Being a deprived fifteen-year-old boy was hard for Carl. He wasn't deprived in the sense of having any food, clothes or a roof over his head; he was deprived of love, the love of his mother. Of course, she loved all of her children, she just had trouble showing it and Carl being extremely self-conscious, didn't help much. Carl's mother used to always take off on little holidays, leaving Sarah, his older sister, to take care of him and his younger brother, Harley. The last time Carl's mother left, it didn't seem like she was coming back, so Sarah sent the boys to live with their Aunt Beryl in Wattle beach. Before taking off herself. So the boys were left wondering if their mother would ever come back to take them out of this selfish woman's care.
             When Carl was told to start working by his Aunt Beryl, he landed himself a job working on a barge, taking passengers from Wattle beach to Wiseman's Cove. The captain of this barge was Skip Duncan; it wasn't until now that Carl realized what a bad name the Matt's had obtained...Twenty years beforehand, Carl's grandfather, Des Matt, had deliberately run down, Skip and his only son, Graham, with his car. Skip escaped with the limp in his leg, but Graham, unfortunately, lost his life. Ever since that day Skip is constantly reminded of this nightmare, every time he takes a step. The whole community got behind Skip and his family, therefore every single Matt has been a cruel-hearted person, in the town's opinion.
             Skip was reluctant at first to give Carl the job, but with some quiet persuading from Joy, his wife, he soon came around. It was lucking to, as if Carl hadn't starting working for the barge, then it would have gone broke. Everyday Carl would go into work and spend the day washing, sand and salt water off all the cars that took the trip from Wattle Beach to Wiseman's Cove on Skip and Joy's barge. It wasn't long until Joy and Harley started to spend quite a lot of time toget...