“Maybe I should get a haircut before I see Mum again. I wonder if Josie is free...” I open a tab on my phone. “We won’t get a signal out there, by the way. Not on our network. And they only have one phone box.”
“One?”
“One tiny store too. No banks,” I continue.
“Okay.”
He really isn’t scared yet?
“No oat milk flat whites.”
He raises a pinky finger.
“No wifi, unless you have a satellite dish. No gym. No shopping centre. No supermarket.”
Two more fingers raise.
“What do people eat?”
“The roadhouse sells a few excessively priced things,” I explain. “Or people grow their own.”
“No pizza delivery, I’m guessing?”
He gives me a wink.
But I keep going. I’m on a roll.
“No dentist, no high school, hospital, or footpaths.”
He remains stoic.
“No traffic lights or hair salon. No proper servo, and no buses.”
“Shit,” he laughs.
“But they do have two tiny churches.”
“Two seems excessive,” he smirks.
“Are you Catholic or Anglican?” I tease.
Amos kisses me gently on the hand.
“I only worship you, you know that.”
I slip a hand beneath his shirt.
This patient man has never wavered, despite every time I’ve tried to give him an out.
“You really don't scare easily, do you?” I laugh.
“Catholicscanbe scary,” he admits, wrestling me onto my back. “And nice try with your list of cons. But I'm not changing my mind, okay? I won’t let you face him on your own.”
“No?”
“Not a chance. Your shadows are my shadows.”
the twenty fifth chapter
