Chapter 20: fishing and cooking

Up before the sun in the morning, get dressed quickly, grab an apple each, go down and launch the dinghy. Randolph grumbling, "I hope these damn fish appreciate us getting up so flaming early."

I just grinned at him.

It was very still and calm, the surface of the lake was like glass. It was almost eerie gliding silently over the water as we made our way out from the shore.

"That motor doesn't make any noise, Mr Keaton," I whispered reluctant to break the spell.

"The actual motor part is down in the water with the propeller, Lynda," he whispered back, "so we can hardly hear it at all."

We watched the sun come up as we anchored a few hundred metres out from the shore. It was so peaceful and quiet, that at first, I'm not sure I wanted to catch anything and disturb the tranquillity.

But, we started to get nibbles and pull up fish - all undersized.

"Looks like we might have hit a patch of youngsters here, kids. We'll try moving along a bit and see how we go."

Nothing happened at our new spot for a while, then Randolph pulled in a good-sized one.

"Well done, Randy, that's a keeper."

"It's a beauty, Randy," I enthused, "a couple more like that and we'll have our feed."

Then a few minutes later, Mr Keaton got one of similar size. But everything went quiet again. I thought it would only be fair if I caught the next one . . . and I did. We had three fish much the same size and plenty for our dinner so we called it a day.

After breakfast and cleaning the fish, Randy and I jumped on the paddle boards. Mr Keaton allowed us to go out of the cove and explore along the lake edge - provided we wore life jackets and stayed together. It was interesting, and I didn't fall off once.

After lunch the four of us played monopoly. I had all the luck and won easily. Then Mrs Keaton and I adjourned to the kitchen and started preparing the fish dish she'd decided on.

"God, Lynda, I'd forgotten just how much preparation was involved in making this dish. I'm glad to have your help, love."

And I was glad to help; I enjoyed myself. The dish was a success and I was really pleased that I had helped make such a delicious meal. About a year ago, I had attempted to help my own mother in the kitchen, but Matt had started teasing me and we ended up having a bloody great row. Mum had ordered us out . . . and that was that.