Saltwater Boy by Bradley Christmas

Author:Bradley Christmas [Christmas, Bradley]
Language: eng
Format: epub, azw3
ISBN: 9781760656430
Publisher: Walker Books Australia
Published: 2023-10-15T00:00:00+00:00

Dad was up before me again the next morning. He’d already finished his breakfast and was looking closely at something in the newspaper. ‘I’ve had an idea,’ he said, stabbing excitedly with his index finger like he’d just found the X that marks the treasure on a pirate’s map. ‘It’s gonna be a full moon on Friday.’ He grinned at me as if I should know what he was on about.

‘So,’ I said.

‘It means there could be blue marlin around.’

‘And?’ I asked, an uneasy feeling flaring.

‘What do you mean “and?”’ he said. ‘It’s our chance to catch one.’

‘Dad, you heard what Jimmy said. It’s dangerous out there.’

He pressed his lips together in a look of impatience. ‘Everything worth doing’s a bit dangerous, Matt. You can’t stay wrapped in cotton wool your whole life.’

‘Why can’t you just listen to people for once? They’re only trying to stop you from hurting yourself.’

He sighed then reached out and took my arm. ‘Come on, mate. You saw the way everyone at the pub was looking at Jimmy when he told the story about catching the marlin in the photo. Don’t you want someone to look at you like that one day. Tell some kid in twenty years’ time that you’re the legend in the picture who caught that massive fish?’

It was a cheap trick, but it worked. He was right. I did want my photo on that wall.

‘But we need to get right out across Deadman’s Channel to catch them,’ I said. ‘How are we going to do that?’

He looked at me with mischievous eyes and a lop-sided grin. He could tell I was warming to the idea.

‘The old fella lets you use his boat whenever you want, right?’

‘Well he did, before you …’

‘If we head out tomorrow before first light,’ he cut me off. ‘We’ll have it back before he even notices it’s missing, right?’

‘It’s only a tinny, Dad. It’s not meant for deep water.’

‘Come on,’ he begged. ‘Do you have to be such a massive wuss all the time?’

‘You promised me you wouldn’t steal.’

‘We’re not stealing. Just borrowing.’

‘It’s still not right.’

He stood and held me by the shoulders. ‘Look. You come out with me this one time, and I’ll let you see him again. You can spend as much time with him as you want.’

I said nothing for a moment and considered his offer. It was pretty tempting, but not tempting enough to get around problems with his plan.

‘It’s still too dangerous, Dad,’ I said, but something in my voice made it sound uncertain, like a question.

‘Look. Come with me. Please. I promise we’ll only go as far as you reckon it’s safe. We’ll head back as soon as you say you’ve had enough.’

I looked at him warily.

‘Come on Matt,’ he pleaded, a gleam in his eye that was starting to charm me. ‘When are we going to get another chance to do something like this together? A father-son adventure? Think about it. It’s our chance to start out on a new foot.

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