He was so close he could touch her. He could reach out with his hand and go knock-knock-knock on top of her helmet.

When he was a kid, it was like he never understood the rules. Or, at least, not the ones the other kids knew. He’d push a boy in a fight, but he had to go a step further and kick him, then everyone would join in and pile into Mundic instead. Or he’d hear a joke and he’d go ha-ha-ha, finding it funny long after everyone else had stopped, so they’d poke fun at him and call him a retard. And it was like someone had struck a switch and there was this anger shooting up inside him and he had no idea how to turn it off.

His mother used to cry when she saw his bruises. It broke her heart. He was her special boy. Every time he got hurt, it hurt her, too, and he didn’t want to hurt her. She said he had a flame inside him, but not everyone understood, so he must keep a lid on it like a good lad, or one day he’d get into serious trouble. But sometimes the flame was there before he saw it coming.

He had been okay until the ship docked in Brisbane. He’d had his little cabin on the RMS Orion and the bed. He’d found Miss Benson alone on the deck that time, and after that he had saved her life. He wrote all the facts in his Book of Miss Benson so he wouldn’t get confused. Then he’d noticed the blonde with a new feller. He’d followed them and heard them talking about Brisbane. And he knew it was going to be okay now, because Miss Benson would need someone else to lead her expedition, and he was right there. He had the map and everything. He was ready. But then he’d lost her in the crowds at Immigration. The doctor took one look at him and moved him aside for questioning, and Mundic had to make up a whole story about how he’d been posted in France, and had never had a tropical disease. By the time he’d got out the only person he could spot was the blonde, so he took the bus with her, and it went all the way out to an immigration camp. But there was no sign of Miss Benson.

He’d got into trouble after that. It was seeing all those huts and the barbed wire. It took him right back. He found himself bang up against a bunch of guards. “What you doing, Pommie?” they asked. And instead of creeping off quietly, like his mother had said, he lashed out with his fist and felt the soft squash of a wet mouth, and he hit another right in the eye, until they grabbed hold of him and kicked and kicked, and he didn’t do anything, just lay there till they’d had enough. There was blood in his mouth and on his hands, but he couldn’t feel it. He had just stayed where he was and he was so hurt, it was like it was all peaceful and still inside him, so he could sleep.

Then today he had gone back to follow the blonde and he couldn’t believe his luck because Miss Benson was there, and she was following the blonde, too. It was like they were all following one another.

It was really funny.

And he wanted to write that in his notebook but he couldn’t because they were on the move and he didn’t want to lose her again.

Then the blonde had gone into her hut and he’d watched as Miss Benson stood outside and she’d looked so big and hot, he’d wanted to laugh again. He waited while she went inside the hut and when they came out, he followed them again, and he saw Miss Benson give the blonde money, then trudge away alone.

And now they were together on the bus. He was sitting right behind and he was about to say, “Boo! It’s me!” and go knock-knock on her helmet, and then he remembered how punched-up he was and he thought he’d better have a wash first. The bus stopped at the Marine Hotel, and she got off and walked so slowly, it was like she was made of lead.

Soon they’d be on their way. The blonde was gone. He was leading the expedition now.