Chapter 73
Chapter Seventy-Three
E vie had every second Friday off. Bert would work that day and then she worked the rest of the weekend. Sometimes he came in and sat on his stool, talking to her and the customers. Other times he went fishing with some of his mates, and on those days, she’d be in the shop by herself. Today, however, it was her day off, and although she’d spent most of the morning catching up on her cleaning and washing at home, this afternoon she was going fishing.
Rose had given her an account number that she could deposit rent into every week at the post office. Now that she was paying her way, she didn’t feel so indebted to Chris, and once she had some more money saved, she would find somewhere else to rent. Surely he would make more money out of holiday tenants than the small amount she paid him each week.
A good-sized gutter that was perfect for catching dart and bream, wasn’t too far from where she walked out onto the beach. The gutters moved with the currents and tides, and she had been watching this one when she walked each morning. Now she had a few hours of daylight left, and she intended to catch some decent fish. She wore her old denim shorts and a T-shirt that had ‘Bert’s Bait Shop’ emblazoned on the back. Thankfully she’d also worn a Sloppy Joe as the wind was picking up, and a cool breeze blew across the waves towards her. It wasn’t ideal, casting into the wind, but the gutter was deep and she didn’t need to throw too far out.
Within half an hour her creel was full of fish. Another hour or so and she would have enough to stock her freezer. She reminded herself that perhaps she had caught enough, after all she would have to fillet them all when she got home. Casting her rod out as far as she could, she looked towards the horizon. More giant waves rolled in out the back, and when she looked harder, she could see five or six dolphins riding the waves as the breaks curled over and pummelled towards the beach. The dolphins’ grey bodies were large and easy to see, the clear water a playground for them as they weaved in and out, occasionally leaping over the crest of a wave to the calmer waters out the back.
She was so focussed on the dolphins that it took her a minute to register that something was pulling on her line. The waves often pulled hard, but this was different. Her line whirred as the drag came on and she held tight, stepping back to make sure she was balanced .
A voice beside her made her jump. ‘Flathead? Mulloway?’
Quickly glancing sideways in the general direction of the voice, she hoisted the rod up hard. ‘Probably.’
Her entire body tensed and she wound steadily, holding the rod up higher and then letting it down again.
She didn’t take her eyes off her line again, nor did she speak. Reeling in and walking backwards, she pulled hard, time and time again, the fish putting up such a good fight that she didn’t think she would get it in. Eventually she did though, and as she walked backwards up the beach, she dragged a mulloway up through the small waves, until the silver flapping fish was above the water line. The man who had spoken to her knelt beside her as she ran her hands over the scales. The fish was a beauty.
Wriggling the hook from its mouth, she picked it up and looked at it for a while before walking down to the water’s edge. She held it, clenching it as it squirmed and fought between her hands. When she was knee-deep, she let it go. She stood still, looking out across the ocean for a long while before eventually turning around. Gazing at the water that swirled around her feet, she slowly walked back through the shallows. When she reached the water’s edge, she looked up, straight into Chris’s eyes.