The Big Snapper (10 page)

Now that he finally sees it, Eddie can hardly believe he was able to hang on to it. He only does because he is exhausted, bleeding and sore.

The fish disappears again. Eddie's dad cranks the reel, watching for it to reappear. When it
does, Fred comes close enough to gaff it. His aim is good. Eddie's father lifts the fish on the gaff over the side and into the boat. The fish now lies in the four inches of water at Eddie's feet. For a moment, neither fisherman can take their eyes from Eddie's beautiful amazing fish.

His dad starts the engine. “Let's get you home, young man. Your mother is frantic. I'm afraid now both of us have some explaining to do.”

Over the next few weeks, Eddie goes fishing with his father whenever he can. Mom has stopped crying and she is now simply mad. But she has also looked after a string of tourists and without Grandma to help, she is kept so busy she really has no time to either cry or complain.

She cooks and changes sheets for the Hendersons and their two small children. She teaches four lawyers how to clean and smoke the salmon they catch on a charter boat. She tends to a sick, squawking baby while the Grossman's go whale-watching.

With so many people coming and going, Eddie realizes just how rare the quiet and studious Dr. Blooms of the world really are.

Still, in a way, he is glad when the six members of the McWilliams family arrive. Even though they are noisy and demanding, Mom continues to have no time to think of how angry she is with Dad. All six McWilliams are sleeping in Eddie's room. Mom has borrowed cots and mattresses from Peggy and Fred.

Mr. and Mrs. McWilliams are both loud and do a lot of hollering at their children. Fifteen-year-old Vince spends most of his time teasing his sister Margaret, while Margaret, who is fourteen, spends much of her time complaining to her parents about Vince. And when Jason and Janet aren't squabbling with each other, they are shouting to be heard above all the others because they are only seven and eight. Eddie has never known people who argue so much about every little thing.

The McWilliams keep Eddie busy as well. He helps serve meals and runs errands for Mom. Eddie's father offers to help, but Mom won't let him in the house. So he does what he can from a distance. He keeps the woodbox for the fireplace full and he leaves groceries on the doorstep. The first time he does this, Mom is not at all pleased.

“Where did this come from?” she asks Eddie of the bag containing bread, peanut butter and coffee left by the door.

Eddie is not sure by her tone how he should answer. But he'd seen Dad drop them off. “I think Dad left some food to help feed the McWilliams.”

“Well,” says his mother, “of all the nerve! I've managed this whole year without him. I hardly think I need his help now. Give them back, Eddie. Right now. Take this bag to your father.”

Eddie doesn't want to give the bag of groceries back because he knows his father is only trying to help. But he also doesn't want to see the food go to waste. He carries the bag down to the wharf where his dad is preparing to go fishing.

“She doesn't want it,” he tells him.

Eddie's dad shrugs. “Oh well, maybe we can use some of it for lunch. Can you come with me today?”

Eddie shakes his head. “I have to help Mom.”

“Okay, maybe tomorrow then, when your guests are settled.”

Eddie returns to the cabin. Vince is sitting on a log on the beach. He has broken a branch from a tree and is carving a spear. He tells Eddie he's
never seen a puffin before coming to the island, and he's going to catch himself one. Eddie would like to break that spear in half before he has a chance to go after a puffin, but Vince is fifteen and he is only ten. Eddie then passes Jason and Janet who are building a sand castle. Margaret is sprawled on a blanket in the front yard, waiting for the sun to come out. Mr. and Mrs. McWilliams are making sour faces as they sip spruce tea in the sitting room.

“If you don't like the tea I could make coffee,” Mom says from the kitchen.

“Oh, no,” Mrs. McWilliams protests, “this is just fine.” She takes another sip but her expression only gets worse.

“I'll make coffee,” Mom decides. “Eddie.” She pulls him to the side of the room. “Run to the market and get some coffee.” She presses some money into his hand.

Eddie thinks it would have made a whole lot more sense if she'd just kept Dad's bag of groceries. But he does as she asks. As it turns out, when Eddie returns to the cabin, the coffee has been forgotten. The McWilliams family is in chaos.

As they watch through the window in the sitting room, Mom explains to Eddie that Flounder,
being a dog, did not realize that Janet and Jason were building a sand castle. In his enthusiasm to chase a seagull he trampled the castle to bits. When the children began shrieking, and Vince saw what was happening, he threw his spear at Flounder. Thankfully, he missed. But thinking he was playing, Flounder retrieved the spear and began to run around with it, hoping for someone to chase him. In the process, he sprayed Margaret with sand. She was already mad because the sun had still not come out after all her waiting, and how could she return from her holidays without a tan!

Mr. and Mrs. McWilliams are, at that moment, standing in the front yard in the pouring rain, hollering out orders and directions.

“This is crazy,” Mom tells Eddie, sinking into a chair. “I don't know if I'm cut out for this.”

Eddie sits in the bow of the skiff, facing the open water. His father sits in the stern, guiding the boat across the bay. Once they reach Granddad's favorite spot he cuts the engine. Out of habit, Eddie attaches a piece of octopus to each of their lines.

“You're very good at that,” his dad tells him.

Eddie shrugs. “I do it all the time. Granddad shakes too much.”

His father sighs a little. He casts his line and lets the spool unwind to the proper depth. “I'm afraid your granddad is not very well, Eddie.”

