The Secrets of Ohnita Harbor by Patricia Crisafulli

Author:Patricia Crisafulli
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Woodhall Press
Published: 2022-07-27T04:47:15+00:00

Chapter Nineteen

At the end of this long day, when Ben arrived at the library at 4:20 and begged to go to the park with the other boys, Gabriela wanted nothing more than to go home. Seeing Ben’s excitement at the prospect of playing with other kids from school, though, she acquiesced. As she drove across the Main Street bridge to the other side of town, not far from Ben’s school, Gabriela reminded him that they would leave at 5:30. The boy muttered a reply and sprang from the car as soon as she stopped.

The day had warmed up since the chilly morning, as often happened in mid-spring. Now the temperature flirted with 60. With an hour to herself, Gabriela took a walk. After two laps around the park, Gabriela noticed Ben looking over at her and surmised that he felt embarrassed that his mother kept watch over him. She looped away, deciding to walk across the bridge and back.

In the middle of the bridge, Gabriela stopped and looked over the side at the river that still ran high with a swift current after the recent storms. A few anglers dotted the banks; by summer, she knew, they’d line both sides like spectators along a parade route.

Her father had loved to fish, she remembered. He’d leave early on Saturday morning with his gear, bait bucket, a thermos of iced tea, and two fried egg and green pepper sandwiches on thick Italian bread. She had gone with him once. Maybe she had pestered her father, or perhaps her mother had asked him to take her—Gabriela no longer remembered those details. But every moment of fishing came back to her vividly: how he had baited the hook, cast the line, and put the pole in her hands with strict instructions: “Don’t make noise. Don’t jerk the line. And whatever you do, don’t let go.”

She had sat on a folding chair, holding the rod, wearing her father’s windbreaker over her shorts and T-shirt. He had stood a few feet away, talking in a low voice with the other fishermen, sometimes in Italian. As the sun rose, her body had warmed; her eyelids had drooped, and she had drifted like the current into a light sleep. “She’s got a bite.” The cry from one the fishermen had made her jump. Instinctively she had grabbed the pole tightly.

Imagining the scene now, she could feel her father’s calloused hands over her tiny ones as he set the hook and helped her reel in a perch that measured almost a foot long. My little girl—she got the biggest fish. She caught a foot-long perch. The echo of his voice made her smile.

Feeling the chill of the wind off the river, Gabriela resumed walking. At the foot of the bridge, she turned right onto River Street and one of the oldest parts of town. Freight yards and Great Lakes shipping offices had once bustled along the narrow street. No longer. A couple of small bars and tea shops, a few artsy retailers trying to make a go of it, but nothing else.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.