‘A handful of the morning catch for you. Whitebait. Perfect for crabbing. Can you pick one up?’
‘I don’t know. Can I?’ Radia was asking this to herself, wondering if she had the nerve. After a few slippery attempts she had one of the stiff silver fish between her fingertips. ‘Now what?’
‘Tie it on the end of your string. Here, let me show you. You don’t have to use fish, mind, you can use toast or bits of bacon rind, anything really. Crabs aren’t fussy.’
Radia watched the man’s fingers work, her eyes squinting against the sunlight.
He handed the rod back to her.
‘Here, take Charley,’ she told him, pulling the toy fox from under her arm and shoving it into his hands.
‘Ah, Charley is it?’ he asked the fox. ‘Nice to meet you, I’m Monty.’
‘Monty,’ repeated Radia, before introducing herself. ‘Radia Pearl Foley.’
Monty shook hands formally, which delighted the little girl, before he did the same to Charley’s soft paw. ‘Pleased to meet you, Charley. I’m Montague David Bickleigh.’
‘And she’s Joyce Foley,’ Radia bobbed her head at her mum. ‘Nomiddle name,’ she added sagely.
Monty only smiled up at Joy, who stood with her arms limp by her side and her hands balled up like she was holding onto invisible supports. But she couldn’t help smiling too. Something in his gentle way made her do it.
‘Radia’s a bit of a special name, isn’t it?’ said Monty. ‘Like a ray of light?’
Joy jolted. This was all getting too close for comfort, but her daughter was already explaining, ‘Mum named me after Doctor Radia Perlman.’
‘Oh? I don’t think I know them.’
‘She’s a genius,’ Radia reassured him. ‘She invented spreading trees inside the internet.’
‘Uh, spanning-tree protocol,’ her mum added reluctantly.
He shook his head. ‘Yep, still no clue.’
‘It’s fundamental to the operation of network bridges…’ she began. ‘Uh, never mind.’ She dismissed the words with an embarrassed sweep of her hand.
‘I’ll have to look her up on Wikipedia,’ he said with a smile that sent Joy back into silence. ‘Right, so,’ he went on, bringing his hands together in a soft clap. ‘Radia Pearl, you need to lower that fish into the water.’
She did as he instructed.
‘And keep the line close to the wall, careful not to knock your bait off. That’s it. And now…’ he paused. ‘You wait.’
‘For a crab?’
‘Yup. Once you’re sure he’s hanging on, pull him up slowly, don’t let him fall, and then you pick him off and put him in your bucket.’
‘And wekeephim?’ Radia’s eyes widened.
‘Not forever. When you’re done you let them all go, back into the sea.’
‘For another kid to catch tomorrow?’
‘I suppose so, yeah.’
Radia didn’t look at all sure she wanted to bother the poor crabs now, but she soon changed her mind when she felt the tug at the end of her line.
‘I’ve got one, Mum!’
Radia forgot all about Monty now, and he backed away, leaving them to inspect the dangling green shore crab waving its claw at the end of Radia’s line. Joy was rubbing Radia’s back and praising her excitedly.
