Early parts of this work appeared in Best Australian Stories 1999 (Melbourne, 1999); the Monthly (September 2005); Where the Rivers Meet: New Writing from Australia (Manoa, Hawaii, Winter 2006); Making Waves: Ten Years of the Byron Bay Literary Festival (2006); the Bulletin, Summer Reading Edition (December 2006 – January 2007); Best Australian Stories 2007 (Melbourne, 2007); and The O. Henry Prize Stories 2008 (New York, 2008). Acknowledgement is made to the editors concerned: Peter Craven, Frank Stewart, Mark Tredinnick, Marele Day, Ashley Hay, Robert Drewe and Laura Furman. Quotations attributed to Dunc Buckler on pages 7 and 215 are from Soldier In Battle (1940) by G.D. Mitchell (1894-1961). Thanks to John and Gwen Bucknall for being part of this story’s search for itself in bush camps and conversations over the years; to Bill Gammage for a resonant reference; to Jim Morgan for more than an anecdote; to Trevor Shearston for shining a light on the manuscript when needed most; and to Susie Fisher, with love, for inspiration in, and beyond, these pages.