Music on the Bamboo Radio by Martin Booth

Author:Martin Booth
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780141938783
Publisher: Penguin Books Ltd
Published: 2009-08-12T04:00:00+00:00

At midday, the men set to cleaning their weapons and studying maps of Hong Kong. A detachment of four men, including Qing-mai’s father, left the camp and made off in the direction of the pass. Nicholas watched them go, amazed at the speed with which they ascended the steep slope.

‘When do I return to Sek Wan?’ Nicholas enquired as the last of the party vanished.

‘Later,’ Ah Kwan declared. ‘It is not safe for you to go now. The Japanese we saw in the night are still in the mountains. Now,’ he went on, ‘we do not have much to eat here. Will you help us fish?’

Nicholas agreed and Ah Kwan gave him a weighted line wound on to a carved wooden spindle. He suggested Nicholas should fish from the rocks near the stream as shoals of big garoupa gathered around there.

‘What do I use for bait?’ Nicholas asked.

‘Come,’ Ah Kwan replied, ‘and I will show you.’

He went to within a few metres of the water’s edge then, squatting down, frantically dug around a tiny burrow in the damp sand. His hole was just beginning to fill with water when he snatched at the sand and held out a small translucent crab waving its claws indignantly in mid-air, its legs scratching to gain a hold on Ah Kwan’s fingers. Taking the line from Nicholas, he pushed the hook through the crab’s carapace and let it dangle from his hand.

‘This is how you throw the line,’ Ah Kwan went on, swinging it round his head, paying a little out at a time. ‘Do not be too quick or the crab falls off.’

When he had four metres of line circling his head, Ah Kwan let it go. The line stripped off the spindle and the weight dropped into the sea twenty metres out. He reeled the line in and Nicholas attempted a cast, but he could only reach half as far as Ah Kwan had done.

‘No need to worry,’ Ah Kwan assured him. ‘The fish come close to the rocks. You can catch them easily. But,’ he cautioned, ‘be careful. Do not swim or fall in the sea. The water is very deep, very fast. If you fall in…’ he made his hand fly through the air ‘… you will not come back.’

Promising to watch his step and not to swim, Nicholas set off for the rocks. He paused on the way to collect half a dozen crabs which he put in his pocket for safe keeping. He could feel their legs scrabbling against the material. Finding a flat area to stand on, Nicholas baited his hook and cast the line, taking care not to lose his balance. As the weight sank, the current quickly took the line away to his left.

At first, he had grand visions of returning to Sek Wan with a few huge fish dangling from a pole but the garoupa were wily. Several times, Nicholas saw them as huge silver flickers in the deep water but he could not hook one.

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