AllFreeNovel
Share Us
They kept paddling until they were finally far enough, and Daphne slowed her strokes.
“Time for a little demonstrative fishing?” he said, reaching back for the rod. “If you keep her steady, I’ll handle this part. I really can fish.”
“That’s great,” she said. “However, you’re missing a key component of the required equation, sir.”
He glanced down quickly. No, he had the rod and the tackle box, and he’d confirmed the box contained hooks and lures.
“Fish,” she said.
“Hmm?”
“You need fish. That’s what I was trying to tell you. There aren’t any game fish here.”
As if on cue, a fish jumped from the water to catch a flying insect.
“Leaping lake lizard?” he said.
“Oh, it’s a fish. A little grayling. There are some out here, but not many of the proper size.”
“But I saw people out this afternoon. With fishing rods.”
“And beer,” she said, stretching her legs. “People do fish in this lake. They just don’t expect to catch anything. Putter around. Have a beer. Chat with your buddy. Enjoy a gorgeous afternoon while pretending you’re doing something productive.”
“Uh…”
“Yep. That’s why I wanted to discuss it.”
He winced. “I thought you were concerned that I didn’t know how to fish. Okay. So…” He looked around. “Even if I did manage to snag one of those little guys, they won’t see it from the shore.”
“Yep.”
“Would lures even work on them?”
“Nope.”
“So I’m screwed?”
“Yep.”
“Great.” He slumped onto his seat. “Footage of the mighty Zane Remington getting skunked.” He glanced over. “Hey, maybe I can use that. I’ll say I got skunked, make a joke of it, and then use the opportunity to point out that there are no actual skunks around here. Self-deprecation plus a pompous Zane lecture moment.”
“You are good at those.”
“Notice how I slip in references to the book? Media Training 101.”
She smiled at him. “I noticed. Thank you.”
“See? We can pull this off.” He looked around. “Except when I fail to check whether there are actual fish in the lake before I suggest fishing. Or when I fail to ask whether you have a motorboat.”
Another warm smile. “You’re doing fine. Here’s my suggestion. We paddle around a bit to give them scenic shots. Then we go back, and you say you surveyed the situation and realized the fish aren’t as active tonight as it appeared.”
“The water is so clear I can see the lack of fish. Notice how clean the water is? That’s what a nonpolluted lake looks like, blah, blah. Drawing on my vast experience of wilderness living—which I used in my book, At the Edge of the World—I can tell that fish are not forthcoming, blah, blah. Got skunked. No actual skunks in the Yukon, however, that reminds me of the time I encountered one out east.”
“You really are good at this. Let me get us turned around, and we’ll hug the western shoreline for the best shots. You play human fish-finder while I navigate.”
He saluted. “Aye-aye, Captain.”
Chris settled into his front seat and peered over one side and then the other, shading his eyes for added effect. The water really was clear enough to see all the way down, including the odd fish that was, as Daphne said, barely bigger than a minnow.
