Summary
Miles and Harry stay out as long as they can, past midnight even though it is freezing, because Jeff and Dad were drinking for two days. But now the boys are back in their room and Harry has to pee. Miles tells him to go out the window but Harry can’t. Harry leaves the bedroom and Miles listens anxiously, hoping Jeff and Dad don’t notice. Jeff calls Harry “the littlest retard” and pours him a glass of Jim Beam whiskey. Dad and Jeff demand Harry drink it. Harry sips and begins coughing. Miles runs out when Jeff puts Harry in a headlock. Jeff calls Miles a retard as well, then forces the whiskey down Harry’s throat. Miles lunges for Jeff but Jeff trips him; Miles hits his head on the coffee table as he falls. Blood runs into Miles’s eye socket and Jeff stands on his hand. Harry vomits, causing Jeff to release both of them. Miles springs up and sees a look in Dad’s eye that reminds him of the night Dad broke Joe’s arm when Joe was thirteen. Joe hadn’t cried, even with a bent arm that made Miles nauseated to look at. Miles looks at the blood dripping on the ground. He realizes Jeff and Dad have both sat down. He takes Harry to their room. Dad yells, saying, “I never wanted you.”
Miles and Harry leave the house with no destination. Harry says they could go to George’s, explaining how he knows the man and his dog; George was friends with Granddad. Miles resists at first, but he doesn’t know where else they can go. Harry eagerly leads the way onto a track. Miles takes in George’s neat and ordered home, recalibrating his idea of who the man is. George puts the kettle on and treats Miles’s wounded head with Dettol antiseptic and a bandage. Miles observes George and Harry unroll sleeping mats and bags without speaking; they seem to have an understanding that doesn’t require words. George lights a pipe and the smell transports Miles to his Granddad’s cozy sitting room. After a dream about his mother, Miles wakes, having slept a long time. Harry offers him bread and milk at the table. Miles is uncomfortable eating food that isn’t theirs and says they should leave. Harry says George won’t mind if they stay. Miles says he is going. As Miles puts on his shoes, Harry says, “Joe’s gone, isn’t he?” Miles doesn't answer.
Harry puts the milk away and leaves the house, running after Miles to catch up. Miles says he’s taking Harry to Stuart’s. After Stuart’s mother checks out Miles’s swollen eyelid, Miles leaves Harry and walks across the paddock. The perspective shifts to Miles walking slowly to his house. Dad’s vehicle isn’t there. He goes to the disordered lounge and plans to clean up the blood when sunlight comes through the window and illuminates a photo of Mum. He picks it up and remembers that day at Cloudy Beach when Uncle Nick showed him how to surf while his mother stood on the beach. He puts the photo down and cleans the entire house. Later Dad comes in with fish and chips. Miles says Harry is staying at Stuart’s. They eat together in front of the TV without looking at each other. Dad says he’s been tuning up the boat and it should be ready for the morning. Miles wants to ask about fisheries and the license, but says nothing as Dad washes his plate and goes to bed.
Harry goes to a shop with Stuart and Stuart’s mother. He marvels at all the ice creams but decides to spend the small amount of money he has on a tin of loose-leaf tea. Stuart’s mum offers to pay but Harry insists, saying he is buying it for his aunt. As they drive away, Harry asks Stuart’s mum to take him home. She shows her concern and asks if he wouldn’t prefer to come back to their house for dinner, but Harry says his Dad will have left out some food. After she lets him out and hesitates a moment in the driveway before leaving, Harry runs down the road to the path that leads to George’s, clutching the tin of tea. He thinks excitedly about giving George the tea, and how they will have sandwiches and sit by the fire. But George’s house is empty. While waiting for George and Jake to come home, Harry builds a fire and then falls asleep in a chair. It is dark when he wakes up. He realizes he has to go—immediately. He shuts the door and runs through the trees as darkness falls.
Miles and Dad drive home after a long day on rough water. Miles thinks about the swell coming in and thinks that Joe will be lucky if he makes it across the strait in time. Few boats have gone out but Dad didn’t care about the danger. Miles nods off and drifts into a dream of being in the car with his mother during the crash; the bags and luggage that surrounded him and Harry were falling all around him. Miles wakes to a blast from the horn and sees Harry running onto the road next to George’s property.
Dad pulls over aggressively and drags Harry by his sweater. Dad shouts “What were you doing on that man’s land? What the fuck were you doing?” Harry says he went to play with a dog. Dad holds him in the air as though he is about to hit him, but eventually drops him and gets back in the car. A tense silence follows the three of them as they return home. In their bedroom, Harry tells Miles about George not being home and says he wants to visit tomorrow. Miles is upset Harry didn’t stay at Stuart’s, and says George is probably on a fishing trip. Harry says okay, he’ll stay home. Harry falls asleep looking out the uncovered bedroom window. He sees green and yellow ripples of light—the Southern Lights—stretching endlessly into the dark.
