Chris and Jon returned carrying more boxes; a few paces behind them Bob rounded the corner from the corridor too.   Chris placed his box onto the table, then turned and took Bob’s cardboard box from him.

*      *      *

“One more trip ought to just about do it,” said Bob ten minutes later, as they sat around on crates in the lounge room.   They had cleared a space in the centre of the room, so they could relax awhile and sip slightly warm beer.

“I hope so,” said Jon.   He ran the beer can across his forehead for a second, then opened the can and took a long drink of beer.

They lingered over the beer, the three men drinking straight from the cans, Beth from a glass she had located in one of the boxes.

Jon finished his beer, and then asked, “How do you got into the other side of the house?”

“You go around to the side door and knock,” said Beth.   “The house has been sub-divided into two flats.   A Greek family lives in the other half.”

“That’s a bit inconvenient, isn’t it?” asked Jon.

“It’s a bloody nuisance,” said Bob.   “But at least there’s one consolation, they don’t speak a word of English, so we don’t have to worry about them trying to force themselves onto us.”

“Not like the bastard out the back,” said Beth.

“What bastard out the back?” asked Jon.

“Oh, there’s an old dero living in the bungalow near the washhouse,” explained Beth.   “The bastard’s hooked up to our electricity too.   The owner says he’ll reimburse us for part of our power bills, but we’ll believe that when we see it.”

*      *      *

“There isn’t a lot more to go,” said Beth.   “Why don’t you two collect the last of it? Chris can stay here and help me to start getting things straightened out.”