Free Tides of Truth [02] Higher Hope by Robert Whitlow Page A

Ellie said.
    “Watch out for the spines,” I answered.
    Keeping his eyes on the fish, Zach tried again but failed.
    “Cut the line,” he said.
    “No, let me try.”
    Emma had caught a nice fish. I slid my hand over the top of the fish’s head, picked it up, and took out the hook.
    “The spines are on both the dorsal and pectoral fins,” I said, holding the fish in front of me. “You can’t let them snap back against you.”
    “That’s the top and side,” Ellie said, pointing to the correct parts of the fish’s anatomy.
    She handed me the stringer. I ran it through the fish’s gills.
    “Zach wore it out wrestling with it,” Emma said.
    Zach’s right hand was closed in a fist. A trickle of blood seeped out from between his fingers.
    “There’s venom in the spines,” I said. “Do you want to go back to the house?”
    “Kyle says to put pond mud on it,” Ellie said. “That works as good as anything.”
    “He’s been stung by a catfish?” Zach asked.
    “Yeah, when he wasn’t careful,” Ellie answered.
    “It hurts.” Zach looked at me. “Tami probably wishes it had stung me in the mouth.”
    I stuck the metal end of the stringer in the ground and dropped the fish in the water. It slowly swam to the end of the tether.
    “No,” Ellie answered, “she thinks you have nice lips.”

6
    “ELLIE!” I BLURTED OUT. “I NEVER SAID THAT.”
    “But you know it’s true.”
    “Let me see your hand,” I said to Zach, who was laughing and wincing in pain all at the same time.
    I rinsed his hand with clean water from the drinking jug.
    “Ellie, let’s get back to fishing,” Emma said. “Now!”
    Zach and I could hear the girls talking as they returned to their end of the pond. Emma was doing a good imitation of Mama rebuking Ellie when she sinned.
    “Ellie is cute,” Zach said as soon as the twins were out of earshot.
    “And I totally believe she made that up.”
    “She did.”
    “And I’m sorry I said you needed to tan your legs. Mine are as white as yours.” He rolled up his jeans to reveal a muscular calf much darker than mine. “Well, they were white before the summer. But even if your legs were green, they’d look a lot better than mine.”
    “Nice try,” I said, gently patting the wound dry.
    Zach touched the edge of the deepest cut and winced.
    “Ouch. Your sisters are tanned from being outside all summer. I just thought”—he paused—“that I should apologize.”
    Ellie and Emma returned.
    “I’m sorry, Tammy Lynn,” Ellie said. “I made that up about Zach’s lips—even if it’s the truth.”
    “That’s not what you’re supposed to say,” Emma retorted.
    “Apology accepted,” I answered.
    Ellie leaned over and inspected Zach’s hand.
    “Is he okay?”
    “It’s a bad one,” I said. “A nasty catfish sting can get infected and lead to amputation.”
    “You’re kidding,” he said.
    “It’s not likely, but it’s possible,” Emma said. “We’ve studied articles about catfish stings, snakebites, and poisonous spiders. It’s part of natural science.”
    “Mama’s a good teacher. She teaches about what’s out here and doesn’t put them in a plastic bubble. She says if we know about danger we’re better able to avoid it.”
    “A fish stole my liver,” Ellie said, holding up her rod.
    “You can bait the hook,” I said. “It’s chicken liver, not an earth-worm.”
    Ellie turned up her nose. Emma didn’t share her sister’s squeamishness. She put a fresh liver on Ellie’s hook.
    “Three more like the one you caught will give us a nice dinner,” I said.
    The girls returned to the part of the pond where the butterflies were congregating. I heard a sound in the grass and glanced down. Something was moving. Zach’s pole was inching toward the water.
    “You have a bite,” I said.
    He jumped up and grabbed his pole with his left hand. He put his right hand on the reel and turned it a couple of revolutions. The pole bent sharply. He winced in