Dad wakes the boys early in the morning, while it’s still dark. He forces Harry to join him and Miles on the boat as punishment for not doing as he is told. Harry reminds him of his sea sickness but his protests are no use. Miles reassures Harry it will be better if he keeps his eyes on the sky. Miles gives Harry the white shark-tooth necklace he found in Mum’s car seat to wear. Dad motors further out than usual and anchors as far out of the wind as he can get, on the calmer side of Flat Witch island. Miles and Harry wait while Dad and Jeff dive for abalone. Suddenly Miles hears metal screeching and smells smoke. Heat shoots through his spine as he realizes the pumps and engine have stopped; Dad and Jeff have no air. Miles tries to start the engine and then burns his hand taking the red-hot engine cover off. The emergency generator won’t start either because the fuel tank is empty. Miles searches the water for air bubbles, knowing he can do nothing.
Dad surfaces with Jeff in his arms. Miles helps Dad bring Jeff on deck. There is blood coming from Jeff’s nose and ears. His eyes are open but only the whites show. Dad orders Miles to get oxygen but there isn’t any; they lost it during the shark mishap. The swell picks up as Dad lurches at Miles and holds his head under the freezing water. Dad’s hand is tight around Miles’s throat. He lets him have some air and tells him “That’s what it feels like,” before submerging Miles’s head again. Miles gives himself over to the immense pressure of the water and then is surprised to find himself standing on deck somehow.
Harry kicks wildly at Dad, who is apparently amused until Harry kicks his ankle hard enough to make Dad wince. Harry then runs to the radio and shouts for help, saying they’re at the Witches group of islands. Dad growls that they’re in protected waters and tells Harry he always fucks everything up. Dad holds Harry against the rails and pulls Harry’s hair tight. Dad’s hand moves down to the string around Harry’s neck. Dad cups the shark tooth in his palm. Dad says, “It’s his,” as his face goes pale. He tells Harry that Mum was leaving because of “him,” and because of Harry. Harry looks right at Dad says he is glad. In the same moment, a wave washes over the side as Dad pushes Harry over the side. The boat tips, and Jeff grabs Miles’s ankle before Miles can reach Harry. Miles holds on until the boat straightens and the water drains away. But Harry is no longer on deck with Dad.
Analysis
In the novel’s most direct treatment of the themes of alcoholism and parental abuse, Jeff and Dad drink for two days straight. Parrett presents the instance in a way that suggests this happens semi-regularly, as Miles’s protective instinct kicks in and he knows to keep Harry away from the men for as long as possible. Despite Miles’s efforts, Harry—who is more trusting of the men—walks by the living room on his way to the bathroom and Jeff forces him to drink whiskey. Dad encourages Harry to take the drink.
When Miles intervenes to rescue Harry, Jeff knocks him over and Miles hits his head on the table. Dad erupts in anger, screaming about how he “never wanted you,” a line whose full meaning becomes clear once it is revealed that Harry is not Dad's biological son. Returning to the theme of refuge, the boys leave the house and go to George’s.
Despite George’s hospitality and Harry’s evident familiarity with the man, Miles is in denial about their need for help from him, and feels uncomfortable eating a stranger’s food. Miles is also uncomfortable staying away from their house for too long, and once he brings Harry to Stuart’s, he returns to the house to clean up the mess Dad and Jeff left, including his own blood. With this effort to remove any evidence of what happened the night before, coupled with the apparently casual conversation Dad and Miles have that evening, Miles exhibits signs of his dysfunctional attachment to his father. Because Miles feels a natural affinity for the authority figure who has raised him, Miles is in denial about his father’s drinking problem and won’t take action in seeking help or distancing himself from his father’s abuse.
After a day on the boat, Miles reflects on the swell coming in, which foreshadows the conflict that will come to a head in the novel’s climactic scene. The ominous tone continues when Dad nearly runs Harry down on the road near George’s property and, instead of beating him on the spot, suddenly drops Harry and goes quiet. In the morning Miles understands that Dad is punishing Harry by making him come out on the boat, despite Harry’s seasickness. To help reassure Harry, Miles gives him the shark tooth necklace to wear and then tells him stories about the “Witch” islands they drive the boat toward.
The novel reaches its climax when Miles’s earlier concern about the sputtering engine proves wise and the engine cuts out. Without air supplies, Dad has to rescue Jeff, who exhibits signs of decompression sickness and oxygen loss. Dad takes out his anger on Miles by holding his head under the water. Harry defends Miles by kicking at Dad. He then radios for help and announces their location by the Witches, inflaming Dad’s rage for giving away that they are poaching abalone from protected waters. Dad pulls Harry’s curls and holds him over the edge of the boat. When he finds the shark tooth necklace, he immediately recognizes that it belongs “to him,” and is reminded that “he” was the reason Mum was leaving Dad. In a rare moment that contrasts with Harry’s usual naivety, Harry says he is glad she left Dad because of “him” and because of Harry. Just as a wave crests over the boat, Dad pushes Harry overboard. Miles’s rescuer instinct kicks in, but before he can dive in to save Harry, Jeff grabs his ankle.