Eddie is also concentrating on letting his line out but he turns at this. “Have you seen him?”

His dad nods. “I met him at the airport. I helped him and Mom get settled in the hospital.”

“Did he know you were coming home?”

“Yes, he did.”

“He didn't tell me.”

“No, I don't think he wanted to upset you and your mother before I got here. Besides, it's up to me to explain myself, not him.”

Eddie feels a tug on the line. A fish is testing. It tugs a little harder, but it doesn't bite.

“Doesn't look like he went for it.”

Eddie lifts the rod. There is no resistance. “No.”

Propping his fishing rod between his legs, Eddie's father opens the thermos and pours a cup of tea. “Want some?”

Eddie shakes his head.

Dad sips his tea and takes hold of the rod
again. “Did Granddad ever tell you about the big snapper?”

Eddie nods.

“About how he pulled him all the way to Alcatraz?”

Eddie laughs a little. “Yeah, he did.”

“Hmm. How about the way he got on Trotter's good side so he'd let him fish down at the river?”

“Uh-huh.”

Dad chuckles. “Well, here's one he wouldn't have told you because it happened to me. It was about three years ago.”

“You're going to tell me a story?”

“Well, I'm going to try. Don't expect anything as good as you'd hear from your Granddad, though. Anyway, you were just a little guy at home with your mom and Grandma at the time. I was out fishing with your granddad on a day much like today. We were fishing this very same spot, as a matter of fact, because Dad said it's where the biggest fish are found. ‘You may not catch as many,' he told me, ‘but what you catch is worthwhile.'

“Well, we must have been sitting here for two hours when I got frustrated. I was an impatient
and headstrong fellow in those days. When three hours passed without a single strike, I decided if those big fish weren't going to come to us, I'd scare them up myself. So, I set my rod aside and pulled on my scuba gear. Dad warned me it was a mistake, but I didn't listen. I dove into the water to find the biggest fish.”

“Really?” says Eddie. “How were you going to catch them?”

“I hadn't really thought of that. Anyway, I was strong and a good swimmer. I dove down through the murk, steering clear of a sawfish and his lethal snout. I swam around a giant jellyfish, but then I almost got tangled in the tentacles of a vampire squid. I dove deeper, passing all shapes and sizes of sea creatures. I came upon an old Buick balanced on a rock outcrop, and on the very bottom, the rotting remains of a fancy yacht.

“I made my way across the ocean floor. The eyes of the bottom fish gazed up at me, watching me from where they lay buried in the sand. There were big ones, but they were still not big enough for me. I wanted the biggest one. I wanted to be the greatest fisherman on the wharf. Then suddenly, through the kelp forest, a gleam caught
my eye. I weaved between the kelp stalks toward the source of the light. What I came upon was the biggest oyster I'd ever seen in my life. It was big enough for a man to stand up in. But even more amazing, right in the center of the soft pink flesh was a pearl as white as whalebone and the size of a balloon.

“Well, you can imagine, after coming upon that I forgot about the fish. I would take that pearl and I would be truly famous. I swam to the oyster to lift it out. I had my arms around it—it was heavy and it did not easily budge. So I stood right inside the oyster, trampling the soft flesh, and rocked it back and forth. But instead of coming loose, to my horror, the oyster shut tight.”

“Could you see anything?” Eddie asks.

“Very little. The pearl was luminous and gave off a little light, but it was mostly dark. Well, now I forgot about the pearl and I became intent on getting out. I pushed and prodded. I hammered from within, but that oyster shell wouldn't budge. I had no stick to wedge it open, or a knife to cut the foot. After hours of banging and clawing at the shell, I finally sank to the gooey bottom and tried to think of what to do next. I did discover
the oyster had trapped a little air, so I was able to take off my heavy tanks.

“Hours passed, and I tried many more times. Still, that oyster wouldn't open. I became very hungry. With nothing else to eat, I picked off bits of oyster flesh. Days passed and that oyster showed no signs of opening. By then I'd eaten quite a bit of it, and I began to wonder what I'd do when there was nothing left.

“I was sleeping on the cold hard shell when a change in light woke me. I was also drowning. The shell had come open and the oyster was dead. I'd eaten too much. I quickly pulled on my scuba gear and glanced around at what was left of the oyster. Strips of shredded gray flesh hung from the inside of the shell. And the pearl—the pearl had lost its shine and was dull and gray as well. I blinked. The light, even deep beneath the ocean, was strong compared to what it had been inside the shell. Slowly, I stood up. My legs and joints were stiff from being cramped up for so long. I left the pearl and headed for the surface.

“Swimming was difficult, as I had lost a lot of strength. It was all I could do to move ten feet up, and I'd have to rest before I could move on. I had made only a little progress when I got
caught in the upsweep of a current. The cooler flow of water carried me hundreds of feet with little effort. I don't know how I would have made it otherwise.

“Your granddad was alone in the boat when I surfaced. ‘There you are,' he said when he saw me. ‘I've been waiting for you.'

“They were the most welcoming words, and Dad in his skiff was the most comforting sight I'd ever seen. He leaned over the edge and helped me climb back in.”

When his dad says nothing more, Eddie realizes the story is over. “Is that why you left?” he asks. “Because you saw a pearl?”

Eddie's father thinks about this. “No, I left because I saw something different. I came back because I'd left a pearl behind.”