A Day Spent Fishing

By Leah Anders

It was early fall.  The air was crisp but held the promise of warm sunshine as the sun proceeded on its march across the sky.  For young boys, the season brought thoughts of hot apple pie, fresh from their mother’s ovens and anticipation that in a couple short months, Christmas would be upon them with some intriguing object or other waiting for them under a tree lit by candles and strung around with popcorn and cranberries. 

But for the young boys in our story, there would be no fresh pie, let along gifts under the tree, so instead they had to make their own pleasure in ways that only the young are capable.  The pleasures of this particular day would include fishing.  If they were lucky, they might end the day with something they would cook for themselves over a small campfire.  And they may not have apple pie, but they each have an apple or two in each pocket which they have pilfered from the school orchard, to enjoy with their catch.  To them, that sounded like a right fine way to spend this day.  Regardless of the consequences. 

The taller, slender dark-haired lad urged the blond, blue eyed cherub-faced boy toward the woods just off the school property.  “Shush now, Jed.  We ain’t quite fer enough away yet to be going on like that,” Han scolded the younger boy, but he couldn’t keep his own face from displaying an exhilarated grin topped by a set of shining brown eyes, his cheeks a pleasing pink hue from the cool morning air.  “Keep up now.  We’ll be to the woods in another minute or two and no one will catch us then.”

Jed, beside himself with boyish joy couldn’t contain his glee recalling how he and Han managed to slip past the watchful eyes of both teacher and headmaster of the Valparaisa School and exchanged a day of grueling kitchen duty for one of fishing and staring up at the clouds.  Both the boys knew there’d be heck to pay when they snuck back onto the school property this evening but right now, that seemed as far distant as another lifetime. 

“Let’s go now,” Han urged.  “We gotta get our fishing gear.  I sure hope no one found our hiding place for them.”  Now safe within the shadowy privacy of the woods, they found three massive red cedar trees.  In the crook of a low-hanging branch of the center tree, the boys had secured a pair of primitive fishing poles, hidden from the casual observer but ready to be plucked from the tree whenever the opportunity to do some fishing arose. 

“There they are, Han!” Jed said excitedly.  “Hurry, get ‘em outa there!”  He could barely contain his excitement while Han slowly and methodically untied the poles from the branch that held them.  He hummed quietly to himself as he worked, ignoring the frenetic energy of the younger child fidgeting around his elbows. 

“Got ‘em! Let’s go!”  Now safe within the shelter of the woods, the boys walked more slowly.  Even young Jed seemed to appreciate the quiet and solitude they shared with the trees, but that didn’t entirely stop his chatter. 

“Are we headed to our secret fishing spot, Han?  The one we ain’t told no one about ever?  Not even that awful girl with the boy’s name?”

Han looked at Jed in surprise.  “Clem?  That’s not her God-given name.  And she’s not so awful.  You’ll figure that out someday.” 

“Doubt that!  I ain’t got no use for girls.  ‘Specially ones who have boy names.”  He rolled his big blue eyes in disgust. 

The older boy grinned and affectionately tousled the younger boy’s shaggy blond locks.  “All right, smart-aleck, let’s get moving.  It’s still some ways to our secret fishing spot, you know.” 

Although the woods had settled the young boy, Jed could still barely contain his excitement and happiness at having escaped the confines of the school in pursuit of one of his favorite pass-times—fishing with his older cousin Han.  “I bet I catch more fish than you, Han.  Can I have the good pole?  Did you remember the worms?”  The questions kept coming and Han patiently answered every one while they walked along the banks of the creek until they reached their destination where the creek curved and disappeared into a dense foliage of lush trees, nourished and fed by the running water. 

“This is the spot, Jed.  Do you need help to get your pole ready?”  Han set his pole down and looked around.  He never got tired of the scenery here, which reminded him of his home before he and Jed had ended up at the School. 

“Nah, I got it.”  Jed struggled getting his worm threaded onto the home-made hook, his eyes squinted in concentration.  But eventually, his line was ready to drop into the water alongside Hannibal’s. 

