Caterpillar Summer by Gillian McDunn

Author:Gillian McDunn
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781681197449
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
Published: 2019-05-05T16:00:00+00:00

Chicken was a creative sleeper. He had fallen asleep in the guest room, just as she’d hoped, and in the morning she checked on him. This time he had turned sideways so his feet hung off the side of the bed. He made a whistling sound when he breathed out. Two nights of Chicken in his own bed was a major victory. Maybe it was all the delicious food. Maybe it was the ocean air.

When Cat came downstairs, Lily looked at her, eyebrows arched.

“Did he go on a walk without you?”

“I told him to go ahead,” said Cat. She picked up the mug of hot chocolate he’d left for her. “I’m meeting Harriet early because it’s supposed to rain later.”

“Let me make you a sandwich,” said Lily. She built a biscuit stuffed with ham and eggs.

Cat gave her a quick hug. “Thanks.”

When she opened the door, Macon was coming upstairs.

“Howdy,” said Macon.

“Hey,” said Cat. She was already down the steps and three houses down the path when he called after her.

“Good luck!” he shouted.

“Thank you!” Cat called back. She saw Harriet and broke into a careful run. When she caught up, she handed Harriet half her sandwich. At the pier, John Harvey had claimed his lucky spot at the end. Just to annoy them, he announced every catch he made, each one seemingly bigger than the last.

“Silent treatment,” Harriet whispered. “Let’s freeze him out.”

But John Harvey didn’t care. Each time he announced another fish, Harriet got angrier. Finally, she was boiling. “I wish I knew what we were doing wrong!” She pointed at a small building adjacent to the pier. “I know we don’t have money, but let’s check out the bait shop. Dean should give us some advice. Or, even if he can’t, we’ll have a break from hearing John Harvey, and that’s worth something.”

They pushed open the shop door. A grizzled man sat behind the counter. “Morning, ladies,” he said, looking up from his copy of the Weekly Wave.

“Hey, Dean,” said Harriet. “This is my friend Cat.”

Dean folded the newspaper. “Hey there, Cat. Are you Amanda’s girl?”

Cat nodded, wondering how he knew.

“Miss her something fierce around here,” said Dean. “It’s a shame we haven’t seen her in so long. She was a right good fisherman, and a good girl, too.” He shook his head.

“We need advice,” said Harriet, plunking down at the counter. “We can’t catch a fish for the life of us.”

Dean rubbed his chin, seeming to understand this was a serious situation. “What y’all been using as bait?”

“Hot dogs mostly,” said Cat. “Also cornbread.”

Dean rubbed his chin, thinking. “Crumbly?”

The girls nodded.

“Let me see what I have in the back.” He dug in a freezer case, finally returning with a bag of silvery fish.

“Take these anchovies. Free sample to get you started.” Dean put them in another bag and knotted the top. “Should work better than hot dogs and cornbread.”

“That’s so nice,” said Cat as she took the bag. “Thank you.”

She wanted to ask more questions, about fishing or maybe about her mom, but when the door jangled, Dean went to talk with his customers.

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