It’s #BookQW and Salm is ‘over’ dealing with sneaky lobster haulers.
More from Chapter 1:
Salm landed next to the covered lobster crate before either sister could block him. “Aye, I suppose. We’re busy this time of year and need the catch numbers to make a decision,” he said politely, not daring to look down at the crate. “I can wait while you fill in the form. Just need through yesterday.”
Pauly eyed him, then turned for the deckhouse. “Hold on.”
Quickly, Salm lifted the cover off the lobster crate. All were dorsal side up, and he didn’t want to start an argument by flipping and looking for eggs on spinnerets if he was wrong. “One or two look borderline small,” he said and felt in his slicker pocket for his gauge.
“See here,” Pauly said. “We do our sorting after. Makes the hauling go faster. Right, Maeve?”
Then Maeve was there, gripping his arm and leaning into him.
“Fine.” Salm brushed off her hand. “But let’s have a look, part of our checks. It’s in the fishing agreement you signed.”
Pauly stormed up. “Did you lay a hand on my sister?”
“What? No!” Blessed Orb. The accusation flustered him, but only for a moment. “I’m here to do my job. You can either let me inspect this catch here, or we’ll head in and do it on the dock in Tern Bay.”
“I—uh…” Pauly met Maeve’s gaze—unmistakably thought-speaking with her—and a flash of light erupted.
Their magic hurled Salm over the gunwales and into the sea. The cold water stunned him. Then the life jacket he wore under his slicker tugged him upward, and a familiar prodding hit his shoulder.
Help? See-low asked.
Bilge-sucking catfish. Salm surfaced, spitting salt water. Blimey, he’d been caught unaware.
Splat. Splat. Lobsters were raining down.
Retrieve! Retrieve! he ordered the dolphins, and the water churned, excited squeaks filling Salm’s head.
“Wizard overboard,” Maeve crowed, and a life buoy landed near his chest.
He stared at it. I dinnae want to give her more satisfaction. But he felt like a drowned bird with his wings sopping like this. After shielding himself from Maeve’s and Pauly’s magic, he grabbed the ring, not making eye contact, because without a doubt he’d say something he’d regret. He didn’t kick a single stroke, making the scallywags pull him in. At the side of the boat, he used magic to dry his wings, drew in their energy and dissolved them before he climbed on board.
He checked the lobsters in the now-half-empty crate before accepting the catch record that Pauly shoved at him.
“Anything else?” She smirked.
Aye, they thought they’d keelhauled him in this. See-low? he asked.
Retrieved.
“May I borrow a bucket?” Salm answered, and once they gave him one, he flew out twenty feet.
He drew in his wings and dropped into the water again, calling, Bring here. The dolphins filled the bucket with lobsters, and he had to magically net an additional three, each lobster a female with thousands of eggs under her tail. Those larvae represented the future of their fisheries.
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Dive into Keepers of the Sea Cliffs, the story of the fisheries the Seas manage in the Irish Sea and the birds the Lighthouse Keepers care for. Buy the novel in either paperback or ebook, wherever digital copies are sold!
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On a personal note:
Our cabin is on a creek– a Colorado creek, which is akin to a river in some parts of North America. Still, in the mountains we don’t expect to see fishing birds any larger than a dipper or a kingfisher. However, the last few years we’ve seen both bald eagle and osprey flying and fishing above the creek. A few weeks ago, I had my phone handy when an osprey flew over–with a catch!
That’s a nice sized trout!
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