Page 34 of Changeling
He sets the bucket near the water and examines his fishing pole while I study him. “Now what?” he asks.
“What do you mean, now what? Don’t you know how to fish?”
He shrugs and shakes his head. “No. I thought you did.”
I gape at him. “Why would I know how to fish?”
“I don’t know.” Sebastian’s expression turns sheepish. “You’re old, right? I just thought you’d know. You don’t?”
I scowl. “Of course not.”
“Me either.” A pink flush spreads prettily across his high cheekbones.
I’m baffled. “Then why did you want to go fishing?”
“Why not?”
Well, that’s as good an answer as any. I hold my pole at arm’s length. It’s a simple enough contraption: wooden rod, coiled string, a hook on the end. Surely, we can make this work.
“What’s in the bucket?” Do I really want to know?
“Bait.” He flings off the lid.
“They’re alive!” Sebastian shrieks.
We both startle backward. Dozens of finger-sized brown worms squirm all over each other like a scene from a nightmare.
“What were you expecting?”
His face crumples. “I don’t know? Plants?”
I glare at the worms. And no. Just no. I won’t be touching those.
He eyes the wriggling creatures as if they were asps ready to strike. “What are we supposed to do with them?”
At this point, I’ve figured it out, though I won’t be doing it myself. I hold up the pointed end of the hook in front of Sebastian. “Impale them and dangle their dying little bodies in the water. That’s what.”
His horrified expression says we’re in agreement about the worms. I pick up the lid and put it back on the bucket.
“Sorry.” Sebastian’s shoulders cave forward.
“It’s all right.” I resist the urge to lay my hand on his nape to comfort him. “We don’t have to fish. I’m enjoying the walk, aren’t you?”
He perks right up. “Yes. Thank you for coming along.”
“Tell me, though, what made you think of fishing if you’ve never done it?”
He takes a breath, his gaze shifting from me to the river. “I lived near the sea in Greece. My friends often went fishing, but I was always too busy to come along.”
“Busy doing what?”
“I’m an only child.” A pause. “Wasan only child. I guess now I don’t know. Maybe I have dozens of siblings. Anyway, my dad, myhumandad, was a blacksmith. His only apprentice quit when I was nine, so he took me on in his stead, and I worked in the shop with him ever since.”
“You’ve worked since you were a child?”
He nods. “It wasn’t so bad. I enjoyed learning the trade, then honing my skills. My dad was a kind man, easy to spend time with. The shop would have been mine if…well, you know the rest.”
I’ve made him sad, which I deeply regret. “I’m sorry I asked, Sebastian. Don’t dwell on it. We could still fish tonight.”
