“So, what are ya doin’ here, mate?”
Fred sat with a can of cheap beer and a cigarette on his front verandah, looking Tristram over thoughtfully.
Tristram leaned against the verandah post, trying to look more relaxed than he was.
“Well…look, Fred, it’s like this…my English teacher and my cousin, Pyran – you met Pyran, he was the red-headed guy I brought over the other day…”
“Yeah, I know ‘im. What’s goin’ on?”
“They have organised a trip into the high country to try and see the bunyip.”
Tristram watched Fred’s face very carefully.
At first, Tristram wasn’t sure if Fred had heard him, as the elder sipped his beer nonchalantly. However, Fred suddenly crushed the can with more force than he needed to. He placed it in an empty plastic plant-pot beside him.
“What do ya want from me? You
