Evan waved to Olivia after dropping her off at school, watched as other adults left their children. He needed something to do to fill the endless time. He was at a loss as to what to do. They had moved here too late for him to start college so he had nothing to do to fill his days. He hated this. At least when he was busy it made it much easier not to think about how he lost his mum. It also made it easier not to think about what his mum had told him too. After the accident he had wanted to tell Danny but he'd been so crushed after losing his fiancé it didn't seem right to tell him that his mum had been planning on calling off the wedding again. What if upon hearing that Danny decided to wash his hands of them once and for all? He needed Danny! His real dad was a part time father at best. It was Danny who had brought him up and was helping him be the man he was becoming.

As he slowly walked passed the shops wondering if any of them needed any staff he saw a small woman carrying a crate out of Fatani's bar, at least he thought that was the name of the owner, he hadn't really lived here long enough to know.

"Dupe, did we really need ALL this alcohol?" she called to man inside, hoisting the crate higher.

"Are you living in the same house as me Alice? With the demon children!" he shouted back. "I don't think I have enough!"

"Can't be any worse than living with you!" she muttered rolling her eyes.

"I HEARD THAT!" he called back and she grinned.

"Would like some help?" Evan asked as he approached. Normally he wouldn't approach strangers but he felt like they were good people.

"No we'll be fine thank you. As soon as I can get the old man from back there." She looked at him then frowned. "If you don't mind me saying shouldn't you be in school?"

"Oh I didn't realise you had your husband helping." Evan replied.

Alice burst out laughing. "That man in there is not my husband."

"She could only wish!" a voice drifted from inside.

"Get real old man!" she called back.

"Hey less of the old you!"

Alice was still smiling, "Anyway school?"

"I'm sixteen, we just moved here so I missed the dead line for college. As it is I'm killing time until I can enrol somewhere." He shrugged, "I'm just really bored."

Alice nodded; there wasn't a lot for teenagers to do around these parts. She popped the crate in the back of her truck as what he said began to sink in. "Is your name Evan by any chance?"

He nodded.

"I'm Alice Collins; I'm your neighbour, Leopards Den." She said at his perplexed expression.

"It's nice to meet you." He replied shaking her hand gently.

Dupe chose that moment to depart Fatani's laden with bags. "Oh no, no, no and no. I'm not living with any more teenagers. The two we have are enough! Sorry kid."

Alice rolled her eyes sighing, "Dupe this is Evan, he lives at Mara."

"Oh." Dupe replied then clicked on, Danny's step kid, he could use this! "Ohhh, well since you won't be living with us, welcome to the area. How are you finding it so far?"

"It's ok." Evan replied following them inside Fatani's to gather the rest of the groceries. Evan picked up a box of vegetables effortlessly and followed them outside once more. "I'm just really bored, there's not a lot to do, college doesn't start for months and I'm stuck close to home as I don't really know the land well." placed the box in the back of the truck dejected.

"I was the same when I first arrived." Alice sympathised. "Pretty soon you will have so much to do that you will miss these times when finding work was an issue."

"Hopefully." Evan smiled at them as they climbed into the truck.

"Do you want a lift home?" Alice asked.

"I was just going to call my step dad to come pick me up. It's fine. Thanks for the offer."

"We're heading that way anyway, so it's no problem." Alice assured.

Evan looked unsure, "As long as you're sure its ok."

Dupe patted the seat beside him, "Hop in."

Evan smiled gratefully as he did. "Thanks for this; I'm not sure how long I would have been here. Since he started working in the vet surgery he's pretty busy. Me and my sister don't see too much of him anymore. He promised that it will all calm down soon and we'll have some quality time then."

"Oh." Dupe said with a calculating smile. This he COULD use, "Here's hoping!"

Evan sat sharing pointless small talk with Dupe as the scenery rushed passed. Alice concentrated on driving liking Evan; he seemed mature for his age and was funny too. He had adopted lots of Danny's mannerisms, he even sounded like him sometimes. He was obviously a good father to this boy…and now he was trying to take their son away from her, and if this boy was any indication he might win too!

Dupe while sharing the small talk, was planning. When there was a lull in conversation he began talking, "You know Alice I've been thinking…." He began as they approached Leopards Den.

"God help us." Alice replied with a grin.

"Ha ha." He snorted. "Well anyway, I'm not as young as I used to be."

Alice glanced back at him frowning. "What?"

"Well my bones are getting old and creaking. I get cranky mid-day from tiredness. It all catches up on you eventually! You can't judge, you'll be here too once day!"

"Dupe what are you rabbiting on about?" Alice asked, he was up to something, she knew it!

"Well young Evan here is bored, he wants something to do and I need a protégé, someone to depart wisdom on to…wise old owl and all that." the house slowly coming into view.

"Dupe he's only 16, too young to be drinking yet…" she told him parking up.

"No I mean tracking! I plan on living forever but that doesn't mean I will I need someone to tell all this stuff to before it's too late!" his tone one of utmost seriousness.

Alice looked at Evan, "How does it sound you? I mean you'll be spending all day with him…."

Dupe made a face at her.

"Hey I still can't believe you had a good idea for once!

"I have good ideas!"

"Oh yeah?" Alice asked. "Remember when you thought the meat supplier was over charging us. I wanted to talk to him. Get him to check his invoices; oh no Mr Du Plessis couldn't just talk to him. The poor man ended up with a flesh wound!"

"It wasn't my fault he ended up in the lion pen!" Dupe protested.

"You took him!" she declared.

"And it was HIS fault he got in the way of my gun when I tried to scare the lions off."

