Mike Dixon

By the third day he could recognize all of them. There
was a Thai couple who were scraping a living from a nearby
tin deposit and a middle-aged German who was escaping his
past. The other regulars were cattlemen – Aboriginal and
white. They sat in the bar after a long day‟s work and chat-
ted amongst themselves.
David only worried when strangers appeared. He‟d felt
uneasy that morning. A red van had pulled up and a man
had gone into the bar for a drink. There was nothing disturb-
ing in that but, when he came out, he‟d not gone straight to
his vehicle. Instead, he‟d walked round to where David was
working.
At first David thought he was looking for the toilet. Then
the man approached and asked if he wanted to earn some
money welding. David asked about the nature of the job.
The man didn‟t reply immediately. When he did, he seemed
oddly unaware of what was needed.
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