The two boys sat side by side on the bank watching their lines in companionable silence for several minutes, waiting for some action on the hook end of their lines.  Han had told Jed a long time ago, back when they still lived on the farms with their families, back when they had families, that fishing was a sport you do in silence because too much noise would scare the fish away.  But after about 15 minutes without a nibble, Jed’s attention began to wander and he began to fidget like young boys are liable to do. 

“What’s eatin’ you, Jed?” Han asked gently. 

“Nothin’,” he answered, worry evident around the edges of his reply. 

“You might as well come out with it.  You know you can’t never keep a secret.”

“Ain’t no secret, exactly.  I was just thinking.”

“Yeah?  What about?”

“It’s dumb.”

“If you’re thinking it, it can’t be dumb.”

Jed picked up a twig and, avoiding Han’s eyes, started practicing his handwriting in the sticky dirt of the creek bank.  “It’s probably dumb.”

“Well, why don’t you tell me anyway and I’ll tell you if I think it’s dumb.”

Jed sighed heavily.  “I was just thinking about when you get old enough to leave the School.”

“Yeah, what about it?”

“Well, when do you think that’ll be?” 

“I ain’t really sure.  As quick as possible, I guess.”

“So what’s gonna happen to me when you get old enough?”

“Is that what you’re worried about, Jed?  You know what’s gonna happen to you.  Wherever I go, you go.  That’s the way it’s been since we were young’ns and that’s how it’s always gonna be.”

Jed’s face brightened with relief.  But then his young eyes clouded over again.  “But Han, I ain’t gonna be old enough to get a job.  How will we get by?”

“That’ll be something for me to worry about.  Heck, you keep growing like you been doing and you’ll end up bigger and stronger than me by the time we set out on our own.  I bet you’ll be able to do anything you set your mind on.” 

“Well, what kinda jobs are we gonna get, Han?”

“To tell you the truth, I guess I ain’t given that much thought yet.”

Jed gazed up at him expectantly, waiting patiently for his cousin to speak. 

“I see you ain’t liable to let this go” Han laughed.  “Lemme see then.”  His brow, hidden behind a fringe of long brown hair, furrowed in thought.  “Well, maybe we could work at a bank.  That seems easy enough.  Or we could become deputies.  We’d be pretty good at that, I’ll betcha.”

Jed’s face lit up in a happy smile.  “Yeah, that all sounds great!  Bringing in the bad guys; murderers and crooks.  That sounds exciting!”  He sat and let those ideas stew around in his head for a bit. 

“You wanna know what else I might like to do, Han?  I think I might like to be the fella who drives the train.  What’s he called again?”

“You mean the engineer.  Yeah, something to do with trains would be swell; seeing the country and all.” Han couldn’t help but smile at the idea.  “Yeah, I can really see us spending some time on trains.  But banking or the law also sound like pretty good ideas, real respectable jobs.” Han’s face lit up in a smile to match his younger cousin’s.   

The boys sat quietly contemplating careers in trains, banks and the law and the good, honest money they’d make—once they left the school. 

Suddenly, Han heard the unmistakable sound of footsteps crunching over the dead leaves and sticks behind them.  He stood and whirled around looking for the source of the sounds, worried that someone from the school had finally noticed their absence and come looking for them.  Instead, he saw a lanky, long-faced man dressed in a long black coat and black hat stumble through the trees off to their left, almost losing his footing on the boggy earth by the creek’s edge.   He would have fallen on his backside if he hadn’t been able to get a handhold on the closest tree branch. 

Once he righted himself, brushed a few leaves and twigs off his black clothes, he finally looked up and spotted the two boys who were watching him warily.  Initially, he looked startled to see he wasn’t alone and quickly glanced around to see if anyone else was about.  Satisfied it was only the three of them here, he waved grandly and exclaimed, “Why!  Hello, my fine gentlemen.  How are you on this blessed day?”

“How do, Mister,” Han replied, cautiously.  Jed just kept on staring.  “Can we do something for you?”

“Hm?  Oh, no.  I—I was just out for a breath of air.”

“We’re a fair distance from town or even the road, for that matter.  You come all this way for a breath of air?”

“Well, you know how it is.”  The stranger smiled in a friendly manner, glancing in all directions again, seemingly searching for someone.  “You mind if I join you for a bit?  Catch my breath and all?”

