Ingratitude

Unni peers into the tin of platypus beetles.

They're so tiny! says Unni. Are they even beetles?

Gaius leans over to look.

Mountain pinhole borers, says Gaius. Platypodids.

Or ambrosia beetles, says Greg. They excavate tunnels in dead trees and grow fungus gardens to feed on.

There you are, says Gaius. A cure for your toe and groin fungus.

Greg looks doubtful.

They've got wings! says Unni. Oh watch out, they're flying away!

Stop them! cries Eddy. They'll ruin my ferry.

Too late, some of the platypus beetles fly off and land who knows where.

Greg snaps down the lid of the tin.

Eddy is angry.

When the Ida Clair docks at the jetty at Cynthia Bay, he won't let them off.

Not till you find every single one of those borers, says Eddy.

This is ridiculous, says, Schopenhauer. We don't know how many there are.

Yes we do, says Greg. There were exactly a hundred.

Exactly a hundred. It seems Greg is a little bit anal.

And now? says Eddy.

If he tries to count them, says Unni, they'll all fly away.

Arthur likes this. It's strategic and military. He sets his mind to solving the puzzle.

I've got it, says Arthur. Where's the cling film? If we take the lid off and cover the tin with the cling film we can look through it and count them.

Brilliant! says Greg.

Except we used it to wrap up the shrimp when we thought he was dead, says Unni.

The one I sat on? says Greg. There was no cling film.

He wasn't dead, says Unni.

I've got some, says Schopenhauer. From my sandwich.

So, while Greg, Gaius, Arthur, Schopenhauer and Unni are busy trying to slide the lid off the tin and replace it with cling film without leaving an escape hatch, what else is happening?

Eddy leans on the railing, next to the gangplank, thinking negative thoughts.

Captain Louttit takes the opportunity to speak to him quietly.

I am no local, says Captain Louttit, but even I can name the mountains surrounding Lake St Clair, and can tell you the aboriginal name of these waters is Leeawuleena.

Eddy's fuse is a short one. He kicks Captain Louttit.

Captain Louttit is shocked. Is this how to treat a fellow captain, offering friendly advice?

He loses his balance and tumbles awkwardly into Lake Leeawuleena