Alice made a gesture of unknown. "And was he over charging us?"

Due made another face. "No."

"And do we use that company anymore?" she asked pointedly.

"Not until I write him a sincere written apology... or die." he added as an after thought.

"It's a good thing I love you." She told him then turned to Evan who was smiling widely. "So tracking with Dupe?"

"What's tracking?" he asked finally rising from the truck.

Alice opened her mouth but Dupe cut her off.

"It's a refined art passed down through six generations of the Du Plessis bloodline. Many are called but few are chosen!"

"Oh brother!" Alice breathed and started collecting the shopping to take inside.

"Really?" Evan asked awed starting to show real interest.

"The training can be intense. Rigorous. You need to be on call day or night. It can place great demands on the body and spirit."

Alice exited the house and walked down the stairs, "C'mon Dupe be serious."

"What is it then?" Evan asked eagerly.

"You go in the bush looking for signs that an animal has been there and follow them until you find said animal." Alice explained.

"When you put it like that…" Dupe grumbled.

Evan looked lost in thought a moment, "Sounds good, when do I start?"

"Right now!" Dupe declared grateful he was getting out of putting the groceries away. "Just let me grab a couple of radios and a gun…"

"Do I get a gun?" Evan looked hopeful.

Alice looked at Dupe pointedly. "Have you ever shot a gun before?" she asked.

Evan made a face.

"Yeah thought so." Dupe replied.

Alice walked into the house happy that Dupe was choosing, for once, to be responsible.

As soon as she was out of ear shot Dupe grinned at Evan. "Wait until we're out of the way of Alice and I'll let you take some practice shots with it." then made a shushing gesture when they heard her approaching.

Evan smiled back, "Cool."

That Night

Dupe was sat on the veranda cradling a glass of amber liquid deep in thought, he had been out with Evan all day teaching him about different kinds of animals and their habits, what to look for in a sick or injured animal. It had surprised him but the kid had been genuinely interested, he had expected him to get bored within the hour and ask to go home but he listened and even asked questions it had taken Dupe a long time to ask his father when he was taught…. didn't mean the kid was going to be better than him though! He was pleasantly surprised though, Evan was already showing promise, some people were just natural trackers and some people couldn't track themselves out of a paper bag. The kid was one of the lucky ones. If he was being honest it as nice having someone out there with him, Evan had a sense of humour and didn't irritate him in ways other kids did. He sensed too that Evan was hurting about something but he didn't push or pry. The one thing the kid did talk about was his step father Danny. He smiled and sat back in his chair, crossing his legs at the ankle as he stretched his legs out. Dupe hoped he didn't plan on spending too much time with his stepdad because Danny was about to find himself overwhelmed with jobs….

It was at that moment Alice walked out of the house, saw Dupes very self-satisfied smile and narrowed her eyes. She closed the front door and approached him.

"What are you playing at?" she asked voice low, not wanting to be overheard.

"Me?" Dupe gasped indignant. "What have I done now?"

"Getting all pally with Danny's step son." She replied pointing in Mara's direction. "He's just a kid Dupe, he's trusting…."

"What do you think I'm going to do to him exactly?" he asked taking a drink from his glass. "It's not like I'm going to kill him, I'm teaching him an important skill that he needs while living here!"

"Of course I know you won't hurt him! But he's just a kid, you know you don't want a protégé!"

Dupe sighed, she knew him better than he liked! "Ok yes, I have an ulterior motive for getting to know the kid, but actually it isn't as bad as I thought it would be." He admitted.

Alice closed her eyes, "Well?" she breathed.

"I'm using him to spy on the enemy camp."

"Dupe!" she declared her eyes popping open at his admittance.

"No really! He keeps saying how busy Danny is. Too busy for anything but work so I figured I could give him a few extra jobs. The kid gets my tracking secrets so it's a fair trade."

Alice was shaking her head, "Don't you dare Dupe!"

"What? You want to keep your boy here yeah? I'm trying to help."

"Dupe your heart is in the right place but I can't let you do anything." She told him softly.

He sat up straighter, "It's not going to be massive or dangerous, just a few fences down here and there and just until you get full time custody of Thomas."

"He'll know it's us. He'll think it's ME!" she stressed. "I don't need him thinking I'll sabotage this. He's not stupid."

Dupe made a face, "You may hold that opinion but I certainly don't!" and gulped down the final mouthful in his glass.

"Please Dupe." She almost pleaded. "Don't mess this up for me."

Dupe saw the look in her eyes and felt rather than heard her tone and for that reason he relented, "Ok ok, I'll back off."

Alice nodded tiredly.

"But I'm still training the kid, like I said I need to pass on my wisdom and he seems as good as anyone. Plus he's not too bad, already picking up tracks. He just needs some fine tuning."

"Just be careful Dupe." She asked softly "We don't need anyone else hurt who doesn't have to be."

Dupe grasped her hand and squeezed it gently, "I'm just trying to stop you being hurt, you know that right?"

She gave him a slight squeeze back, "When it comes to Danny I'm used to it. Don't worry, it'll be fine." And with that she walked back inside the house.

Dupe merely sat there her words reverberating around his head. This wasn't happening to her again. He couldn't let it lie, he couldn't let him win. He couldn't see her hurt again. Not by Danny. It killed him to do it but he was going to have to break his promise, it was for her though. She'd understand. Danny wasn't getting the opportunity to hurt her again!

A/N the plot is starting to thicken a bit here, what is Dupe going to do? is he going to go too far? What other things are going to happen that could make custody of Thomas an issue? And will all this end up blowing up in dupes face? I will try to update again sooner so you find out but i can't promise anything x