“Suit yourself,” Han said, indicating with his eyes that he’d be welcome to sit with them a while. 

“Mighty kind of ya, son,” the stranger said as he come closer.  He scanned the area for an acceptable place for him to set himself down.  Once properly situated on the ground, he asked, “So what are you boys doing out here all by yourself?”

The boys looked at each other and both glanced at their fishing poles, lines still dangling in the water.  Jed giggled at the man’s question.  “Cain’t you tell, Mister?  We’re fishing.”  In a quieter voice, he added, “And playin’ hooky.” 

“Well, young fella, some of my best memories were playing hooky from school.”  He was still glancing around nervously. 

“Somethin’ wrong, Mister?  You seem a mite—twitchy,” Han asked, eyeing the newcomer suspiciously. 

“Wrong?  No, nothing’s wrong.  I’m just enjoying this lovely autumn day with my new friends.” 

Jed was taken by the man’s exuberant manner of speaking, being immediately drawn to him.  “My name’s Jed.  This here’s my cousin, Han.  We live at the school over yonder,” he said, gesturing with a twist of his neck in the general direction from whence they’d come this morning.  “What’s your name?”

The stranger gazed at Jed as if not understanding.  “Hm?  Say, have you young fellas seen anybody else around this morning?  Maybe some riders on horses?  Big guns?  Maybe a shiny star on one of ‘em?”

“No sir.  It’s just been us all day.  Why do you ask.”

“Hmm?  Oh.  Nothing.”  He took a deep breath and let it out slowly.  “That’s good.  Real good.  Say, what kinda school is way out here?  There ain’t a town for miles.”

Han’s face was downcast.  “It’s a school for kids who ain’t got no ma or pa.  Like us.”

“Oh, I’m rightly sorry to hear that.  I lost my folks young too.  Been on my own since I was twelve years old, living hand to mouth more times than I can think.”  He winked conspiratorially, “Run my share of short and long cons during all that time.  Done some other stuff too…”  He chuckled, remembering the thrill of the cons he’d run over the years.  Then his horse-like face took on a more serious look.  “Still, I imagine that school ain’t exactly a home, is it boys?”

“That’s for sure.  None of the teachers there are anything like a family either.  Me and Han, we’ve gonna leave as soon as he’s old enough and I’m big enough to take care of ourselves.  I reckon that will be pretty soon now, right Han?”  He dug one chubby fist into his pants pocket and pulled out a shiny red apple.  “You hungry, mister?” 

“That’s very kind of you, Jed.  I often rely on the kindness of people I meet on my travels.  People will surprise you, yes, they will indeed.”  He took a big, hungry bite out of the apple, juices dribbling off his chin before he wiped them away with one large palm 

“So where you headed, mister?  You got family around these parts?”  Han quizzed the man, still suspicious of his motives.  “You gotta horse?”

“A horse?  Well now, that’s a sad story.  I had a horse, but I was trying to get aw---I mean, I was out riding along the creek last night and my nag lost her footing on the slippery bank.  Fell and broke her leg, she did.  Sadly, I had to put her down.”

“Hm.  That must have been noisy.  Where’s your gun?”

“Accidentally dropped that in the river after I shot her,” he said without hesitation.  “Current took it away before I even got a chance to try to grab it.” 

“Sounds like you’ve had a rough time of it.”

“Yep, the worst.  But praise the Lord, I’ve got a feeling it’s going to be looking up.  I feel like you boys are a blessing to me.” He finished his apple and threw the core into the creek.  They sat and watched it follow the current before disappearing around the bend. 

He stood up and reached into the deep pocket of his long black coat, pulling out a white object which he set about tying around his neck. 

“Well, I’ll be off now, but I got a feeling I’ll be seeing you boys again someday.  Keep your noses clean until then.  I got family up Wichita way.  If you ever get up there, you ask around for me.  I might have some work for you.”

“That’s mighty nice of you, mister.  By the way, you never gave us your name.”

“Well, you just tell ‘em you’re looking for The Preacher.  I’m pretty well known around there.”  He tipped his tall black hat and made his way back the way he’d first come, until the trees swallowed him up and he was gone.