“That’s a good plan.I do want to take the girls on a fishing trip.My mother has a boat we can use.What do you think about going tomorrow?”
“I think they will be thrilled.”
“Do you go fishing?”Darren asked.
“I do.We can each help one of your girls learn how.”
“I’m glad to hear that.Three learners would have been hard to handle.”
She had to agree that three learners to one experienced fisherman would have been no fun at all.One-on-one was the best way to learn.She found she was looking forward to tomorrow’s trip.The girls went to bed first, then everyone else turned in a bit later.Lottie woke excited in the morning.It had been at least a year since she’d gone fishing.
Breakfast was ready, and the others got there just as she did.They ate quickly, and then they headed out.Flo’s boat was a houseboat and decent-sized.There was a closet full of fishing gear.If she’d known earlier, she would have gotten stink bait or even dug worms.They would be using artificial bait, which might work alright if the fish were biting.Once they were on the boat, they headed to a fishing spot.
“Don’t we need a fishing license?”Lottie asked.
“I got one for each of us online.Here is yours.”He handed her a card.
It was obvious he’d thought the trip out well.He knew about his mother’s boat and had asked her to borrow it and printed out both of their fishing licenses.Darren or someone had stocked the boat with drinks and snacks, too.
“I’ll take Ellis, and you take Adele,” Darren suggested.
They went to pick out fishing rods, and there were several rods for children.Ellis picked first and took a pink rod with a princess on it, while Adele picked one with a hound dog on it.Both still had artificial lures attached.They were ready to go.Darren picked a rod, and so did she, and they each picked and attached lures.Now they were ready to fish.Darren and Ellis moved to one end of the boat, and Lottie and Adele moved to the other.The hope was that if the girls had trouble casting, no one would be close enough to get a lure in their eye or anywhere else.
Lottie showed Adele how to cast with her rod first, then let her try with her own.“That was good, Adele.Now we wait until a fish bites.”
That wasn’t long, and she showed Adele how to reel the fish in.Before they had time to take the fish off the hook, a fish bit on the other rod, and she let Adele try to reel it in.She couldn’t, so she helped her.Once that fish was in, she showed her how to remove it from the hook.Now, Adele casts again while she deals with the fish on the line.Lottie barely had time to cast her line before Adele had another bite.
That was the way things went until lunch.Darren began to fillet some fish, which they would cook for lunch.The girls had never seen that done before, and they shrieked.It had been a mistake to do that in front of them.Darren went to the other side of the boat while she stayed with the girls, and they talked about fishing and some of the things that might also live in the water.Neither of the girls would eat fish for lunch, so they pulled up to a dock in Shell Knob and had pizza instead.
Chapter 3
How Now?
Darren was enjoyingthe fishing trip.It had been many years since he’d gone on a trip like this, but it had come back like it was yesterday.Ellis and, from what he could see, Adele, were picking it up well for their age.Casting was questionable but improving.They did great, reeling in the smaller fish.His memories of fishing with his mother and his siblings when he was growing up came rushing back.His mother had been a perfect mom, and he regretted staying away as much as he had after he had grown up.
He made a promise to himself that he would keep in touch with his mother, as he always should, and that he would ensure his daughters knew their grandmother.A bad son, that's what he had been, but he would be that way no more.Since he finally realized that the paranormal world was real, he also realized he would have to get to know it, since the white wolf blood ran through him and his little girls.There was no escaping it, so he needed to understand it.
