dingoes last year.’
Nathan stilled. ‘Did he?’
‘For the bounties. He was talking about moving away and trying to save his money. Cam told him not to do it around our own stock, of course. But Bub was still bringing home a lot of scalps so it was obvious he was doing it somewhere. I thought –’ She stopped. ‘Cam said he was going to warn you.’
‘Well, he didn’t.’
There was a silence. Nathan could feel pressure building in his temples and his neck and shoulder muscles were tight.
‘I thought I was losing my bloody mind,’ he said. ‘I thought I’d imagined it.’
‘No.’ Ilse looked at him and slowly shook her head. ‘No, I don’t think so. I’m sorry, Nathan.’
‘And before you try to tell me Cam wouldn’t have forgotten on purpose –’
‘I wasn’t going to say that.’
‘Oh.’
‘No, actually, I expect Cam probably did do it on purpose.’ Ilse’s gaze was clear and steady. ‘He could be a bit funny about you. And he wouldn’t overlook something like that by accident.’
Nathan couldn’t think what to say to that.
‘But listen.’ Ilse sat forward in her seat. ‘Try not to be too angry with Bub, okay? For what it’s worth, he must have felt bad about it because he suddenly stopped baiting overnight. He didn’t say why, but it was like he wouldn’t touch it anymore.’
Nathan felt the tightness spread from his shoulders to his chest. Out of the window, Bub was no longer anywhere in sight. The fence by the graves stood empty. He didn’t trust himself to speak.
‘I’d better go.’
‘Stay,’ she said. ‘If you want.’
‘No, it’s okay. Thanks.’
‘Just –’
‘What?’
‘Whatever you’re thinking of doing, please don’t do it now. Not with all these people here.’
Nathan stood at the door.
‘Please, Nathan. Leave it for now. For me.’
