Tony Martin

13-year-old Nico is badly beaten by his brother while playing with fireworks. To gain revenge, he steals his brother's cat. Unable to return home, he meets up with some other kids, and they head to the railway track where two of the boys commit an act of mindless brutality. Nico is compelled by the frenzied horror of earlier events to join in. As the day draws to a close, the boys break up and head home and Nico is left to contemplate his actions.

Jack and Victor face a miserable New Year when they become trapped in a lift at Osprey Heights. Winston recalls the daddy of all Hogmanays, in the dim and distant past when Craiglang knew how to throw a party.